Round House Theatre

Round House Theatre

Theatre Logo
Formation 1978
Type Theatre group
Purpose Literary and Contemporary Works for the Stage
Location
  • 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 8641 Colesville Road Silver Spring, MD 20910
Artistic director(s)
 Ryan Rilette
Website http://www.roundhousetheatre.org/

The Round House Theatre is a non-profit theater production company with venue in Bethesda, Maryland.

Theatre history

The theatre started in 1973 as part of the Montgomery County Department of Recreation Street 70 program, which was "literally a street theater". Jerry Whiddon, a founding member, was involved until 1978 and then returned to the theatre in 1985. Jeff Davis was the artistic director from 1978 until 1983. The theatre moved into a circular former elementary school in 1977, and officially took the name "Round House". In 1993, the Round House theatre became an independent nonprofit.[1]

The theatre moved to its present theatres, with the main stage in Bethesda and an experimental stage in Silver Spring in 2005. Whidden left his post as artistic director at that time. Variety Magazine noted that "Under Whiddon's guidance, Round House has become a solid artistic performer and earned more than 100 Helen Hayes Award nominations. Round House won the Hayes award for resident play three out of the past four seasons (The Glass Menagerie in 2001, Home in 2002 and The Drawer Boy in 2004) and the 2003 Charles MacArthur Award for new play for the world premiere of Shakespeare, Moses, and Joe Papp by Ernie Joselovitz."[2]

Blake Robison became the Producing Artistic Director in June 2005.[3] Robison started "a literary works initiative for the Bethesda facility... to include new adaptations of classic stories for modern audiences and the commissioning of new works based on contempo literature. At the Silver Spring house, he says he will program international works and edgier new plays."[4]

Venues

The theatre in Bethesda has 400 seats. The theatre in Silver Spring has 150 seats. The Silver Spring productions, according to Robison, are "a little bit edgier and somewhat international in scope."[5]

See also

Helen Hayes Award

References

  1. ↑ Rose, Lloyd. "In Round House's Corner; The Director With An Actor's Instincts", The Washington Post, May 3, 1998, p. G1
  2. ↑ Harris, Paul. "Whitton [sic] moves out of House", Variety, June 7, 2004 - June 13, 2004, p. 50
  3. ↑ Horwitz, Jane. "Round House Reapplies Its Managerial Makeup", The Washington Post, May 31, 2005, p. C5
  4. ↑ Harris, Paul. "Robison in the Round", Variety, January 24, 2005 - January 30, 2005, p.54
  5. ↑ Marks, Peter. "Blake Robison Tapped To Lead Round House", The Washington Post, January 14, 2005, p.C4

External links

Coordinates: 38°59′6.2″N 77°5′33″W / 38.985056°N 77.09250°W