Artistic Statement
Pontine Theatre's primary artistic purpose is realized in the creation and performance of original work. Drawing on the actor-training system of Etienne Decroux, we employ movement for communicating dramatic ideas because we believe that action is the primary language of the theatre and that the actor belongs at the center of the creative process.
Like fellow pioneers Jacques Copeau, Antonin Artaud and Edward Gordon Craig, Decroux sought to free the theatre from realism and from literature. His singular contribution to this revolution was the development of a classical system for analyzing and shaping human movement in terms of dramatic expression.
By focusing on action as a vehicle of communication, he gave birth to a language which endeavors to by-pass the intellect and touch the viewer on a physical, visceral level.
We belong to a generation working to build upon the past and assure a future for this significant legacy. Our earliest efforts were formal, technical and highly abstract, reflecting our own rejection of traditional processes for creating theatre works. Years of experimentation have lead us, like many of our colleagues, toward a synthesis of our reformist roots with other theatrical traditions.
Our most recent work juxtaposes spoken text, characterization and narrative line with abstract movement, music and a metaphorical use of masks, costumes and sets. By providing more complex dramatic structures and greater texture, we allow the work to freely flow between prosaic and poetic realms, establishing an entryway from familiar, personal experience into a universal, archetypal reality.
M. Marguerite Mathews, Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Pontine, holds a degree in theatre from Michigan State University. She studied with the great French actor, Etienne Decroux, at his L'Ecole du Mime Corporeal in Paris, France. She also worked with Thomas Leabhart at the University of Arkansas and at the Valley Studio in Spring Green WI. She has served on the board of the National Movement Theatre Association and as editor of the Movement Theatre Quarterly. Ms. Mathews served two 3-year terms as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and is an onsite reporter for the endowment. She recently completed a second term as a theatre panelist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2002, Ms. Mathews was named New Hampshire's Artist Laureate.
Gregory Gathers, Co-Artistic Director of Pontine, holds a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He has been designing and constructing Pontine's costumes, sets, and props since 1982, and has collaborated with Ms. Mathews on the development and performance of Pontine's work since 1984. Mr. Gathers is an on-site reporter for the National Endowment for the Arts. He has served as design director for the Movement Theatre Quarterly and as chair of the Individual Artists Advisory Committee at the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. In 2003, Mr. Gathers was commissioned to design and create the Community Spirit Award for the Governor's 2003 Arts Award program