Merrimack Repertory Theatre Explained

Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Address:50 East Merrimack Street
City:Lowell, Massachusetts
Country:United States
Coordinates:42.6451°N -71.3042°W
Capacity:279
Type:Non-profit theatre
Opened:1979
Yearsactive:1979-present
Website:www.mrt.org

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) is a non-profit professional theatre located in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. Known for its productions of contemporary work and world premieres, the company presents a September - May season of seven plays at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre in the historic Liberty Hall, a 279-seat theatre located adjacent to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. MRT is the only professional theatre company in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and one of three League of Resident Theatres (LORT) members in Massachusetts.[1]

MRT operates under the leadership of its artistic director Sean Daniels.

History

Merrimack Repertory Theatre was co-founded in 1979 by Barabara Abrahamian, John Briggs and Mark Kaufman, who had met while working at a New Hampshire summer stock theatre (where a young Michael Chiklis, a Lowell native who went on to appear in several MRT productions before moving on to a film career, was appearing in a production of Bye Bye Birdie). They conceived the idea of a professional non-profit theatre company in Lowell and formed the Committee for Legitimate Theatre in Lowell.

The company was incorporated as Merrimack Regional Theatre on February 1, 1979. MRT's first venue was Mahoney Hall at the University of Lowell (now University of Massachusetts Lowell). Its first production, The Passion of Dracula, opened on October 23, 1979. Nancy Donahue assumed presidency of the company. Kaufman and Briggs were the theatre's first producing artistic directors.

Dan Schay was hired as producing artistic director in 1982 and, in 1983, the company moved to its current location at Liberty Hall, changing its name to Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Schay produced MRT's first world premiere (Jack Neary's First Night) in 1987, and has been succeeded by David Kent (1989-2001), Charles Towers (2001-2015) and Sean Daniels (2015–present).

In 2012, the theatre underwent an extensive $750,000 renovation. Improvements included wider seats with more legroom (the overall number of seats was reduced from 309 to 279), a refurbished theatre lobby and concession area, and a larger, more accessible box office.[2] The theatre was named in honor of founder Donahue.

Artistic leadership! Name !! Years Served
Mark Kaufman & John R. Briggs 1979-1982
Dan Schay1982-1989
David Kent 1989-2001
Charles Towers 2001-2015
Sean Daniels 2015–present
Executive leadership! Name !! Years Served
Tom Parrish2005-2011
Steven Leon 2011-2013
Elizabeth Kegley2013–2017

Notable productions

11-year production history

2006-07 season

2007-08 season

2008-09 season

2009-10 season

2010-11 season

2011-12 season

2012-13 season

2013-14 season

2014-15 season

2015-16 season

2016-17 seasonMRT’S 38th season focused on local stories, with three of the seven productions on New England themes. The seven plays were:

Artistic development and patriot program

In 2015, Merrimack Repertory Theatre launched the Patriot Program, an artist residency program conceived by Artistic Director Sean Daniels. The MRT Patriots are a group of 69 theatre artists and professionals, from across the country, with access to short-term residencies at MRT throughout the year. The MRT Patriots use MRT resources and housing while developing new work for the stage.[8]

Education and community engagement

MRT offers student matinees (daytime performances available only to student groups). Many of these groups are eligible for grant funding through the Partners in Education program.

MRT has offered a summer youth theatre program called Young Company (originally Young Artists at Play) since 1997. Young Company was suspended for summer 2015, but was set to resume in July 2016 and to focus on participant-generated work. The program was to extend beyond the summer, with year-long student participation in workshops and open rehearsals at MRT.

In 2015, MRT launched the Cohort Club, an audience engagement program modeled after a similar initiative at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York. The Cohort Club is composed of community members who are given access to a show's entire rehearsal and production process, and are then asked to write about their experiences in a format of their choice.

Other programs include post-show discussions and open-invite receptions before and after select performances.

Selected awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Member Theatres | League of Resident Theatres.
  2. Nancye Tuttle, "Audience comfort is the star in Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s top-to-bottom renovation", The Sun (Lowell), 30 August 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. Web site: Archived copy . 2016-06-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160921050429/http://www.59e59.org/archive/SecretOrder/PlaybillReview.pdf . 2016-09-21 . dead .
  4. https://www.uml.edu/News/press-releases/2012/KerouacPlayRelease.aspx "MRT and UMass Lowell to Present World Premiere of Kerouac's Only Full-Length Play"
  5. Nancye Tuttle, "Merrimack Repertory Theatre kicks off series with a play suited to open in Lowell", The Sun (Lowell), 11 September 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  6. Don Aucoin, "Warmth, wit, and Whitman in Merrimack Rep's "I and You'", The Boston Globe, 20 October 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. Rob Weinert-Kendt, "Lauren Gunderson on ‘I and You,’ a Play With an Explosive Twist", The New York Times, 6 January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. http://www.mrt.org/news/press-release-mrt-announces-patriot-program-theatre-artists "MRT Announces Patriot Program for Theatre Artists"

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