Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
Signature Theatre’s mission is to broaden and brighten the region’s cultural landscape with bold productions of challenging new and established works and engaging education and outreach programs.
VISION
Signature Theatre’s vision is to be the premier producer of new and innovative musical theater in the country and to serve, enrich, inspire and impact our community.
VALUES
Collaboration
There is no more collaborative art form than live theater, especially musicals. Signature mirrors the collaboration necessary to produce the highest quality art in the relationships among its artists, staff, Board and the community.
Communication
Whether it is an intellectual or emotional impact, having our work communicate with audiences and the broader public is essential. Signature is committed to producing a range of work that celebrates multiple viewpoints and to considering our audience in every aspect of our planning.
Connection
Signature recognizes that its work must connect meaningfully and reciprocally with the community. We view our artistic work as intrinsically linked to civic engagement and seek to share the benefits of artistic creation and participation with a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations.
ANTI-RACISM COMMITMENT
Signature is committed to becoming a more equitable, anti-racist organization. In this company, we condemn all acts of racism, discrimination, and hatred, and will not tolerate any inappropriate and/or disrespectful behaviors.
Recognizing our status as a predominately white-led institution, Signature is actively building an anti-racist culture and welcoming artists, staff, students, volunteers, donors, and audiences of all ethnicities and backgrounds. Signature has committed its time and financial resources to this effort; Signature’s staff Anti-Racism & Equity Working Group, Board Anti-Racism Task Force, and social justice and equity consultant Wayfinding Partners are leading the organization to discover, embrace, and implement new policies and approaches which will result in a richer, more equitable experience for all who interact with Signature.
We agree to face racism head-on, no matter how uncomfortable it may be, in order to maintain the safety of our spaces. We agree that each of us will work to acknowledge our own faults and accept the reality of our innate biases and prejudices which we have learned over centuries and which we are responsible for actively unlearning. We agree to assume positive intent during our time together, while also acknowledging the powerful difference that can exist between our positive intentions and their negative effects. We will work as a team to learn and grow as individuals and as a group.
Theater is a powerful tool for building community and empathy, and all our lives are enriched when we welcome all people to share their stories. We recognize that the human experience comes in all colors, shapes, abilities, ages, backgrounds, gender expressions and identities, and sexual orientations. Signature is proud to use our art to shed light on our shared humanity.
We acknowledge that this statement will always be a work in progress as we set out to achieve racial justice and equity.
LAND AND LABOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Signature Theatre recognizes the unceded land upon which it sits in Arlington County, VA. We currently understand this to be the occupied and ancestral land of the Piscataway, Doeg, and Nacochtank peoples, as well as Ancient Nations for which no names are known who've gone before. We honor the history of this land and those who inhabited it, as well as the diverse Native communities who make their home here today.
Signature Theatre also recognizes the forced servitude and unpaid labor of enslaved Africans, their descendants and others which allowed Arlington County to grow and thrive. We acknowledge the exploited workers past and present whose labor was and continues to be stolen through unjust practices.