OUR STORY

MISSION
THE NEW AMERICAN THEATRE (NAT) is a creative, artist-helmed theatre company. NAT seeks to inspire, educate and nurture artists and our community towards a thoughtful and humane world view through the art of story-telling. We help young theatre artists find their voices, cultivate social consciousness and prepare for a lasting career. We support new and established playwrights and incubate new plays. We seek to make a lasting, life-long impression on our community – inspiring the audience to continue provocative conversations long after the curtain closes.

CULTURAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
The New American Theatre seeks to inspire, educate and nurture theater artists and the community around us to promote cultural equity and inclusion through our programming, policies and practices. Founded in 1986 in New York and reestablished in Los Angeles in 1995, we have grown into a theatre arts organization that is committed to the creative expression of telling stories and encouraging conversations that advance equity in gender, age, ethnicity, race, culture, sexual orientation and ability.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESS
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NAT By The numbers

26 Years in Los Angeles

Over 200/Productions  

Over 250 Los Angeles or World Premieres Plays
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Over 2,000 Actors on Stage

Over 500 combined Playwrights, directors, designers 

Over 25,000 Audience members served

7 World Premieres published

5 plays adapted into films
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Countless Awards, Recognition and Critic Choice Productions
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THE NEW AMERICAN THEATRE IS...
 “One of the top-ten theatre companies in Los Angeles, known for presenting classic plays with a modern twist.”– Hollywood Reporter

“One of the top-ten 99-Seat Theatres in Los Angeles – CBS Los Angeles
A dynamic ensemble of highly committed artists" - Back Stage

HISTORY
Fresh out of The Juilliard School, Artistic Director Jack Stehlin founded the theatre company Circus Theatricals in 1982. His idea was that should he and classmates ever be out of work for more than two weeks, they would make their own project. This was the beginning of our true artist-led collaborative membership company.  The first production was Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, starring actors who are now well-known on the world stages, film and TV. Jack and the company re-located to Los Angeles in 1995, where Jack partnered with Jeannine Wisnosky (Managing Director). The LA-based company enjoyed much success, and became a creative and well-regarded company of actors, directors and other theatre artists -  developing new plays, training young actors to work on stage and on camera, while presenting world-class productions. 
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THE NEW AMERICAN THEATRE NAME
The company incorporated as a nonprofit 501( c)3 in 2005, and subsequently changed its name from Circus Theatricals to The New American Theatre. The new name highlights the company’s rich history and focus on the development of new American plays.

THE CIRCUS THEATRICALS NAME
Artistic Director Jack Stehlin originally founded NAT as Circus Theatricals in honor of his family, who were famous Australian Aboriginal circus and vaudeville performers. Under the stage name The Colleanos, the family consisted of wire-walkers, jugglers, contortionists, trapeze artists, and more. Con Colleano was the first wire walker to do a forward flip on a wire. Winnie Colleano caught the trapeze using the back of her heels. Jack's mother Kitty was a juggler and acrobat.

PROGRAMMING
Throughout its prolific history, NAT has presented over 198 Main Stage, Second Stage, and One Act plays. The company’s annual Festival of New One Act Plays, now in its 21st year, accepts submissions from playwrights from all over the world. In 2015, The Festival received a whopping 3,000 new one act play submissions. 

NAT’s world premiere productions have enjoyed a life beyond our stages
  • Three NAT productions moved Off-Broadway in New York (Man.gov, Harm's Way, The Job) Harm’s Way also received the prestigious Pen USA Literary award;
  • Titus Redux was a selection of the Radar-LA International Theatre Festival;
  • Two plays first produced by NAT have become feature length films (The Job, Sister Cities);
  • Two plays first produced by NAT have become short films (Bridesmaid #12, Game 7);
  • Several plays first produced by NAT have been published by major publishers;
  • One short play (Exigence) was based on a documentary entitled Victor’s Last Class by the playwright/company member and now has international distribution;
  • Sister Cities has been presented by 15 different theatre companies in the United States and abroad.
  • The New American Theatre is the subject of a documentary called “Without A Net” which had its official screening in 2015 and is currently on the Festival circuit.​​​ ​

THE NEW AMERICAN STUDIO ENSEMBLE

The New American Studio Ensemble 
The New American Studio Ensemble is the resident acting company of The New American Theatre. Members of the Studio Ensemble are part of unique and vibrant community of working actors. We support actors and theatre artists through our longtime commitment in offering a welcoming and supportive home where we work together to continue to develop our craft, in an ongoing studio, with the additional benefit of live stage performances. Simply, we offer a place for actors to act.

The New American Studio Ensemble is the resident acting company of The New American Theatre. Members of the Studio Ensemble a part of unique and vibrant community of working actors.

Membership Includes:
**** Participation in a community of vibrant, working actors in theatre, TV and film.
**** Collaboration on the production of new and classic plays.
**** A weekly acting studio that focuses on scene study and technique.
**** The benefit of a shared dialogue between motivated and experienced actors who strive for fulfilling and long-lasting acting careers.

Studio Ensemble Members are members who actively participate in Saturday Studio and appear regularly in our productions.

Associate Artist Members are long-time members of the New American Theatre Community and dedicate and volunteer their time and expertise to the company.
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Associate Members are advanced, professional working actors and theatre artists who have demonstrated a life-long commitment to theatre in America.

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LEADERSHIP

​Leadership:
  • Board of Directors: 
    Kent George, Dean Nichols,  John Bunzel, Jack Stehlin, Jeannine Wisnosky
  • Artistic Advisors: 
    John Farmanesh-Bocca, Brenda Strong
Artistic Leadership:
  • Jack Stehlin Artistic Director
  • Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin Managing Director
  • Susan Ziegler Membership Coordinator
  • Brendan Brandt Literary Coordinator
  • Jade Sealey Fundraising Coordinator
  • Alfred Molina Associate Artist
  • Robert Cicchini Associate Artist
  • Jordan Lund Associate Artist

Members: visit here for list!