Studio Theatre Timeline

1978

Having founded the Joy Zinoman Studio, an acting conservatory, in 1975, Zinoman launches Studio Theatre’s pilot season in a shared space on Rhode Island Ave. Its first production is The Rimers of Eldritch by Lanford Wilson.

Pictured: Cary Anne Spear and Richard Hart in The Rimers of Eldritch (1979) by Lanford Wilson. Photo: Ken Wyner.

1979

Studio moves to a long-term home on Church Street, building a theatre in a former warehouse for hot dog carts, where it continues to produce until 1987.

Pictured: Debra Tidwell in A Raisin In The Sun (1981) by Lorraine Hansberry. Photo: Richard Reinhard.

1987

Studio leases space in its current building at 14th and P, opening the Mead Theatre with a production of North Shore Fish by Israel Horovitz. The play stars Sarah Marshall, who will appear in her 27th Studio show this season with Joshua Harmon’s Admissions. Studio also introduces a new “Special Event” programming series.

Pictured: Sarah Marshall in North Shore Fish (1987) by Israel Horovitz. Photo: Joan Marcus.

1988

Studio inaugurates 2ndStage, an outgrowth of Studio’s Conservatory and a training ground for early-career actors and directors. Over its 27 years, 2ndStage produces 79 plays and nine readers theatre series.

Pictured: Mary Battiata in Mad Forest (1995) by Caryl Churchill. Photo: Fredde Lieberman

1997

Studio purchases the building at 14th and P and builds a second theatre, the Milton. This second theatre allows Studio to alternate shows between theatres, and extend successful shows.

Pictured: S. Epatha Merkerson and Carl J Coffield in The Old Settler (1998) by John Henry Redwood. Photo by Carol Pratt.

1998

Over the years, Studio has developed relationships with a number of actors, designers, and directors, many of whom have worked at Studio multiple times. The Steward of Christendom, which Studio produced 1998, marked the Studio debut for Ted van Griethuysen (13 productions as of 2017) and Holly Twyford (12 productions as an actor, two as a director, and a member of the Studio Cabinet).

Pictured: Ted van Griethuysen in The Steward of Christendom (1998) by Sebastian Berry. Photo: Carol Pratt

2004

Studio expands and renovates a three-building performance and training complex, adding the Metheny Theatre and Stage 4 and bringing its total number of intimate theatres to four.

Pictured: Will Power in Flow (2004), which he wrote. Photo: Joan Marcus.

2005

Another Studio stalwart, Nancy Robinette has appeared in 17 productions at Studio Theatre, from The Seagull in the 1980-1981 season to Three Sisters and No Sisters in the 2016-2017 season. In 2005, she starred in Bryony Lavery’s Frozen in Studio 2ndStage, directed by David Muse.

Pictured: Nancy Robinette in Frozen (2005) by Bryony Lavery. Photo: Carol Pratt.

2008

In its 40 years, the top-produced playwrights at Studio are Tom Stoppard, with seven productions, (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead twice); Caryl Churchill, with six productions, including Blue Heart, featuring nowArtistic Director David Muse as an ostrich; and Tarell Alvin McCraney with five productions, including The Brother’s Size in 2008.

Pictured: Gibert Owuor and Brian Tyree in The Brothers Size (2008) by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Photo: Michal Daniel.

2009

2ndStage produces the first regional production of the Broadway hit Passing Strange by Stew and Heidi Rodewald in a revised version. The writer / composers would be among the first Studio commissions in 2012.

Pictured: Jahi Kearse in Passing Strange (2010) by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. Photo: Scott Suchman.

2010

Founding Artistic Director Joy Zinoman retires after 32 years, and David Muse becomes Studio’s second Artistic Director. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is the first play he directs in this role.

Pictured: Harry A. Winter, Jennifer Mendenhall, and Kathleen McElfresh in Circle Mirror Transformation (2010) by Annie Baker. Photo: Carol Pratt.

2011

Studio inaugurates Studio Lab, a new work laboratory that premieres plays in stripped-down productions, inviting living playwrights into the work of Studio Theatre. Rachel Bonds’ The Wolfe Twins (2014) is the first of its commissioned plays to be produced. The play featured Tom Story, who has appeared in ten productions at Studio and directed two. Story is also a member of the Studio Cabinet, Studio’s affiliated artist program.

Pictured: Tom Story and Birgit Huppuch in The Wolfe Twins (2014) by Rachel Bonds. Photo: Igor Dmitry.

2014

Murder Ballad is the final production in the Special Event series, and one of Studio’s first experiments in environmental staging, setting the audience in the middle of a working bar, and paving the way to future innovations in Stage 4.

Pictured: Anastasia McCleskey and Christine Dwyer in Murder Ballad (2014) by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash. Photo: Vithaya Phongsavan.

2015

Studio launches Studio X, a consolidation and expansion of work in Studio’s Lab, Special Events, and 2ndStage programming. The world premiere of Animal, a Studio commission, was the first production of Studio X, as a part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Pictured: Kate Eastwood Norris in Animal (2015) by Clare Lizzimore. Photo: Igor Dmitry.

2014

Studio produces Bad Jews for the first time in 2014; the production broke box office records, extending its original run for seven weeks and becoming the highest-grossing production in Studio history. In 2015, Studio brings the production back for another eight weeks.

Pictured: Irene Sofia Lucio in Bad Jews (2014) by Joshua Harmon. Photo:Teddy Wolff.

2018

Over its first three seasons, Studio X sees Stage 4 radically reconfigured, whether to the forced intimacy of Animal (2015), an in-the-round installation for Constellations (2016), or the all-in immersive experiences of the church basement that housed Hand To God (2016) and full-on fabulous runway for Wig Out! (2017). Vietgone (2018) was a chance to show off director and Studio Cabinet Member Natsu Onoda Power’s inventive translation of a graphic novel sensibility to the stage.

Pictured: The cast of Vietgone (2018) by Qui Nguyen. Photo:Teresa Wood.