History
David Bernstein and Jim Moran founded the Performance Network Theatre in 1981 as an arts collective. In addition to Bernstein and Moran, active collective members included Lyn Coffin, Davi Napoleon, Judith Ottmar, Al Sjoerdsma and Rochel Urist. The theatre evolved into a nonprofit corporation in the mid-eighties. After the departure of the original founders, the organization continued to produce and present experimental, original and socially relevant work under the cooperative direction of Linda Kendall, Annemarie Stoll, Johanna Broughton, (and in time, Peter Knox). Eventually, the early 90's saw departures from the artistic staff leave the artistic direction in the hands of Johanna Broughton, who (along with her husband Dan Walker) lead the theatre from the 'Warehouse Years' to professional status and in 2000 moved it from Ann Arbor's Washington Street location to the corner of 4th and Huron, near the Kerrytown district. In 1997, Performance Network secured a contract with Actors’ Equity and established itself as Ann Arbor’s professional theatre. In doing so, it was able to
- Increase the reputation of the Network by placing it in a higher tier of theatres nationally
- Gain access to plays of nationally recognized merit, unavailable to community theatres
- Increase artistic quality by hiring more experienced actors, directors, and designers
- Gain listing in respected theatrical publications and presentation by participating in the Michigan Equity Theatre Alliance, the National New Play Network, and Theatre Communication Group
- Expand our audience base by gaining press coverage in numerous Southeastern Michigan publications.
In 2003, direction of the theatre was turned over to Carla Milarch and David Wolber. Under Milarch and Wolber, Performance Network excelled at choosing a wide range of artistically challenging shows and began receiving multiple awards for artistic quality. In order to continue producing high quality work Milarch decided to join Wolber in the Artistic department. In 2012, Performance Network switched to a dual leadership structure and hired Erin Sabo to partner with Wolber.
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