Dear Friends,

In 2020, the Touring Theatre of North Carolina will celebrate 38 years of presenting educational, sophisticated and insightful performances.  During that time, Founder and Artistic Director Brenda Schleunes has developed and nurtured an iconic style that allows this theatre company to meet the needs, concerns and triumphs of the city and state in which she and the theatre reside.

Brenda has now expressed a desire to step away from her leadership role in the company and instead to turn her focus to ensuring the artistic future and sustainability of her creation. This will involve teaching others her unique style of selecting, compiling and adapting original materials so the important work of the theatre can continue.

As Brenda explains, “I have discovered the art of ‘legacy building’ and see its processes as a roadmap by which the theatre and its very particular mission, format and style can survive and thrive beyond my involvement.”  At the core of legacy building is the training of a new team of directors, adapters and managers to carry out the theatre’s important work in its community as well as a plan to foster its growth.

To make this legacy building a reality, we are launching a year-long Legacy Fund Campaign. Your generous financial donation to this campaign will guarantee the following key components:

• The creation of documentary, archival materials and a workbook telling the story of the creation of the company and its unique work. Touring Theatre is one of the longest running female-led professional theatres in the nation and the longest in the state.
• The support of legacy workshops, seminars and internships placing women in leadership roles. Brenda is in the process of training five women of diverse backgrounds in the performance style she has developed.  The Legacy Fund will also support millennial mentorships for young women who are studying theatre at local universities. As interns, they will learn many of the attributes of a successful theatre company – management, grant writing, artistic direction, non-profit theatre startups, and entrepreneurship, all focused on women in leadership roles.
• A year of sharing the company’s most popular and signature works with the theatre’s community. This will involve showcasing productions that have been touring for 15 or more years, as well as those projects more recently created through workshops and seminars.  The company will partner and collaborate with specific community organizations when presenting this celebratory work.
• Opportunities to broaden the work geographically and to collaborate and partner with a wider range of organizations. While many of the productions’ themes have revolved around past and current issues related to Greensboro and North Carolina, others have been more universal in nature, addressing topics such as civil rights and sexual harassment. This provides opportunities for Touring Theatre to partner more widely with state and national organizations in creating new productions and advancing mutual concerns.

Touring Theatre was born and raised in Greensboro. This city, its people and its communities – YOU – have been the artistic laboratory from which the company’s work has evolved, and you have been an integral part of this theatre’s success. It is the hope of our Founder, our Staff, our Board and many of our ardent supporters that you will give generously now at this very crucial time of transition to support our Legacy Fund.  Now is the time—the time for you to honor Brenda and her legacy, and to help in ensuring that the important and relevant work of this unique company continues.  There are still many North Carolina authors to celebrate in adaptations, many local commemorations to observe through original staging, and many broad issues to deal with through thought-provoking productions.

Let’s keep it going!

Sincerly,
Touring Theatre Board of Trustee’s and Executive Director