History

 
The Theater Offensive’s OUT in Your Neighborhood strategy builds on 22 years of our organization’s rich history.
 
In 1989, founding Artistic Director Abe Rybeck and a group of artist-activists formed The Theater Offensive (TTO) to expand on the success of the gay men’s guerrilla theater troupe: United Fruit Company.

From 1989 through 2009 The Theater Offensive produced edgy LGBT productions and festivals drawing to Boston nationally recognized queer performers, while showcasing New England’s own vibrant LGBT theatrical artists and troupes. TTO also served as a development environment for new LGBT theatrical work.

Early on, TTO’s success built on the acclaim for Abe’s early work as a performer, playwright and songwriter. His creative expression included full-scale musicals, solo works, short pieces, and the groundbreaking queer cabaret band, Adult Children of Heterosexuals. Blame It On The Big Banana, Dirt, and Pure PolyESTHER are among Abe’s regionally well-known original works of musical theater.

The Theater Offensive presented its first Out on the Edge Festival of Queer Theater in 1992. Held annually in the fall, Out on the Edge was among the world’s premier queer theater series. Among the cutting-edge theater artists that have appeared at the Festival are:

 
• Quentin Crisp
• Tim Miller
• The Five Lesbian Brothers
• Luis Alfaro
• Holly Hughes
• Pomo Afro Homos
• Alec Mapa
• Split Britches
• Jackie Hoffman
• BLOOLIPS
• Varla Jean Merman
• Marga Gomez

 
Since its inception, TTO executed innovative outreach programs like A Street Theater Named Desire, a guerilla AIDS-activist theater troupe that promoted safe sex and AIDS education via performances in gay cruising spots around the city. In 1994, TTO started True Colors OUT Youth Theater generated original productions written and performed by its young actors. Plays at Work developed and presented new, local theatrical productions in staged readings and workshops.
 
Producing Out on the Edge was a milestone event in Boston drawing sell-out crowds from across New England. Thanks in part to the work of TTO, LGBT theater began to receive a warmer welcome from main stage theater companies around Boston and TTO returned to its roots. Taking its activist LGBT-positive message out to the streets and neighborhoods of Boston, TTO continues to use ground-breaking theater as a bridge to building community.
 
TTO‘s new OUT in Your Neighborhood strategy, as well as collaborations with other local LGBT programs like Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC) and Boston Alliance of Gay & Lesbian Youth(BAGLY), is all driven by the goal of helping people feel at home where they live. OUT in Your Neighborhood continues to bring an important LGBT-positive presence out to the streets and neighborhoods of Boston, helping to create a space for dialog among neighbors and friends to promote and embrace an OUT and proud presence where they live.
 
For a more detailed history of TTO, check out Northeastern University’s archives.