In 1994, Mark Wilson, Terri Wilson, and Graham Green founded a professional regional theatre in the charming gold rush town of Murphys, California. After establishing nonprofit status and adopting the name Murphys Creek Theatre (MCT), their first few plays were performed at the Black Bart Playhouse, then home to the Black Bart Players, a community theatre company. In 1996, MCT’s summer productions found a new home outdoors at Stevenot Winery when Barden Stevenot generously allowed their plays to be performed on the lawn outside his tasting rooms.

Their first outdoor Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was a resounding success. This production included an ensemble of children performing the various fairy roles, which inspired the creation of “The Mirror Project,” a summer acting conservatory for kids. The Mirror Project offered stagecraft workshops such as vocal training, mask-making, and stage combat, culminating in an all-student Shakespearean performance. The program earned accolades and garnered tremendous support.

Wanting to create a more permanent space for theatre, Barden built an amphitheater on his property with a main stage, tiered audience seating, a parking area, and electrical service to support stage production lighting and sound. Audiences continued to grow as more shows were added in rotating repertory at this venue.

In 2009, the Black Bart Players dissolved and relinquished the lease of the theatre building to MCT. Our production venues then alternated between the playhouse and the amphitheater until 2015, when the winery changed hands. The new ownership declined to allow public performances in the beloved Cornelia B. Stevenot Amphitheatre. Artistic director Graham Scott Green, facing challenges with support and production values, decided to step aside in December 2015.

Following Graham’s resignation, the board of directors worked diligently to recruit new staff and rebrand. Production values and support were revitalized, and MCT thrived once again until 2020, when the pandemic forced a shutdown. Performances resumed with a Christmas 2021 production, but by then, momentum had been lost.

Thankfully, MCT’s recovery from the pandemic has been as dramatic as its stage productions. Both staff and board are invigorated, considerable funding has been secured, ticket sales are rebounding, drama education is being resumed, and a strategic plan has been developed that promises to focus our shared vision for professional, regional theatre in the charming gold rush town of Murphys!