Actor, director and Army veteran Ben Grimes saw a need that theater could fill.
"We believe theater can be used to transform lives, bring attention to social issues and make our community better," reads part of the mission statement for Riverside Actors Theatre, which Grimes officially launched last week. "Riverside Actors Theatre is theater with a purpose — to heal, to connect and to serve."
"This is the evolution of a passion project for me," Grimes explains. "Theater as a vehicle for addressing societal issues, and in particular, to explore PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and the reintegration of veterans after serving in combat. To see how a community can welcome them back in, to tell their stories, to explore, vicariously through theater, their emotions, feelings."
Grimes is building this professional theater ensemble on the platform of "The Breach," a veteran-run organization that brings theater artists and veterans together to strengthen the emotional resources they need to overcome trauma and reintegration concerns.
He began exploring drama therapy while a student at the Clinton School for Public Service, where he enrolled after 16 years in the U.S. Army and the National Guard, which included two combat tours in Iraq.
Beyond just veterans' issues, Grimes says the idea is to "broaden the tent to include trauma" of all kinds, including, but not limited to, domestic violence, racial violence, marginalization and treatment groups that feel systemically oppressed, facing the death of a loved one.
Right now, Grimes says, their first priority is obtaining rights to various plays. The first production on the slate, with a target of September or October: "Ugly Lies the Bone" by Lindsey Ferrentino, focusing on a woman badly burned and emotionally scarred while serving in Afghanistan who, returning to her Florida hometown, must figure out how to heal and reintegrate into the community. Surprisingly, says Grimes, the play isn't as grim as it sounds. "It has many funny moments," he notes.
The goal is to stage three productions in Riverside's first season, with five or six in seasons to come. Actors will be paid and Grimes says they'll be cast mostly locally, but he also hopes to create a "homecoming" space for Arkansas actors who have moved away to work and pass along their talents.
The productions will initially be small, intimate shows for what Grimes says is "multiple reasons" — it's easier for a fledgling company to compensate a smaller cast, for example — and in small venues. The five-year plan involves eventually acquiring a permanent space of its own.
Grimes expects funding to come initially from individuals; "it would be phenomenal to get some corporate sponsorships." Riverside has already acquired 501(c)3 tax status, so donations are tax-deductible. Eventually, once the group is up and running and has a couple of productions under its belt, it'll be possible to apply for grants from arts, theater and veterans organizations.
Grimes started out as a professional actor, working regionally, then moved to New York, "and to tell you how well my career was going, I joined the Army" in 2006, he quips. He initially figured he'd serve four years, long enough to get health-care coverage and use the G.I. Bill to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree. (His sheepskin from the Clinton School: a master's in public service.)
He has directed two shows for Argenta Community Theater — "Our Town," which recently closed, and "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 2019, where he has performed in several shows, including a turn as Bob Cratchit in the theater's 2018 production of "A Christmas Carol."
More information on Riverside is available at the website, riversideactorstheatre.org.