New Theatre Company Launches in Houston This Summer

Local artist Andrew Roblyer has announced the launch of The Octarine Accord, a new theatre and production company focusing on reckless kindness and speculative fiction.

"I've been in and around the Houston theatre community for over a decade, and have been looking for ways to augment, not compete with, the incredible work already being done here," Roblyer said. "I fell in love with theatre at the same time I was falling in love with science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of speculative fiction. Those kind of stories get told on stage, but not enough."

The company's name is inspired by late fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett in his Discworld book, The Colour of Magic: "It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a servant of the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself."

In addition to speculative fiction, The Octarine Accord is founded on a core value of reckless kindness. "Reckless kindness is the willingness to put kindness first, even when the wisdom of our world (or our industry) suggests that we shouldn't; including kindness to ourselves," Roblyer says. "This will affect everything we do: Auditions. Rehearsals. Payment. Marketing. Every single thing that has just "always been that way," examined through the lens of reckless kindness. That's our mission."

The Octarine Accord is the most recent venture by Roblyer, who founded and ran the first-ever professional theatre company in Bryan/College Station, TX for five years from 2013-2018, and has advised multiple theatre company startups around the country.

The first major project The Octarine Accord will produce is The Honeycomb Trilogy by Mac Rogers. Made up of three parts, Advance Man, Blast Radius, and Sovereign, it tells the story of an alien invasion of earth over the course of 20 years, all from the perspective of the same living room. This epic story primarily follows two siblings, Ronnie Cooke and her younger brother Abbie Cooke, and chronicles a primal conflict - at once intimate and global - that will redefine the nature of the human race.

The Octarine Accord will produce all three parts in rep from July 29-August 13 at the MATCH, and will offer Binge Days on Saturdays and Sundays to allow audiences a chance to see all three parts in a single day as well as Flex Passes to allow audiences to see the three parts on days of their choosing. Each part can be seen as a standalone show as well.
The production is funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, and The Octarine Accord has launched a Kickstarter to raise the remaining funds to ensure the production's success, offering exclusive perks to those who are willing to back the project.

"I like using Kickstarter to fund because it means that we have skin in the game as a company; if we don't meet our goal, we don't get any of the money," Roblyer says. "We are essentially making a bet that Houston wants to see stories like this on stage. We think they'll back us."

Nearly 50 artists currently make up the cast and creative team for the project. The cast of Advance Man includes Terrance Simon as Bill, Joneé Lewis as Amelia, Jhazmin Carter as Ronnie, Tobaric Atkins-Montana as Abbie, Jordan Umphries as Belinda, Magdalen Vaughn as Valerie, Scott Searles as Raf, Blake Weir as Conor, Sammi Sicinski as Lynn, and Patrick Barton as Kip.

Blast Radius, set 12 years after part one, features Joneé Lewis returning as Amelia and Blake Weir returning as Conor. Joining them are Grace Ojionuka as Ronnie, Anthony Quinn Berry as Abbie, Sean Burns as Peck, Anjana Menon as Shirley, Autumn Hart as Clem, Devin Ashley Whitten as Fee, Brynn White as Jimmy, Chris Szeto-Joe as Dev, Anna Flynn as Willa, and Jeana Magallon as Tash.

Part three, Sovereign is set 8 years after part 2 and features returning actors Grace Ojionuka as Ronnie, Anthony Quinn Berry as Abbie, and Devin Ashley Whitten as Fee. Rounding out the cast are Jeffrey Villines as Zander, Helen Rios as Tanya, Cat Thomas as Claret, Efren Calderon as Sharp, Iman Shakur as Wilkie, and Seth Carter Ramsey as Budeen.

The creative team includes assistant directors Brenda Palestina (Advance Man), Sloane Teagle (Blast Radius), and Michelle Sosa (Sovereign), production manager Mandy Mershon, scenic designer Lee O Barker, stage managers Jessica Cooper and Ashley Galan, prop designer Sam Martinez, costume designers Chaney Moore (Advance Man) and Ricky Martinez (Blast Radius, Sovereign), lighting designer Erika Ubias, documentarians Elissa Cuellar and Jeana Magallon, fight choreographer Katrina Ellsworth, intimacy director Whitney Zangarine, dramaturg Elizabeth Keel, administrative manager Joe Hartsoe, and graphic designer Angela Pinina.

To stay up to date with The Octarine Accord, visit their website at www.theoctarineaccord.com where you can back the kickstarter and sign up for their mailing list to be the first to hear when tickets are available for the epic sci-fi theatre event of the summer!

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