Theater lights in Pittsburgh haven’t dimmed — even if the theaters themselves are a little less grand.
Despite funding cuts to arts organizations, concerns over future audience retention and even some shuttering or merging of bigger names in town, smaller local companies are staying strong with innovative productions and a more do-it-yourself sensibility.
Companies, including Pittsburgh Playwrights, barebones productions, Kinetic Theatre and others, are seeing sold-out shows, extended runs and mounting audience enthusiasm with their latest seasons.
“I know times are tough everywhere, but we’ve had a string of very successful shows,” said Patrick Jordan, founder and artistic director of barebones productions.
The company was founded in 2003 and now works out of its own theater — the barebones black box — in Braddock. Depending on the configuration, the space can seat about 70 patrons per performance. And as of late, its plays have been filling those seats.
“We had one of our biggest hits last season with a play called ‘The Shark is Broken.’ We extended it as many times as humanly possible and added as many shows as we could,” Jordan said.
The play was a humorous take on the behind-the-scenes aspect of the original blockbuster film “Jaws,” and it ran from May 30 to June 26, 2025, adding nine shows to its original run to meet clamoring demand.
Jordan said that barebones also saw enthusiasm for its most recent production, “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” which ran last month. Owning the Braddock theater and keeping a small staff has also helped to keep costs down.
“Also, we have an opportunity to let other people use our spaces and have other companies be able to get work or have things seen,” he said.
As far as staffing at barebones, Jordan has done everything from directing to costume design to cleaning up the theater after the show. Other local artistic directors also know the “labor of love” of doing multiple jobs for each show.
“I do everything from the box office to the curtain speech to directing the shows,” said Andrew Paul, producing artistic director at Kinetic Theatre.
Kinetic is currently producing plays at Carnegie Stage in Carnegie, which can fit about 75 people. Paul, who previously founded Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre (now called PICT Classic Theatre), has built Kinetic from the ground up since 2014. Its production of David Mamet’s 2023 play “Henry Johnson” will run through July 26.
Paul stressed the importance of building relationships among directors, actors and companies. “I know a lot of people who are in the community who really like the work and want to support it. I’ve known some of these folks for 30-some years,” he said.
That built-in audience and base of support for donations to keep the company going is crucial for smaller companies, especially with concerns about larger foundation support and government funding.
He agreed with Jordan about keeping overhead low.
“Because we don’t have a lot of staff and we keep things lean and mean, I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve done a little bit better in terms of getting back to where we were pre-pandemic than the larger groups, because they’re very top-heavy,” Paul said.
A similar model has worked for Mark Clayton Southers, founder and artistic and technical director at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company in the Hill District. He’s owned the Madison Arts Center for three years now and has created three theatrical spaces within the building. Shows are also staged at the August Wilson House in the Hill District.
Playwrights’ main stage theater seats 130 patrons, while its cabaret theater fits 75. The company filled them both for many sold-out shows during its August Wilson’s American Century Cycle Experience run of three plays last summer.
“First of all, I think it’s August Wilson’s writing,” Southers said of the Experience’s success. “Second, our enormous pool of acting talent that we have in Pittsburgh. Third, our audiences, who, because of our track record, will come. And I think you can’t discount the lure of seeing an August Wilson play at the August Wilson house.”
“Fences” was staged outdoors at the landmark. Southers said that Playwrights will be doing another American Century Cycle Experience next year. According to Southers, more than 3,000 tickets were sold for the three plays last year.
This year’s season has also been “great,” according to Southers. They brought in an Italian-translated version of Wilson’s play “Jitney” in May. “We sold out all three shows,” he said.
Southers sang the praises of Jordan at barebones and Paul at Kinetic, pointing to them as examples of smaller companies running smoothly by keeping costs low.
“We don’t have as big of a house to fill, but we don’t have to advertise as much, and we don’t have to have as much staffing,” he said.
Quantum Theatre is in a transitional period, with founder and artistic director Karla Boos set to retire later this year after 35 years. She’s currently directing her last show for the company, William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” which will be performed at Carrie Furnace. Quantum specializes in site-specific productions, meaning that they have no set performance space and fit the setting to the play.
“We’ve been preparing for a transition and really leaning into our strengths,” Boos said. “We’ve been enabling our directors that we’ve worked with over the last year with strong resources and hoping they would courageously fill their slots. Wonderful work — they surpassed our expectations.”
Quantum’s run of “Seagull” last summer was one of its best-selling shows ever, and it has seen robust attendance post-covid. Boos has a lot of confidence in the company.
“It feels really good; it’s really affirming. I really don’t worry as much as everybody that post-pandemic people have no appetite for live performance. I don’t think that’s true.”
She believes strongly in the audience and in the theater’s ability to weather difficult times.
“There’s an appetite for innovation right now,” she said. “We’ve all been through a lot of change in the world and we’re transitioning. So, performance is going to find ways to answer that appetite.”