The Cabrini Repertory Theater was created to offer a vibrant, multicultural environment in which artists can stage original works in our beautiful proscenium theater in northern Manhattan. We host three playwright festivals each year:
- The Thespis Festival, which invites playwrights to submit their never-before-seen work
-The Venus / Adonis Festival, which is devoted to one-act plays created by female writers (Venus) and male writers (Adonis)
- The Griot Festival for African-American playwrights
Our main goal is to help young and emerging playwrights, musicians and visual artists present their work and learn how to put a production on its feet from start to finish. We also make it a personal goal to help women as well as African Americans writers and directors develop and experiment with their work, encouraging them to push beyond the usual limitations and rules dictated by the industry. Pure art that takes great experimental chances is more than welcome at the Cabrini Repertory Theater. Our greatest efforts go toward inspiring and supporting playwrights to produce their own works and, if possible, direct them; perhaps, even act in them. Going through the process of producing a play can be very rewarding for writers, who most often hand their scripts over for production. It is our great pleasure to encourage writers to produce their own work, and so we do not rent the theater out. Instead, we co-produce the works of our artists to help each succeed in developing their vision. Because of the quality of the productions we host, Cabrini Rep is attracting a number of regular audience members from the surrounding community, a rare thing these days. So, along with the guests you invite, we have neighbors, most of them artists, who are interested in the shows at Cabrini Repertory Theater. We also find it very beneficial for performers to take part in box office proceeds. In this way, we maintain excellent relationships with the artists who share their work in our theater. With festivals, musical concerts and art events, we continue to meet the fine talent in New York City, and it is with your artistic contribution that Cabrini Rep continues to illuminate the artistic life of its Washington Heights community and northern Manhattan!
