About the STC

The Salem Theatre Company is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the artistic, cultural, and economic life of the Salem community through the performing arts and arts education outreach.

2007-2008 marks the company’s fifth season of award-winning, professional theater in historic downtown Salem and its second season under the leadership of Artistic Director Catherine Bertrand.  The fifth season features plays from a diverse array of playwrights that will both challenge and delight audiences.  The season includes productions of Barry Brodsky’s The Boys of Winter, a re-staging of our critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Selagh Stephenson’s The Memory of Water, Shari Frost’s The Glass Half Empty, and Ted Hughes’ Seneca’s Oedipus.

In the STC’s first four seasons, the company staged mainstage productions of A. R. Gurney’s Sylvia, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Macbeth, Anne Nelson’s The Guys, Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the American premiere of Seamus Heaney’s The Burial at Thebes, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), David Ives’ All in the Timing, David Auburn’s Proof, A.P. Herbert’s Two Gentlemen of Soho, Lanford Wilson’s Book of Days, and Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney. 

In addition, the STC hosted other activities such as open mike nights, staged readings of new plays, improv comedy nights, storytelling onboard Friendship during Haunted Happenings, theater workshops at local schools, our annual holiday reading of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales, and Catch ‘Em On The Rise - our annual theater slam of local playwrights work.

Over 20,000 people have attended an STC event in its first four years of operations, and the STC has generated nearly one million dollars for the local Salem economy through its productions, events, and other activities.

In 2003 the STC received Community Newspaper Company’s Readers’ Choice Gold Medal Award for Best Place to See Theatre north of Boston and the Bronze Medal Award for Best Place for Family Entertainment.  In 2004 the STC was awarded the City of Salem’s Salute to Salem Award for its commitment to the community and its spirit of service and volunteerism.  In 2005, the STC was nominated for the Salem Chamber of Commerce’s Good Neighbor Award in recognition of its exemplary role as a community-building nonprofit organization.  In 2005 and in 2006, the organization received the Readers’ Choice Silver Medal for Best Place to See Theatre north of Boston.

Read what others have to say…

“Salem Theatre Company shined in its milestone fifth season, offering a packed schedule that demonstrated the group’s range. There were classics like “The Crucible,” modern works like the Vietnam War-era “The Boys of Winter” and everything in between.”
- The Salem Gazette 2008

“It’s about time.”  - North Shore Sunday, July 2002 (announcing the formation of STC)

“Something great is going on over in Salem.  A talented new theater group has taken the stage there at last!”  - Boston Theater Mirror, August 2002

“You don’t have to go to Boston for great theater anymore.  Just head into Salem and check out the Salem Theatre Company.” 
- Boston Globe, August 2002

“Anyone showing up [will] be wholly satisfied.”  - Salem News, August 2002