The Wilma Theater is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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History

It was founded in 1973 as the Wilma Project to encourage theatrical productions of original material and the development of community artists. In 1979, Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka of former Czechoslovakia forged a creative relationship with the Wilma Project as artists-in-residence. They gained swift acclaim for their bold, innovative productions and assumed artistic leadership, changing the name to The Wilma Theater. After many seasons of producing theater at various locations—mainly in a 100-seat converted garage on Sansom Street—the Wilma opened a new, state-of-the-art 300-seat theater on The Avenue of the Arts in 1996. Jiri Zizka left the theater at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

Productions by the Wilma have been seen at the International Theater Festival in the Czech Republic; in New York at the Public Theater and Manhattan Theatre Club; The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ; Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut; and ACT Seattle. In addition to their presentations and festivals, the Wilma has produced over 100 productions, including 18 World Premieres, 13 US Premieres, 5 East Coast Premieres, and 64 Philadelphia Premieres. The Wilma co-produced a feature film broadcast nationally on Great Performances

Great Performances

Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...

. The theater has worked with notables such as Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

, Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard

Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...

, Christopher Hampton, Doug Wright

Doug Wright

Doug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...

, and Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...

 and produced works by up-and-coming playwrights such as Claudia Shear

Claudia Shear

Claudia Shear is an American actress and playwright.The Brooklyn-born Shear first came to prominence with her 1994 self-penned solo performance piece Blown Sideways Through Life, which enjoyed a run of 221 performances at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre and won her an Obie Award and a Drama...

, Lillian Groag, Chay Yew

Chay Yew

Chay Yew is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. As of 2007 he lives in New York City. As of July 2011, he becomes Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago.-Career:...

, Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts.-Early Life and Early Career:...

, Jason Sherman, Dael Orlandersmith

Dael Orlandersmith

Dael Orlandersmith is an actress, poet and playwright who is best known for her Obie Award winning Beauty's Daughter and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, Yellowman....

, Robert William Sherwood, Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl is an American playwright. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.-Biography:Ruhl was born in Wilmette, Illinois. Originally, she intended to be a poet. However, after she studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University , she was convinced to switch to playwrighting...

, Polly Pen, and Laurence Klavan.

Mission

Awards

The theater has won 39 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater, the most awards received by any company.

External links