Amalgamation History:

How did Amalgamation Theatre Collective come to be?

The founders of Amalgamation all met while they were studying at Muhlenberg College. In classes and performances, they were drawn together through commonalities in their perspectives, collaboration styles, and artistic sensibilities. The founders discovered a beautiful possibility of a theatrical space deeply infused with creativity and hope, and they wanted to share it with everyone.

In Winter of 2022, three of the founders of Amalgamation, Haley Arnold, Madeline Burk, and Alison Rutyna, submitted proposals to direct on-campus plays, and were rejected. Haley and Madeline, as well as Madeline’s associate director, Shira Holtz, began discussing the idea of putting their productions on as a separate on-campus festival produced on their own. Haley floated the idea to Alison, and the group began reaching out to other peers, including Amanda Berkson, Lilli Brown, and Ashley Paseltiner. The discussions turned from prospects to planning, and the Patchwork Theatre Festival was born.

When naming the festival, they were led to the image of a patchwork quilt; the productions were united through the want and need to create art, through a desire to dive into the wonder and joy that was missing in some of their past creative endeavors. The shows themselves, though, were quite different. The pieces of the patchwork were brought together by the vision they had for creating theatre. Patchwork was a festival founded on principles, not product; the productions had a variety of themes and tones, but they were united in artistic purpose.

Some of our founders directed productions, some acted as associate directors, and one even performed in one of the plays. Regardless of their role in the festival, all of Amalgamation’s founders were united in Patchwork’s mission of artistic expression and expansion into the community in which it was built. Three full-length plays were produced as part of Patchwork, and the festival also hosted an on-campus art sale. Patchwork was built to create new opportunities for actors, designers, stage managers, and artists across campus, and it proudly supported the talents of many Muhlenberg students.

As they worked on Patchwork together, the founders knew that their collaboration could not end here; there was too much joy for just one festival. And so came to be the idea of Amalgamation Theatre Collective - an artistic collective founded on ideas of opportunity, collaboration, accessibility, experimentation, humanity and wonder.  Amalgamation was derived from the Patchwork name. The company does not intend to create season cohesion or to specialize in one genre of theatre. Instead, the values they hold as a company are the glue that will unite their works together.

Now, the founders are based all over, from New York to Florida to Costa Rica. Even with the distance, they are connected in purpose perhaps more than ever. Amalgamation’s community has not scattered since it conglomerated on and eventually departed from Muhlenberg’s campus; it has simply spread.

We are proud to have carved out an artistic space for ourselves and for other artists in our community when existing space was limited, and we are overjoyed to continue to do so for ourselves and all of our collaborators; to create joyful, whimsical art together where everyone has a place at the table. Everyone fits into the Amalgamation.