The Road Back: The History and Future of the Core Acting Company

Managing director Sara Young shares how this vital group of actors grew from a daydream to become the heart of APT.

Given the exciting announcement of four new members, I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a deep dive into this wonderful group, The Core Company.

Let’s start with some history: I was way down a rabbit hole trying to figure out exactly when the Core Company was established. The first public mention I could find was a 2005 development letter and then the 2006 playbill. But in conversation with Artistic Director Brenda DeVita, she was able to trace the origin back to about 1998. The impetus was to retain some critical actors in the company, and multi-year commitments were the key. The commitments weren’t contracts – the union issues actors’ official contracts – but rather a verbal agreement based on ongoing conversation with each member. (By the way, that method continues to this day.)

But it was 2006 when APT really started sharing with the audience how truly vital this special group of actors was to the theater – and also to you. At that time, the group included Sarah Day, Tracy Michelle Arnold, Paul Bentzen, David Daniel, Mark Corkins, Jim DeVita, Colleen Madden, Brian Robert Mani, James Ridge, and Jonathan Smoots. As you may know, seven of those ten are still in the company today. There haven’t been too many changes over the years, but here’s a Core Company-ology tracing the years since 2006:

2006: Mark Corkins left the Core Company after many years at APT.
2008: Matt Schwader joined after 5 years at APT.
2013: Marcus Truschinski joined, 10 years after his first year at APT as an apprentice.
2014: Matt Schwader left the Core Company, and now is an actor and theater professor in Kansas City.
2015: Paul Bentzen retired, and holds the title of Core Company Member Emeritus.
2015: Kelsey Brennan, Tim Gittings and Nate Burger joined. Kelsey was an apprentice in 2007, Nate in 2011. Tim likes to point out he’s been an audience member since the early 80s.
2016: Melisa Pereyra joined the Core Company, a few years after joining APT for Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the end of 2013 and then Juliet in 2014.
2019: Jonathan Smoots retired, and also holds the title of Core Company Member Emeritus.
2019: Gavin Lawrence joined the Core Company after three seasons at APT.
2024: The Core Company welcomes four new members – Phoebe González, Josh Krause, Samantha Newcomb and Laura Rook.

That original fundraising letter said that “the intent was to assemble a group of talented, skilled artists to be leaders of the acting company. These artists share a passion for this place, these plays. And they each have the skill and talent to breathe wonderful clarity and life into each production, each season. For them, APT is far more than just another acting job. It is their artistic home.”

That still holds true today. In the 18 intervening years, relationships have grown. Among the actors in the Core Company, between those actors and the company as a whole; between them and you, our audience. We’ve all been through a lot together – two new theaters (okay, one renovated), adjustments to our dramaturgy, a change in artistic leadership, a pandemic. But in my opinion, the notion of a Core Company has grown with APT, has become as essential to the APT experience as our woods and our Hill.

Theaters that have “companies” – defined as actors with multi-year commitments – are increasingly rare these days. Leaders cite that it’s too hard to manage expectations, to add the feelings and opinions of that many people into the mix of planning and producing each season. It’s easier to cast year to year, without being tied to long-term commitments. Brenda understands those challenges, but they are far outweighed by the upside. She explained why in a recent speech:

“Forming the Core Acting Company was a defining moment for APT – a commitment to what would be our soul, our brand, our aesthetic. The trust the audience has in us, to be consistent and excellent, often rests on their shoulders. In turn, these actors now have a voice and a place – a home. Why is this so important? Because once they have a home, they're braver. They're braver, they tell the truth, they're more able to search for deeper meaning and more relevance in their work. They ask harder questions. Of course, that immediately translates to better work on stage, better stories for our audience. But it also affects their ownership. Which translates into leadership. And so now we have people brave enough and secure enough to lead, to question, to tell us what we need to pay more attention to. It makes us stronger and deeper. The future becomes clear to us through those different perspectives and lenses.”

Personally, I’d like to thank the Core Company for all they bring to APT year after year – all 17 of them extraordinary actors and humans. And I thank Brenda, who worked side by side with David Frank to bring this idea of “core” to fruition, and who continues to believe in it with all her soul. And, as always, thanks to you, our audience. It’s your energy, your relationship with these actors, that makes this whole thing work. We’re so excited for you to continue building that relationship with this new group of Core Company Actors. You’ll be hearing more about and from them as the season approaches, but in the meantime, please join us in welcoming Phoebe, Josh, Samantha and Laura to the Core Company.