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This list of theaters and entertainment venues in Washington, D.C. includes present-day opera houses and theaters, cabarets, music halls and other places of live entertainment in Washington, D.C.
| Theater | Stage | Location | Built | Capacity | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium | Federal Triangle | 1935 | 1000 | ||
| Arena Stage | Fichandler Stage | Southwest | 1950 | 683 | |
| Arena Stage | Kreeger Theater | Southwest | 1950 | 514 | |
| Arena Stage | Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle | Southwest | 1950 | 200 | |
| Atlas Performing Arts Center | Lang Theater | H Street | 2005 (established 1938) | 262 | |
| Atlas Performing Arts Center | Sprenger Theater | H Street | 2005 (established 1938) | 280 | |
| Atlas Performing Arts Center | Atlas Lab Theatre I | H Street | 2005 (established 1938) | 80 | |
| Atlas Performing Arts Center | Atlas Lab Theatre II | H Street | 2005 (established 1938) | 90 | |
| Carter Barron Amphitheater | Rock Creek Park | 1949 | 4200 | ||
| Anacostia Playhouse | Anacostia | 2013 | 120 | ||
| Dance Place | Brookland | 1978 | 0 | ||
| DAR Constitution Hall | Downtown | 1929 | 3702 | ||
| D.C. Arts Center (DCAC) | Adams Morgan | 1989 | 42 | ||
| Duke Ellington School of the Arts Theatre | Georgetown | 800 | |||
| DCJCC | Theater J | Dupont Circle | 1990 | ||
| Folger Shakespeare Theater | Capitol Hill | 1932 | 250 | ||
| Ford's Theater | Penn Quarter | 1863 | 665 | ||
| GALA Hispanic Theatre | Columbia Heights | 1976 | |||
| Hamilton Live | Downtown | ??? | 354 | ||
| Howard Theater | Shaw | 1910 | 1100 | ||
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Concert Hall | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 2465 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Opera House | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 2364 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Eisenhower Theater | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 1164 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Family Theater | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 324 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Theater Lab | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 388 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Terrace Theater | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | 490 | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Millennium Stage | Foggy Bottom | 1971 | ||
| Keegan Theatre | Dupont Circle | 1996 | 120 | ||
| Lincoln Theatre | U Street | 1922 | 1225 | ||
| Lisner Auditorium | Foggy Bottom | 1946 | 1490 | ||
| National Theatre | Downtown | 1835 | 1676 | ||
| Shakespeare Theatre Company | Lansburgh Theatre | Penn Quarter | 2007 (founded 1970) | 451 | |
| Shakespeare Theatre Company | Sidney Harman Hall | Penn Quarter | 2007 (founded 1970) | 774 | |
| Sixth & I Historic Synagogue | Chinatown | 2004 (built 1908) | 800 | ||
| Sylvan Theater | National Mall | 1917 | |||
| Source Theatre | U Street | 2008 | 150 | ||
| Sitar Arts Center | Adams Morgan | 2001 | 0 | ||
| Studio 1469 | Columbia Heights | ||||
| Studio Theatre | Mead Theater | 4th Street | 1978 | 218 | |
| Studio Theatre | Metheny Theater | 4th Street | 1978 | 200 | |
| Studio Theatre | Milton Theater | 4th Street | 1978 | 187 | |
| Studio Theatre | Stage 4 | 4th Street | 1978 | 120 | |
| Warner Theatre | Penn Quarter | 1992 (built 1924) | 1847 | ||
| Woolly Mammoth Theatre | Penn Quarter | 2005 (founded 1980) | 265 |
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was named in 1964 as a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, orchestras, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music.
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C., and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. Its theater complex was completed for the company in 2010; it is called The Mead Center for American Theater.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, Ibsen, Wilde, Shaw, Schiller, Coward and Tennessee Williams. The company manages and performs in two spaces: The Michael R. Klein Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall. In cooperation with George Washington University, they run the STC Academy.
