Together, we can create theatre that inspires!

Arlington Children’s Theatre is dedicated to creating quality theatrical events, workshops, and experiences that educate, inspire, and enrich the lives of children ages 7-18, their families, and the community. We produce a variety of plays and musicals each season and offer exciting workshops and vacation day programs that center on the educational process and the theatrical and interpersonal development of each individual participant.

ACT’s Mission Statement:

  • ACT embraces by opening its doors to all who wish to participate regardless of background, experience, or acting, dancing or singing ability.

  • ACT enriches by providing a safe, welcoming space where children can be exposed to new experiences, different points of view, and challenged beyond their current selves.

  • ACT educates formally through its workshops, programs and high-quality productions led by staff with years of experience and dedication to theatre. ACT also educates informally by helping give children the freedom to express themselves, and develop the communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution skills necessary to see a complex production with many personalities come to life.

  • ACT entertains by creating excellent, professional-looking and -sounding productions that everyone can enjoy and be proud of: the ACTors, their parents, the artistic staff, and the local community.

  • ACT encourages by supporting everyone in the ACT community and teaching them to be resilient, humble, and to persevere.

About Us

ACT Co-Founder and long-time Board Member Deb Butler used to call ACT the “soccer team for kids who don’t play soccer.” That spirit of teamwork has always been at the very center of ACT. It is also that sense of ACT being a refuge and a community that continues to this day, even for soccer players.

ACT began as a place where parents and other adults volunteered to help children create live theater. The organization has used a variety of spaces in Arlington over the years—the First Baptist Church, the Regent Theater, the Masonic Temple, Town Hall, the Church of Our Savior, and Rocky DiRicco’s Karate Studio—finally settling into a home-base in 2008 at Arlington Center for the Arts. In 2016, ACT moved to Trinity Baptist Church, while continuing to use spaces like the Masonic Temple and Lexington Christian Academy.

Through the years, ACT has evolved from doing one show a year in 2001 to 7 to 8 shows a year, plus vacation camps, a fully-enrolled summer day program, and multiple workshops. ACT was a parent-driven volunteer organization from its inception until ACT hired former ACTor Colleen Rua as its first Artistic Director in 2006, followed by Matt Lundeen in 2012, and Joe Walsh in 2018.

David Atkins, President

Tara Smith, Treasurer

Maya Bazar, Secretary

Linda Adams

Chris Felknor

Marion Goodwin

Angela Gunn-O’Neil

Ann Horgan

Nancy Morrison

Sarah Teeven

Arlington Children’s Theatre
115 Massachusetts Avenue
Arlington, MA 02474


General Inquiries, Lost & Found: info@act.arlington.ma.us (781) 316-8090

Interim Artistic Director: Anthony Bruno

ACT Board: Ann Horgan, ACT President

Scholarships: ACT Treasurer

Sponsorship & Advertising: Sponsorship

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