Soho Rep provides radical theater makers with productions of the highest caliber and tailor-made development at key junctures in their artistic practice. Soho Rep elevates artists as thought leaders and citizens who change the field and society. Artistic autonomy is paramount at Soho Rep, where an unmediated connection between artists and audiences is encouraged, thereby creating a springboard for transformation and rich civic life beyond the walls of the theater.

Soho Rep was founded in 1975 by Jerry Engelbach and Marlene Swartz. In 2023, Eric Ting and Caleb Hammons joined Cynthia Flowers as the organization’s Directors. Together, they continue a shared leadership model implemented by Flowers and previous directors Sarah Benson and Meropi Peponides. In 2024, after 30 years in their building at 46 Walker Street, Soho Rep announced that for the next two to three seasons, they will be producing two shows in Playwrights Horizons’ Sharp Theater and also one show in an alternate venue / nontraditional space somewhere in New York City, as they further explore what it means to be a civic institution. Soho Rep has continually evolved for nearly 50 years through leadership transitions that have catalyzed transformation and growth at the organization. It was originally a repertory company of actors and directors making new productions of mostly classic plays. Over time, Soho Rep has opted to focus on boldly experimental new works, most of which are world premieres and commissioned by Soho Rep.

Jerome Foundation supports Soho Rep’s productions, Studio commissions and workshops, Project Number One, and the Writer Director Lab programs. The Writer Director Lab, co-chaired by William Burke and Jackie Sibblies Drury, supports 6–8 early-career New York City-based playwrights and directors to develop new plays from scratch together over 18 months. Participants receive a stipend and attend bi-weekly meetings to respond to each other’s work. The program culminates in a workshop presentation of their works-in-progress. Soho Rep is often the first off-Broadway theater willing to produce a new artist with very little track record; Soho Rep is committed to several world premiere productions with early career artists every year. Through Soho Rep’s Studio, new plays are commissioned with an upfront commitment to production; early career artists are provided with workshops that reflect whatever is most vital to them as they ready their shows for production. Launched in 2020 as a job-creation program, Project Number One was designed to address the precarity faced by freelance artists, which was exacerbated by COVID-19 closures. Soho Rep brought 8 artists on staff full-time, receiving a salary and employer-sponsored health insurance. Project Number One has expanded into a radical restructuring of how artists are paid while working on productions.