CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER INC
450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 www.centralsquaretheater.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: CST supports the Nora and URT by providing space to each of these theater companies and by conducting programs that are consistent with their charitable and educational purposes. URT creates live performance in the activist and collaborative spirit of its namesake. Through interdisciplinary inquiry and partnership, URT creates accessible theater of great beauty and social content - theater that challenges and delights, informs and celebrates. Through its productions and a constellation of education and outreach programs, URT activates commitments to cultivating local artists of all ages and to creating new work. The Nora presents illuminating contemporary and modern classic theater and champions the voice of women.

The purpose of the Central Square Theater ("CST") is to support the Nora Theater Company ("the Nora") and Underground Railway Theater ("URT") by providing space to each of those two theater companies and by conducting programs that are consistent with the charitable and educational purposes of those companies.

Central Square Theater is a state-of-the-art theatrical arts facility where audiences find, under one roof, the distinctive repertoires of two award-winning, professional companies, Underground Railway Theater and The Nora Theatre Company, as well as collaborative projects drawing on their creative synergy. As a cultural anchor in the community, schools, families, and community groups benefit from outreach and educational programs, and the local economy is boosted by the over 26,000 audience members that visit CST each year and enjoy the multicultural, multi-generational, urban environment of Central Square, Cambridge. As the first permanent home for both theater companies, Central Square Theater is a vibrant hub of theatrical, educational and social activity, where artists and audiences come together to create theater vital to the community. The theater is dedicated to providing affordable ticket prices for underserved communities and offers free or discounted tickets to many local non-profit organizations. The Nora TheatreThe Nora Theatre Company began with a production of Edna O'Brien's play, Virginia, about the celebrated author Virginia Woolf, at the former Lyric Stage space on Charles Street. Committed to producing illuminating contemporary and modern classic theater and to championing the voice of women, the company has, since that time, staged 67 productions. Before moving to Central Square Theater in 2008, The Nora also resided at the Harvard Freshman Union where it established an internship program with Harvard freshmen, and at Boston Playwrights' Theatre where audiences were introduced to many of the 36 plays which were given their Greater Boston, New England, or World premieres by the company. Throughout its history, The Nora has received many awards and citations for the high quality of its work including seven Elliot Norton Awards, five IRNE Awards, and mentions in "Best of" lists from, among others, The Boston Globe, EDGE Boston. In 2008, the company began a collaboration with Girl Talk Theatre, an organization that uses the art of theater to empower poor, homeless, and marginalized women. Underground Railway TheaterUnderground Railway Theater creates live performance in the activist and collaborative spirit of its namesake. Through interdisciplinary inquiry and partnership, URT creates accessible theater of great beauty and social content theater that challenges and delights, informs and celebrates. Through its productions and a constellation of education and outreach programs, URT activates commitments to cultivating local artists of all ages and to creating new work. Founded in Oberlin, Ohio, one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, URT toured nationally for 30 years before becoming a resident company at CST. Through its work with symphony orchestras, URT has represented Massachusetts at over a dozen U.S. theater festivals and also in France, Canada, Spain, Taiwan, Greece, and Hong Kong. Awards for theater and public education include those from Our Place Theater Project, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Cambridge Peace Commission. The company has been cited for excellence by The Boston Globe and The Los Angeles Times. Catalyst Collaborative@MITCatalyst Collaborative@MIT (CC@MIT) is dedicated to creating and presenting plays that deepen public understanding about science, while providing artistic and emotional experiences not available in other forms of dialogue about science. CC@MIT is committed to furthering approaches for investigating science and technology as part of the fabric of theater and life. Pairing MIT's expertise in science and technology and the two resident companies of Central Square Theater's commitments to artistic excellence, cross-disciplinary collaboration and community involvement, CC@MIT strives to make significant contributions to the growing field of science theater. Connections to primary research concerns at MIT afford CC@MIT the opportunity to authentically convey the challenges and rewards of scientific enterprise to a wide and growing general audience.Education ProgramsUnderground Railway Theater offers extensive educational programs including Page to Stage, a young playwrights' program; Youth Underground, its resident teen ensemble; and classes and workshops offered throughout the year at Central Square Theater. URT artists have taught as part of the Project Zero Summer Institute (Harvard School of Education) and in the theater program at MIT. Both URT and The Nora offer school matinees at subsidized ticket prices for all school-age appropriate productions. Playpen PlaywrightsLong recognizing the need to provide educational and professional opportunities for our local playwrights, The PlayPen Playwrights Program was established at Central Square Theater in 2009 as an 18 month-long residency for experienced playwrights who seek dramaturgical help, collegial fellowship, and the participation of directors and actors as they develop scripts for the stage.

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