Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Schweigert.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up playing just about every sport you can play in Cherokee County, but my two favorites were Soccer and Hockey. I loved the camaraderie, practices, games, tournaments, and most of all, the competition. It feels narcissistic to say, but I was really good at both. I wouldn’t say I had a bright future in either, but you never know. When I was 12 years old, I started noticing that playing both sports was becoming much more difficult. After a soccer match, I’d spend the rest of the weekend lying down because my legs were in so much pain. I didn’t really understand why this wasn’t happening to everyone else on the team.
When I was 13 years old, I was diagnosed with a degenerative form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis. Obviously, the rheumatologist said it was a bad idea to continue playing sports. When you’re 13 years old, and most of your identity is tied to a hockey stick and a pair of Umbro cleats, you don’t listen to your doctor. I continued to push myself and play through the pain, but I only lasted one more season. Going into high school, I didn’t know what to do with all of this spare time and pretty quickly became depressed. I got my first C on a report card in school (granted, it was Biology. Shit’s hard, fam) because I was unhappy and didn’t feel like focusing on the work. 9th grade was garbage.
10th grade rolls around, and I’m desperate for an extracurricular activity. I was taking drama as my required art’s elective because I heard you got to watch movies in class. During the fall semester, my drama teacher Mr. Parker informed us of auditions for ANATOMY OF GRAY, by Jim Leonard Jr. (absolutely no relation to the hospital drama. Promise). A friend of mine in the class went to the first night of auditions and told me I should come, too. I grew up in Cherokee County in the mid-2000’s. To me (embarrassingly), theatre and art were “gay.” I told him there’s no way I’d audition, but the following morning, he told me he had a blast at auditions and that I should come to the second night. I figured, what the heck. What’s the worst that can happen?
I was cast in my first (well, second if you count ELFIS in the 4th grade) play. I played Homer, the town goofball that loved drinking soda. It was the first time in 2 years I knew what I wanted to be doing. I dove headfirst into the theatre at that point. I was in every show I could possibly be in the rest of my time at Sequoyah High School. After graduating, I attended Kennesaw State University, where I received a Bachelor of the Arts in Theatre & Performance Studies. It’s also where I met my wife. So, y’know, go Owls. Following that, I was a part of Aurora Theatre’s Acting Apprenticeship in 2014-2015.
The apprenticeship at Aurora Theatre was a turning point for me because it was where I received my first professional acting credits. I was introduced to what seemed like the entire Atlanta theatre community in that year. I learned what professionalism looked like, and what it took to make a living in this crazy business. I got my feet wet directing my senior year at KSU, and continued that training with one of my mentors, Justin Anderson. Toward the end of the apprenticeship, I start realizing I wanted to focus on creating a future for myself directing in Atlanta.
Following the apprenticeship, Aurora launched the first AppCo Alumni Series. It’s an amazing program they have that gives past apprentices the ability to produce their own work in their studio space. In 2016, I and a group of my would-be co-founders produced A NEW BRAIN as part of the Alumni Series. This was my first time directing a fully-produced work. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. And it was GOOD. Like, better than it had any right to be. Especially for a bunch of young theatre professionals who had never produced anything at that level before.
We knew we wanted to do this again, and we wanted it to be something bigger. That “something bigger” is what turned into Zero Circle Theatre Company. Zero Circle was born at our dinner table. Our group would get together Sunday mornings, and talk about the future. What we wanted to do, and how we wanted to do it. We feel like the sheer number of performers in Atlanta just doesn’t match the performance opportunities. We wanted to build a space for young artists to be able to create. We wanted to bring together a company of storytellers and celebrate the joy in our city. With the help of Aurora Theatre, we were able to do just that.
This past July, we opened Zero Circle’s first show – LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, a musical based on the play. 8 months of hard work, 24 artists, 34 donors, 470 audience members later, and Zero Circle is just getting started. We are finalizing plans for this fall, and are working on solidifying our production schedule for 2019. We are thrilled about the future, and can’t wait to share our next endeavors!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In my own journey, I’ve definitely had my fair share of bumps. My biggest struggle has been my health. When I first started getting into the arts I didn’t expect my body would get in my way. I pretty quickly realized I underestimated the physical demand that performance requires, especially with musicals. In college, I hoped to become a stronger dancer so that I could make myself more marketable as a multi-talented artist. I took a Musical Theatre dance class that was required for that part of the major but had to drop it after my first class. My body just couldn’t handle the physical exertion needed to learn the craft. I was already walking to class with my cane, so dancing on the mat was a bit out of the cards.
As I entered the professional world of theatre, I had trouble adjusting to the rigorous rehearsal processes. Luckily, I’ve been able to work with directors that understand my limitations. However, I’ve found that it has severely limited my availability for a pretty large number of shows done in Atlanta. I think that’s one of the main reasons I always gravitated toward directing. I love this art form so much, and it takes all types of people to tell these stories.
In Zero Circle’s journey, there have been a few bumps — not nearly as many as I expected, thankfully. Our biggest struggles have been not having a space to call our own, and a lack of funding. The team we’ve built, and the artists we’ve surrounded ourselves with, have made the process of starting our own Theatre Company an exhilarating. One of our first goals was to have the ability to pay everyone involved in LLL. We launched an IndieGogo campaign and found a show sponsor in IFLYAJET, Inc. Something we all believe at Zero Circle is that everyone’s time and art is valuable. The Atlanta community and IFLYAJET, Inc. helped us realize that goal. Because of them, we were able to provide a stipend to all artists involved. Our long-term goal is that we no longer require crowdfunding for our next projects. So, if you’re a business owner or just have a ton of money lying around and are looking for a young theatre company to invest in, give me a call! No plans on a space just yet, but we are hoping to continually find partnerships around the Atlanta area.
Please tell us about Zero Circle Theatre Company.
Zero Circle Theatre Company is comprised of 6 individuals – Myself, Rose Alexander, Daniel Hilton, Caty Bergmark, Elliott Folds & Sydney Lee. Zero Circle’s mission is to provide Atlanta artists the opportunity to engage in communal conversation by incubating unique experiences. We value the diversity of stories and artists to better facilitate growth within this community. We believe in equality and inclusivity across every aspect of the process of making theatre and in celebrating joy in all things, onstage and off. The name Zero Circle comes from a poem by Rumi. In his poem he says,
“So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Besides ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness.”
From the onset of this company, we have been lucky enough to be helped by several miraculous beings. Their artful collaborations have helped make what we’ve done so far bright, and our future brighter. This is just the beginning of Zero Circle. We don’t know what’ll happen next, but we can’t wait to see you there.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Listen, I did the Dirty Bird with Jamal Anderson in front of the entire team when U.S. Play was still a thing. My brother thought the Dirty Bird was done one way, I thought it was done another! Because I was 7 years old and loved being the center of attention, I walked right up to him and asked: “Who is right, me or Will?”
Of course, I was right. If only a YouTube were a thing in 1998, I’d have been viral as hell.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zerocircletheatre.weebly.com/
- Email: info@zerocircletheatre.com
- Instagram: @zerocircletheatre
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zerocircletheatre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/zerocircleatl
Image Credit:
Casey Gardner, BreeAnne Clowdus
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