About Us
Direct, intimate encounters with works of modern and contemporary theatre
Professional theatre based in Chelsea, Massachusetts
OUR THEATRE
Apollinaire Theatre Company is known for cutting-edge contemporary work, regional premieres, and for breathing new life into classics. In addition to the upstairs theatre where we have produced since 2004, we have a whole historic building at our disposal which we at times stage throughout. Imagine each act of a Chekov play performed in a different antique room, or a visceral piece performed for audiences of 17 in a tiny balcony space.
In July we take advantage of warm nights and water views by moving outdoors into Chelsea's PORT Park! From Shakespeare to Ionesco to Lorca and more, our Apollinaire in the Park program brings great works of theatre to audiences for FREE!
Teatro Chelsea is a Latinx artist led program increasing arts access and equity in our community by producing Spanish language and bi-lingual theatre.
Our Apollinaire Play Lab program, held in the Riseman Family Theatre, serves youth ages 3-16. We offer a variety of classes including: acting, dance, and visual art, as well as opportunities to perform in youth plays.
Our Black Box Theatre is home to our Resident Artist Program and is also available to rent for your productions or events. Resident Artists enjoy free space to develop and produce as well as opportunities to collaborate and resource- and knowledge-share.
The Apollinaire Gallery features the work of local and regional visual artists, with exhibits timed to the production schedule so that patrons see new works at each show.
We are proud recipients of multiple Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards, including The Kenneth A. MacDonald Award for Theatre Excellence awarded to Artistic Director Danielle Fauteux Jacques. We are also honored to have received the New England Theatre Conference Regional Award for Outstanding Achievement in the American Theatre.
Our mission
Apollinaire Theatre creates unique encounters with plays that inspire and wildly entertain. Our programs -Teatro Chelsea, Apollinaire Play Lab, Apollinaire in the Park, Resident Artist Program- complement our production season and cultivate an ecosystem of artists of all ages and career stages in our home for adventurous art, the Chelsea Theatre Works.
Our history
Apollinaire Theatre Company was formed in 1995 and named TheatreZone for the location where we produced our plays: the intersection of the Theatre District and the Combat Zone. Soon after, we began searching Chelsea for a place to create a new performing arts center, and in 1999, we purchased the historic 1906 Old Post Office Building/Odd Fellows Hall in Chelsea Square to create a new performing arts center, the Chelsea Theatre Works.
After four years of fundraising and renovations, we began our first season at the Chelsea Theatre Works. Yet the prohibitive costs of bringing a 100-year-old building up to code, and making it fully accessible, kept us under constant threat of closure. In 2007, with the elevator installed, we celebrated the success and survival of our permanent home by changing our name from one that represents our past to one that inspires our future — Apollinaire Theatre Company.
Guillaume Apollinaire
1880-1918Poet Guillaume Apollinaire was one of the leaders of an explosion of artistic activity in the early 20th century which resulted in the modern art movement in painting, dance, music, sculpture, and theatre.
Apollinaire coined the term Surrealism, which he applied to his only play, Les Mamelles de Tiresias. The revolutionary artistic energy of Apollinaire and his contemporaries — Laurencin, Cocteau, Jarry, Picasso, Roche, Chagall, to name a few — and their risky, wildly creative, and collaborative theatre works serve as both an inspiration and challenge as we reenvision ourselves as Apollinaire Theatre Company.