Bricolage History

Bricolage Production Company was founded in 2001 by Jeffrey Carpenter, a native Pittsburgher and graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts who has written, directed, and performed in over fifty productions both locally and nationally.  His inspiration for the company was based largely on the environmental philosophy of Claude Levi Strauss, who used the term 'bricolage' to mean the innovative use of what's at hand.

The company's first production, a world premier of Wild Signs by David Turkel, was performed in 2002 in a vacant church that would later become the Union Project. Between 2002 and 2005, the company performed in a variety of alternative spaces throughout Pittsburgh, including an old firehouse, the Frick Art Museum, the Brew House, and Wood Street Gallery. In 2005, Tami Dixon joined the company as Producing Artistic Director, and Bricolage moved into its current space at 937 Liberty Avenue - a former Turkish bathhouse converted and subsidized by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for their use.

Over the past ten years, Bricolage has been a prolific participant in the downtown Pittsburgh cultural scene, providing audiences with a broad spectrum of original works, adaptations, collaborations and interactive experiences.  The company uses "what's at hand" to combine existing elements -- physical, social, political, cultural -- into new visceral, meaningful theatrical experiences for artists and audiences alike.