1 of 5
Photo by Ash Daniel
2 of 5
The cast of "Bill W. and Dr. Bob," (from left) Ken Moretti, Patricia Alli, Audra Honaker, Grey Garrett, Chris Hester (Photo courtesy HATTheatre)
3 of 5
Madison Matthews recites lines during a youth class. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
4 of 5
Programs from past productions (Photo by Ash Daniel)
5 of 5
The HATTheatre seats about 70 people. (Photo by Ash Daniel)
What began as an effort to pull live theater out of downtown and bring it to the West End has evolved into 25 years of HATTheatre, a professional, not-for-profit production company.
Its venue at 1124 Westbriar Drive in the Far West End off Patterson Avenue seats about 70 people, give or take, depending on the stage setup.
When the company was started in 1993, there were few troupes in the city providing an intimate, black-box theater experience, which is what HATTheatre specializes in, says Vickie Scallion, founder and artistic director.
“We produce shows that require the kind of intimate storytelling that is needed in a space like this,” she says. “When an audience is this close to your actors, they feel like they are right there with them. You can hear a pin drop in here the same way you can see tears streaming down people’s faces. You touch them in a way.”
Scallion says that if the same story were being told in a larger auditorium, it would not necessarily have the same effect. Some scripts lend themselves better to certain environments.
HATTheatre has only staged productions that are Richmond premieres. They also make an effort to keep their offerings affordable, and to feature some of the area’s most talented artists.
HATTheatre produces shows for both an adult series and a youth/family series. In addition to regular professional theater shows, Scallion also wanted to offer something that other professional theaters were not offering at the time: community outreach and enrichment classes for all ages. Classes include fun, year-round sessions for ages 5 through 18, programs for adults in performance and job-related skills, workshops, and specialty classes in stand-up comedy and playwriting.
Scallion says she found inspiration for the name of the troupe through the various duties needed to make a theater work: “It’s a nod to the many hats often worn by those who help bring a show from the page to the stage.”
Julie Fulcher, who has been an associate artist for HATTheatre for 10 years, has been involved with many aspects of the theater, including helping Scallion direct some of the shows.
“Many intimate theaters have come and gone in Richmond in the last two decades,” Fulcher said. “HATTheatre has remained, producing rich,diverse, compelling and quality work for 25 years. It is a vibrant part of the theater community.”
Photo by Emma Grace Bailey courtesy HATTheatre
Founder and Artistic Director Vickie L. Scallion
City: Born in Richmond, grew up in suburban Washington, D.C.
Family: Married with two daughters, a dog, Domino, who can often be seen at the theater, and four cats
Theatrical Background: Bachelor’s in education from Virginia Tech; taught creative dramatics in public and private schools before helping to found HATTheatre in 1993
Most memorable onstage moment: It happened [in a February production], “Bill W. and Dr. Bob,” where the title characters were played by Chris Hester and Ken Moretti. The show opens like an AA meeting opens, and when the character of Bill said “Hello, my name is Bill W.,” there were audience members who actually answered back with “Hello, Bill.” It was a rather surprising and wonderful response.
Most unusual backstage moment: In [2015 in] “The Whale” by Samuel D. Hunter, the actor Michael Hawke, who played Charlie, was in a fat suit to help create a 600-pound man. He had on the suit plus various weights around his body and legs, and extra layers of disposable diapers attached [the activated gel in them simulated fat layers around his torso]. At intermission each show we had to hurry to get him partially undressed due to the heat and to keep him from passing out. Armed with ice packs and a fan, we cooled him down enough so that he could do the second act.
Why theater matters: Theater is the great equalizer, bringing together people from all walks of life, those involved with the show itself, and those in the audience, who might otherwise never find themselves under the same roof. If we do our jobs right, we can transport our audience and immerse them in places and times and lives outside of their own existence, and hopefully give them something of note to talk about on the ride home.