The Harman Center for the Arts is a complex consisting of the Michael R. Klein Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall in downtown Washington, D.C., US.
Michael Kahn is an American theater director and drama educator. He was the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. from 1986 until his retirement in 2019. He held the position of Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division of the Juilliard School from 1992 to 2006.
Zelda Fichandler was an American stage producer, director and educator.
Washington Savoyards was a professional musical theatre company based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1972, the company annually produced three fully staged musicals and operettas, usually including at least one Gilbert and Sullivan production each year. It performed at the Duke Ellington School and the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The company suspended performances in 2012.
The culture of Washington, D.C. is reflected in its status as the capital of the United States and the presence of the federal government, its large Black population, and its role as the largest city in the Chesapeake Bay region. The presence of the U.S. federal government, in particular, has been instrumental in developing numerous cultural institutions throughout the city, such as museums and performing arts centers. The city's historic Black population has also helped drive cultural activities and artistic pursuits. During the early 20th century, for example, Washington's U Street Corridor became an important center for African American culture.
Michael Lessac is a theatre, television, and film director and screenwriter. Lessac is also the Artistic Director of Colonnades Theatre Lab, Inc and of Colonnades Theatre Lab, South Africa. He is the Project Creator & Director of the international theatre piece, Truth in Translation.
Molly Smith is an American theatre director and the artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. from 1998 to 2023. During this period, she emphasized promoting new American plays, playwrights, and voices, producing 200 works. In addition, she helped originate 150 works by workshops and commissions at the Arena.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. (GMCW), is one of the oldest LGBT choral organizations in the United States. With more than 300 singing members, it is also one of the largest. The chorus's stated mission is that it "delights audiences and champions gay equality with robust artistry, fun, and surprise." In addition to singing members, GMCW has nearly 100 support volunteers, 400 subscribers, 500 donors and an annual audience of nearly 10,000. The parent organization is the Federal City Performing Arts Association, Inc., and GMCW is a member of GALA Choruses.
The Studio Theatre is a non-profit theater production company located in the 14th Street corridor of Washington, D.C. It produces contemporary plays in a four-stage complex. Stages include the Metheny, the Mead and Milton, and Stage 4, a black box.
Synetic Theater is a non-profit physical theater company located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It performs at the Crystal City Theatre in Arlington Virginia. Since its formation its productions have received numerous awards.
Willy Conley is an American deaf photographer, playwright, actor and writer.
The Atlas Performing Arts Center is a multiple space performing arts facility located on H Street in the Near Northeast neighborhood of Washington, DC. Housed in a renovated Art Deco movie house, the facility is home to several arts organizations.
Factory 449: a theatre collective is a not-for-profit theatre company based in Washington, D.C. Factory 449's mission is to maintain an ensemble of multi-disciplinary artists and professionals who are dedicated to the collaborative process of creating "theatre as event". The members of this collective will assume roles involved in the development of new productions, affording artists the opportunity to write, act, direct and produce.
Pitt Stages', previously known as the "University of Pittsburgh Stages" orUniversity of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre or Pitt Rep, is the flagship production company for the University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts. Pitt Stages features students on stage with professional actors and teaching artists staging public performances of classic masterpieces, contemporary productions, and student-directed labs. The company's primary performance spaces include the University's Stephen Foster Memorial and Cathedral of Learning.
David Lloyd Kreeger (1909–1990) was an American art philanthropist, recipient of the 1990 National Medal of Arts Award.
James Ijames is an American playwright, actor, and professor originally from Bessemer City, North Carolina. He received his B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and earned his MFA in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he is now based. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University and co-artistic director of the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. Ijames is a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia's first playwright producing collective. His adaptation of Hamlet, titled Fat Ham, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2022. The production ran at The Public Theater during the summer of 2022, before opening on Broadway in April 2023. He is the recipient of the 2018 Whiting Award for drama and the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist.
Shawn Short is an American choreographer, dancer, photographer, and film director. He also established the Ngoma Center for Dance and its main program, Dissonance Dance Theatre.