A Brief History of the
Willows Theatre Company

Concord Community Arts, a program of the City of Concord, began presenting plays and musicals in the Parkside Playhouse in 1974, and in the spring of 1977 began producing in the new Willows Theatre as Theatre Concord.

Nine years later, Theatre Concord became CitiArts Theatre, employing members of Actors Equity Association. In 1992, CitiArts gained Constituent Membership in Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national association of professional regional theaters. In late 1993, CitiArts Theatre became an operation of The Benefactors, a non-profit corporation organized in 1974 to support quality live theatre in the Bay Area, and the name was changed to The Willows Theatre Company.

In 2007, the Willows Theatre Co. opened the Campbell Theatre in downtown Martinez, which will continue to grow and develop into a vital downtown destination as well as a venue to explore new works from talented early career artists.

In November 2009, the Board of Directors closed the Concord Mainstage due to financial reasons. For the 2010 Season, the Willows Theatre Company operated solely out of the Campbell Theatre in Downtown Martinez. In October 2010, longtime Producing Artistic Director Richard Elliott retired from the Willows Theatre Company. In November 2010, the President of the Board and the Board of Directors hired David Faustina as Managing Director and Eric Inman as Producing Artistic Director.

In March 2011, the Willows Theatre Company Mainstage reopened. The 2011 Season continued, split between the Concord Mainstage and the Campbell Theatre.

The Future

The Willows Theatre Company's Five-Year Goals: Develop a national reputation as a producer of new musical theater; Build and diversify our audience; and Pursue development of the John Muir Festival Center. Producing Artistic Director Eric Inman will be developing a New Works Festival starting in 2011.

Awards

In the theatre-rich Bay Area, The Willows Theatre Company has achieved over 100 awards, including a Cyril Award from the San Francisco Business Arts Council for Non-Profit Arts Excellence; Bay Area Newspapers "Top 10" theatre awards; Drama-logue and Shellie awards; Diablo Magazine's "Best of the East Bay"; and numerous Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards.

Performance History

Click here to view the Willows Theatre Performance History by year.