Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture

The mission of CATAC is:

To establish a forum for community engagement and educational outreach through collaboration with emerging and established artists and the creation, production and presentation of a diverse array of theatre, music, dance, and exhibitions that affirms the intrinsic value of all cultures and explores the transformative power of the arts for the greater Akron community. CATAC seeks to provide a home base for the research and performances of New World Performance Laboratory and nurture emerging local artists and those of international reputation creating new work and experimenting with new forms of expression.

CATAC’s aims are:

1) To establish a multi-use, multi-programmatic community cultural center that will serve the greater Akron community;

2) To create performances, exchange and training opportunities for students, artists, theatre practitioners, scholars, and others;

3) To offer educational outreach to the surrounding community through ongoing classes designed for diverse populations;

4) To expand the knowledge and practice of performance and to investigate the theatre’s possibilities to affect cultural change;

5) To maintain and enhance the international reputation of Akron as a center of performance innovation and research;

6) To improve understanding of human diversity and the creative act and to promote public comprehension of a wide spectrum of performance forms and techniques.