Our Mission and History

Our mission is to create theater and programs that engage, ignite, and celebrate diverse Bay Area audiences through thriving educational programming, a MainStage season, community outreach, and a commitment to the development of new family musicals. In support of our mission, we maintain and enhance the historic Julia Morgan Theater. A commitment to community, diversity, inclusion, and empowerment is at the heart of our work.

About Berkeley Playhouse

Founded in 2007, Berkeley Playhouse produces theater that is “intelligent, relevant, and soul-stirring.” We bring together performers and audience members of all ages. We strive to provide experiences that fully engage performers and audiences.

Berkeley Playhouse also offers educational programs. We provide classes, camps and performance training in acting, singing, dancing, and technical theater. Children in our programs receive training from the best Bay Area teaching artists – many of them directors or performers in our MainStage Season shows.

Julia Morgan Theater is the home to Berkeley Playhouse. The Julia Morgan Theater was built in 1910, and is a community treasure. The 328-seat theater provides an intimate space for patrons of our shows that feels like “home.”

Our Two Divisions

MainStage Season

  • Five high-quality productions each season, most running for six weekends
  • New Works program that infuses new life into the family music theater repertory
  • Outreach programs to schools and community organizations

Theater Arts Education

  • Camps & Classes
    • Beginning, Intermediate and skills-based classes in acting, singing, dancing and technical theater
  • Youth Productions
    • Full-length productions performed on our main stage

About Our Founder, Elizabeth McKoy

Berkeley Playhouse was founded in 2007 by Artistic Director, Elizabeth McKoy, a professional theater actor, director, and teacher for over 20 years. Elizabeth has directed many shows for the Berkeley Playhouse since founding the company in 2007, including for the Professional Season: Peter Pan, Cinderella, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Sound of Music, A Little Princess, Tarzan and James and the Giant Peach. She has also directed over 30 YouthStage shows including The Drowsy Chaperone, Hello, Dolly!, Pirates of Penzance, Zombie Prom, Narnia, Once on This Island, Into the Woods, 13, and many others.

Over the years, Elizabeth has developed the vision and programming for Berkeley Playhouse and helped grow the organization from a small youth theater camp to a thriving musical theatre company and youth education program, serving thousands of students and over 30,000 patrons per year. She has also worked to develop and sustain the theater's unique vision for new musical works for inter-generational audiences and grow and deepen its programs within schools and the community. She has commissioned eight new musicals, including the acclaimed new musical Bridges, which had its world premiere at Berkeley Playhouse in 2016 and was seen again in New York. Elizabeth is also a proud mama of five amazing children.