Plans...

The Borderline began as a series of late-night discussions among theatre friends, starting in about 2004. Some of you will remember me talking about it, and a few of you were interested in getting involved. I enjoy working on musicals, but I prefer doing dramas and comedies with smaller casts, preferably somewhat offbeat and unexpected. I fully recognize (and did then) that most local community theatre groups - three of which I've worked with happily over the past nine years - aren't in sync with those interests. And for good reason: it's tough to make any money doing dramas or productions in small venues. But not impossible, at least that's my hope.

I ended up on the board of the St. Clair Theatre Guild, and I served for four years, including three as president. I'm proud of that time, as I am the work I've done with Port Huron Civic Theatre and Theatre Sarnia. More recently, I began directing the student productions at St. Clair County Community College, and teaching acting and improvisation credit courses. I hope to continue to participate with these groups and maintain my exciting new work at the college, even as The Borderline gets underway.

My hope is to provide an alternative that compliments the other local non-profit theatre groups, by producing plays that wouldn't otherwise be presented in the Blue Water area, as well as provide educational opportunities for theatrical artists of all ages.

I'm currently considering several plays for future production, as well as beginning the recruiting of members of what I'd like to structure as a "theatre tribe," based on discussions that have been ongoing online for over a year among professionals and amateurs. If you're interested, please visit this website again soon. I'll be replacing it with a blog site shortly and you'll be able to reply directly from here. Until then, look us up on Facebook.

What I hope to do is put outstanding plays together with the most talented theatre people in the Blue Water area and offer the results to you, our supporters, our critics -- our audience.

When this exploratory process is complete, and dates and venues have been established, I'll announce further plans here on our web site. This is just the beginning. I'm excited to get started, and hope you will be as excited with the results.

Tom Kephart
Founder & Artistic Director
The Borderline Theatre Group