Pipeline Theatre Company is a launchpad for artists to shoot for the moon. By empowering artists with the resources and support necessary to pursue their most ambitious ideas, we aim to seed the industry with new works that challenge what is possible on stage. We resource creatives who may not otherwise receive mainstream support or have opportunities to bet on their wildest visions.

We believe that the imagination is a font of compassion, courage, and resistance. While fostering community and relationship across our collaborations, we seek to support the artists stretching their imaginations the furthest.

Unbridled Creativity

The greatest moments in human history were born from someone’s wildest imagination – and by adding resources, space, and structure, these ideas went from imagination to actualization. We actively seek “playmakers” with imaginations that seemingly cannot be contained to a stage. We appreciate the challenge of collaborating with some of the boldest artistic voices, and delight in providing tools and connections to help make their dreams a reality.

Intentionality

We support work that is raw, encapsulates human experiences, and addresses life’s most pressing issues. We believe theatermaking is about calculated leaps of faith.

Community Power

Pipeline Theatre Company was and is a project by the community, for the community.
Our work contributes to the amplification of marginalized voices, and places an intention on restoring representation across mainstream theater. Pipeline would not exist were it not for the love and faith poured into it by the collective. Together, our community is abundant with revolutionary work.

Freeing creativity from restriction is central to our work so we have built a home where emerging artists are challenged to dream bigger than they thought possible. We have witnessed this courage transfix and transform our audiences. We believe putting them in a room filled with the extraordinary is a reminder of the incredible capacity of human beings and the power of our imaginations.

Pipeline Theatre Company was founded in 2009 as a class project at the Atlantic Acting School, where 31 students worked together as an ensemble and built a theater company from the ground up. In sixteen years, the students have all grown up and leadership has changed, while continuing to make “serious make-believe” with our ever-expanding community.

In its earliest years,  Pipeline Theatre Company mounted full productions – Sleepless City (2009),  Psycho Beach Party (2010) – and fostered original projects in development with our Brave New Works series. After seven successful installments of this series, Pipeline refocused our second stage programming on directly supporting playwrights in spinning their biggest, most impossible ideas into finished plays. In 2014, we established PlayLab, and to date we have supported over 60 artists – that’s over 60 full new plays! – with this program, two of which have gone on to be fully realized world premiere productions with Pipeline. 

To date, Pipeline’s productions have included: Alex Mills’ Shakespeare the Dead (World Premiere, part of the Dream Up! Festival at Theater for the New City); Bekah Brunstetter’s Fat Kids on Fire (directed by Tony-nominee Peter Frechette); Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle (2011 NY IT Award for Best Original Score for composer Cormac Bluestone, Nomination for Best Lighting Design for Eric Southern, ITBA Special Citation for Outstanding Production); Colby Day’s Felix & The Diligence (World Premiere, 2012 NY IT Award Nomination for Best Set Design for Andy Yanni); Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Ash Girl (directed by Jessika Doyel), Colby Day’s Giant Killer Slugs (World Premiere, part of the Dream Up! Festival at Theater for the New City), Adam Szymkowicz’s Clown Bar, (New York Times Critics Pick, 2013 NY IT Award Nominations for Outstanding Featured Actor for Andrew Farmer, for Outstanding Featured Actress for Kelley Rae O’Donnell, for Outstanding Ensemble, and for Outstanding Costume Design for Meghan Gaber), Nate Weida’s folk gibberish musical BYUIOO (world premier), Andrew Farmer’s The Gray Man (world premiere), Jason Craig and Dave Malloy’s Beardo (New York premiere; Drama Desk Nominee for Outstanding Music, Dave Malloy), Jaclyn Backhaus’ Folk Wandering (created with a team of nine singer songwriters, world premiere), Kevin Armento, Jaki Bradley, and Marcus Miller’s Playing Hot (Spring 2019), C. Julian Jiménez’s world premiere developed in PlayLab and a New York Times’ Critics’ Pick, Bruise & Thorn (Spring 2022, New York Times Critics Pick), Baby Jessica’s Well-Made Play by our very own Philip Santos Schaffer (Winter/Spring 2023), and our second full production that came from PlayLab, Kairos Looney’s House of Telescopes (Spring 2024).

As we enter our 17th season, Pipeline looks forward to continuing to support emerging artists and their brave, bold new work which feels necessary now more than ever.