Perseverance Theatre's (PT) mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, professional rigor, and regional voice. The Theatre was founded in 1979 by Molly Smith as a theatre by, for and about Alaskans and is led today by Artistic Director Art Rotch. We were born in Juneau—the state’s capital and a community of 30,000 that is only accessible by plane or boat. Now in our Fourth decade, we’ve grown into the state’s flagship professional theatre, serving nearly 15,000 artists and audiences annually with classical, contemporary, and world premiere productions on our Main and Second stages; education/training programs for youth and adults; statewide and national tours; and outreach collaborations with statewide artistic and social service groups, ranging from Ilisagvik College in Barrow to Juneau’s Filipino Community. PT is the resident theatre at the University of Alaska Southeast. PT has premiered over 65 new plays by Alaskan and national playwrights, including most recently: THE BLUE BEAR (2011), an adaptation of Juneau author Lynn Schooler’s memoir about his friendship with wildlife photographer Michio Hoshino. Paula Vogel’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE was developed at PT, and our Tlingit-inspired Macbeth toured to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.