History

Artbarn Community Theater is entering our 12th year of operations, providing quality family entertainment with twelve main stage productions each year. Our season of shows integrates Broadway favorites with classics from literature alongside original shows that we write that deal with themes of character and making the world a better place. Artbarn rehearses in Coolidge Corner and performs our shows at the Maliotis Cultural Center at Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts.

More than 2,250 children ages 4 to 14 have taken Artbarn classes during its first nine years of operation. Students include publicly, privately and home-schooled children from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. The Artbarn staff has multiple years of training and experience in child development and the performing arts, experience which ensures that the child’s experience is developmentally appropriate and educationally based. No child has been turned away for lack of funds, and Artbarn has successfully integrated children with disabilities into its productions. Together, the children have produced 110 shows with a total of 220 performances. Approximately 18,500 parents, siblings, relatives, friends and area residents from Brookline, Jamaica Plain, and Greater Boston have attended the productions.

Artbarn has expanded beyond its walls, launching a community service component to its programming. Artbarn now takes traveling troupes "on the road" to the Brookline Public Library, the Senior Center, area nursing homes, homework clubs and after-school programs. Each Fall Artbarn brings theater arts to the Brookline Elementary Schools by offering in-house productions designed to integrate theater arts with the K-6 curriculum. Using storytelling, improvisation, role-play and musical comedy, our shows challenge the student actors and their young audiences to deal with important issues like bullying, voter apathy, historic hometown heroes and kid empowerment.

In 12 years, Artbarn has grown into a well-known, loved and respected community resource with quality professional staff, a loyal following and a dedicated management team. Artbarn provides innovative theater, developmentally sound programs, and fun for children, adolescents, adults, their families, and the broader community.