Actors Theatre of Louisville

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The logo of Actors Theatre.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is a performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1964, and was designated the "State Theater of Kentucky" in 1974. It is run as a non-profit organization. The building that became Actors Theater was built in 1837, designed by James H. Dakin, and had previously housed the Bank of Louisville. In March 1969, Jon Jory was appointed the theatre's new producing director. Jory's October 1969 Louisville directing debut with Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood marked a renaissance for the organization. Former Executive Director, Alexander Speer, whose tenure of forty years began in 1965, became Jory's partner and led the theatre's administration and operations until his retirement in the spring of 2006.

Actors Theatre showcases both national favorites and local plays. Many Pulitzer Prize-winning plays have premiered at the theater, including works by Donald Margulies and Beth Henley. The theater has received the James N. Vaughan Memorial Award, the Margo Jones Award, and a Special Tony Award for local, non-profit theaters. It hosts the internationally acclaimed Humana Festival of New American Plays every spring. This internationally acclaimed Festival of New American plays started by Jory in 1976 has been described by the Los Angeles Times as the Kentucky Derby of the American Theatre. Funded by the Humana Foundation from 1979 it has been uniquely testing the boundaries of theatre in different ways to reveal the wonders of the stage and the power of live drama. Over 300 Humana Festival plays have so far been produced with over three-fourths of them now published thus further building up the permanent canon of American dramatic literature. This festival every year attracts theatre lovers, critics, producers and playwrights from all corners of the world to Louisville just as the Kentucky Derby does.

Actors Theatre presents nearly 600 performances of about 30 productions during its year-round season composed of a diverse array of contemporary and classical fare. It boasts one of the largest per capita subscription audiences in the country and logs an annual attendance of over 200,000. Actors Theatre is an important part of theater in Kentucky.

The theatre offers an apprentice/intern training program designed to help recent college graduates make the transition from academic to professional theatre. This competitive program results in excellent employment placement for its talented participants.

Marc Masterson was appointed the company's new Artistic Director in the summer of 2000. He forms the foundation for a vision of the future of Actors Theatre, which he describes as "a place where artists thrive and continually enrich us, where our work elevates the role of the theatre in contemporary society by redefining the way that an arts organization relates to its community, and where pluralistic values inherent in our art form become a celebration of the diversity and richness of our culture."

In 2002, Masterson established an Education Department consisting of a variety of public outreach programs including classroom workshops, artists in the schools, increased weekday student matinees, backstage tours and professional development for teachers and community center leaders.

In 2004 Actors Theatre acquired a state of the art production studio at 9th and Magnolia Streets in the Old Louisville neighborhood. In 2006, the theatre successfully raised $13.5 million in support of important capital investments to improve the patron experience, production excellence and administrative advancement, and contributions to the endowment that will ensure a strong and stable Actors Theatre for the next generation of patrons and the entire community.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is now acknowledged widely as the most successful regional theater. From its humble start from a loft in 1964 it has had a rapid growth and development in stature.