Bay Area Plays.com

Karin Richey doesn’t believe in failure, only growth.

“My motto is you win or you learn; there’s no such thing as lose.”

That speaks massively to her character and vision, as she and her allies fight to keep theater alive and thriving in the East Bay, where theaters are nowhere near as plentiful as they should be. 

Seven years ago, Richey’s quixotic vision was met with a heavy dose of skepticism. In particular, she made a blunt discovery when she visited a popular radio show as a guest to talk about her fledgling company, Castro Valley’s Plethos Productions. 

“(The host) said, I expected you to be so much older, but it makes sense that you would be so young, because you must be so naive to think that you could do something like this,” Richey recalled with a peeved annoyance, in her early 30s when she received the backhanded compliment. “People would definitely tell me you can’t have a diverse theater in Castro Valley. You’re gonna have nothing but white people. What are you gonna do with that? But I’m definitely that person that’s like, I know what I want, and I will relentlessly pursue it until it comes into fruition.”

Richey (whose first name is pronounced kuh-RIN) has to bring to the table two schools of thought to her venture, as most theater companies nowadays must do. The first is crafting a vision with artistry as the hallmark. The second is funds, and how to raise lots of them in order to apply that artistry. 

To that end, Richey and her team’s latest project has much more to do with continuing to build a strong sense of theater community amongst the Bay Area’s diverse theater artists. “Camp Monologa,” a playful adaptation of the word monologue, is a sort of weekend theater retreat for those who engage and love making theater, kicking off Friday through Sunday, July 26 – 28. There is camping, sing-a-longs, panels, collaboration time and general revelry and community, described by the company as a “Comic Con for theatre nerds.” The three-day event will be spread out amongst the lush grounds at Heirloom East Bay in Castro Valley. 

The gathering is constructed as both an enrichment opportunity and a fundraiser for Plethos. In the seven years of the company’s existence, a dedicated space has eluded them, despite their climb in artistry, degree of difficulty in the shows they produce, and general growth which now features a board of directors, of which Richey is president. 

She is bullish on what the possibilities could be, which has much to do with why she started Plethos in the first place. 

“I did have that thought of going and directing for a company that already exists, but that wouldn’t allow me to think about the diversity and inclusion, representation, the picking of shows, the leadership and the community I wanted to create. That doesn’t happen by me just popping up and directing one show for a theater. It happens from the ground up.”

That fertile ground is starting to show some serious growth past just the planted seeds, and a dedicated space is within the company’s grasp. With the cost restrictions in the Bay Area being what they are for companies big and small, a space in downtown Hayward, which will be made available soon, could be the elixir that keeps the company alive and thriving for the foreseeable future. And with the disappearance of longtime Hayward company the Douglas Morrison Theatre, which became a casualty of the pandemic with no return in sight, the work of companies like Plethos are critical to fill the artistic void as companies figure out their place in a post-pandemic arts ecosystem.

As of right now, Richey has all her ducks in a row to get that void filled, but with more fundraising, which will be supplemented by Camp Monologa and programming that includes popular comedy shows and other projects, that dream of a space can be cemented. That space would place the company in prime position to serve as the premiere theater space in the tri-city area. And if Richey’s vision continues to thrive, rest assured she and her company will continue to elevate others in the true spirit of collaboration.  

“When I first started Plethos, I really believed that we are about creating community. We’re about bringing people together, throwing down casting barriers of traditional casting and creating a theater that looks like the community in which it exists.”

To get more information on Camp Monologa, click here
To contribute to the Plethos fundraiser to help them obtain a new space, click here
Plethos Productions website