About

About

Main Street Theater has TWO (2) locations. Please make sure you know the location at which your production is playing.

Theater Locations

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77005

Main Street Theater @ MATCH
Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston
3400 Main St.
Houston, TX 77002

Mission Statement

Main Street Theater’s mission is to create theater that challenges its audience to think and its artists to grow. We accomplish this by presenting an articulate and compelling product in an intimate setting, creating significant employment for Houston-based artists, and memorable theatrical experiences for audiences of all ages.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

Main Street Theater believes equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives are central to ensuring all artists have equitable opportunity to theatrical work in Houston while helping audiences to engage more deeply with the wide range of stories and ideas presented on our stages. We encourage the participation of all Houstonians in the work we create. We want our work to reflect the communities we serve. We want to accommodate artists and audience members of different abilities throughout our company, and we want there to be no physical, financial, or emotional barriers to our stages.

We will accomplish this by fostering an atmosphere of compassion and inclusiveness. We will create and maintain opportunities for engagement and discourse. We will actively examine our systems to identify barriers and seek ways to remove them. The work on our stages must reflect the community in which we exist and respect the dignity of all its members, and our work with children must be infused with these values.

Main Street Theater BIPOC Fellowship Program

Main Street Theater’s Fellowship Program is a paid artistic leadership development program for early-career BIPOC individuals. Applicants will submit a resume and portfolio and three candidates will be selected in April of 2022. The selected fellows will be assigned to a production either with the MainStage or Theater for Youth programs  in their area of interest (Directing, Design, or Stage Management) while being given access to additional professional development opportunities within the Main Street Theater organization. For more information, please click here.

Main Street Theater History

Founded in 1975, Main Street Theater produces innovative, thought-provoking plays for adults and children, and theater arts education/integration programs tailored to the needs of each school and community partner. We celebrate the human experience and spark open-minded conversations between the artists and the audience. We strive to create moments that allow for genuine connection between community members, visitors from outside of Houston, and our artists. We are committed to sharing compelling, thought-provoking and engaging stories from the most insightful and articulate writers for the stage – and to making our productions accessible to any and all who wish to take part. Main Street Theater’s three core activities – MainStage, Theater for Youth, and Education Department activities for children and teens – all share the goal of providing as many opportunities as possible for the enrichment and engagement of Houstonians of all ages.

Founding Artistic Director Rebecca Greene Udden established a collective of theater professionals in a temporary home at Autry House, the Episcopal Diocese’s community center on Main Street. Encouraged by critical acclaim and audience growth, in 1981 the company moved MST to larger quarters in Rice Village where the theater developed our intimate playing style in its 99-seat house. The MainStage now receives national attention and regularly draws audience members from other cities and states. In 2015 we completed a total renovation of our MainStage theater building, bringing our physical facility up to the high standards that have been on our stage for years.

In 1996, MST opened our second space, a 250-seat theater in Chelsea Market, dedicated to our professional Theater for Youth program (the most-attended in Houston) and to the presentation of large-scale MainStage classics and musicals. We outgrew Chelsea Market, and as of October 2015 our resident Theater for Youth productions now take place at the MATCH, the Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston.

Our Arts Education & Integration Department provides creative opportunities – classes, camps, school residencies, and after-school programs – for youth ages 4 – high school at our two locations and at numerous area schools, community centers, and libraries.