Riverside Theatre is a professional theatre company in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

. Riverside is affiliated with

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

and is a member of the

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

, the

National New Play Network The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 stat ...

, the

Shakespeare Association of America The Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1972 of professional and independent scholars for the advanced academic study of William Shakespeare's plays and poems and their cultural and theatrical contexts. ...

, and the Institute of Outdoor Drama. As of 2018, the Artistic Director was Adam Knight. Riverside produces classic to contemporary plays and hosts regional and state premieres. It also stages a summer program of Shakespeare plays at a local park.

History

Riverside Theatre was founded by Ron Clark, Jody Hovland, and Bruce Wheaton in 1981 when they staged their first play " The Exercise" at the Old Armory building on the

University of Iowa campus A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. In 1983, Riverside moved to the Old Brick, an historic former church building in Iowa City. In 1990, Riverside moved into a space on Gilbert Street in Iowa City's Northside neighborhood. In 2020, Riverside announced a moved to the historic Crescent Building in downtown Iowa City. The new space would allow the theatre to accommodate more patrons, and provide more flexible space for productions and audiences.

Riverside Theatre in the Park

During the summer, Riverside stages

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

plays in a 427-seat outdoor theatre in Iowa City's Lower City Park. The series debuted in 2000 with ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'' and ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

''. In 2008, 2013, and 2014, Riverside was forced to relocate its summer productions due to flooding from the

Iowa River The Iowa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the state of Iowa in the United States. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 and is ...

. relocate due to flooding. Beginning in 2018, Riverside began offering these summer productions to audiences free of charge. Riverside_Theatre_Building

Premieres

* Pairings From Shakespeare, 1984 * Il Magnifico, 1985 (world premiere) * Riverside Revival, 1985 * Outward, 1987 (world premiere) * Driving the Body Back, 1988 * First Lady Lou, 1988 * Dear Iowa, 1991 (world premiere) * Chief, 1992 (world premiere) * Gunplay, 1993 (world premiere) * The Wooden O, 1994 (world premiere) * Wish Me Pretty, Wish Me Strong, 1994 (world premiere) * Harry's Way, 1997 (world premiere) * Kindred Hearts, 1997 (world premiere) * Marry me, 1998 (world premiere) * Small Miracles, 1998 (world premiere) * Grocery Stories, 2003 (world premiere) * The Imaginary Invalid, 2005 (original adaptation/premiere) * Prosperity, 2005 (world premiere) * Kinnick, 2006 (world premiere) * Coffee and Hope, 2008 (world premiere) * Megan Gogerty Loves You Very Much, 2008 (world premiere) * Raising Medusa, 2009 (world premiere) * Manning Up, 2012 (rolling world premiere) * The Exit Interview, 2013 (rolling world premiere) * Birth Witches, 2013 * Lucky Me, 2015 (NNPN rolling world premiere) * Housebroken, 2015 (world premiere) by Megan Gogerty

References

{{reflist

External links

Full production history
Theatres in Iowa