New Light Theatre was founded in 2018 with a simple goal: to tell a story that would shine light in the darkness, inspire empathy and advocacy for our fellow humans, and use art to deepen connections within our community. After donating the proceeds of our inaugural production of Next to Normal to the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, we realized we had something unique to offer: We set out to use every production moving forward to raise awareness and support for a thematically connected charitable organization doing vital work in our community. 

Now, after over a dozen productions and charitable partners, thousands of audience members, hundreds of artistic collaborators, and several award nominations, NLT continues to strengthen and grow. We remain rooted in our core values of leading with love, radical inclusivity and kindness. We have formalized our passion for education by providing opportunities for local students to work as apprentices alongside professional theatre mentors and to participate in our Teen Night programming. We have expanded our audience and production sizes exponentially, contributed thousands of dollars to local charities, forged lasting relationships with these partner organizations that strengthen the bonds of Delaware nonprofit work. We have established our reputation for producing theatre of the highest artistic quality. We are so proud of all that we have built, and the stories we have told. But above all, we are proudest of the ever expanding family that has formed around NLT:  the diverse, multi-talented artists who view New Light as a safe place to collaborate and celebrate, the inspiring nonprofit partners and the community members they serve, and the engaged and enthusiastic audiences, patrons, and donors whose fervent support have made all of this possible.  

As we look forward to the next five years, we are setting goals to expand our educational programming to welcome even more teens and student artists. We are working to increase compensation to reflect the value we place on our artistic collaborators, and to raise the bar on our contributions to our charitable partners, all while continuing to grow our audience base. In a world that can seem dark, we will continue to use our art to shine our light ever brighter. Your donation supports this work. Every donation to New Light Theatre not only supports the arts in Delaware, it also supports our nonprofit partners, strengthening community connections in Delaware. 

Thank you for your DoMore24 support, which will allow us to work with more student apprentices, create more educational programming, tell more stories, and hire more artists. We could not do this work without you.

We stand in profound gratitude, and we thank you, always, for being a light to us.