Stages Repertory Theatre is a theatre company in the city of Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. It generally produces more experimental plays in a more intimate setting than the city's prestigious Alley Theatre

Alley Theatre

The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...

: the Houston Chronicle

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...

calls it "the equivalent of off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 in Houston".

History

Stages Repertory Theatre was founded in 1978 in the damp basement of a downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...

 brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 with a mission to "produce new work, interpret established work in new ways, and nurture talent to invigorate culture for the good of the community." Stages quickly became an integral part of the Houston theatre community. In 1985, Stages moved to its present location in the former Star Engraving building

Star Engraving building

The Star Engraving building is a building at 3201 Allen Parkway in Houston, Texas, built in 1930 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by the Star Engraving company to house its engraving factory.-Ownership:...

 at 3201 Allen Parkway

Allen Parkway

Allen Parkway is an arterial road west of Downtown Houston, Texas. It has a distance of approximately 2.3 miles , running from Interstate 45 west to Shepherd Drive, where it becomes Kirby Drive...

, which was designated a local historic landmark in 1986.

Stages today

Stages is a professional Equity

Actors' Equity Association

The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...

 theatre and has garnered national recognition for its work as Houston's "maverick" theatre, including coverage in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

, Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

, Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

and American Theatre magazine. Productions at Stages are created and produced by a team of artists, performers and craftspeople largely from the Houston area, sometimes in collaboration with guest artists from around the world.

In addition, Stages introduces young audiences to live theatre through its EarlyStages series. Each year, thousands of local children experience dramatic interpretations of classic folktales, stories from diverse world cultures, along with plays and musicals commissioned especially for EarlyStages.