Solid Lines Productions

As more changes come to Solid Lines Productions so that we can better serve you and our beloved St. Louis community, we will be looking for members to join our team.

Small, non-profit theatre company seeking a part-time Artistic Director. This is, initially, an unpaid position, with room for growth and development. BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years of collective theatre experience, experience Directing at least 2 shows, determination and drive to bring theatre experiences to new audiences, and proven investment in social justice, diversity and equity in the theatre community and the community at large. Education in Performing Arts preferred, but not required. Please send a Letter of Interest and resume’ to [email protected].

Job Title: Artistic Director
General Job Description: Under the guidance of the Board of Directors, the Artistic Director is responsible for creating and implementing theatrical productions that are reflective of our diverse community, as well as community engagement to promote Solid Lines Productions.
Essential Functions: Initially, The Artistic Director is a part-time, unpaid position that reports directly to the Board of Directors. Responsibilities include exploring, developing and securing production opportunities for Solid Lines Productions that reflect the diversity of our community and the breadth of human experience, auditioning and coordinating cast members, directing (or overseeing direction) of these performances, and serving as a positive influence in promoting equity in the theatre community and the community at large.
Duties and Responsibilities:
*Create a safe work environment, free of duress, exploitation, coercion or abuse, and ensure that everyone feels safe, welcome and valued.
*Research, identify and secure performance rights to scripts that highlight diverse populations and emphasize the richness and joy of cultural differences.
*Advertise for, audition, hire and oversee diverse casts that promote equity and inclusion.
*Serve as a role model for diversity, equity and inclusion in St. Louis theatre.
*Serve as a liaison with the community, interacting with community leaders and members to develop partnerships and understanding of how Solid Lines Productions can better serve the community.
*Engage in regular communication with the Board of Directors for current status, needs, and opportunities to grow.
Key Competencies:
*Effective communication, in verbal and written form
*Self-motivation, with a desire to learn and grow
*Ability to Direct performances, as well as to support others in taking on Directing roles
*Ability to engage in respectful, assertive communication, with individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences
*Create a work environment where all members are heard, respected and included
*Organizational and leadership skills to carry out the functions of this position
Qualifications: At least 3 years of collective theatre experience, and Directing experience of at least 2 shows. Education in Performing Arts preferred.

Email [email protected] with a cover letter and an attached resume

As more changes come to Solid Lines Productions so that we can better serve you and our beloved St. Louis community, we will be going dark and taking some time off to better develop and implement a strategic plan. To that end, there is the possibility of production for what would normally be our 2021-2022 season, but no guarantee. We also want to come back with a much stronger website, and so we will be dismantling our current website and replacing it with a superior website. So if you go there, don't be alarmed if the website is no longer present!

We will remain active here on our page, provide updates here as well, and when we return with a new and improved website, you can expect to find us right back at www.solidlinesproductions.com. Thanks for sticking with us; we cannot wait to share the exciting things to come with y'all!

Solid Lines Productions | Together, We Can Do More Opening of MY INFINITE SADNESS! Darrious Varner's MY INFINITE SADNESS Opens on Saturday Evening! Our production of Darrious Varner's MY INFINITE SADNESS will open this upcoming Saturday night, June 19th.! The reading will be posted to our YouTube channel on Saturday night at 7pm CST. It will be... R...

A message from Executive Director Christopher LaBanca:

Over the past seven years, Solid Lines Productions has grown in ways I never could have predicted when I founded the company upon moving to St. Louis. We spent four consecutive years collecting monetary and in-kind donations for St. Martha’s Hall, a shelter for women and children who survived domestic and sexual violence. We raised over $1000 for NAMI St. Louis to support their free mental health workshops for folks who are struggling with mental health, as well as the friends and family in their support network in a single team NAMIWalk. We have connected so many communities with so many resources: such as the student who saw our reading of BOY GETS GIRL, realized she was in an abusive relationship, and asked for help from the counselors present at the performance; counselors who got her to a safe place that very night. Such as when we hosted 100+ students at our very first performance of our very first production, EXTREMITIES, at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, and engaged in difficult and necessary conversation about domestic and sexual violence prevention. Such as the plethora of educational programming that has sprung up over the last 3 years at the UMSL College of Nursing, at their request, to train nurse practitioner students how to confront implicit bias, identify victims of human trafficking, and identify signs of domestic or sexual violence.

