 Where can different subcultures meet on common ground? Where can you hear poems, listen to songs, see comic skits and watch dramatic scenes? Where can actors, directors, magicians, mimes, and musicians all get stage experience? Where can you meet new and interesting people? Where can you see innovative, provocative live performances of all kinds?
No Shame Theatre
Starting April 3rd, the popular late-night venue for short experiments in live performance comes to Studio Roanoke. What the heck is No Shame?
Ever sat in an audience and thought, “I could do that?” Well, here’s your chance! No Shame Theatre is a quirky late night venue for short original performance pieces. We take the first 15 scripts that show up at the door. There is no theatre big shot who decides what you can do—you do. Whatever you like, so long as it is safe, short, and original
What’s it like?
At any given performance you might get a poem about stealing eyeballs in the rain, a dance piece about global warming, a puppet show about violence in the schools, or a moving drama illustrating some important truth—only to have it followed by a delightful ditty on a hand saw.  How do you do it?
The format is simple. Just create your own short (5 minutes or less) performance piece in any style and rehearse it as much as you want—or read it cold—it’s up to you! Then get there in time to fill one of the available open slots and take your place in the spotlight. Be sure to bring enough scripts for your actors and one for the light board operator—with your contact information, light cues, and cast list. Will I have lights and stuff, and are there rules?
You never know what you’ll have available, so bring your own props and costumes. Performers won’t have much more an idea what to expect than the audience. As for rules, don’t endanger yourself, your performers, or your audience. You can’t damage the space or break any laws. You should be fine if you keep it original, short, legal, and safe. Just remember, the live audience are participating too, just by being there. Respect them and they'll be there next time you perform. If you don't...they probably won't. We want you to feel free to do what interests you, but we also want you to take responsibility for those experiments and how they will impact the venue and the community that gathers there.
Ok, now I know what it is, but why is it?
No Shame is a low-risk performance venue where anyone can explore any aspect of the theatre they want and not have fear of failure keep them from actually attempting success. It exists because we need a place where we can learn the valuable lessons only failure can teach us, and because such an environment creates a community where we are all learning together, celebrating successes and helping to overcome failures...in a spirit of collaboration instead of competition.
How did this No Shame thing start?
No Shame was established in the back of a pickup truck in 1986 by Iowa City playwrights Todd Ristau, Stan Ruth, and Jeff Goode. From those modest beginnings, this grass roots theatre revolution has spread across the United States. The chapter that started at Roanoke’s Mill Mountain Theatre became the only No Shame to be fully incorporated into the programming season of a major professional theatre.
Now that Mill Mountain Theatre has closed, No Shame has moved to Studio Roanoke, its permanent home. 
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