Huntington Theatre Company Huntington Avenue Theatre

The Huntington Theatre Company is a professional theatre located in Boston, Massachusetts and the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, under the direction of Managing Director Michael Maso. It is notable for its longstanding artistic relationship with

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

History

The Huntington was founded in 1982 by Boston University under President John Silber and Vice President Gerald Gross, and was separately incorporated as an independent non-profit in 1986. Its two prior artistic leaders were Peter Altman (1982 – 2000) and Nicholas Martin (2000 – 2008). Michael Maso has led the Huntington's administrative and financial operations since 1982 as the Managing Director. In 2016, as a result of Boston University's decision to sell the BU Theatre on Huntington Avenue, the Huntington Theatre Company and Boston University dissolved their relationship. The new owners of the BU Theatre Complex, QMG Huntington LLC, proposed the creation of a new condo tower, while also allowing the Huntington to lease the renovated theatre space for $1 per year for the next 99 years. Construction was projected to be completed in late 2020. However, as of February 2022, the project was listed as undetermined on the Boston Planning and Development Agency website. In October 2020, the company's artistic leader, Peter DuBois, resigned after an inquiry prompted by staff complaints of layoffs, diversity issues, and salary transparency.

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the company put their 2020–21 season on an indefinite hold. The Huntington projected losses due to the pandemic of $6.3 million. During the summer of 2020, the company furloughed 46 staff members, laid off 11 people, and eliminated positions. In July, 2020, the company launched a series of miniature audioplays, collectively known as
Dream Boston
" challenging local playwrights "to imagine favorite locations, landmarks, and their friends in a future Boston." Critics noted the importance of the series for keeping the Company relevant even while the theater was shuttered, noting " e goal, it would seem, is twofold: on the one hand, by providing a venue to connect with remote audiences today, the series is keeping theater alive, for the present; at the same time, for those of us tuning in, closing our eyes, and connecting to these stories, we are encouraged to keep hope alive, for the future."

Theatre facilities

The Huntington Avenue Theatre, located at 264 Huntington Avenue, was built in 1925 as the Repertory Theatre, and was designed by J. William Beal's Sons in the

Georgian Revival style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...

. The company built and operates the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, located at 527 Tremont Street. It houses the 360 seat Virginia Wimberly Theatre, the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre, Carol G. Deane Hall, and Nicholas Martin Hall. The Huntington also operates BostonTheatreScene.com where tickets are sold for productions at the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

Theatre, the BCA Theatres on the Plaza, and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

Notable productions

The Huntington has transferred 16 productions to New York, including two in 2012: the Broadway premiere of Lydia R. Diamond's ''Stick Fly'' and the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Stephen Karam's ''Sons of the Prophet'', named a 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Eight of

's plays were produced at the Huntington before going on to premiere in New York. The Huntington's relationship with Wilson began in 1986 with a production of Wilson's third play, ''

Joe Turner's Come and Gone ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play was first staged 1984 at the Euge ...

''. The theater has also staged Wilson's 10-play Century Cycle in its entirety.

Outreach and education

The theater fosters new talent through its Huntington Playwriting Fellows program, Breaking Ground Festival, and Summer Workshop Program. Huntington productions of plays by Fellows include ''The Luck of the Irish'' by Kirsten Greenidge, ''Stick Fly'' by Lydia R. Diamond, ''The Atheist,'' ''Brendan,'' and ''The Second Girl'' by Ronan Noone, ''Psyched'' and ''“M”'' by Ryan Landry, ''The Cry of the Reed'' by Sinan Ünel, and ''A Guide for the Homesick'' by

Ken Urban Ken Urban is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and musician based in New York. He is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and leads the Music and Theatre Arts Program's dramatic writing program. Urban is ...

Awards

The Huntington Theatre Company received the 2013 Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre.

References

External links

Huntington Theatre Company website
{{Boston theatres Arts organizations established in 1982 Theatre companies in Boston Culture of Boston 1982 establishments in Massachusetts