Dobama Theatre is a Cleveland Heights, Ohio theater founded in 1959 by Donald and Marilyn Bianchi, Barry Silverman, and Mark Silverberg.[1] The name Dobama was created from the first two letters of each of the men's name.[2] The first play produced by Dobama Theatre was Rope Dancers.
After almost ten years as a nomadic theater company using various spaces around Cleveland, Dobama established a permanent home on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights in 1968. From its origin, the artistic director was Donald Bianchi, though his wife Marilyn Bianchi was a strong artistic presence until her death in 1977.
From 1991 to the end of 2008, Dobama has been managed by artistic director Joyce Casey, who made Dobama a "leading producer of new and recent plays".[3]
In 2005 Dobama was evicted[4] from the Coventry neighborhood, resuming a nomadic existence, and producing shows at various locations, including the Cleveland Play House.
On September 25, 2009 Dobama inaugurated a new, permanent location at the Cleveland Heights Public Library facility, stewarded by the company's third artistic director, Joel Hammer.[5]
Dobama Theatre is well-known for its annual Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival, open to Cuyahoga County students in grades 1 through 12. Each year, the Festival receives between four and five hundred plays, of which a small number are chosen for professional production. Winning plays submitted by older students are presented by the Night Kitchen, while the younger winners see their plays performed at the annual recognition ceremony.