History

Double Edge Theatre was founded in 1982 at Tufts University by Stacy Klein. Drawing on her work in Poland with Rena Mirecka in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the company applied rigorous physical training and the principle of an actor’s autonomy to create work in an ensemble, laboratory setting.  The first work created by Klein with Double Edge was a series of plays collectively called the Women's Cycle (1982-1986), which confronted the systems of questioning, liberation, and violence to which women must constantly respond. This cycle was followed by the Song Trilogy (1987-1999), which marked the beginning of Double Edge’s completely original performance process, based on the principle of the autonomy of the actor as a creating artist. The pieces were developed through extensive research and expeditions to Central Europe, chronicled in the documentary film "Republic of Dreams."   The Garden of Intimacy and Desire (2001- 2010), the company's third cycle of work, is an exploration of the complex dichotomies of dream and reality, freedom and responsibility, indifference and fanaticism. 

In 1994, Double Edge purchased a 105-acre former dairy farm in Ashfield, MA, to which the theatre soon moved its operations from Boston. The Farm Center today hosts artists, students, and community exchange through the practice of ‘living culture.’

Long-term collaboration is at the heart of Double Edge’s work. Collaborators include Charlestown Working Theater (Boston), q-Staff Theatre (NM), Gardzienice Theatre (Poland), Moscow-based artists John Freedman and Oksana Mysina, and dozens of local, national, and international individual artists.