Meet the masterminds behind edgy theater troupe Playground Theatre
Jenna Valyn and Christopher Hahn are partners in life, arts.
Partners in life and the arts, Jenna Valyn and Christopher Hahn have become bold theatrical game-changers thanks to the creation of their millennialfocused Playground Theatre, a troupe devoted to edgy and raw contemporary works.
Since its inception in 2014, Playground Theatre has shaken up the local arts scene with an impactful and riveting punch on par with off-Broadway venues such as MCC Theatre, the significant home of many premieres by playwright Neil LaBute, and Fault Line Theatre, co-founded by Miami University graduate Aaron Rossini.
Past productions have soared on the strengths of powerful, noholds-barred acting and directing, the ability to pull the audience into the action with a moodsetting Spotify soundtrack, and making the most of the wonderful intimacy inherent to the Schuster Center’s black box Mathile Theatre, the company’s home since 2015.
Valyn, 31, and Hahn, 27, respectively grew up in Huber Heights and Bellbrook and graduated from Wayne and Carroll high schools. Both are acting alums of Sinclair Community College, memorably appearing together in “Almost, Maine.” Valyn’s credits include “Little Shop of Horrors” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” Hahn was seen in “The Crucible” and “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged.” For Playground, the duo notably co-starred in the marvelous 2016 production of “Reasons To Be Pretty.” Hahn can soon be seen in Playground’s season opener “Tape,” a dark tale slated Oct. 19-22 directed by Valyn.
Here’s your chance to get to know this partnership better.
What do you love the most about Dayton’s arts scene?
The arts scene here is killer. It is so vibrant and versatile and it just keeps expanding. There is really something for everyone here. We especially love how
many new theater companies have come on the scene in the last couple of years. We are so glad we can be a part of this new development and we hope to continue to see massive amounts of growth and innovation in the Dayton Arts scene. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be in Dayton!
What prompted your creation of Playground Theatre? Is it molded after other theaters you’ve seen or been a part of elsewhere?
We have been inspired in some way by every theater we have had the honor to work with or attend as an audience member. Growing up in such a thriving theatre scene in Dayton was a blessing because we were exposed to all different types of theatre. From the touring companies at the Schuster Center and Victoria Theatre to the productions at Human Race and Dayton Theatre Guild, they all inspired us in different ways and made us fall in love with theater.
Being exposed to all of these theaters helped us to form an artistic opinion and cultivate our own personal style. Sinclair especially inspired us immensely. Our professors taught us so much about professionalism and how much work it takes to succeed in this industry. We remember our professor, Brian McKnight, telling us that we have to eat, sleep and breathe this craft. A lesson that we didn’t truly understood until we started this company.
However, we must admit, the beginnings of The Playground came about when we were studying and working in Chicago. The theater scene in Chicago is massive and the type of theater we experienced while there was very different from anything we had experienced in Dayton. The material was contemporary and edgy. Theaters were filled with young professionals who would rather see a show than a movie, and the productions were presented in a raw, intimate and hypernaturalistic way that we had never experienced before.
We were amazed at how visceral this type of theater was, as opposed to presentational. The acting was so honest, we would forget we were watching a play and instead felt like we were peering into people’s lives. The closeness to the performers and realistic acting made us feel like we were watching a film on stage.
Ultimately, this style of theater sparked our desire to start The Playground. We wanted to bring these kinds of contemporary plays and this type of visceral style back to Dayton so we could affect people that way the shows in Chicago affected us and get new audiences engaged with theater.
What are your hopes as Playground Theatre continues to evolve?
Where to begin…
The ultimate dream, at least for the near future, is to have our very own storefront theater space in downtown Dayton, very much in the same vein as the storefront theaters in Chicago.
We want to create a whimsical-meets-industrial Playground space equipped with swings hanging from the ceilings, awesome painted murals, and our signature black brick wall.
Having our own place would give us the ability to have five to six show seasons and monthlong runs, offer ongoing acting training, and even host events! It would give us the opportunity to truly grow and sustain our organization.
A not-so shameless plug … we are literally looking for the space described above right now. After this season we will need a place to call home, so if you are reading this and you want to help, get a hold of us!
Beyond the immediate dream of a permanent space, we obviously want to continue to grow Playground artistically. We already have an incredible group of Playground Artists (what we call our resident artists) and we hope this group continues to expand.
We hope to continue to provide the community with highquality, entertaining and emotionally resonating work. Additionally, we want to give artists opportunities to improve their craft and challenge them to do their best work, all while providing them with compensation.
To that end, our goal with each and every Playground production is to make it our best production yet.
In what ways would you like to see Dayton’s arts scene improve?
We would love to see more people, especially younger generations, coming out to the theater. Unfortunately, so many Daytonians have a negative opinion of theater. They may have had a bad experience and this has kept them from coming back. We would challenge these people to check out the different theaters in the Dayton area. We all bring something unique and different to the table and they may find themselves changing their minds.
It’s always exciting to meet an audience member who has never seen theatre before. We would love to see this number grow!
What inspires you about Dayton?
The people. Dayton is like The Little Engine That Could, thanks to the passion of the people who live, work, and play here. We are a city of fighters who refuse to give up. Dayton is filled with innovators and entrepreneurs who are working so hard to improve this city because they truly believe in it. It seems like every day we hear about a new business or arts organization popping up, or we hear about a business who has already laid down roots here, continuing to makes waves, which is absolutely amazing! The people of Dayton love it here and genuinely want to see the city become the best it can be.
For more information, visit theplaygroundtheatre.org.