Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre
HART logo
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| Abbreviation | HART |
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| Formation | 1994 |
| Type | Non-profit community theatre |
| Purpose | Theatrical productions |
| Location | |
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Official language
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English |
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President
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Batya Podos |
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Key people
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Paul Roder and Ray Hale, co-artistic directors |
| Website | www.hart-theatre.org |
Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre (HART), originally the Hillsboro Actors Repertory Theater, is a community theatre group in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1994, the non-profit group presents around six plays each year. Their 99-seat theater is located in downtown Hillsboro next to the Hillsboro Civic Center along Washington Street.
The Hillsboro Actors Repertory Theater was founded in 1994 by John and Kim Sandstrom as an extension of their dinner-theater company SandStorm Productions. The married couple opened the theater in the former J. C. Penney store in downtown Hillsboro using their own money, grants, and donated time a materials. Kim Sandstrom also started the Hillsboro Actors Training studio at the same time. HART’s debut production was the comedy Light Up the Sky written by playwright Moss Hart. Directed by Nicholette Reid, the production debuted in September 1994.
By the end of their second season in 1996, the 70-seat theater had produced 11 plays. Productions in the early years included Romeo and Juliet, Barefoot in the Park, and Show Boat among others. In February 1996, the Sandstroms began looking at selling the company to a non-profit group. They sold it that year to the Friends of HART in order to focus on raising their family, though Kim remained involved as artistic director for a year. Kim Sandstrom took a hiatus from performing in 2001 after developing health problems, but returned in 2003 to start in Shirley Valentine, a one-person play by Willy Russell. Actor Bret Harrison got his first acting role at HART in a production of Our Town in these early years of HART. By 2004, Michael Hibbard had become the artistic director at HART and in June the company had to move out of its original home that held 83 seats after rent doubled at the space. The group had also changed its name to Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre. Productions were then held and a variety of venues, including the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center.
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