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Founded in 1965, Long Wharf Theatre (Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director; Kit Ingui, Managing Director) is a Tony Award-winning company of international renown. It was founded with the mission of creating an accessible theatre culture unique to the Greater New Haven community. Recognized for a historic commitment to commissioning, developing, and producing new plays to expand the legacy of storytelling in the American theatre, more than 30 of its productions have transferred to successful Broadway or Off-Broadway runs and countless others have inspired artists and audiences at theatres across the country. Guided by three core pillars of artistic innovation, radical inclusion, and kaleidoscopic partnerships, the company aspires to nurture and produce boundary-breaking theater. Long Wharf Theatre is entering a bold new chapter, moving beyond its home for nearly 60 years to activate venues, neighborhoods, and public spaces throughout Greater New Haven, underscoring its commitment to equity, inclusion and belonging in every aspect of its work.

Allow us to introduce ourselves: We are the Founders/Directors/Core Playwrights of UNIVERSES, a poetic musical theater ensemble now celebratyear. Since our artistic beginnings, we have been dedicated to creating and supporting works that are rooted in a collective humanity. We channel the myriad of voices that speak to us on this journey, voices that too often drown in the dialogue of race, class, gender, and identity.

As UNIVERSES, we share a personal/collaborative journey that started in 1988. In 1993, while teaching in the NYC Department of Education’s (D.O.E.) LEAP Program in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx, we understood that we had a greater role to play. Having grown up as inner city “housing project kids,” we were well aware that, if it hadn’t been for our art, we would never have found our ways to where our paths would intersect. We believed that working with the D.O.E was not enough for our Bronx community or our artistic journey, so we set out to create our own cultural/economic development institution, right in the heart of Hunts Point. With two collaborators to envision this behemoth project, we secured a 12,000 square foot abandoned factory building and co-founded THE POINT Community Development Corporation.

At THE POINT, we built a theater, dance studio, art gallery, computer labs, the Bronx satellite of the International Center of Photography, and a business incubator where fledgling neighborhood businesses could thrive. Artists from all walks of life taught and practiced their craft in that same space with us, at our invitation—from Sarah Jones to Dael Orlandersmith, Reg.e.gaines to Danny Hoch, and many more. These brilliant artists joined in to make art where art was deemed impossible. In only two years, we were able to purchase the facility and launch a successful capital campaign that ensured the long-term sustainability or THE POINT, which remains a vibrant arts and business incubator today.