founder: Marc Raby

213 Gadsden Hwy Suite 108 Birmingham, Al 35235 US

+1-205-222-5528

In the fall of 2018, Birmingham, Alabama’s Encore Theatre and Gallery opened as the city’s first and only full-scale, year-round performing arts center founded, led, and operated by African American staff and crew. Our vision remains the same: to highlight the work of African American artists and creators throughout the year. The Encore uses the power of theater to educate, enrich, entertain, empower, and inform the public about social issues affecting our communities. We hope to effect change by telling authentic, intersectional stories of Black life while aiming to dispel misconceptions about African Americans’ cultural identity through transformational theatre. A part of our mission is to create a motivating and supportive environment for often marginalized artists to hone their entrepreneurial spirit while further articulating the complexity, beauty, and artistic excellence inherent in how we experience the world as a community through the craft of acting, directing, producing, creative placemaking, designing, and/or playwriting.