Mission
To create vibrant theatre which is innovative, topical, and moving for an audience through daring music, compelling text, and passionately physical theatre.

Tessa Nicholson, Mariko Kaonohi, Takako Iijima, Dafydd James, Katie Melby, and Jason Bohon rehearse the first stages of MYTHED at the London International School of Performing Arts.

Two of the members, Jason Bohon and Katie Melby, were moving to Minneapolis and asked the team if they'd be interested in doing a show at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. The production was a huge success at the 2005 Minnesota Fringe Festival. And people wanted to see more, as one Christof Madsen said:

"Minneapolis would be extremely lucky if this company could remount this show or continue on in our city. A few members of the cast are moving here, so there is a whiff of hope in the air."

Dafydd James teaches Katie Melby
music for MYTHED at the London
International School of Performing Arts.

That following winter, Katie and Jason gathered a  group of Minnesota-based artists to create an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story The Ice Palace for the 2006 St Paul Winter Carnival. It was an appropriate venue since the story took place in the ice palaces of the Winter Carnival in 1922. This production laid the groundwork for a relationship that would continued into 2007 with a wintery adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2007.

The company went on to create and perform shows  in the Minnesota Fringe Festival as well as famous Minneapolis venues, such as Bryant-Lake Bowl Cabaret Theater, The Southern Theater, Minneapolis Theatre Garage, The Red Eye Theater, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. The shows began to travel beyond the Minnesota state borders, traveling to Kansas City Fringe, South Dakota Theatre Festival, and the Edmonton International Fringe. In 2007, 3 Sticks was invited to participate in Five Fifths of Wizard of Oz as a fundraiser for the MN Fringe, and later in 2009 for Five Fifths of Grimm Fairy Tales. This five minute fundraiser sparked a new show idea.

Jason Bohon, Takako Iijima, Katie Melby, Damon Brook, and Jalyn Elyse in the first stages of rehearsal for BORDERLINES.

The Traveling Musicans of Brementown  was 3 Sticks' animal rock musical, which was voted as Outstanding Musical in the 2009 MN Fringe. It went on to perform in NY Venues like OneArmRed, Surreal Estate, Bakers' Tap, and Governor's Island. It's popularity continues to get it bookings.

The Red Eye Works in Progress gave 3 Sticks the chance to develop the new quirky musical Uncanny Valley, which performed at the 2009 Ars Nova ANT Fest, 2010 Ars Nova Tragedy Tomorrow series, and the 2010 Edmonton Fringe Festival.

The core members of 3 Sticks have relocated to New York City to continue exploring the creation of New York and pursue personal and professional goals. They are currently developing plans for the next 3 Sticks creation, Le Gourmand, or GLUTTONY!

About Our Name
Originally founded as The Three Sticks Theatre Company, the company took inspiration for its name from a class exercise at the London International School of Performing Arts. In a SpaceLab class, which focused on dynamics and relationships in space, each student was given three wooden sticks and a single piece of string. The objective was to create a freestanding, three-dimensional structure where the 3 sticks never came in contact with one another. Throughout the year, the instructors would constantly refer to the 3 sticks, not only the spatial relationships on stage, but also in drama, tragedy, and of course comedy. The company recently changed its name from Three Sticks Theatre Company to simply 3 Sticks. 

1 is alone. 2 is balanced. 3 is off balance, when the drama begins...

Resident Music Director
Andrew Lynch

Collaborating Artists

Founders
Katie Melby
Dafydd James
Jason Bohon