Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Company logo
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| Formation | 1980 |
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| Type | Theatre group |
| Purpose | New Plays/World Premieres |
| Location | |
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Artistic director(s)
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Howard Shalwitz |
| Website | http://www.woollymammoth.net |
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, it produces new plays which it believes to be edgy, challenging, and thought-provoking. Performances are in a 265-seat courtyard-style theater.
It was founded by Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz, Roger Brady, and Linda Reinisch in 1980. "While working odd jobs to make money, we held our first auditions outdoors in Glover Park and started improvisatory workshops in the auditorium of the HHS building." It opened its first season in The Church of the Epiphany parish hall near Metro Center. Outgrowing this initial home, the company rented a warehouse in the 14th Street corridor, where it performed for 13 years. When that space ceased to be available, Woolly Mammoth became a nomad company, performing in various venues in the DC area. During this period the company worked with the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation to acquire space for and to outfit a new theatre.
"Woolly’s goal is to challenge our artists and our audiences in ways that are fun and exciting and theatrically adventurous. People can enjoy Woolly who are Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, because we’re trying to come at audiences from unexpected points of view. We would rather be politically challenging and uncomfortable and prickly and put images in front of people that make them think and surprise them, rather than just congratulating our audience for being the people they are."
Opened in 2005, its permanent home is a $9 million, 265-seat courtyard-style theater. It was designed by Washington-based architect Mark McInturff in association with Theatre Project Consultants. The space has won local, regional, and national awards for innovative architectural design, including the American Institute of Architects 2006 Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture and the US Institute for Theatre Technology Honor Award.
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