Our Mission
To promote community growth by presenting insightful and innovative works of theater in a uniquely intimate performance space.
About Prospect Theatre Project
Prospect Theater Project (PTP) is Modesto’s longest-running resident theater company, producing season after season of high-quality plays since 2001. Our plays are noted for their high-quality production values and the diverse range of genres and topics we undertake. We choose works that will challenge audiences to look at life and society from a different point of view. We have produced original plays and adaptations, (The Congresswomen, Lee Marvin be Thy Name, Blue Roses); Classics of World Theater, (A Winters Tale, A Doll’s House, Galileo, Richard II); plays about social issues, (To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath, The Whipping Man); and plays about human relationships, (Faith Healer, Three Days of Rain). PTP is dedicated to contributing to a strong local community through the performing arts. We are a collaborative of artists who live and work in this community. Actors, directors, designers, and technicians are all local residents, yet audiences frequently comment that our productions are on a par with any comparably scaled theater they have seen in New York or San Francisco. As an organization dedicated to providing a catalyst to building cultural bonds that enable communities to thrive and grow, we opened the facility, at little to no cost, to musicians, host concerts and bands, poetry and other spoken word events, as well as plays. We look for opportunities to work with other community organizations as reflected by our partnerships with Marcos Contreras in producing his Spanish language production of La Mujer Que Cayó del Cielo (“The Woman Who Fell From the Sky”), Boys and Girls Club of Stanislaus County, Stanislaus County Community Foundation, Inns of Court, Slam on Rye, Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and Sankofa Theatre, and Gregori High School, among others.
HiStory
The idea of PTP began brewing in 1999.
Weary of doing theater on an “if and when funding can be found” basis and yearning for a dedicated theater space, a group of committed theater actors, directors, educators, designers, and technicians sought a venue through which they could practice their craft on a regular basis and share their passion for theater with the Modesto community. The casual inquiry eventually morphed into focused discussions, and in October 2000 the Prospect Theater Project was born. PTP incorporated on December 01, 2000, and in February 2001 received its official non-profit designation from the State of California. The Prospect Theater Project was officially recognized by the federal government as a 501(c)3 on May 3, 2001.
PTP began its initial fund-raising campaign in winter of 2001.
Our debut was funded solely by the individual donations of a community enthusiastically embracing the idea of innovative theater in an intimate setting. We moved into our Scenic Drive location in March 2001, premiered our first play in April 2001, and started offering workshops the following month. Since its inception, PTP’s funding continues to come from individual and corporate contributions, grants, as well as box office receipts and revenue generated from workshops and the occasional rental of our facility.
For over twenty-five years,
Prospect Theater Project has produced plays, sponsored musical and poetry-related events, and gave local artists a place to show their work within the intimate Scenic Drive venue. As our audience and vision expanded, we found ourselves limited by the small size of our space, as well as the distance from downtown’s lively weekend scene. In the summer of 2013, PTP’s Board of Directors embarked on a Capital Campaign to fund a move to a bigger location in the heart of downtown Modesto. Our goal? To raise $150,000 to create a larger, state-of-the-art performance space. Once again, the community is coming through. We have met half of our goal, and donations continue to arrive as our patrons see the work we’ve done on our new K Street home.
