Wheelock Family Theatre

Companies

Boston’s Wheelock Family Theatre is one of the nation’s trailblazers in diversity and inclusion. WFT unites actors and audiences of all ages, abilities, colors, incomes, shapes and sizes in the transformational power of live theatre. Since 1981, WFT has given 1M+ audience members the opportunity to see classic and contemporary stories brought to life, feel emotions and empathy for others, and hear important social justice messages. With affordable ticket prices, ASL-interpretation/open-captioning, school/community partnerships, accessible seating/gender-neutral bathrooms, WFT brings people from different walks of life together for a shared experience, and educates and nurtures first and future generations of theatre-goers and theatre artists. In producing stories written by underrepresented authors/playwrights – Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Cheryl West’s Akeelah & the Bee, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights – universal stories featuring Asian, African-American, Latinx families, WFT connects communities on the world stage. Non-traditional casting practices embrace actors of many ethnicities, abilities, student and Equity actors in the professional productions – and in featuring a Filipino Belle and Black Stuart Little, actors have the opportunity to realize their dreams – and multicultural audience members believe that they too, can be a superhero or a princess.

In the handwritten thank you note from a young patron: This was the first and best show I’ve ever seen. From WBUR’s review: the house was packed with a multi-generational, multi-ethnic audience that actually looked like the city of Boston…it was a treat to see so many children enthralled with material of this thematic weight. I found it a thrilling moment when patrons leapt to their feet at curtain call to shower the cast with a well-deserved audience ovation, both because of the artistic merits of the production and because Wheelock had made it clear that everyone was welcome.