The Baltimore Theatre Project is a performing arts center located at 45 West Preston Street in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

Early years

The Baltimore Theatre Project was founded in 1971 by Philip Arnoult as an appendage to

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its ...

. Such diverse theatre companies as

Pilobolus Dance Theater Pilobolus is an American modern dance company that began performing in October 1971. Pilobolus has performed over 100 choreographic works in more than 64 countries around the world, and has been featured on the 79th Annual Academy Awards, ''Th ...

Urban Bush Women Urban Bush Women (UBW), founded in 1984 by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, is a Brooklyn, New York-based non-profit dance company and the only professional African-American women's dance company. The ensemble performs choreography by Zollar and a number ...

Bread and Puppet Theatre The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont . The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Peter is the artistic director ...

, Studio Scarabee, the IOWA Theatre Lab, and Spider Woman Theatre were invited to perform throughout the 1970s. Arnoult also established community outreach programs such as the Baltimore Neighborhood Arts Circus and Baltimore Voices. Shelley Walpert-Fineman

Theatre Project was a co-producer of The New Theatre (TNT) Festivals at the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral ...

and downtown

(1976–1979). Early in the 1980s, the theatre's association with Antioch ended, thus making it impossible to continue offering free performances to the public.

1983 to Present

In 1983, the Baltimore Theatre Project began an extensive renovation of its mainstage space, modernizing its facility with the addition of chair lifts providing handicapped accessibility, as well as redesigning its performing and audience spaces. In 1992, Theatre Project came under the direction of Robert Mrozek. During his tenure, such artists as

Karen Finley Karen Finley (born 1956) is an American performance artist, musician and poet. Her performance art, recordings, and books are used as forms of activism. Her work frequently uses nudity and profanity. Finley incorporates depictions of sexuality, ...

;

Danny Hoch Daniel Hoch (born November 23, 1970) is an American actor, writer, director and performance artist. He has acted in larger roles in independent and art house movies and had a few small roles in mainstream Hollywood films, with increasing exp ...

; Holly Hughes;

James Magruder James Magruder (born 1960) is an American playwright, author, and translator. Magruder received his doctorate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Yale School of Drama. He is best known for his work on Broadway where he wrote the book for ...

; da da kamera's Daniel McIvor; Squonk Opera; and

David Drake David A. Drake (born September 24, 1945) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography Drake graduated Phi ...

have performed for Baltimore audiences. In the fall of 2001, directorship of the Baltimore Theatre Project was turned over to Anne Cantler Fulwiler, whose background included work in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

for companies such as

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recor ...

/ The House Foundation and Obie Award-winning

MCC Theater MCC Theater (Manhattan Class Company) is an off-Broadway theater company located in New York City, founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey and William Cantler. Blake West joined the company in 2006 as executive direc ...

. Her tenure has seen performances from local companies such as, Blue Rose Theatre, Run of The Mill, Air Dance Bernasconi and national hits, such as

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...

playwright and

slam poet A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery ...

Al Letson Al Letson (born August 8, 1972) is an American writer, journalist, and radio and podcast host. Since 2013, he has served as the host of the radio show and podcast '' Reveal'' from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. Before that, he c ...

. She has also had a partnership between the Theatre Project and Spur Designs during most of her time with the theater, with Spur providing poster designs for the subscription shows, including their poster for the silent production of

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

. The Theatre often works together with local restaurants and businesses such as Soup's On, Sylvan Beach ice cream factory, and Zodiac Restaurant. In late 2009, Theatre Project became a recipient of stimulus funding from the

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Founded in 1979, MAAF works to "promote and support multi ...

as part of the national stimulus project to fund the arts.

References

*"The Corner Theatre as a Cultural Oasis: Or will Yosemite Sam Find Happiness In The Vast Sahara Desert?" ''Performance'', ''Baltimore's Weekly Newspaper'' on July 13, 1972 (Vol I, #5) {{authority control 1971 establishments in Maryland Culture of Baltimore Midtown, Baltimore Theatre companies in Maryland Theatres in Baltimore Tourist attractions in Baltimore County, Maryland