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Theatre Alliance seeks permanent home after popup activation in Southwest
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Summary
Theatre Alliance told the commission it has used the city’s pop‑up permitting program to activate a 9,000‑square‑foot space in Southwest for the last nine months and is pursuing conversion to a long‑term home with two performance spaces.
Shannara Gabrielle, artistic director of Theatre Alliance, told the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities on July 21 that Theatre Alliance has used Mayor Bowser’s pop‑up permitting program to activate a vacant 9,000‑square‑foot space in Southwest Washington for the past nine months and now hopes to convert it into a permanent home.
Gabrielle said the activation has allowed the organization to mount a full season, serve about 3,000 patrons and employ more than 100 local artists. “We’ve used that pop up permit for the last 9 months. We've mounted a full show, a full season there serving 3,000 patrons, employing over a 100 local DC artists,” she said.
Gabrielle said the planned conversion would create a 140‑seat black box and a 60‑seat proscenium as part of a broader arts hub for multidisciplinary organizations in the neighborhood. She described Theatre Alliance as a nearly 25‑year‑old mid‑sized organization that hires local artists, develops new work and runs civic engagement programs, including a youth playwriting and education program called Enough Plays to End Gun Violence.
Gabrielle thanked the commission for past support and said the organization could not pursue the space without collaboration from the Department of Buildings and Hoffman Associates. The commission received the presentation during its grantee highlights portion of the meeting; no formal action or funding decision was made during the session.
