Our Mission
To present professional, thought-provoking, and adventurous live theater to our community.
Our Core Values
The core values of Bozeman Actors Theatre drive our work from process through product.
Diversity
We seek work that explores the full range of the human experience. We embrace the spectrum of human diversity by creating a work environment where all are welcome – where all ideas are solicited and listened to.
Curiosity
We look for what’s new and relevant, and revisit places we’ve been with fresh perspectives.
Community
We create community through each production to feed the society in which we live.
Listening
We promote active listening through live theatre in a world with too much static and too much noise. We do this by listening to our fellow artists and our community.
Adaptability
We think on our feet and respond to whatever is thrown our direction: in our work, in our lives, in our culture, and in our community.
Artistic Excellence
We choose projects and bring them to life in ways that challenge us as artists, challenge our audience, and contribute to the growth of both.
Energy of Live Performance
We cherish the positive energy that is created when audience and performers come together to celebrate the art of theatrical storytelling.
History
Founded in 2008 as Actors Theatre of Montana, our company produced several challenging and rewarding plays and readings in its early years in locations ranging from intimate theaters to historic large houses. Venues included the Black Box Theater on the Montana State University campus, The Dulcie in Livingston, and The Verge (Equinox) Theater and The Ellen Theatre in Bozeman.
In 2014, a core group of actors and community members came together to achieve more permanence and growth for the company and to better serve the community. Bozeman Actors Theatre was incorporated in the state of Montana, and in the fall of that year, BAT presented The Language Archive as the first production under our new identity.
Today Bozeman Actors Theatre operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, governed by a volunteer board of directors.
Our Late Co-Founder
Dee Dee Van Zyl (1950-2018)
Dee Dee Van Zyl, our beloved co-founder, patron, friend, and inspiration, passed away on May 3, 2018. She was the light of our stage and will be forever missed.
No biography can do justice to all that Dee Dee meant to our company. Over the years she directed our productions of God of Carnage and A Streetcar Named Desire, among others. She last appeared in BAT's Marjorie Prime (2017), and her other major roles included Sonia in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Alta in The Language Archive, and Violet in August: Osage County. Dee Dee also performed in many roles at MSU’s Black Box Theater and Seattle’s Intiman Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Pioneer Square Theatre, Bathhouse Theatre, and New City Theatre. In Portland, Oregon, Dee Dee performed with Portland Rep at Portland State University, the Storefront Theatre, and the New Rose Theatre. She received her training at Portland State University and over the years taught acting at Portland State University, Tacoma Community College, and at Montana State University.
Dee Dee is survived by her spouse and partner, Ursula Neese, another great friend of our company. Their relationship was part soulmates, part business partners, and part adventure companions. Together they were ubiquitous supporters of great theater in Livingston and Bozeman.