I have decided to resign my post as Executive Director of Solid Lines Productions. It’s time for someone else to take the wheel and guide this incredible company to heights that I never could. I will be helping our extraordinary board of directors with the transition in seeking new leadership and I look forward to the new chapter of this story. I sincerely hope you’ll stick around for it because it’s the next chapter of a story that you helped write, and we need you in order to continue the story!

I want to express my gratitude to just a couple of people here before I scoot out of the way and make room for someone else. I sincerely thank our Board of Directors, but especially those who have been on the board since the beginning, and are still here seven years later: Kathy Farache and Carla Landis Evans. I am so fortunate to have met them so soon after landing here in St. Louis; both of these women and their families have become my family, too. Every member of this board has given generously, selflessly, thoughtfully, and endlessly. If you know any of these extraordinary individuals, I hope you’ll thank them too for all they’ve done! I need to thank the Executive Creative Council, who have also volunteered their time, insight, and energy to make Solid Lines Productions even more than the dream I envisioned. They have championed our guest directors since we began hiring them. They have had input into every single season of play titles since our second of seven seasons. They have shaped this organization more than anyone outside the company could ever know, and they’ve done it again and again. They are a boon not just to Solid Lines Productions, but to the entire artistic community here in St. Louis.

I would be shamefully remiss if I did not thank Susan Kopp and Maria Straub-David, our Developer of Educational Programming and Director of Operations. Without their leadership these past several years, more than half of what we’ve accomplished never would’ve gotten off the ground. Specifically our major fundraiser, That’s What She Said!, never could have gotten us this far without Maria. And our educational programming never could have grown so big that we were the subject of a research article published in Nurse Education Today regarding the value we and theatre have brought to the students at the UMSL College of Nursing without the tremendous effort and considerable genius of Susan Kopp. And on a personal level, both Susan and Maria have been incredibly kind and supportive friends; if you’re fortunate enough to know them, you know that’s an understatement.

Finally, I want to thank the people who have molded me into the person I’ve become; without them, I never would’ve started the company or come this far. I firmly believe that to do the work we’ve done at Solid Lines Productions, one must live the values we espouse, and I try to do that on a daily basis thanks to the following people. I grew up in a family that taught me to value and love other people; they raised me to express that value and love. I owe my parents, Annette and Joseph, as well as my brother Joseph, a debt of gratitude I can never repay. But they’ve gifted me with tools I can use to pay all of those lessons forward in thought, word, and action. I owe my one-time teacher and mentor, Dr. Randy Kaplan, for teaching me how to wield this craft in a way that serves others. She taught me how to do it with dignity, integrity, and skill; I never could have entered this profession without her, much less developed my aspirations of community service. And at the end of the day, I owe my wife and my son all the love and time in the world. Kristina and Eli have taught me so much about so much, and they have reflected the value of the work I’ve done for the past seven years back at me every single day.

I extend my gratitude to each of you reading this for your grace, your dedication, your curiosity, your kindness, and the countless other gifts you have shared with us whenever you walked in the door to one of our performances or workshops. For seven years, I have implored you to “join the conversation,” and y’all have. I’ve shared so many shows with you from the stage, and now I look forward to sharing them with you from the audience in years to come.

When there is more information to share with you about Solid Lines Productions moving forward, it will be shared enthusiastically! As always, we'll be keeping you posted!

Yours, with the sincerest gratitude,

Chris LaBanca

Excited to finally share opening night of Mr. Darrious Varner's MY INFINITE SADNESS with y'all, featuring Jaz Tucker and Jeremy Schnelt, with Ben Ritchie reading stage directions! It'll be up until 10pm CST this evening, and then back tomorrow afternoon, as well as Thursday and Friday evenings of next week. Celebrate Juneteenth with us by watching MY INFINITE SADNESS for free!

Darrious Varner's MY INFINITE SADNESS Solid Lines Productions is proud to present a reading of Mr. Darrious Varner's MY INFINITE SADNESS! Directed by Mr. Varner, this reading features Jaz Tucker ...