When the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters and shows in 2020, married couple Grant Struble and Kendyll Young said they were forced to reconsider their acting careers.
“I was working a job and then we showed up and it was like everything else, it was shut down,” Struble said. “For the first time in our professional careers, we were out of work. And like a lot of people who were acting and doing theater work, it was a pretty long time before we came back from it. I think it was probably two-and-a-half years that I didn’t work in the theater.”
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Despite the hardships, they both decided they wanted to continue in the industry and help build the community. The persistence has led them to opening Relic Theatre Co., which will be putting on “Spring Awakening” as its inaugural performance at Christ Church Neighborhood House from Oct. 9-26.
The production of the show, a coming-of-age rock musical about teenagers exploring their sexuality, has been more than two years in the making, with the couple starting to build Relic in the winter of 2023.
Struble and Young, who live in West Philly, say they are prioritizing working with actors from the area, especially as many regional theaters hire talent from nearby New York City. By keeping things local, they’re hoping to both create new jobs for Philly actors and potentially open up opportunities for collaborations with other spaces.
“Our background as actors is unique because we’re always going to come to the space with the idea of ‘How do we make this a great environment for the actors? How do we protect our artistry?'” Struble said.
Provided Image/Relic Theatre Co.
Grant Struble and Kendyll Young are the co-founders and artistic directors of Relic Theatre Co.
“Spring Awakening” felt like a natural choice for their first show, as it reflects a lot of current issues such as information repression and struggles of young adulthood, Struble said. Selecting Christ Church for the venue also was a no-brainer, as the wooden floors, brick walls and raw setting are reminiscent of the Atlantic Theatre Co. in New York City, the off-Broadway space where the musical adaption of the 1891 play was first put on in 2006.
Relic doesn’t have a permanent home, but that’s part of the company’s future plans. For now, the couple is leaning into renting different spaces around the city and making the atmosphere part of the production.
“We really love the idea of picking a venue based on the title, and picking spaces around the city to give other neighborhoods access to see shows,” Young said. “Just really using Philadelphia the landscape as our greatest resource here, and there are a lot of spaces to rent in Philly.”
Though it won’t be their sole focus, Young and Struble plan to produce smaller, intimate musicals — something that they said is a gap in the local market. Struble said he thinks the atmosphere of musicals is changing in general, as he’s noticed more small, acoustic or folk musicals from raw composers instead of the glitzy shows with large budgets.
Following “Spring Awakening,” Relic will be fundraising and plans to put on three full productions in 2026 and 2027. They’re also hoping to work with smaller, Philly-based writers to help bring to life the shows that tell the story of their city.
“That’s the main difference about being a Philadelphia-based artist, we don’t get as much glamor or maybe as much money as being in a bigger market, ” Struble said. “But it feels like home, and it’s just something you don’t see in other places.”