Black Theatre Troupe

We are Black Theatre Troupe, founded on September 14, 1970 by Helen Katherine Mason, a Phoenix Parks and Recreation official and Civil Rights activist who set out to build a platform for Black voices to be heard in the Southwest. Inspired by the Black Arts Movement, we began in community spaces and at Eastlake Park's amphitheater before securing our first permanent home on East Portland in 1981, in what is now the Roosevelt Row-Churchill District. Today we perform at The Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center, our home since February 1, 2013, located at Washington and 14th Street just two blocks from historic Eastlake Park. Our mission is to create a space for underserved artists to present works that heal and serve Phoenix's African American community while building a bridge between cultures. Each season we stage powerful dramas, musicals, and beloved traditions such as Black Nativity, from The Exonerated to Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. More than five decades in, we remain committed to telling our stories on our own stage, in our own voice, for all of Phoenix.