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Hartbeat Ensemble Moves to Carriage House Theater

Hartford News Staff

March 21, 2013

HartBeat Ensemble, a Hartford-based theater company, has signed a multiyear agreement on a new home: the Carriage House Theater at 360 Farmington Avenue, Hartford. The 77-seat theater was originally occupied by Hartford Children’s Theater.

Steven RaiderGinsburg and Julia Rosenblatt, HartBeat’s CoArtistic Directors, said that the new theater “offers an intimate setting for artists and community to gather to experience great theater.” They added, “It will prove a perfect opportunity to increase HartBeat’s visibility and impact in Hartford.”

Hartbeat’s first production at the Carriage House will be “Gender Benders,” a story of two sisters wrestling with their parents’ expectations of their womanhood, while the men in their lives struggle with what it means to be a man. Gender Benders will be performed at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23, and at 2 pm on Sunday, March 24. All shows are free of charge. For reservations, call 860-548-9144 or go to the website hartbeatensemble.org. Due to explicit language and mature subject matter, this play is not recommended for children under 16.

As a complement to presenting its own theater and educational work, HartBeat will also establish a presenting season that will include two new reading series: First Reads and Truth & Power: A to Z as well as the presentation of local and national theater artists. Details of the ensemble’s first season at The Carriage House Theater are close to being completed and will be announced by the end of the month. In addition, The Carriage House Theater will be available to local performing groups for performance and rehearsal at a subsidized rate.

The Carriage House Theater is a project of Immanuel Congre­gational Church, UCC. “We realize the importance of supporting the arts in our community. HartBeat Ensem­ble’s work is aesthetically dynamic as well as socially important and we are thrilled they will be in residence at The Carriage House Theater,” says Bob McNair, Chair of the Properties Committee at the church. Friends of HartBeat will have a chance to visit the new space at an Welcome Reception on February 26 from 5:30 - 6: 30pm. Please call Jen Yanko at 8605489144, x115 for more information. HartBeat currently operates out of the City Arts on Pearl building in downtown Hartford, and presents their work at various venues throughout the Greater Hartford area.