Through collaborative artistic leadership, Washington Ensemble Theatre creates audacious stories for adventurous Seattle audiences.

WET is committed to maintaining an environment wherein our members, as well as artists from our community, are challenged to grow through our work as an ensemble. We intend for our theatre to be a physical and creative intersection for community and art in Seattle, and we hope to expand our contemporary audience, by fostering a love of theatre’s humanity, utility, and vitality.

Originally conceived by MFA Theatre students in Professor Jon Jory’s classroom at the University of Washington, Washington Ensemble Theatre was founded in May 2004 by 11 ambitious and profoundly fearless artists. 

Their first home, The Little Theater, was in the old Northwest Film Forum space at 19th Avenue East and East Mercer Street in Capitol Hill. The only bathroom in the tiny space was on stage, the seats were well-loved, and the architecture was cozy and compact. Nonetheless, it quickly became home for some of Seattle’s favorite theatre artists. In 2013, Washington Ensemble Theatre became a resident company at the brand-new 12th Avenue Arts, a multi-use facility operated by Capitol Hill Housing in the heart of Capitol Hill. With a completely new group of talented and ambitious artists running the company, it has flourished ever since. With the same can-do spirit that the small but mighty company was founded upon, the Ensemble continues to produce groundbreaking theatre unlike any other company in Seattle. Through collective leadership, fiscal responsibility, and progressive politics, Washington Ensemble Theatre continues to thrive while also nurturing that same ensemble model dreamed up by its 11 founders.