Venus Theatre facts for kids

The Venus Theatre is a special theater that has been around for a long time. It's known for being the longest-running regional theater that only puts on plays written by women. It was started in Laurel, by Deborah Randall in 2001. It's a nonprofit, which means it uses any money it makes to support its mission, not to make a profit for owners.

Deborah Randall is the main leader, called the Artistic Director. Alan Scott is the musical director, helping with all the music in the shows.

How Venus Theatre Started

Venus Theatre grew from an earlier group called Venus Envy. This was an all-female improv group, meaning they made up plays on the spot. Venus Envy also did community outreach, working with other groups to help people. They worked with organizations like Code Pink and The House of Ruth, which support important causes and help those in need.

From the beginning, Venus Theatre has focused on showing plays written by and about women. This helps share important stories and ideas from women's perspectives.

Awards and Recognition

Venus Theatre has won some cool awards! Deborah Randall received the Helen Hayes/American Express Award for Artistic Directors, which is a big honor in theater. Also, some of their plays have won the Maryland Theatrical Association's Best Drama Prize in 2002 and 2005. This shows how good their productions are.

Moving to a New Home

After 15 years in Laurel, Maryland, Venus Theatre moved out of its old space in February 2022. This happened because of the Covid pandemic, which made things tough for many businesses. Also, their rent went up by almost 30%, making it hard to stay in their old location.

What Plays Have They Done?

Venus Theatre has put on many interesting plays over the years. They often feature new works and stories that are important to women.

Recent Performances

In recent years, they have performed plays like Jane app and #solestories. They also did The Finger and The Powers that BE. Other shows include This Little Light and The Speed Twins. They even had a play called Living and Dying with Tricia McCauley and Running On Glass.

Special Play Series

Venus Theatre has a special series called the wRighting Women Reading Series. This series helps new plays by women get seen and heard. They also produced "Heartfriends Musical for Children" shows, like Boogsnot and the Disco Dancing Meltdown of the Snows and Fiona the Fish and the Magical Carwash. These shows are fun for younger audiences.

Some of their "retro-classic" new works have included Not Such Stuff by Chris Wind, Homokay's Medea by Julia Homokay, and Why'd Ya Make Me Wear This, Joe? by Vanda. They also performed Jacob M. Appel's Helen of Sparta.