When you support CPH, you support artistry, community and lifelong learning in Cleveland.
The Allen, Outcalt, and Helen
Theatres are all located at
1407 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
CPH is dedicated to serving diverse audiences with nationally acclaimed education programs.
in your school:
at Cleveland Play House:
September 9 - October 1, 2023
The Story of “Mr. Civil Rights.” Armed with the US Constitution, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall devoted his life to championing justice and equality for all people. This biographical play spans his remarkable 58-year career while highlighting his warmth and sharp wit. A powerful tour-de-force about Marshall’s transformative journey from his early days as a young lawyer upending the landmark “separate but equal” decision to his time serving on the highest court in the nation. Starring film, TV, and regional theatre veteran Lester Purry, Thurgood is an inspiring tribute to a real American hero who embodied courage, integrity, and determination.
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September 20 - 30, 2023
Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, reiterates many of his great themes around family strife, conflict and ultimately forgiveness and reconciliation. The exiled Duchess of Milan, Prospera, finds revenge within her grasp with the arrival on her island of those who had banished her. She must ultimately decide whether to move forward or dwell in the anger of the past. An unforgettable collection of characters both human and fantastical gives the graduating Class of 2024 an ideal opportunity by delving into this suspenseful, magical and joyful work.
October 21 - November 12, 2023
1816. Switzerland. A vicious storm rages outside an old villa. But inside, the real nightmare is just beginning. A teenage Mary Shelley accepts the challenge to tell a terrifying tale. Casting her friends as characters, she soon gives life to one of literature’s greatest creations. And as the story travels from the North Pole to Victor Frankenstein’s infamous lab, the line between fact and fiction begins to blur. This sensual, poetic, and surprisingly adventurous adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein illuminates the real-life “monsters” that haunted her greatest work. A gritty yet highly theatrical tale that brings what’s buried back to life.
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December 1 - 16, 2023
Karamu House, the centerpiece of Cleveland’s historic Fairfax neighborhood and the oldest Black producing theatre in the country, presents the soul-stirring, gospel celebration Black Nativity in the Allen Theatre. Black Nativity is the joyous retelling of the traditional New Testament account of the Nativity story, using gospel music, dramatic dance and a biblical narrative. Written and conceived by legendary playwright and poet Langston Hughes, this soulful, heartwarming story is a Karamu House classic!
February 10 - March 3, 2024
Get ready for a night of mishaps, mischief, and madcap mania! It’s the opening night of the Cornley Drama Society’s newest production, “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” and things have quickly gone from bad…to utterly disastrous. The troupe’s ambitious 1920s whodunit has everything you never want in a show: falling props, collapsing scenery, an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything…including their lines. How will this eager ensemble battle against all of the disastrous odds? Will they make it to the final curtain call? An international hit that’s equal parts Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes – The Play That Goes Wrong is full of hilarious perfection.
February 21 - March 2, 2024
Welcome to Middletown, USA. Population: Stable. Elevation: Same. It’s an ordinary small town. With ordinary people. All living seemingly ordinary lives. And yet, from all this ordinary emerges the extraordinary—the absurd, the hilarious, and the beautiful moments of lives being lived. Told with humor and deep compassion, this spiritual successor to OUR TOWN shows us the joy, sadness, small victories and defeats we experience as we go through the ups and downs of being human. This production will introduce the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program’s Class of 2026 to local audiences.
April 6 - 28, 2024
It’s 1823, and a cacophony of scandalous whispers echo through the streets of Vienna. Renowned Italian composer Antonio Salieri flees from claims of murder but has nowhere to hide. While chasing fame and fortune, we learn how Salieri becomes obsessed with the rowdy young prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A deadly game of envy, deceit, and revenge ensues. Who will prevail? The villainous veteran or the worshipped wunderkind? Musical history is enlivened and re-imagined in Peter Shaffer’s award-winning parable about malice, madness, and the love of music.
May 11 - June 9, 2024
The unbearable July heat has the denizens of NYC’s Washington Heights neighborhood in the streets shouting, “Que calor!” Several established businesses have closed. Housing costs – and racial tensions – are on the rise. And the once vibrant, now dwindling community must rally together to preserve their culture and their way of life. Lin Manuel-Miranda’s music-filled love letter to the community of his youth, In The Heights, tells the story of the corner bodega where the coffee is hot, light, and sweet, the apartment windows that are always open, and the cool breeze that carries the percussive rhythm of the bustling city and three generations of dreams. And for this community on the brink of change, it tells a story of hope, heritage, and healing love.
July 29 - August 20, 2023
Erma Bombeck, one of America’s most beloved humorists, captured the frustrations of her generation by asking, “If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?” Equal parts wife, mother, daughter, and “domestic demigoddess”, she gave voice to the everyday joys and struggles faced by women of all ages. Starring nationally-syndicated columnist Suburban Outlaw® Pam Sherman, Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End celebrates a remarkable woman who reminded us all how to embrace whatever life throws at us with grace, grit, and good humor.
September 9 - October 1, 2023
The Story of “Mr. Civil Rights.” Armed with the US Constitution, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall devoted his life to championing justice and equality for all people. This biographical play spans his remarkable 58-year career while highlighting his warmth and sharp wit. A powerful tour-de-force about Marshall’s transformative journey from his early days as a young lawyer upending the landmark “separate but equal” decision to his time serving on the highest court in the nation. Starring film, TV, and regional theatre veteran Lester Purry, Thurgood is an inspiring tribute to a real American hero who embodied courage, integrity, and determination.
buy tickets subscribe more info
September 20 - 30, 2023
Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, reiterates many of his great themes around family strife, conflict and ultimately forgiveness and reconciliation. The exiled Duchess of Milan, Prospera, finds revenge within her grasp with the arrival on her island of those who had banished her. She must ultimately decide whether to move forward or dwell in the anger of the past. An unforgettable collection of characters both human and fantastical gives the graduating Class of 2024 an ideal opportunity by delving into this suspenseful, magical and joyful work.
Tickets
Education
Allen Theatre
Helen Theatre
Outcalt Theatre
The Allen, Helen and Outcalt theatres are located at Playhouse Square
1407 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44115
Administrative Offices and Education Center
1901 E. 13th Street, Suite 200 Cleveland, OH 44114 (216) 400-7000
Production Center
7401 Detour Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44103
