I recently had the positive experience of producing an evening of stand-up comedy with fellow…read moreYelper Rick G., an event that also benefited a non-profit effort that I'm putting together and was held at Khaos Company Theatre, a small but growing operation out of the Near-Eastside's Brookside Industrial Centre at 1775 N. Sherman Drive.
A new professional theatre aiming to provide emerging artists both production opportunities and an affordable venue, Khaos Company Theatre was birthed out of the academic experiences of Kaylee Spivey Good and, in fact, derives its name from a play she scripted called "Khaos." Incorporated as an LLC in 2014, Khaos Company Theatre began life in the Rivoli/East 10th Street area before moving into its current home a little over a year ago.
While an office park may seem like an odd location for a growing theatrical company, the location offers Khaos the urban feeling that it desires while also providing the option for ample free parking and room to grow.
Khaos offers three stage options:
1) The Cabaret Theatre seats 30 plus offers standing room and rental starts at $50.
2) The Elevated Stage seats 50 and rental starts at $100.
3) The Mainstage seats 75 and rental starts at $150.
Generally, Khaos rentals start at 3-hour blocks with additional hours incurring additional fees. In our case, we rented The Mainstage for 5 hours - $190. Added to this cost? They sell snacks and light refreshments with all proceeds staying in-house, while Khaos also keeps 20% of the door receipts. While the 20% is potentially a bit steep depending upon how you handle your tickets, it does include the fact that Khaos supplies tickets, has online ticketing and also has someone at the theatre during the show to handle ticket sales. I was a tad concerned given that we were doing tickets by donation, an approach that could have led to a large chunk being taken out of donations intended for charity.
In fact, I will note that I consider the ticketing aspect to be Khaos's major flaw as a business concept.
Khaos is largely wheelchair friendly with a couple accessible parking spaces, a curb cut and a wheelchair accessible restroom available. As near as I could tell, only one of the three staging areas was truly accessible, the Mainstage, though it would take very little to make the Cabaret wheelchair friendly. As one can tell from the photos, there's a raw, urban feel to the staging and these spaces really are geared toward the indie artist. As we were recording the event we held, we had a near disaster when the electric went out in the Mainstage, but much to their credit the folks at Khaos had their tech folks respond quite quickly and the problem was resolved.
I enjoyed this experience, though I'd be more likely to return to Khaos either for one of their own shows or for a more straightforward production. While Khaos does host benefits, I found the fee structure less friendly to smaller non-profits and doubt I would host one of my typically smaller events in the space. This may change, however, as the organization grows and better defines itself.
Still, Khaos Company Theatre is a very welcome addition to the Indy stage scene and offers emerging artists opportunities for performance and exploration of their talents. The people were terrific to work with, the space affordable and the spaces easily adapted to a wide variety of staging needs.
Khaos already offers a variety of shows including Shakespeare, an alt-facts improv tour, an annual playwriting competition and much more. If you're an indie artist looking for opportunities, I'd check them out.
