South Bend Civic Theatre

Mission:

Enrich our community through live theatre.

Vision:

• To be a model community theatre, period;
• To serve and represent all segments of the South Bend regional population;
• To create a theatre program for young audiences that gives children of all ethnic and economic backgrounds the opportunity to experience the transformative power of theatre; and finally,
• To implement and enhance, in everything we do, our core values of Quality, Diversity, Inclusivity, Education and Community.

History:

South Bend Civic Theatre (SBCT) was founded in 1957 by two University of Notre Dame graduates who believed community theatre should be an important part of this area's culture, and who also believed that living in our community were aspiring actors and actresses who needed to show and form their talents.

While early performances were held at various locations at Notre Dame, SBCT staged most of its productions after 1968 at The Firehouse, a local historic landmark located on Portage Ave., in South Bend's historic Near Northwest neighborhood.  The Firehouse is still used by SBCT today for alternative performances, such as cabaret concerts and improv comedy.

Beginning in the year 2000, SBCT also began staging selected productions each year at various venues in the area, including Century Center’s Bendix Theatre, the Morris Performing Arts Center, and, for the first time in 2005, at the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Under the leadership of an incredible Board of Directors and then Executive Director Jim Coppens, SBCT began exploring solutions for the need for more space. In January 2007, the beginning of SBCT’s 50th Anniversary year, South Bend Civic Theatre celebrated the opening of its new home in downtown South Bend, in what was formerly the Scottish Rite Building.

Through generous individual support as well as community and corporate underwriting, SBCT was able to complete construction on a new 3,500-square-foot scene shop, renovation of a 209-seat Mainstage Auditorium and a 70-seat versatile “black-box” Studio Theatre – all in little more than a year. In November of 2009, a special gift to SBCT eliminated the mortgage on the facility, the final chapter on the capital campaign that has allowed the organization to experience exponential growth in impact and production values.