We believe in sparking passion within and between our actors and audiences.
We believe that theatre can—and ought to—set audience members’ souls afire.
We believe that performance can happen anywhere. The space itself is our muse, our teacher, and our scene partner.
Bated Breath Theatre Company was founded in 2008 by Founding Artistic Director Helene Kvale with Michael Bradford, Casey McDougal, Marie Saddlemire, Paul Spirito and Greg Webster in 2008 in order to bring dynamic theatrical performances to the Greater Hartford area. Our early work ranged from reinterpretations of classic plays to experimental and contemporary performance pieces. From the very beginning, our work pushed into site-specific spaces to create interactive theater experiences that blurred the distinctions between audience, performer, and location. In our early years we produced Kvale’s adaptation of A Doll’s House, The Parkville Project and Hunger.
In 2012, Mara Lieberman took over as Executive Artistic Director and launched the Interludes Program, creating original theatre custom tailored thematically and site-specifically for art galleries, museums, and other public spaces. In just five years, Bated Breath created six new performance pieces, received an award from the Connecticut League of History Organizations for Freedom: In 3 Acts, and Lieberman was granted an award for Artistic Excellence from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.
One of the Interludes, Beneath the Gavel, created in collaboration with the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut, transferred Off-Broadway to 59E59 Theaters where it met glowing reviews and sold-out houses. Lieberman, who began her career in New York City, opened the Bated Breath NYC headquarters and inaugurated the Physical Theatre Training Center in Brooklyn.
Bated Breath created a small phenomenon partnering with Fever/Secret NYC and Madame X in the Village. Unmaking Toulouse-Lautrec immersed audiences in the decadence of the Belle Epoque with this boozy tale of the life of iconic artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Unmaking Toulouse-Lautrec closed due to the pandemic. Lieberman, obsessed with finding a way to create live theatre safely, created Voyeur: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec which premiered in September and ran for 10 months. Voyeur became the longest-running, pandemic-friendly show and proved live theater was long from gone.
Voyeur was nominated for multiple Off-Broadway, BroadwayWorld Awards and then goes on to win the awards for Best Play, Best Production of a Play, Best Direction of a Play: Mara Lieberman, Best Costume Design of a Play: Christopher Metzger, Best Sound Design of a Play: Mark Van Hare, Best Lighting Design of a Play: Ebony Burton & Keith A. Truax, Best Scenic Design of a Play: Ebony Burton, Lina Younes & Sandra Tehrani.
Lieberman is named a Future Maker by Time Out, one of 50 people across the globe changing the future of incredible cities.
Development of Chasing Andy Warhol begins with a small devising company.
Following in the same vein as Voyeur in March 2022, Chasing Andy Warhol premiered as Bated Breath’s second pandemic-friendly show. This Pop Art extravaganza ran throughout the summer.
Today, Bated Breath Theatre Company continues to pioneer the future of audience engagement. Bated Breath uses a combination of rigorous research, docudrama, physical theatre, and daring theatricality to ignite the audience's imagination.
