Journeymen Theatreworks was founded in 2008 by local college students with a passion for the arts. Managing Director Marc Francis, a senior Theatre student at Providence College, along with several friends from his hometown in Ipswich, MA, founded the organization with a twofold mission in mind: to provide aspiring directors, designers, and actors with professional skills; and to promote the arts in our Greater Boston community. With time (and a fair amount of blood, sweat, and tears), the founding members of Journeymen raised enough funds and awareness to become a guest company at the Boston Center for the Arts. Each summer, Journeymen Theatreworks repeats and improves its outreach process in order to continue to establish itself as a standard for the arts on the North Shore and beyond.

       Journeymen was founded with the intention of not only providing a vehicle for our own artistic zeal, but also of promoting an appreciation for the theatre in a relevant, innovative way. We choose shows based on how our unique ideas and designs combine with the show's inbuilt message, and how this would be meaningful for our audience. Our passion for theatre came from our privileged exposure to scholastic theatre in high school and college. Participating in theatre as audience members can inspire self and humanistic discovery; it is this phenomenon that we seek to reproduce in our performances.

      From its inception, Journeymen has relied on creative fundraising that merges our mission with our practical needs. Part of our combined outreach and fundraising effort is the Journeymen Camp, a week-long middle school theatre program which takes place annually at the Ipswich Performing Arts Center. Through the Journeymen Camp, we are able to share the skills and confidence associated with involvement in theatre with the youth in our community. As a mission-driven organization, it is crucial for us to promote our cause in as many ways as we can, while also staying tightly focused on our goals. Journeymen is constantly open to support and contributions from the Massachusetts community. Without this support, Journeymen certainly would not be what it is today, or have a future as bright as we believe it to be. We have been deeply grateful to the individuals and local businesses which have helped us realize our dream and our mission from day one.

      In its first year, Journeymen produced The Fantasticks in the Plaza Blackbox Theatre at the BCA. Performing for sold-out audiences and receiving positive feedback from the Boston community, the Journeymen team was motivated to pursue bigger and better things in the years to come. In August of 2009, Journeymen will produce William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts! Our latest production will run from Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16.

      We are currently in the production and development planning stages of this year's summer project, and enthusiastically looking forward to what this year will bring. Stay tuned for more updates and information, and we appreciate your interest and support!

    - The Journeymen Theatreworks Team