Mission & History
Mission
Studio 180 Theatre’s mission is to engage, provoke and entertain through dynamic theatre and innovative Beyond The Stage experiences that delve into social and political issues.
Vision
To engage people more fully in the world through the experience of live theatre.
We produce plays — often Canadian or North American premieres of renowned international works — that tackle difficult issues and generate powerful audience responses.
2002
Studio 180’s five co-founders, C. Derrick Chua, Joel Greenberg, Mark McGrinder, Samara Nicholds and Kimwun Perehinec, come together to create an informal artistic collective focused on politically and socially driven theatre.
2003
The company officially launches with the acclaimed Canadian premiere production of The Laramie Project.
2008
Named Toronto’s “Best Indie Theatre Company” by Now Magazine.
We become founding partners of the Berkeley Street Project, producing one show annually for the next four years as part of the Canadian Stage subscriber season.
2010
We develop Studio 180 IN CLASS, an innovative education program that takes our work into high school classrooms. The program has expanded to include almost 1,000 students in 22 schools across 7 school boards learning through workshops delivered by our team of Artist Educators.
2012
We help launch OFF-MIRVISH in partnership with Mirvish Productions, participating for six seasons and consistently breaking our own record for highest ticket sales of a dramatic play at the CAA Theatre.
2015
IN DEVELOPMENT begins, our new play development program which grew out of our company’s desire to work with Canadian voices to explore more locally-rooted questions.
2016
180 READS develops, a program that invites you to attend readings of published plays that we are considering for production.
2020
180 AT HOME starts in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, inviting audiences to join us in unique online workshops, panels and discussions from the comfort of their homes.
2023
This year marked Studio 180’s 20th Anniversary and the first ever season to include three Mainstage productions, Indecent, My Sister’s Rage and The Chinese Lady. It was also Joel Greenberg’s final year in his role as Founding Artistic Director after a remarkable 20 year tenure. To learn more about his contributions to the founding of Studio 180, watch the video here.
Since our founding, Studio 180 Theatre has evolved into one of Toronto’s most respected independent professional theatre companies, with up to two Mainstage productions a year, accompanied by unique Beyond the Stage programming.
