A troupe departs, but Carnegie Stage space might live on

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Since 2012, when it relocated from Washington, Pa., off the WALL Theater has occupied a big storefront on West Main Street, in Carnegie. There it staged 79 works, including this month’s Pittsburgh premiere of Jennifer Haley’s drama “Breadcrumbs.”

When that show closed this past Saturday, it marked the conclusion of off the WALL’s run of producing vibrant independent theater here. But there’s hope it’s not curtains for the venue known as Carnegie Stage, which though small has become an increasingly important part of Pittsburgh’s theater scene.

The troupe was founded in 2007 by businessman Hans Gruenert and theater artist Virginia Wall Gruenert with a focus on highlighting contemporary plays by women playwrights and creating opportunities for women artists.

The venue is a black box, with about 75 seats, but artistically it punched above its weight. Some of the plays were by locally based playwrights; others were contemporary critical favorites like Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive,” Sarah Kane’s “4.48 Psychosis,” Sarah Kosar’s “Mumburger,” Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart’s “The Musical of Musicals: The Musical” and Lisa Kron’s “Well.”

Many, perhaps most, of these plays wouldn’t have otherwise been staged in Pittsburgh. Neither would most of the small touring productions off the WALL hosted — even as some of its own, including Virginia Gruenert’s “Shaken and Stirred” and “Mother Lode,” went on to stages in New York City. Gruenert frequently performed in off the WALL shows, including “Breadcrumbs,” in which she acted with Erika Cuenca, the troupe’s associate artistic director and another Carnegie Stage favorite.

Two years ago, “Mother Lode” made its Icelandic premiere at a theater in Reykjavik. “Breadcrumbs,” too, is headed to Iceland, and that’s no coincidence: The Gruenerts quietly left the U.S. for that country in 2020 — as Hans Gruenert puts it, “during the first Trump term,” seeking somewhere “where culture is a little more appreciated.” (Gruenert, who was born in Germany, has dual citizenship in the EU.)

The couple sold the Carnegie Stage building but is still leasing the space. That lease expires in early 2027, putting Pittsburgh at risk of losing not only off the WALL’s own offerings, but a rental space for other small local companies and productions.

Indeed, just in recent years, Carnegie Stage has hosted shows by troupes like Throughline Theater Company (“Uncle Vanya”), PICT Classic Theatre (“First Lady”), and Kinetic Theatre, including the latter’s Pittsburgh premiere of famed playwright Martin McDonough’s dark comedy “Hangmen.” Other local theatrical highlights of 2025 included a staging of Jen Silverman’s “Witch” by an ad hoc group of local artists.

“We love being there,” says PICT development and relationship manager Carolyn Ludwig. PICT has staged four shows at Carnegie Stage, and in May alone will use the space for both a two-day fundraiser (a staged reading of “The Winter’s Tale”) and its Bards from the Burgh reading series.

Kinetic founding artistic director Andrew Paul agrees with Ludwig that Pittsburgh has a dearth of small and mid-sized theater spaces. Carnegie Stage is less expensive than most venues in the city proper, and both Paul and Ludwig said Carnegie’s business district, with its taverns, restaurants and nearby spots like the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, complements their theatrical offerings well.

“I feel at Carnegie we have a place in the community,” Ludwig says.

While Paul says a few longtime Kinetic supporters refused to drive to Carnegie, Ludwig says PICT’s patrons, most of whom live in Pittsburgh’s East End, have proved willing to travel the extra 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Hans Gruenert has some good news: a promising potential buyer for the Carnegie Stage building who wants to keep it a theater.

“It’s somebody who everybody in Pittsburgh knows,” he says. Gruenert says a closing is expected within weeks.

A new owner would face some challenges, including keeping prices low enough for the kind of troupes that want to work there: Gruenert says off the WALL lost money on its rentals. But in a time when larger and more established theater companies are consolidating to survive, better one theater more than one less.