Welcome to Seattle Public Theater
Our History & Future
For more than three decades, actors, directors, and audiences with a passion for exceptional theater have found a home at Seattle Public Theater on the shores of Green Lake in the Historic Bathhouse. We were established as a501(c)(3) nonprofit on June 27th, 1989. Today, we’re building on our past and broadening our reach to make theater that speaks to life in this moment.
In recent years, Seattle Public Theater has transformed into a vital arts center whose productions and programming extend beyond North Seattle and into citywide, national, and global conversations.
At the heart of every organization’s mission, there ought to be a vision of a better world.
We want to create an inclusive community that actively engages with ideas and people by producing compelling and socially relevant theater to spark conversation and ignite empathy.
That’s our mission. That’s what Seattle Public Theater is today. Our future is bright, and it belongs to everyone.
Our Mission
Embracing historically excluded identities and emerging artists, Seattle Public Theater produces compelling work that sparks conversation and ignites empathy.
Our Vision
We see an ecosystem of artists that consciously nurtures and celebrates women and diverse identities through:
promoting racial equity,
female leadership and artistic vision,
inclusion of all gender and sexual identities,
building a national reputation for high quality, progressive work, and
accessibility for all.
The Distillery
The Distillery New Works Festival is a celebration of emerging theater and an opportunity for playwrights to gain valuable feedback on new work. Each play in the festival receives a live reading by a cast of professional actors, allowing it to live and breathe off the page. The readings conclude with a discussion of the play with the playwright, giving writers the chance to receive feedback from Seattle audiences and providing a platform for audiences to help shape new works in process.
2024 Distillery New Works Festival Official Selections
Skin by Anamaria Guerzon, directed by Zenaida Smith
The Park by Jenn Ruzumna, and Lisa Every, directed by Amy Poisson.
Possessed by Gloria Majule, directed by Helen Mariam
Impossible Theories of Us by John Mabey, directed by Willa Barnett.
Funnie by Jessica Moss, directed by Adrienne Mackey
Li by Wei He, directed by Divya Rajan
Safe Hands by Alara Margitte and Daniel Rosen, directed by Grace Edgar
Seattle Public Theater Education Department
Seattle Public Theater’s Education Department hosts a variety of programs such as Youth Advisory: A Pre-Professional Arts Cohort, Youth Voices, ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence, Show Nights for Teens, Field Trips to local High School Productions, Summer Productions and Workshops!
How to Be a Part of the Magic
Seattle Public Theater works to create timely theater that sparks conversation and ignites empathy. Your gift today fosters this work by:
Supporting sponsorships for playwrights, creating new stories.
Helping to maintain and care for the historic bathhouse building on the shores of Green Lake.
Creating a home for Seattle's theater artists to develop and thrive.
Develop outreach to youth in the community and build programs to mentor them as they write and perform their personal stories.
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