Berkeley Repertory Theatre was founded in 1968 by U.C. Dramatic Art student Michael Leibert, who wanted to create an East Bay professional repertory company. Its first production, “Woyzek,” initially staged at the International House, soon moved to a commercial space formerly on this site. The intimate interior housed numerous productions created by a company of local theatre artists. Architect Gene Angell, an Elmwood resident, planned sets for many of them. In 1980 he designed the new thrust-stage theatre which evoked the original location’s intimacy in a larger Addison Street location.

In 2001, under Artistic Director Tony Taccone, the successful Berkeley Repertory Theatre company added a proscenium stage, the Roda, and a School of Theatre at the downtown location. A leader in innovation, the “Rep” received a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre in 1997, and a number of its premieres have had successful runs on Broadway.