About Us & How We Work

DramaWorks was born out of both inspiration and frustration. A number of talented improvisers first gathered in 1997 to create an interactive play entitled The Perils of Pauline's Family Business using the methodology of Playback Theater. This play rapidly developed an audience around the country.

Erik Muten, a clinical psychologist and organizational consultant saw the power of using interactive theatre to bring challenging and often hidden human dynamics to the surface and help audiences to simulate more optimal futures. Erik was also frustrated by endless PowerPoint presentations that numbed audiences and did little to change the way families and organizations actually worked.

"You can't fill people's head with information and expect them to change," he says, "You have to touch their hearts, give them a character that they can identify with and create a forum that allows them to both think and feel about what needs to be done differently."

And so DramaWorks began with a vision of gathering people to reflect on their common human experience; to actively visualize new possibilities of human interaction. This has been the tradition of many forms of theatre for thousands of years. To make what is invisible between human beings…or to certain human beings… visible. We reflect the whole organization not just the viewpoint of the few or the powerful.

Although we are a company that now uses improvisation to develop our scenarios, we are deeply influenced by Shakespeare's plays in the Court of Queen Elizabeth and Hamlet's admonition to his players before they play out a murder of a king.

Hamlet: Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.

— Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 17–24

Christine Stevens and Tim Holcomb, husband and wife and founders of Hampshire Shakespeare Company, have been instrumental in shaping the development of DramaWorks and conceiving of our work as court theatre. They have played highly diverse roles in most of our engagements.

David Skillicorn has captured the edge of our work in video working live with multiple cameras and a sound crew. David has been a partner in our work on a number of occasions.

Kathryn Davison (Toniccapital.com) uses her deep skills in psychology, storytelling and seeing the essence of what needed to happen in many of our engagements. Kathryn also assisted in putting into words the key DramaWorks value proposition.

Then there are the actors that have worked with us throughout the years including: Lisa Abend, Aaron Crutchfield, Sandra Blaney, Steve Abdow, Janna Goodwin, Jaime Marrs, Susan Daniels, Toni Bergins, and Tim Van Ness

DramaWorks is a virtual company consisting of improvisational actors, consultants, videographers, and specialists in interactive technology. Many of us have worked together for over 10 years to reintroduce theatre as an essential tool and process in creating healthy communities and organizations.