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Its primary connection to Dallas Center is that many of those involved, including the founder, grew up in Dallas Center.
"The 'heart' of Tallgrass is myself (artistic director) and James Stephenson (technical director)," said artistic director Jessie Phillips. "We also have an eight member board of directors who meet monthly to help determine the direction of the company."
It all started when these two UNI classmates started to talk about their hopes for life post-college. They discovered they were a good mix as partners and that both wanted to stay in Iowa, though many in their class had gone on, or planned to, start their own theatres in New York.
"We had discussed wanting to do the same in the Midwest," said Phillips. "Several years after graduation, when separate 'life' events brought both James and I to the Des Moines area, we decided to pursue our dream here."
Founded as a corporation in 2003, Tallgrass received nonprofit status soon thereafter and also enjoys the support of its many donors and patrons - many of whom also live in the Dallas Center area.
"The majority of our donors are people with personal connections to Tallgrass," she said. "Either they are Dallas Center residents, friends or family of the board members, or friends or family of people who have been in or worked on productions," she said.
Everyone, whether experienced or not, is welcomed with open arms if they wish to participate in Tallgrass productions in some way, said Phillips.
With this in mind, Tallgrass Theatre's mission has a few main points:
* To appeal to audiences who normally might not patronize the theatre.
* To get people involved in different aspects of the production they might not normally try. One example is that all actors are required to attend at least one work call to help with set, costume and prop construction.
* To work hard prospecting for new, local writers and untried productions.
* To provide educational opportunities to area youth through workshops/productions.
* To serve the entire Des Moines metro area with original, high quality theatre at affordable ticket prices.
* To be open to reading and reviewing scripts (which can also be submitted to info@tallgrasstheatre.org), as well as gathering ideas and scripts to plan the next season. Next season will involve a children's show and the second installment of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, as well as other works.
Another way that Tallgrass breaks the mold is by seeking untried material as well as performers.
"We want to provide an outlet for local talent," said Phillips.
In contrast, a lot of organizations shy away from doing works which aren't established and well-known because new works risk bringing in smaller audiences and less money.
Tallgrass believes otherwise, she said.
"We also feel that we are unique in our desire to do new works by local writers," she said. "'A Light That Burns' will mark Tallgrass' sixth production, and four of those six have involved, at least partially, original scripts by Iowa writers."
Although Dallas Center-Grimes facilities have been used for rehearsals in the past, Phillips said that they are not currently using them, although she left the door open to such collaborations in a future educational program.
Future productions will include "Newsroom," an original comedy which combines live-action and "video elements" and will run May 11-26 at their "home base" of Rex Mathes Auditorium, an entry in July's Iowa Fringe Festival, as well as their inaugural Iowa Playwrights Workshop featuring "A Light That Burns" by Urbandale playwright Erica Spiller. For more information, contact Phillips at info@tallgrasstheatre.org.
"We try to select works which are entertaining," said Phillips.
