Adventure Theatre

Babe, the Sheep-Pig; Frosty, the Snowman; Go, Dog, Go!!; Goodnight Moon; Harold and the Purple Crayon; Holes; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; Just a Dream; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Secret Garden; The Stinky Cheese Man; Strega Nona; Winnie the Pooh; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Adventure Theatre's Home Page

Our Mission

Adventure Theatre's mission is to educate, entertain and enrich the lives of children and their families, which we accomplish through performances and classes, and by reaching out into the
community, taking performances to children who might not otherwise be able to experience live theatre. An over-arching goal of Adventure Theatre is to create new generations of artists and audiences.

Our History

Adventure Theatre, founded in 1951, is the longest-running theatre program for children and families in the Washington metropolitan area and has been one of the main attractions at Glen Echo Park since 1971.

The idea of quality theatre for children in the Washington, DC metropolitan area was born when a group of women met at their children's nursery school. They believed that children deserved to see quality theatre designed especially for them and presented by adults.

Adventure Theatre opened its first season in February,1952, with a production of Jack and the Beanstalk at Leland Junior High School in Bethesda. After years of producing shows at various locations, Adventure Theatre supporters successfully negotiated with the National Park Service in 1971 to establish a permanent home in the Old Arcade Building in historic Glen Echo Park. Adventure Theatre opened in its new home with a performance of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in 1972. Since then, the theatre has been in continuous operation, offering seven or eight weekend plays each season.

Adventure Theatre's professional traveling troupe, the In-School Players, was launched in 1974, taking performances to area schools and, more recently, offering field trip opportunities for school groups to see educational plays on our stage in Glen Echo. Beginning in 1974, Adventure Theatre partnered with the Junior League to start the Picture Book Players, a performance troupe for preschool and early elementary aged children. The volunteer Picture Book Players have continued performing for our youngest audiences even after the formal partnership with the Junior League ended.

The first drama classes were offered at Adventure Theatre's Glen Echo facility in 1978. Since then, our education program has expanded to include a wide variety of after-school and weekend theatre classes, performance workshops for scout troops, as well as the popular summer musical theatre workshops.

We are thrilled to be back in our newly-renovated, high-tech theatre, complete with a new stage and audience seating, a state-of-the-art sound and light system, new rehearsal and education spaces, a party room and lots more.

Adventure Theatre has been a cherished family institution in the Washington area for more than 50 years, and with all of our new facilities and programs, we expect to remain a valued source of artistic enrichment for our community.

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Coming Soon:

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Buy your tickets

Based on the book by Crockett Johnson
Book, music, and lyrics by Adam W. Roberts
Directed by Michael J. Bobbitt

September 19 - November 4, 2008
Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 1:30pm

Additional Saturday Performances:
October 4, 11, 18, 25, and November 1 at 4pm

Weekday Field Trip Performances (call to see if there is additional space for individual tickets):
October 1-3, 7, 10, 14-16, 21-24, and 28-30 at 10:30am

No-School Day Performances:
September 30, October 9, 17, and November 3-4 at 11am & 1:30pm

Special Friday Evening Performances:
September 19, 26 and October 24 at 7pm

Book Club Performance:
Saturday, October 4, 1:30 pm

ASL Interpreted Performance:
Sunday, November 2, 1:30 pm

Come join our hero, Harold, who sets out to conquer the world armed only with an oversized purple crayon. Ready, set, draw! Need a setting? Harold draws a landscape full of beauty and excitement. Stuck in deep water? He sketches a boat. See if Harold can draw himself out of any dilemma! All ages.

Adventure Theatre is located at historic Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., six miles northwest of Georgetown along the scenic Potomac River palisades.

Glen Echo Park • 7300 MacArthur Blvd. • Glen Echo, MD 20812
Phone: (new) (301) 634-2270 • Fax: (301) 634-2269
For ticketing: tickets@adventuretheatre.org • For general information: info@adventuretheatre.org