
Our Story
; Theatre On Purpose
VISION:
We envision a community strengthened by kindness, creativity, and connection through the power of the arts.
MISSION:
We are committed to showcasing theatre as a powerful form of artistic expression that fosters reflection and dialogue. Our mission is to amplify diverse community voices on stage, inspiring audiences to "pause and think."
VALUES:
-
Artistic Excellence: We produce professional- quality theatre that inspires and challenges our audiences. We strive to be recognized regionally as an exceptional arts organization.
-
Community Service: We are committed to uniting our community by serving our neighbors.
-
Accessibility: We are committed to being economically and physically accessible to audiences, students, and artists. We pursue programs that attract under-represented talent and actively work to reach an economically and ethnically diverse audience and to make our spaces and our productions accessible to people of all abilities.
-
Education: We are committed to training and supporting the next generation of theatre artists. We offer arts education programs that promote lifelong learning.
-
Financial Responsibility: We are dedicated to creating a thriving, fiscally sound arts organization that will serve our community for generations.
-
Welcome: We joyfully welcome people of all sizes, all colors, all ages, all religions, all beliefs, and all cultures.
OUR JOURNEY
Selah Theatre Project, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is a socially conscious, issue-driven theatre company rooted in the belief that the stage is not merely a place of entertainment rather a place of reckoning, healing, and transformation. Founded and led by Artistic Director BleuJay Do'zia, Selah Theatre has spent fifteen seasons asking its community the questions that matter most: Who are we? Whose stories have we forgotten? What do we owe each other?
Based in Winchester, Virginia, Selah Theatre Project creates and produces work that lives at the intersection of art and advocacy. The company champions original new works alongside carefully selected licensed productions, always guided by the question of what a piece demands of its audience and what it gives back to its community. Selah Theatre's original works — including Ruth's Tea Room, When a Trumpet Cries, and the forthcoming The Colored Patriot — draw from history, memory, identity, and the lived experiences of people whose stories are too often absent from mainstream stages.
Selah Theatre is a company that believes access is not a courtesy, it is a commitment. Free and low-cost performances, community partnerships, and youth programming are woven into the fabric of how the organization operates. Through its Upstage summer intensives, young performers are trained not just in technique but in the responsibility that comes with telling stories that matter.
Now entering an exciting new chapter, Selah Theatre Project is developing The Vivienne L. Jackson Sanctuary for the Arts as its primary performance home, and expanding its reach through a growing partnership with Stone Branch Center for the Arts in Front Royal, Virginia. These spaces represent more than venues; they are physical declarations of what Selah Theatre has always stood for: that art belongs to everyone, that marginalized voices deserve a permanent home, and that a community's theatre is one of its most vital institutions.
Selah. The word itself is an invitation to pause, to breathe, to witness, to sit with what has just been said. That is exactly what this company asks of its audiences, its artists, and its community, season after season.
