Regional Theater of the Week: Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, DE

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States.

This Week's Featured Regional Theater: Delaware Theatre Company (DTC) in Wilmington, DE

Founded in 1979, Delaware Theatre Company (DTC) is Delaware's premiere non-profit theatre. Now in its 34th season of award-winning theatre, DTC is located in the heart of Wilmington's thriving Riverfront. Led by Executive Director Bud Martin, DTC produces a diverse season of plays, including musicals, new works, and the classics, attracting professional actors and artists from Broadway and regional theatres across the country. DTC has produced more than 150 plays for over one million residents and visitors to its community.  The education and community outreach programs are nationally recognized and serve thousands throughout the tri-state area.

DTC produces five professional theatrical productions each season along with an array of meaningful education and outreach programs. DTC's mainstage programming has explored the entire canon of American and world theatre, from 20th century classics like The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, Private Lives by Noël Coward and Our Town by Thornton Wilder to contemporary plays like Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, Proof by David Auburn and Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin.

DTC has produced original productions from the works of William Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Moliére as well as world premieres by emerging playwrights including Kevin Ramsey, Aaron Posner, and Tazwell Thompson.

DTC's artistic programming has been awarded 12 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. DTC's nationally recognized education programs reach out to all sectors of the community. The popular Theatre in the Schools student matinee program provides meaningful arts access and enrichment opportunities to middle and high school students from a four-state radius and includes a performance of a DTC production, classroom visits by DTC teaching artists, post-performance conversations with members of the cast and an original standards-based study guide called Insights, which gives teachers pertinent background information on the play, the playwright, and the DTC production, as well as teachable moments from within the script.

For than past twenty years, DTC has been a leader in access to the arts for youth at risk. The cornerstone of these offerings is the Totally Awesome Kids, a program for individuals with developmental disabilities ranging from mild retardation to Down's syndrome and autism. This program, which uses theatre games, group activities and exercises to help participants with verbal, listening, and socialization skills has been the recipient on national recognition for excellence in community service. A similar program, the Pro-Actors was launched in 2007, and provides unprecedented socialization opportunities for children with disabilities on the autism spectrum.

DTC is also well known for its 13-year partnership with the Ferris School, a level five maximum-security prison for incarcerated teen boys. DTC education staff and actors participate in residencies at Ferris School, which includes work in drama, movement, visual arts, music and spoken word/poetry.