The Company
Maximum Verbosity is a theatrical production company that specializes in whimsically wordplay-heavy entertainment, featuring original fantasy and speculative fiction created for the stage, as well as wildly anachronistic re-interpretations of classical myth.
The Mission
The mission of Maximum Verbosity will be to stimulate questions; more specifically, to interpret old mythology through the lens of the new and, perhaps more importantly, to interpret our new mythology through the lens of the old, with an especial focus on the use of language to create myth. This aproach implies a willingness to embrace creative anachronism and to explore issues of religion, spirituality, and politics across a wide variety of genres and disciplines. The troupe will function as a decentralized collective of individuals without relying on state recognition or support.
...there's also an essay about its creation from our five-year anniversary show. Plus a series of essays about Theatre and Theology written for the Minnesota Fringe in July of 2006, that comes as close to a manifesto as anything we're ever likely to do.
The History
For an Infocom-style transcript detailing our origins, click here.
The People
Maximum Verbosity is currently run by a core staff of phillip low (founder and artistic director) and Elizabeth Byrd (financial manger and dramaturg), with other roles contracted out on a show-by-show basis.
The Name
maximum: adj: the greatest possible degree; "he tried his
utmost" [syn: utmost, uttermost, level best]
verbosity: n: an expressive style that uses excessive words [syn:
verboseness] [ant: terseness]
(source: WordNet 2.0, copyright 2003 Princeton University)
It's also an extremely obscure reference to interactive fiction from the nineteen-eighties, as if we needed any more geek cred.
The Website
Whenever we're producing a show, you'll find all of the relevant information here. You can also find some script samples, if that's your idea of a good time.
We now have shows and workshops available for hire. If you want to donate something to help keep the wheels turning over here, clicking here would sure put a smile on our collective face. And if you want something in return, then, hey -- purchase something from our online store.
I don't get it.
It's best not to think too much about it. At the end of the day, the title "Maximum Verbosity" is nothing more than words. But if Maximum Verbosity is about anything, it's about the idea that words are important.