Indiana Repertory Theatre

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 prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Theatre Communications Group-Pew Charitable Trusts, the Shubert Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, and by a Joyce Award from the Joyce Foundation. The IRT remains the largest fully professional resident not-for-profit theatre in the state, providing 110,000 live professional theatre experiences for its audience last season. These experiences included 40,000 students and teachers from 54 of Indiana's 92 counties, making the IRT one of the most youth-oriented professional theatres in the country. 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 (OneAmerica Stage, Upperstage, and Cabaret) and work spaces, reviving this historic downtown entertainment site. To keep ticket prices and services affordable for the entire community, the IRT operates as a not-for-profit organization, deriving more than 45% of its operating income from contributions.