History

For over thirty years, Richmond Triangle Players has transformed our community’s conversations about diversity and inclusion through the production of LGBTQ-themed works. A nonprofit, professional theatre company organized in 1993, RTP delivers adventurous and entertaining theater as the leading voice in the community’s explorations of equality, identity, affection, and family, across sexual orientation and gender spectrums.

Since its inception, Richmond Triangle Players has filled a significant void in our community’s cultural life. RTP is the only professional theatre company in the Richmond area – and the longest continually-operating one in the entire Mid-Atlantic region — which expressly and regularly serves the LGBTQ community. While other local theatres occasionally produce plays with LGBTQ content, only Triangle Players has made an ongoing commitment to LGBTQ artists, issues, audiences and community support.

Just over fifteen years ago, RTP vacated the crumbling building in which its theater had been housed and transformed an old radiator shop, in a then-unknown neighborhood, into a warm, welcoming and exciting performance venue, one that has become a favorite among local theater patrons and the cultural anchor of its now-heralded Scott’s Addition neighborhood — one of the most vibrant areas in Richmond to live, play or work.

Triangle Players consistently wins acclaim from its growing and diverse audiences, as well as from the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle, with over 125 “Best” nominations – including a record 13 nominations for last summer’s production of the GoGo’s musical Head Over Heels — and awards for Best Play and Best Musical multiple times. Most recently, RTP was awarded Best Play for its productions of Sugar in Our Wounds as well as the epic 6.5 hour production of The Inheritance, one of the most ambitious project RTP has ever produced.

Additionally, the national publication Playbill.com named RTP one of the 15 most important theaters of its kind in the nation, and our area’s paper of record, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, praised us in an editorial: “RTP has been consistently willing to explore tough issues involving people who are gay in America and the challenges — and triumphs — they experience … Their dramatic success here has opened doors and opened minds the old-fashioned way — through laughter, tears, and telling truth.”

Richmond Triangle Players also was honored at the 2018 statewide Equality Virginia dinner as one of the year’s “OUTstanding Virginians,” and was privileged to be named a 2019 “Richmond History Maker” by the Valentine Museum and Capital Region Collaborative. Executive Director Philip Crosby was honored as an OUTstanding Virginian as well in October 2023.

Richmond Triangle Players has maintained its commitment to diversity not only by producing an annual series of plays, but also in collaborating on new events, in showcasing some of the country’s most celebrated cabaret artists on its stage, and in opening its doors to support and incubate other theaters. Our programming encompasses over 160 events performed annually in our 93-seat theatre to the delight of over 10,000 enthusiastic patrons.

Six years ago, Triangle Players was proud to announce the completion of its $1 million 25th Anniversary Campaign, which enabled the company to secure its future by purchasing its building free and clear, complete exterior renovations including a signature marquee canopy, refresh its lobby and bar area, add a staff position, upgrade its lighting and sound equipment, undergird its Annual Fund, and establish both an Operating Reserve Fund and an endowed fund for the development of New Works.