It would be hard to find a local theatergoer who would dispute the fact that there is an excellent theatre in the Washington area. In recognition of that fact, the 27-year old Helen Hayes Awards organization has been working for two years to create a new group designed to support Washington area theatres. It will be called, “theatreWashington.” When it was first founded in 1984, the Washington Theatre Awards Society recognized and encouraged excellence in professional theatre by presenting the Helen Hayes awards to the ten producing theatres in Washington. Now there are upwards of eighty professional theatres in the region. In addition to continuing the Helen Hayes Awards program, theatreWashington will take on audience-building, education and advocacy efforts.
In addition to the new name, the organization offers new governance, staffing structures and programming, including an interactive website. That website (theatrewashington.org) will roll out in three phases. Phase One is currently being tested by members of the Washington area theatre community and will soon go live. Phases Two and Three will go live before the end of the year.
Phase One will be highlighted by a Find a Show function, that features a unique search capability allowing visitors to not only see the full spectrum of productions playing in area theatres, but also to use a specially designed filtering system to select productions by different criteria such as genre, age appropriateness, price and more.
Additionally, Phase One will offer: content about Washington area theatres, artists and audiences; essays; questions for audience members; features on the theatergoing experience; user generated reviews; interactive forums and image galleries.
Through all its innovations, theatreWashington will promote, represent and support Washington area theatres, artists, audiences of all ages, in short, the entire theatergoing community.
