Behind The Red Door: Theater, Creativity, Innovation!

Five actors, hailing from Britain, France, Holland, and the Island of Martinique found each other in NYC and then founded the red-hot theater company, Red Door.

“The way we choose our productions is by finding what’s important to us, what’s vulnerable, what’s exciting, what’s like a treasure you want to open and give to people,” says Isabella Candillier, who founded the Red Door Productions theater group, along with Ana Radice-Morras, Violet Levinson, Roxane Pes, and Carolina Buhck.

Aside from international upbringings, their collective backgrounds include training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

According to Levinson, the classmates decided to start the company because “very much in this industry, you’ve got to make opportunities.”

Their “aha moment” that their partnership was the right decision came after their very first production.

Radice-Morras says, “Seeing how well it had gone made us think, ‘Right, this is it. We’ve got to keep going.” Levinson agrees. “It gave us the confidence to be self-starters,” to which Radice-Morras adds, “That’s actually a quality that all five of us have. We’re go-getters. We want to get out and make it happen. That’s what really drew us to each other. We definitely had the same mission: to put on amazing plays, ones that really spoke to us as artists.”

The group’s first play, performed last April, was Up Down Strange Charmed Beauty and Truth. It sold out.

Candillier explains, “We wanted to be together on stage, do this ensemble, and include the experience of being a woman and pull from what that means.”

Hence, Red Door’s next effort was Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, directed by fellow founder Pes.

Recently, the company produced Sitting Around Baker’s Table—two one-act plays showcasing the work of the late, renowned New York playwright Edward Allen Baker.

The two sharply contrasting works, Face Divided and A Dead Man’s Apartment, were directed by Kirsten Russell and Marcel Simoneau, respectively.

Both seasoned professionals reflected on their specific sold-out performances. “It’s really getting specific about small moments that are very, very important to the storytelling that the writer has created,” explained Russell. “I needed to really have the actors feel safe and protected. What happens then is they become freer.”

Simoneau had a similar take. “Make it feel safe, push them out of their comfort zone, then anchor them individually and then with each other. Hopefully, the takeaway for the actors was fearlessness—of trying things, of taking their space, and now implement that into this job.”

Josh Cromwell, who’s currently studying at Strasberg, calls working with Red Door as the male lead in Face Divided, both inspiring and confidence-boosting. “I was really impressed with their work. Watching them lit a fire in me. I got to learn so much, just seeing the impact they have on people. The number of doors we were able to push through because [the five women] are just relentless in the best way. I don’t know many people who can pull this off, and so gracefully.”

In New York, talent and drive are admirable—and necessary, but how does an emerging, independent theater company get theater goers in the seats?

“We’re building our audience through word of mouth,” says Levinson. “The more plays we’re doing, the more people are following our work.”

“We’ve just closed our third production,” Radice-Morras adds. “We’ve got two more in pre-production, one written by Carolina [Buhck]. We’re very much treating this as not only a passionate experience, but something that we’re really growing.”

Growth, though, requires funding.

“You can imagine that there’s a lot of outreach,” laughs Candillier. “That’s what’s great about such a big group. We’ve got five people who can get their entire communities to take part. Says Levinson, “We have a project coming up in June, and we’re reaching out to a theater foundation to help back us.”

“And because [performances] are selling out,” adds Radice-Morras, “we are making money from ticket sales, which is really exciting.”

Levinson summed up with, “What’s so beautiful about New York is that it’s got such a rich theater scene. We’ve felt very supported. It’s really touching.”

As the company celebrates its first anniversary, the founders shared their thoughts on how they would define their success.

“I’m so proud of us. We sold out and got standing ovations,” says Levinson. “People at the end of our shows were saying, ‘You’ve reminded me of someone or something in my life.’ That feels like success.” Radice-Morras sees it as, “Being able to touch people and having them leave our productions having cried, laughed, or felt nostalgic. Touching people to that core. And we’ve been doing that, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Candillier had a different point of view. “You see all the Oscars and award shows. A lot of people deem that as success in the world of acting. I think it’s this community being formed. Having fun in your job. Going to work every day and relishing it. That is what my benchmark of success is.”

Future audiences who attend their productions will not only experience an evening of great theater but also understand what sets this company apart. Radice-Morras says, “The style of plays is a lot more about the subtlety, the quiet moments. That’s really our priority—relationships, family, friendships; deep themes.”

Says Levinson, “We touch on universal truths. All our plays are very real, truthful, and honest.”

While Candillier states, “What draws us apart is this sisterhood. It’s a privilege in this world to be able to create with women and to be free in that. We recognize it, and we do everything we can with it.”

No wonder audiences are beating a path to their Red Door.

For more information about Red Door Productions, visit their Instagram @red_doorproductions.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl, a regular literary and entertainment contributor to Straus News, is the author of the novel “The Last Single Woman In New York City.”