Yale Repertory Theatre facts for kids
The Yale Repertory Theatre, viewed from the Architecture Dept.
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| Address | New Haven, Connecticut United States of America |
|---|---|
| Owner | Yale University |
| Type | Regional theatre |
| Capacity | 478 |
| Opened | 1966 |
| General information | |
|---|---|
| Architectural style | Gothic revival architecture |
| Completed | 1846 |
| Client | The Calvary Baptist Church |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Brick masonry |
The Yale Repertory Theatre is a special place for plays at Yale University. It is located in New Haven, Connecticut. It was started in 1966 by Robert Brustein. He was the head of the Yale School of Drama.
The main idea was to bring together professional actors and talented students. This way, they could work together to create amazing theatre. The Yale Rep quickly became one of the first famous regional theatres. It is located in a building that used to be the Calvary Baptist Church.
The Theatre's Story
From 1966 to 1979, Robert Brustein led the Yale Repertory Theatre, often called "the Rep." He invited professional actors to join a special group each year. They performed many different plays. He also helped new writers, like Christopher Durang, get their plays seen. Some plays that started at the Rep later moved to bigger commercial theaters.
The person in charge of the Yale School of Drama is also the artistic director of the Yale Rep.
- Lloyd Richards was the artistic director from 1979 to 1991. He helped the famous writer August Wilson a lot.
- Then, Stan Wojewodski, Jr. took over from 1991 to 2002.
- Since 2002, James Bundy has been the artistic director.
The Yale Rep has put on more than 90 brand-new plays for the first time.
- Four of these plays have won the Pulitzer Prize. This is a very important award for writing.
- Ten plays that started at the Rep later moved to Broadway in New York City. There, they won Tony Awards.
- The Yale Rep also received a special award called the Drama Desk Special Award in 1988.
- In 1991, it won the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. This award recognized it as one of the best regional theatres in the country.
In 2002, the Governor of Connecticut, John G. Rowland, gave the Yale School of Drama and the Yale Rep an award. It was for their great artistic achievements and their help to the arts in Connecticut.
A book called The Play's the Thing by James Magruder tells the story of the Rep's first fifty years.
The Old Church Building
The building where the Yale Rep is located today was built in 1846. It was originally the Calvary Baptist Church. It was designed in the Gothic revival architecture style. This style looks like old medieval churches. The church was built on land that once belonged to Richard Platt. He was one of the people who helped start New Haven.
Later, Yale University took control of the church building. Yale already had its own chapel for students of all faiths.
Recent Plays at the Rep
The Yale Rep puts on many different kinds of plays each year. They often show new plays for the very first time. They also perform classic plays that people have loved for a long time.
For example, in the 2019–2020 season, they planned to show plays like Girls and The Plot. They also had Manahatta, which was the first play written by a Native American writer at the theatre. However, some plays, like A Raisin in the Sun and Testmatch, had to be cancelled. This happened in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theatre continues to bring exciting new works and famous plays to its stage.
See also
- Yale Dramatic Association
