LOCATION | HISTORY | MISSION | LEADERSHIP | STAFF CONTACT CENTER | OUR FRIENDS & SPONSORS
 
History of the IRT

Since the Indiana Repertory Theatre was founded in 1972, it has grown into one of the leading regional theatres in the country, as well as one of the top-flight cultural institutions in the city and state. In 1991 Indiana's General Assembly designated the IRT as "Theatre Laureate" of the state of Indiana. The IRT's national reputation has been confirmed by highly-competitive grants from prestigious funders including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Indiana Arts Commission, the Theatre Communications Group/Pew Charitable Trusts, the Shubert Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., and the Kresge Foundation.

The IRT remains the only fully professional resident not-for-profit theatre in the state, attracting audiences of almost 132,000 annually from across central Indiana, including more than 49,000 students from 59 of Indiana's 92 counties. A staff of more than 100 seasonal and year-round employees creates nine productions exclusively for Indiana audiences. Actors, directors, and designers are members of professional stage unions.

The IRT's history has been enacted in two historic downtown theatres. The Athenaeum Turners Building housed the company's first eight seasons. Since 1980 the IRT has occupied the 1927 Indiana Theatre which was renovated to contain three performance spaces (Mainstage, Upperstage, and Cabaret) and work spaces, reviving this historic downtown entertainment site. Beginning in 1997, we renovated many of our facilities to upgrade the IRT's audience support services as well as its theatrical production equipment. The Mainstage Auditorium was renovated in 2001, the two-story 1927 Grand Lobby was renovated and restored in 1999, the rehearsal room and the Cabaret were renovated in 1998 and the Upperstage Theatre and Lobby were renovated in 1997.

Nearly 39 percent of the company's operating income is generously supported by individuals, corporations, and foundations throughout the community. Such recognition reaffirms the IRT's commitment to its mission: to provide a unique opportunity for audiences and artists to share experiences that can be enjoyable, uplifting, thought-provoking, even life-changing.
The company of The Gentleman from Indiana
The company of ProLiance Energy presents Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Tom Haas
Henry Woronicz and Money Butler in I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda
ABOUT THE IRT ARTIST BLOG AUDITIONS CONTACT US PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS PRODUCTION HISTORY SPONSORS WIN A PRIZE