Philadelphia Theatre Company has long held the contemporary American playwright at the core of its mission. Founded in 1974 as The Philadelphia Company by Robert Hedley and Jean Harrison, Philadelphia Theatre Company was the first of our city's ambitious young performing arts companies to produce bold new work, while inviting audiences to participate in the development process.

Under the direction of Sara Garonzik since 1982, Philadelphia Theatre Company has introduced more than 140 new plays and musicals to audiences in Philadelphia, New York and around the country, establishing the Company's national reputation for artistic quality, risk-taking and diverse programming. Philadelphia Theatre Company extends the intellectual life of each production with our Patron Enrichment Programming, Playwise Magazine, and guest lectures. PTC also offers a comprehensive in-school program, the Career Development Initiative, and the STAGES new play reading series.

World premieres produced by Philadelphia Theatre Company include Terrence McNally's Golden Age, Unusual Acts of Devotion, Some Men, and three-time Tony Award-winner Master Class; Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel, and starring Kathleen Turner; the PTC-commissioned The Happiness Lecture, conceived by and starring Bill Irwin; Being Alive with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and conceived and directed by Billy Porter; Nerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, and Hal Goldberg; Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick; Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso; Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding; John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; J.T. Rogers' White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel (Lucille Lortel Award, 1997); and the American premiere of Birdy by Naomi Wallace.

Philadelphia Theatre Company has received numerous "Best Theater Company" citations from media sources such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Style Magazine, and Philadelphia City Paper. Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 135 nominations and 36 awards.

The 2009/2010 season marks PTC's third season on the Avenue of the Arts in the magnificent new Suzanne Roberts Theatre.