Arts & Entertainment Community

Brave Stage debuts with two productions this spring

Actorcraft p2s acting students will debut with Brave Stage Gig Harbor, a new nonprofit theater company, this spring.

Brave Stage will perform “The Clean House,” by Sarah Ruhl, at 7:30 p.m. March 12 through 14 and at 2 p.m. March 14 at Camp Stand By Me, 17809 S. Vaughn Road. Tickets are available on a pay-what-you-choose basis (with a $25 minimum) here.

Next up will be “Detroit,” by Lisa D’amour, at 7:30 p.m. May 28 through 30 and 2 p.m. May 30 at the Fox Island Nichols Center.

Jeremy Kent Jackson and Adrianne Alvarez-Jackson, owners and acting coaches at Actorcraft p2s, said their students are ready to transport audiences into these stories. The spring performances are the first for Brave Stage.

Aubrey MacGregor and Heidi Michelle performed in “Mauritius” last year. Jeremy Kent Jackson and Adrianne Alvarez-Jackson, owners of the acting school Actorcraft p2s, launched Brave Stage Gig Harbor, a nonprofit theatre company that gives the students an avenue to perform. Photo by Julie Warrick Amman

Actorcraft to Brave Stage

Actorcraft p2s (p2s if for “page, stage and screen”) opened in 2024 on Point Fosdick Drive in the Kindship Studio. Both Jeremy and Adrianne have experience in Hollywood and are dedicated to education.

Jeremy appeared on the Disney series “Lab Rats” for four years and in a Nicholas Cage film called “Gunslingers.” Adrianne has a stage acting background and currently teaches in the Central Kitsap School District.

Jeremy Kent Jackson and Adrianne Alvarez-Jackson at Actorcraft in 2024. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Jeremy is the producing director for Brave Stage Gig Harbor and the managing director of Actorcraft. Adrianne is the artistic director for the theatre company and director of special programs at the acting school.

After they opened Actorcraft, started looking for plays that fit the talents of their students and began forming a nonprofit theatre company. Now they are looking for a permanent playhouse venue. In the meantime, they have found stages at temporary locations.

‘The Clean House’

The Jacksons searched for the perfect play to showcase the talents of the actors. “The Clean House” fit the bill.

The production features a cast of seven, with five larger roles. Brave Stage cast two understudies, but the Jacksons want all of the actors to have a chance to be on stage for this first production.

“We actually identified a performance in the schedule for the understudies,” he said.

This show is a dramedy, light in its approach to grief and loss, he said. Adrianne decided to play one of the leads and serve as a sort of acting pace-car for the cast. 

Actors Andy Sharp, Abby Schuette and Rebecca Stansbury read through the script of “The Clean House.” It will be the first play that actors from Actorcraft p2s perform as part of Brave Stage Gig Harbor, a nonprofit theatre company. Photo courtesy of Brave Stage Gig Harbor

The Jacksons believe that focusing on process over product leads to community. And that is what they have been creating since they began Actorcraft, they said. Their move to Gig Harbor from Los Angeles was a journey to find, and create, a community. 

Adrianne is the multilingual language coordinator for the Central Kitsap School District in the Silverdale area. She works with students with learning disabilities and teaches English.

“When we put someone on stage we want them to succeed,” Adrianne said. “I was a drama teacher for a long time in L.A. and ran an arts organization. Jeremy and I met in that space. It’s always ‘process over product’ and ways to bring out each individual voice, whether auditioning or an autistic person trying to speak words on stage for the first time.”

Stage space

The Jacksons hope to find a permanent home for the theater company’s performances in the future. They have discussed the need for a performance space with community members and others who share their vision for a Gig Harbor arts center. 

“We consider ourselves vagabonds and don’t have a theater space,” they said, “but the benefit is we get to go into these community spaces and support local nonprofits.”

Though some have suggested that they look elsewhere, perhaps in Kitsap County and surrounding areas, they said they want to stay in Gig Harbor.

“We would rather tough it out until we can find a home,” Adrianne said.  “Jeremy and I think of the theatre as a place where kids can come and do art, dance classes, and seniors working on pottery, or poetry readings, and sharing about Gig Harbor. A community center and art center are one and the same, sharing stories of the community, by the community, and for the community.”

For more information visit actorcraftp2s.com.