As Seattle’s third-oldest non-profit professional theater, The Empty Space is a nationally recognized innovator and supporter of new plays and writers.  From Sam Shepard and David Mamet to Northwest writers like Rebecca Wells, “The Space” has introduced 65 playwrights to Northwest audiences, propelling Seattle’s evolution as a major center for new plays. A wellspring of theater talent, The Space has also been the artistic starting place for many of this region’s best-known actors, directors, designers and a number of its Artistic Directors.

After 36 years, The Empty Space is Seattle’s leading “mid-sized” theater, noted nationally and locally for successfully combining the professionalism of the mainstream with the intimacy and artistic daring of alternative theater. 

• It presents provocative new works outside the missions of its larger peers, developing and premiering new scripts from regional and national playwrights.

• It employs Northwest professional theater artists and serves as a conduit f o r exceptional talent to a wider audience and the professional mainstream.

• It is an active citizen of its neighborhood, and serves not only the adult theater audience of the Pacific Northwest, but area schools and thousands of young people through our educational outreach program.