Mirror Stage Will Sunset Operations and Active Programming

Following 25 years of producing multidisciplinary arts programming, uplifting historically excluded stories, and fostering connections through the art of story, Mirror Stage has announced it will be sunsetting operations and active programming on June 30, 2026. From its earliest programming to its newest initiatives, Mirror Stage has remained committed to affirming a broad range of experiences—especially in the face of today’s attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Mirror Stage Managing Artistic Director Suzanne M. Cohen shares, “After navigating an extraordinary few years, marked by both challenges and change, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause active programming at Mirror Stage. Leading a small nonprofit arts organization through uncertain times has taken a tremendous amount of energy, and it feels right to take a step back and reflect on what comes next. For now, we’ll be keeping Mirror Stage’s corporate entity alive, holding space for the possibility of future programming, if and when the time feels right.”

Mirror Stage has a history of inviting a larger population to see themselves and their stories represented onstage. After starting Looking Glass Theatre (LGT) in Los Angeles in 1991, Ms. Cohen moved to Seattle in 1992. LGT’s hit production of Mississippi Nude by John Reaves for the 1994 Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival was hailed as “one of the best the Festival has to offer.”

In 1998, she and Producing Director Mona Al-Haddad dissolved the corporation after a two-year hiatus following the West Coast premiere of Moe’s Lucky Seven by Marlane Meyer in the 1996 Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival. In 2001, Looking Glass Theatre re-incorporated, and Cohen became the Managing Artistic Director, responsible for all artistic, administrative, and business development activities. In June 2002, Looking Glass Theatre started doing business as Mirror Stage Company and officially changed the corporate name to Mirror Stage in March 2006.

In October 2002, Mirror Stage kicked off its highly regarded Season of Premieres with the West Coast premiere of The Knee Desires the Dirt by Julie Hébert. The Northwest Premiere of Far East by A.R. Gurney followed in February 2003, and the Season of Premieres concluded in November 2003 with the Northwest Premiere of Abstract Expression by Theresa Rebeck. Mirror Stage returned to fully staged productions in 2012 with the West Coast premiere of Odin’s Horse by Robert Koon.

Mirror Stage’s innovative staged reading series have been engaging the community in examining and discussing topical issues from different perspectives since 2004. Presented without costumes or sets, the emphasis on the text encourages audiences to create their own imagined world inhabited by the play’s characters, increasing empathy and engagement. Following every performance, a moderated discussion with the audience and artists explores the issues raised in more depth.

Mirror Stage started Feed Your Mind in May 2004, producing a total of 10 seasons, encompassing 54 presentations—more than 60 percent of which were written by women playwrights. For the Expand Upon series, initiated in 2017, the community selected a theme, and Mirror Stage commissioned two local playwrights to each develop a short play, using the same multi-generational, multi-racial cast. The two plays were presented in tandem as simply staged readings with free pre-show lectures and an Activism Brunch, with a panel of local experts discussing the featured issue and how to advocate for change. Expand Upon illuminated the complexities of topical issues by presenting two different perspectives as a way to initiate conversation while expanding knowledge and awareness.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mirror Stage quickly pivoted and developed new virtual programming to stay connected with the community, moving planned events and performances online, most of which were live-streamed with captioning and free access on Mirror Stage’s YouTube channel. Launched in August 2020, The Mirror Stage Podcast was an arts and social justice podcast exploring the Pacific NW through the stories and experiences of its people and communities.

Over the summer of 2022, Mirror Stage introduced the multi-disciplinary Contexpo series in partnership with Phinney Neighborhood Center, comprised of three weekends of spoken word, visual arts, and lectures focusing on a single theme. In 2023, Mirror Stage inaugurated the Stories Of… series in February with Stories Of… Love, and returned to fully-staged productions in April with the US premiere of The Squirrel Plays by Mia McCullough. Ten-minute play festival, Inspired By… featured newly-commissioned plays inspired by previous guests featured on The Mirror Stage Podcast, premiered in October 2024.

In March 2025, Mirror Stage unveiled Ripple Effect: Positive Change Around the Sound, its reimagined podcast with a fresh new format, highlighting the important work of local changemakers. In partnership with Humanities Washington, Mirror Stage commenced Holding the Moment, a live-streamed and in-person speaker series designed to spark critical conversations on censorship, erasure, and resistance through storytelling in July. Both 2025 programs embody Mirror Stage’s core belief: that storytelling is a tool for transformation.

Plans for the first half of 2026 include the fourth Holding the Moment presentation on Saturday, January 10; six more episodes of Ripple Effect: Positive Change Around the Sound; and a final Stories Of…Mirror Stage event in June celebrating 25 years of bold, inclusive storytelling.

The heart of Mirror Stage’s mission has always been: representation matters, and story can bridge the divides that separate us. Mirror Stage’s distinctive artistic approach amplifies historically excluded stories, voices, and faces, centering those who have been most marginalized by our society’s inequitable systems and structures. Over the years, nearly 60 percent of collaborating artists have been members of historically excluded communities, including People of the Global Majority, trans people, non-binary people, disabled people, and immigrants. Mirror Stage continues to believe the power of storytelling holds the key to bringing people together in imagining and embodying a better future, and extends deep gratitude to the artists, audiences, partners, and supporters with whom we have built a community rooted in curiosity, courage, and the belief that stories can change us.

Seattle Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (Spokane Valley Summer Theatre)

7.9% of votes

2. REEFER MADNESS (The Spartan Theatre)

7.5% of votes

3. THE COLOR PURPLE (Village Theatre)

6.9% of votes

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