Guided by the vision of founding Artistic Directors Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey, along with Associate Artistic Director William Cantler, MCC Theater brings together exceptional theater artists to produce works that force us to reexamine the world we live in through the unique perspectives of extraordinary writers. MCC Theater is dedicated to discovering and developing challenging, engrossing theater to present on our main stage, while simultaneously nurturing the development of emerging young voices through our literary and education programs. MCC Theater draws from among the finest actors and actresses in the world, casting them in roles that challenge performers and audiences alike. By providing a safe environment to explore compelling stories, MCC encourages artists to take risks – continually stretching their boundaries and working beyond expectations.

MCC Theater carries out this mission because we believe in the artist as the primary force in creating memorable theater. We believe each experience in the theater should be an event where artists in playwriting, acting, direction and design combine to induce an emotional reaction in the audience, getting them personally involved in the production at hand. We feel that this is best done with new work, which allows the audience to hear new voices and perspectives that can mingle with the audience's own experiences, resulting in a fresh discovery of the world around them and creating a dialogue that continues long after the curtain falls. To facilitate this new work, we envision our theater as a home where theatrical artists are empowered to do their best by giving them artistic freedom, a strong sense of community and full institutional support.

As a small theater, we are able to take risks on plays that the commercial theater often ignores. Some of our biggest successes were rejected by nearly every other theater in Manhattan: Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone, Margaret Edson's Wit, Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue, Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat. These are tough, engrossing plays that investigate the issues and morality of our times. Over the years, this dedication to the new work of new and emerging artists has earned us a variety of awards, culminating in a Pulitzer Prize for our production of Wit in 1999. This play, Ms. Edson's first, was transferred to a larger theater for a long commercial run and was made into an Emmy-winning HBO film. In 2004, MCC presented the Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League nominated and Tony Award® winning Frozen, featuring Swoosie Kurtz, Brian F. O’Byrne and Laila Robins. MCC's critically acclaimed production of reasons to be pretty, by playwright-in-residence Neil LaBute, transerred to Broadway in 2009 and was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play.