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Words Matter
At Local, we believe in the power of words; that's why we are invested in bringing new stories to life. Stories can bring us together. From the spark of an idea to the closing performance, we tell stories that allow us to see ourselves and each other more clearly.
Since our inception, Local has developed 72 new plays, stories that amplify a wide range of perspectives and characters, each with powerful lines that stay with us long after the final bows.
Our LocalWRITES literacy program has guided middle school students to recognize the power of their own words as they write original dialogues and plays. The program has helped students forge deeper connections with their classmates after hearing each other's perspectives.
Our community-building Come Together program fosters spaces of belonging by encouraging conversation, learning and deeper understanding.
Our Local Listens program invites community members to share their stories and engage in civic dialogue that inspires new plays. This year's Local Listens: Queer Lineage project has brought together LGBTQ+ individuals from ages 19-92. You can hear some of their stories here.
Your gift ensures that the voices of tomorrow are heard. Thank you for your support!
“Local Theater Company's work made a profound impact on our students. Their reading and writing skills certainly grew - but what we noticed the most was the pride and passion for writing and sharing their own work that bloomed in a way we had not seen since the start of the pandemic. The teachers at Local Theater Co. impressed upon our kids the value and importance of their voice, and made them believe that they each have an important story to tell the world." - Sandy Heiser Principal, Longs Peak Middle School, LocalWRITES, spring 2023
"[Local is one] of the area's consistently compelling theater companies." - Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post review of 'Stockade'
"Local playwrights gave life and intimacy to local issues [...] I came away feeling as though my own barriers to understanding were crumbling." - Audience response to 'The Democracy Cycle'
"Once again you’ve outdone yourselves with a beautifully produced play that landed punch after emotional gut punch. [...] Thank you for bringing challenging world class productions to [Colorado] and for making work that’s modern, thought provoking and endlessly relevant" Audience member response to '237 Virginia Avenue'
"More of this please: An original, local production that combines music, comedy, personal narrative and an enormous amount of warmth that makes you leave the theatre feeling all squishy inside." --Alex Miller, Onstage Colorado review of 'Raised on Ronstadt'
Westword's 2021 "Best Season Spent Planning for the Future" Best of Denver award
5280 Magazine's 2019 Top of the Town Editor's Choice Best Theater Company
"Local Theater Company is one of "five reasons [the] region's theater scene is on [the] national map."
--Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
Local Theater Company discovers, develops, and produces exceptional new plays and theatrical works. We provide artists a fertile environment to grow their work, and cultivate audiences for new plays by including them in all stages of new play development.
We believe theater is a local experience. When you elect to join an audience, you create a new community where, for that brief span of time, everyone is a local.
Local Theater Company is a professional theater company passionate about telling the evolving stories of our time. We develop, discover, and produce new American theatrical works and offer exceptional arts education.
The cornerstone of our new play development programs is Local Lab, a new play festival, in which audiences engage in staged readings of new plays and participate in post-show discussions with playwrights to help develop their work.
Local Theater Company has developed 72 new works, and many of the participating playwrights have earned regional, off Broadway, and Broadway premieres. In 2015, the Denver Post named Lab "one of five reasons this region's theater scene is on the national map," and in 2019 the editors of 5280 Magazine named Local Theater Company “Best Theater Company in Denver”.
Since the inception of Lab, Local has produced 23 world-premiere productions in Colorado and earned nominations and awards from the Colorado Theater Guild including "Best New Play," "Best Direction," "Best Ensemble," "Best Actor," and "Best Scenic Design.”
In addition to Local Lab, we develop new plays inspired by our community through our Local Listens program. Each year we gather community members in facilitated story circles about a particular topic. Commissioned playwrights attend the story circles and use what they hear to inspire new plays. In 2023-2024 we gathered community members from Boulder, Denver and Gunnison to discuss democracy and the urban-rural divide. This year we are gathering stories from LGBTQ+ individuals from different generations.
To foster spaces of belonging, Local curates the Come Together series intended to deepen audience engagement and attract new-to-theater audiences.
Local offers a bilingual playwriting residency to middle schools, called LocalWRITES, uniquely designed to promote literacy, inspire original writing, and increase self-esteem. The playwriting curriculum is Colorado Language Arts Standards-based and deliberately designed to close the Achievement Gap in Boulder County.
In 2018, Local was one of ten companies nationwide that received the prestigious National Theatre Company Grant from the American Theatre Wing (the organization that produces the Tony Awards). Local is acknowledged by Actors’ Equity Association as a "Small Professional Theater" because of our commitment to hiring local and professional talent at union rates. In 2020, Local was honored to receive a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) grant.
Local has a shared artistic leadership model with co-artistic directors Nick Chase and Betty Hart.
Organization name
Local Theater Company
2011
Tax id (EIN)
45-2208855
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
1630 30th Street Suite 171Boulder County, CO, US