Through uncommon uses of environment and intimate passionate performances, Rorschach Theatre seeks to lure its audiences beyond the limits of ordinary theatrical experience so that they may discover new elements of their own humanity.

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We tell stories that allow for innovative design and visceral performances. Rorschach treats productions as “installations” that surround the audience with the world of a play.  Our work centers on the intersection of magic or impossible moments and relatable, visceral human experience.  Without proselytizing, it provides a complex, intellectual catalyst for self-exploration of challenging subjects.

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Rorschach is a vital launching pad for emerging artists.  By trusting early-career actors, directors, playwrights and designers with substantive artistic responsibilities, and surrounding  them with established professionals and ample resources, we have become an essential showcase for new talent.  Rorschach alumni artists have gone on to work regularly at places like Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, Studio Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre and The Shakespeare Theatre locally, as well as off-Broadway and in the film and television industries.

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Rorschach has produced more than fifty plays seen by tens of thousands of people in the Washington area. We’ve been nominated for over a dozen Helen Hayes Awards; won a Mary Goldwater Award; been a finalist for the Mayor’s Arts Award; and have been the recipients of multiple grants and awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The company’s work has garnered the attention of The New York Times, The Washington Post, American Theatre magazine and National Public Radio, as well as countless local publications.

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“Washington’s leading fantasists” – Washington Post

 

“[Rorschach] enchants us like a dream and kicks like a nightmare.” Washington City Paper

 

“Good storytelling is a sort of fearless magic act, in which events move too quickly to tolerate objection… And this is the way the Rorschach troupe tells this story: with such assurance and commitment that the impossible seems true.”   – DC Theater Scene