Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co. Purchases Current Performing Space at Penn Quarter

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the May 2, 2013, purchase of its dynamic, 30,000 square foot facility, securing its future and rooting the theatre in the heart of downtown DC as a resource for artists and audiences in perpetuity.

The process of procuring this award-winning space began in 1998, when Woolly partnered with JPI Apartment Development LP on the winning bid to develop a city block-sized parcel, located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, between 6th and 7th Streets and D and E Streets, NW. Designed by Esocoff and Associates, this mixed-use development was to include 428 residential units, retail, parking, and a state-of-the-art, 265-seat theatre space. The developers provided the theatre shell to Woolly Mammoth free-of-charge and the Company then completed a $9 million "Breaking New Ground" capital campaign to support the interior build-out and inhabitance costs.

After performing for 14 years in a 114-seat space located at Church and 14th Streets, NW-and then a four-year period of homelessness, during which time the Company performed at the Kennedy Center and Theatre J-Woolly Mammoth moved into its new home in May 2005.

Designed by McInturff Architects in Bethesda, the new theatre doubled Woolly Mammoth's seating capacity, quadrupled its square footage, and expanded the stage volume ten-fold. The theatre also won numerous awards for architecture and design, including a 2006 American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Interior Architecture and a 2006 United States Institute for Theatre Technology Honor Award.

The Company has thrived in this new location over the past eight seasons. In May of 2005, when the Company moved in, Woolly had a full-time staff of 13, an annual budget of $1.8 million, and presented 167 performances during the 2004-05 Season for 21,132 patrons. Today, just past its 8thanniversary, Woolly employs 24 full-time staff members, has an annual budget of nearly $4 million, and presented 224 performances for 42,378 patrons during the 2011-12 Season.

The Company originally signed a lease agreement with the developers for $1/year in an arrangement set to expire in 2031. It had long been an ambition to own the space outright; and, in the summer of 2012, the owners approached Woolly Mammoth to negotiate a sale. The Company has secured highly-favorable financing while it works to fund the principal from municipal and foundation sources.

"This purchase represents the final chapter of a very successful journey that began nearly 15 years ago when we embarked on the search for a new theatre home," says Woolly Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. "I want to thank the many Board members, individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies-especially the Council of the District of Columbia-who supported the original $9 million effort to develop this state-of-the-art facility. Woolly has flourished here ever since, with our budget and attendance more than doubling and our work receiving 103 Helen Hayes Awards nominations and 20 awards over this period of time. We look forward to continuing our trajectory as a unique resource for DC artists and audiences in the Penn Quarter neighborhood with this incredible new asset now on our balance sheet."

"We are elated to lay down permanent roots in a state-of-the-art space that allows us to bring high-quality production value to cutting-edge new plays," says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "This latest achievement symbolically stakes Woolly's place at the center of downtown DC and Washington's cultural life."

The building purchase will enable an even greater focus on "Free the Beast!," an innovative $4 million fundraising campaign to support the production of 25 new plays over the next ten years. Conceived as a follow-on campaign to "Breaking New Ground," this effort was designed to take the artistic work housed within Woolly's award-winning facility to the next level.

Free the Beast! support for Woolly's current production, Stupid Fu****** Bird, included a completion commission for award-winning playwright Aaron Posner, funding for the composer of the original score, a one-week workshop at Lake George Theater Lab in upstate New York, and three readings at Woolly Mammoth.

Now at the end of its 33rd Season with Stupid Fu****** Bird by award-winning playwright Aaron Posner, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at the leading edge of American theatre. Acknowledged as "one of the most influential outposts for the best new American plays" (The Washington Post), and "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a national leader in the development of new works, and one of the best known and most influential mid-sized theatres in America.

Woolly Mammoth's upcoming Season 34, themed "America's Tell-Tale Heart", includes Lisa D'Amour's Detroit (September 9-October 6, 2013), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate (November 4-December 1, 2013), Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud To Present... (February 10-March 9, 2014), Elevator Repair Service's Arguendo (March 31-April 20, 2014), and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's The Totalitarians (June 2-29, 2014). Returning this holiday season are The Pajama Men, Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, with their newest show, Just the Two of Each of Us (Dec 10, 2013-Jan 5, 2014).