Our Story
Plethos: (n.) / plā-thōz/: plurality; multitude of people; magnitude.
In the Summer of 2017, founder Karin Richey decided to attempt the dream she had been fostering for over 10 years of starting her own community theatre. She and her husband Jon analyzed their local theatre scene and wondered what value they could bring, and what void they could fill in the area of live performing arts.
After much soul searching, the two theatre majors decided to re-imagine community theatre in hopes of creating a unique live performance experience as fresh, innovative and diverse as their community.
The first step was partnering with Smalltown Society for a rehearsal and performance space. Next was assembling a team of fellow creatives as a Board of Directors, and thus Plethos Productions was born.
Our mission is to use theatre as a tool to unite communities and create opportunities for unheard voices, untold stories and reimagined classics. We believe everyone should have access to live performing arts that are:
- Affordable - Most of our shows cost $10-$20 per ticket, plus we offer comps, discounts and flash sales often.
- Local - Every show we produce is in our 5 city target area - Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, San Lorenzo or Union City.
- Representative of the community - The East Bay is filled with people of all different shapes, sizes, colors, ages, backgrounds and demographics. Our hope is to produce shows that allow talented people from every one of those categories to meaningfully participate.
From actors, to directors, to board members – we recognized that diversity, representation and inclusion cannot be accomplished by any one person, one show or one season. It’s an intricate system that requires commitment at every level. And that is precisely what we have been working towards ever since our Season 1 Launch Party on New Year's Eve of 2017.
Thank you for believing in the magic of theatre!
We'd love to hear from you, contact us at info@plethos.org
Our Board of Directors
Our Sponsors
A huge thank you to the dozens of donors in our community whose financial support has made our startup commUNITY theatre possible. A very special thank you to the businesses & donors below.
Dynamic Director ($250+): Books on B Denzel Family Carl & Pauleen Larcina Vitality Bowls Christi Waybright Rosie Josue Breslow Imaging Vic R. Josue |
Proud Producer ($500+): World Famous Turf Club |
Fearless Founder ($1,000+): Kim & Dave Richey Lucian & Aurora Vinci Castro Valley Marketplace Justin & Julia Redemer |