The mission of the International Museum Theatre Alliance is to inspire and support the use of theatre and theatrical technique to cultivate emotional connections, provoke action, and add public value to the museum experience. 

Coming Soon...a wrap up of the conference, thoughts and testimonials from attendees, presenters, and hosts, photos, and more!

 Our thanks to The Littleton Museum, The Denver Art Museum, History Colorado Center, and The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the presenters and organizing committee, and of course, to the attendees. 

You are magical.

2016 Jon Lipsky Award for Excellence in Playwrighting

In 2014, IMTAL established an annual award dedicated to the memory of playwright Jon Lipsky. Jon was Professor of Acting and Playwriting at Boston University’s School of Theater, and he created many wonderful short plays on science themes for Boston's Museum of Science.

The winner of the Lipsky award will have written the play that most exemplifies standards of excellence in Museum Theatre. 

This year's recipient is Chris Bresky of Chicago's Adler Planetarium for his play About a Door.

Mr. Bresky was presented with the award during the IMTAL luncheon on May 28 in Washington, D.C. 

We received more submissions this year than in previous years, and from a wider spectrum of institutions.

In fact, we had submissions from six distinct and well known institutions:

The Indianapolis Children’s Museum

The Milwaukee Zoological Society

Science Museum of Minnesota

Minnetrista Historic site

The Adler Planetarium

The Denver Art Museum.

Each script delivered a unique insight into the subject of the work, each presented a strong voice and a strong point of view.

Some were zany and comic, some were reflective and serious, one gave a firm nod to magical realism, one asked the audience to imagine a devastating side effect of mechanical failure, one presented a heartbreaking look at a friendship riven by racial misunderstanding.

We list these to underscore the breadth and depth of museum theatre, and acknowledge that if the reading committee been made up of a different set of members, the outcome would very likely be different. And that is the strength of this field: any of the submitted pieces is worthy of being honored for excellence in museum theatre.  Each of these is an outstanding example of something vitally important , that museum theatre is worth the investment in time, worth the investment in energy and sweat and tears. That theatre, far from being an afterthought, is in fact a critically important co-resident in the galleries and exhibit halls of our museums, the underwater avenues of our aquariums, the darkened domes of our planetariums, the animal scented pathways of our zoos. Very few exhibits, static or not, are as effective as those which have a supporting story to tell, a live connection to the ideas, the values, the uncomfortable truths, the resilience, the glory, and the wonder of the human spirit.

Welcome our New Members of The Board of Directors

Membership Officer: Todd D. Norris

Todd has served in one term as Membership officer, and will continue for another two year term.

 Treasurer: Annie Johnson

Annie is Interpretive Programs Manager at The Minnesota History Center. This is her first time serving on the board.

Their terms commence in May, 2016. Congratulations! Welcome back, and welcome aboard.

Featuring 

Stephanie Long

Director of Science Live Theatre
Science Museum of Minnesota

Howard Levine

Director of Digital Innovation & Creative Strategy 

and Director of the Milstein/Rosenthal Center for Media & Technology
92nd Street Y

Lauren Sivak

Education and Community Programs Coordinator
Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Watch the archived session here