"No Shame offers a rock-concert vibe and the joyful energy of an audience of everyday folks who're thrilled to have a venue for their art."      ---Roanoke Times No Shame Theatre Roanoke, Virginia (est. 2003)

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Mill Mountain Theatre (#20 East Church Avenue)

Mill Mountain Theatre has No Shame!

Underground Roanoke is supposed to be a Late Night offering of weird and wonderful alternative entertainment....which is all well and good, but have they gone to far with this No Shame thing?

Well, the only way to know is to come and find out for yourself.

What is No Shame, anyway?

No Shame Theatre is an exciting venue for original performance pieces between 3 and 5 minutes in length. No committee chooses the pieces, so you never know what you'll get. On any given night you might hear a poem, see a dance piece, a puppet show, a monologue, mime routine, stand-up comedy act, hear a song, watch an improvisation, jugglers, and participate in a magic trick. It's short and it's fast, so if your piece doesn’t exactly fly, no one will be pointing at the wreckage long, and chances are pretty good that if you don't like everything in the line up at least one of 15 pieces is going to tickle your fancy.

At the end of the day, No Shame is whatever you make it into. Each week it will entirely re-invent itself and we want you to be part of that evolution. Or is it a revolution?

No Shame is a perfect extension of Mill Mountain Theatre's dedication to providing theatre goers in Roanoke the opportunity to see new and exciting work and to learn the skills to create and present new performances. No Shame is here to help people in the general community to become part of a vibrant and growing artistic community where you can take real risks by getting hands-on experience in any aspect of the theatre you like--writing, directing, acting, design, anything at all.

No Shame's audience, writers, and performers are constantly changing roles even in a single evening, and that fosters a feeling of cooperation, not competition. At No Shame absolute beginners have a chance to work side by side with grizzled veterans of the theatre and anyone can walk in the door and participate in any way they choose.

When and where is it?

Every Friday night on the Waldron Stage at #20 East Church Avenue. We start taking pieces at at 10:00 p.m. and we open the doors at 10:30. The show starts at 11:00 p.m. somewhat close to sharp. Tickets are $5 at the door. There will be adult beverages available, so if you want to imbibe, bring your valid photo ID.

How do I do it...if I decide to do it?

Just come down to the theatre at 10:00 p.m. with enough scripts for your actors and one extra copy with contact information and light cues on it for the Light Board Operator. Find the guy or gal with the clipboard and tell them you want in the order for the night.

Your piece must be original (no copyright infringements), it must be short (no more than 5 minutes), it can't break anything (not the law, not the performers, not the audience, and not the theatre). It must also be self-contained (bring your own props and stuff).

We take the first 15 scripts that show up at the door, and we start the performance 11:00.

Who has to pay to get in?

Everybody...except the staff, because they are working. We know that some people might balk at the idea of paying $5 to do their piece, but please don't think of it like that. This isn't really a "pay to play" proposition, but we need to meet costs in order to keep this very special venue operating. There isn't anywhere else in town where this kind of performance opportunity exists, and we all have to share the cost of keeping No Shame happening. Instead of thinking of it as paying to do your piece, please think of it as paying $5 to see 14 other people do their piece. This way we're all in this together, audience, writers, and performers. Their is no one whose contribution is valued above anyone else's. And, no one ever does something awful just to get in for free, or accuses something that didn't quite work of doing that.

Who the heck do we expect to do this, anyway?

Well, everybody! Everyone has a story to tell, or a talent to share. No Shame is the place do to it, but in particular, how about this:

Writers of all types will find No Shame interesting because they:

• Will have a chance to meet directors and actors who can perform their work
• Will have a chance to meet directors and actors who will help them learn how to perform their own work better
• Meet other playwrights, poets, songwriters, and other writerly types and can learn from each other in a workshop like environment
• Get tangible production experience on an actual stage

Directors might find No Shame interesting in that they:

• Can get experience by selecting one of the pieces from the FAK and casting and rehearsing it.
• Can meet new writers by coming to No Shame and asking writers they find interesting if they can try working together on No Shame pieces, and then moving on to longer works.
• Can see actors outside of audtions which they might want to work with on other projects in other venues.
• Can meet and interact with other directors there for the same reason
• Get practical experience in a low cost/risk way on the MMT second stage.

Actors might find No Shame interesting for many of the same reasons as abovem, but they might also:

• Meet and work with new writers and directors with whom they can build long term relationships
• Get experience and exposure on the MMT Waldron stage which might lead to casting opportunities in MMT shows and other venues
• Meeting and working with other actors across a wide range of exprience levels which leads to both learning opportunities and community

No Shame is also a platform for Alternative Notions of Performance (not just playwriting)

• Roanoke has a strong Dance community. We want to encourage the presentation of all forms of original dance on our stage.
• There is a strong music community in town, we hope to see everything from original blue grass to acoustic goth ballads to rap to skiffle on there.
• We're looking into a regular or rotational house band as well. (The Star City Wildcats will play the Grand Opening on October 17th, and have said they'd like to play whenever they are available on a Friday night, and other local bands have also expressed interest and we are committed to making music an important part of not just No Shame but of Underground Roanoke as well.
• We know there are poets, comedians, and fiction writers and editorialists in the area-- so long as your presentation follows the guidelines of 3-5 minute original non-law breaking we want to hear and see your work at No Shame.
• A torch singing drag queen, a mime, a juggler, puppeteer, and even improv are perfect for doing at No Shame. Do you get the idea we mean it when we say "Anything Goes?"

Sometimes "anything goes" can be a bit intimidating. If you'd like to get a feel for it before you leap in, we really recommend you join our No Shame Roanoke Yahoo Group. You can see some sample scripts and photos there, as well as get to know some of the people who are involved in No Shame at MMT. Post messages, chat, get to know us and we'll do what we can to answer your questions and help make becoming part of our community as painless and shame free as possible.