Arena Stage

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Managing Director Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage has become the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler, Thomas Fichandler and Edward Mangum, Arena Stage was one of the nation’s original resident theaters and has a distinguished record of leadership and innovation in the field. Arena Stage’s programming focuses on the canon of American voices, making Arena Stage the largest theater in North America committed to American writers. During Smith’s 10 years as artistic director the theater has commissioned and/or championed 14 world premieres from award-winning playwrights including Zora Neale Hurston, Sarah Ruhl, Ken Ludwig and Moisés Kaufman. With the opening of the new Mead Center for American Theater in 2010, Arena Stage will be a leading center for the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Now in its sixth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000.

ABOUT ARENA RESTAGED

With construction well underway on the 48-year-old Southwest D.C. theater campus, Arena Stage has launched ARENA RESTAGED, a two-year festival celebrating the rich mosaic of our nation’s voices. ARENA RESTAGED, which will lay the foundation for a new home for theater artists and audiences, will take place throughout the time it takes to finish the expansion of the new theater complex, Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater. At the Center, the two existing performance spaces–the Fichandler Stage and the Kreeger Theater–will be fully renovated and a new 200-seat space dedicated to premiering American theater, The Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, will be added. Arena Stage at The Mead Center is scheduled to open for the 2010/11 season.

For more information please visit www.arenastage.org. For tickets call (202) 488-3300.