AMERICAN BUFFALO by David Mamet (2017)
Starring Treat Williams and Stephen Adly Guirgis

CRY IT OUT by Molly Smith Metzler (2018)
Photo: Joey Moro

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE adapted from the novel by Jane Austen by Kate Hamill
Photo: Joey Moro

SKELETON CREW by Dominique Morisseau (2018)
Photo: Joey Moro

DOWNSTAIRS by Theresa Rebeck (2017)
Starring Tim and Tyne Daly

ANN by Holland Taylor (2018)
Starring two-time Tony Nominee Jayne Atkinson
Photo: Joey Moro

Locally Engaged.
Nationally Relevant.

Support Dorset Theatre Festival with a tax-deductable donation and enrich the work onstage, behind-the-scenes, and in the community.

Dorset Theatre Festival's mission is to create bold, innovative, and authentic theatre that engages a diverse, multi-generational community, and economically diverse region: enlightening, entertaining, and inspiring our audience through the celebration of great plays. We aim to redefine the landscape of theatre by presenting thought-provoking productions drawn from the new and classic canon. We are dedicated to the development of new plays, new audiences, and new artists for the future of American theater.

We produce theatre that matters.

Downstairs Off-Broadway

The cast and creative team behind our 2017 season’s smash hit by Theresa Rebeck has reunited in NYC!

Adrienne Campbell-Holt directs Tim Daly, Tyne Daly, and John Procaccino now through December 22 at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

“a chilling new domestic thriller”

- The New York Times

LEARN MORE at primarystages.org

The Festival Main Stage

"a season of smart and thought-provoking plays" - Broadway World

Dorset Theatre Festival is inspiring, innovative, and excellent.

Join us for our 2019 season, to be announced soon.

See Last season

New Play Development

Did you know that only 22% of American regional theatre productions are written by female playwrights? (The Lilly Awards & The Dramatists Guild 2015 Study) Through the Women Artists Writing Group, Dorset Theatre Festival cultivates female voices for the new American theatre canon.

> Click here to learn more about the Women Artists Writing Group.

If you thought you knew everything about Dorset Theatre Festival, we invite you to think again by exploring one of our nationally-renowned new play development programs. New plays begin their lives at the Festival, and budding playwrights test their voices here before having their plays produced on Broadway and beyond. We are extremely proud to have hosted over 70 playwrights in the past 6 years, developing over 90 new works, 18 of which have gone on to receive full productions or further development at some of the most prestigious venues in the country. Dorset Theatre Festival is redefining the landscape of regional theatre. We invite you to join us in growing new plays!

> Click here to read an exclusive interview with 2017 New Play Reading Series Playwrights Mona Mansour, Lauren Yee, and Paola Lazaro.

Past Season Archives

From June to September, Dorset Theatre Festival mounts 4 main stage productions with some of this country’s most talented playwrights, actors, and directors. Each season, thousands of theatergoers make the Festival part of their summer arts experience.

Interested in Dorset Theatre Festival’s work?
> Take a look at the Festival’s production history

Education

From the Young Playwrights Program that brings professional playwrights into Vermont classrooms to our Apprentice Program that mentors 18 - 20 young theatre professionals every summer, the Dorset Theatre Festival is committed to artistic education across the spectrum.

Dorset Theatre Festival’s new play development programs work with playwrights from conception to production, serving as an incubator to nurture new voices that speak from their own experience, exploring ideas that come from and return to diverse communities.

> View all of our education programs and series

Locally Engaged.Nationally Relevant.