Mission:
The Williamston Theatre’s mission is to produce professional theatre that excites and engages our audiences while challenging us all to explore our lives. This mission statement is supported by the following objectives: to be an integral part of the cultural fabric of Michigan; to pursue innovative collaboration in every aspect of our work; to establish a home for Midwest artists; to engage audiences of diverse ages, cultures and economic backgrounds.
We believe that theatre can enrich our lives and make a positive difference in our community, both culturally and economically. We believe that theatre should be accessible and affordable to everyone, whether they live in a large coastal city or a small Midwestern town. We believe that there are voices in the Midwest worth hearing, and our goal is to create moving, entertaining, professional theatre for, by and about this part of the world.
History:
The Williamston Theatre began as the Williamston Theatre Project in the spring of 2004 when four Michigan-based theatre professionals, actor John Lepard, director Tony Caselli, arts administratorChristine Purchis and actress and producer Emily Sutton-Smith, chose Williamston as a location to found a not-for-profit, small, professional live theatre company.
Throughout 2005, the four founders worked to develop their business plan, secure support for the project and raise awareness in the community. In late 2005, a local developer pledged to support the Theatre by underwriting its facility expenses. After a thorough evaluation, the property at 122 South Putnam Street in downtown Williamston was deemed suitable as a theatre space. Community volunteers rallied around the effort to open the Theatre and spent literally hundreds of man-hours building, painting and remodeling the former retail space to be a workable black box theatre with eighty-eight seats. Additional Particulars, a comedy by Ed Simpson, was the Theatre’s first full production and opened in June 2006.
Since that first summer, the Williamston Theatre has produced nine World Premieres of new works by Michigan playwrights, and mounted regional and state premieres of countless other works. During its first full season, the Detroit Free Press named their production of Rounding Third as one of the Top Ten Shows of 2006. In 2008, the Lansing State Journal Awarded the Theatre and its four founders the prestigious Robert Busby Award for extraordinary contribution to theatre in the Greater Lansing Area. That same year, the Williamston Area Chamber of Commerce named the Theatre as the Chamber Member of the Year for their contribution to the vitality and economic health of the downtown area.
