Lincoln Theatre Series: The Angels Theatre Company

By Hanna Day-Woodruff

A little miracle occurred in the Lincoln theatre community this summer. Ryan Kathman, adopted, star of the recently finished Angels Theatre Company production, True West, found his birth mother, Moira Mangiamelli, also an accomplished actor based in eastern Nebraska.

He found her this summer during the rehearsal phase of True West--coincidentally, his director, Judith Hart, was one of her closest friends. Kathman was working on the same MFA in acting from UNL that his birth mother had received 9 years ago--Hart had instructed them both.

Mangiamelli had seen Kathman in a production the year before and raved to Hart about his acting abilities. Birth mother and son were in awe of the connections and the coincidences of their parallel lives. And then Judith Hart had an inspiration--she would relinquish her upcoming role as Kathman's mother in True West and cast Mangiamelli in her stead. And that is just what she did.

The Angels Theatre Company just completed its run of True West at Barry's Bar & Grill, and the experience, for Mangiamelli, was both sacred and precious, as she came to know her son through the craft they both love.

For Hart, this miracle was only the latest in the history of the company she co-founded and directs. The non-profit Angels Theatre Company is driven by the inspiration, dedication and hard work of its membership, who pitch their own projects. Actors who participate learn a great deal about the subject of the production while in preparation, and then share it later with their audiences.

Becky Boesen, Angels member and producer of the upcoming December production Girl Gone, says that Hart “consistently creates lovely productions and cultivates honesty and bravery from her actors.”

The company began in 1990 in the sanctuary of a Greek Orthodox Church. While under the steady gaze of the church’s gilded angel statuary, Judith Hart, Pippa White and Sherry Cole Webber met to discuss the creation of what would become The Angels Theatre Company. In their early 40s at the time, the women wanted a community-based artistic outlet that would help them navigate the challenges of their daily lives as they strove to advance their careers and raise their children.

They began with 15 women, but with a welcoming and open membership policy (annual membership is only $25 per year), the group now numbers about 50 people, men and women, multigenerational and possessing varying degrees of theatrical training. Hart asserts that it’s not just about the plays and it’s not just about theatre. It's about the people who are the members, striving and growing together through the creative, collaborative process.

The Angels Theatre Company supports new playwrights and chooses deeply personal and challenging subjects, often with a feminist perspective.

“No dead white men’s plays!” Hart laughed.

For instance, in their 2002-2003 season, the Angels produced three pieces about the experiences of Afghan women, two of which were developed from stories told to Angels members by Afghan women associated with UNO's Center for Afghanistan Studies. In 2006, the Angels collaborated with the DeVoted Women Project in the production of Nebraska Next!, a play about the women's suffrage movement in Nebraska. This past Spring, the Angels produced Cherie Bennett's adaptation of local Lincoln author Dr. Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia. After each of the 34 performances, volunteer psychologists and social workers moderated group discussions with the audience.

At a production rate of five plays per year, each arising from the inspiration and initiative of its membership, the Angels stay busy. Despite the recent loss of their 10-year performance space above the Mill in the Haymarket, the Angels Theatre Company still manages to fly on with generous offers of rehearsal, reading and performance spaces. The Angels sponsor regular readings of pieces brought to them by members and playwrights and supports regular storytelling and listening hours for seniors at Savannah Pines. Their December production, Girl Gone, will be shown at Lincoln's Bourbon Theatre and will be directed by Sasha Dobson and produced by Becky Boesen, both of whom were mentored by Hart.

This is a theatre company that doesn't shy away from the difficult--those wishing for light entertainment may wish to steer clear. But it is a company that bravely challenges itself and the community, and, it seems, still feels as though it operates in the company of angels.

Angels is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, with no paid staff. For information on membership and upcoming productions, see its website at www.angelscompany.org.