The Elizabeth Peabody House opened as a deluxe seven-story community center in the West End of Boston in 1896. There was a beautiful theatre on the second floor where the diverse West Enders would meet as a community for entertainment and warmth. Leonard Nimoy began acting here as a boy, and Leonard Bernstein conducted a small orchestra. When the West End was torn down and the Peabody House with it, the organization eventually found its way to Somerville -- where that same spirit of theatre as a social medicine and community adhesive lives on.

The Peabody House Theatre Cooperative, founded in June 1997, is the community of theatre artists which operates as a professional (non-union) resident company for the space. The Coop works with a combination of member volunteers or "Resident Artists" and independent performers and artisans to provide a hip alternative to the downtown theatre scene.

In addition to producing five mainstage productions every season, the Coop makes the space available for many other formes of expression through arts-related events such as Arts Night, Noche Latina!, Poetry Nights and its enormously successful Open Mic Coffeehauses (held bimonthly, schedule permitting).

mission It is the mission of the Peabody House Theatre Cooperative to provide powerful, timely and important live theatre to the people of Somerville and greater Boston; to establish a vibrant network of involvement and action among theatre artists and interested patrons through placement on cooperative committees; to push the boundaries of theatre as an agent of social change and social medicine; and to create a beehive of artistic activity where theatre is celebrated alongside other mediums.

vision We envision a time when people will go to the theatre like they go to the movies --which is why our ticket prices are so low... when people will know that this art form by its very nature helps build a community -- which is why we are building an army of volunteers... when the children of Somerville know theatre as a means of expression and self-discovery -- which is why we are building an education program... when local artists know they are welcome in our space -- which is why we continue to program non-theatre arts events... and when the PHTC is a major part of Somerville and Greater Boston's theatre landscape, long after the founding members have moved on -- which is why we are a cooperative...

we would love to hear from you Please feel to drop us an e-mail using the mail-link below, or to write or call for information, directions, or to join our mailing list.