The theatre, the theatre, where art thou? For the first time in a long time, a vibrant cultural and performing arts center will fill a major void and call Mount Pleasant home once again.
Picture a hip place where families and adults of all ages can enjoy an entertaining evening while taking in the arts. That’s been nonexistent in the East Cooper area for the past decade – until now.
In early January, the Town of Mount Pleasant celebrated the grand opening of The Venue MTP Culture Art Stage, a versatile hub for performances, classes and cultural gatherings. The facility boasts a welcoming lobby with gallery-ready walls and a ticket window, two multi-use studios including: a cushioned-floor studio perfect for dance, yoga and movement classes; a black box theater for intimate performances; and a main theater with a fully modular stage capable of hosting theater productions, improv, concerts, lectures and more. Even the restrooms have personality.
Front and center stands a familiar face who is no stranger to the performing arts scene: The Venue’s producing artistic director Keeley Enright. A Mount Pleasant resident with nearly three decades of formal experience in the cultural arts world, she has a limitless imagination and unlimited passion for her community.
Enright is the founder of the Village Repertory Co., a nonprofit funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, Charleston County and the Town of Mount Pleasant. The Village Repertory Co. has produced more than 200 mainstage productions in the last 25 seasons, presenting award-winning plays, musicals, comedies and original programming in various arts venues throughout the Lowcountry.
Formerly, Enright was the creative visionary behind The Village Playhouse on Coleman Boulevard that opened its curtains in 2001. After outgrowing the space a decade later, Enright moved downtown and launched the Woolfe Street Playhouse in 2012 until the doors shut abruptly during the COVID-19 pandemic and left a huge hole in the cultural arts scene.
Enright was determined to restore the heart of Mount Pleasant’s cultural arts. “Not a lot of communities get that a place needs to be functional, but it also needs to be a fun and cool environment,” she said.
After six long years, Enright’s daydreams of the past came to a full-circle reality. Her company, the Village Repertory Co., partnered with the town to revitalize something beautiful: The Venue. She credited town administrator Eric DeMoura for reeducating the new leadership and decision makers about the instrumental role that a cultural arts center plays to help foster community.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Mayor Will Haynie exclaimed following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “To the people of Mount Pleasant, come out, support the arts and help us develop this and adapt as we need. What a wonderful thing to have in our town.”
The Venue is located at 627 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Suite 107. For more information on upcoming events, classes and performance opportunities, visit thevenuemtp.com or contact [email protected].
25 Years of Theater: The Village Repertory Company at The Venue
By Zach Giroux
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