History

New Day Repertory Company was co-founded over forty-nine years ago by Rodney Douglas, PhD, and Olive Douglas, MS, both of whom were trained at the London Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and who have had international theatre experience as actors and in theatre management. New Day Repertory Company is a not-for-profit organization with charitable status that is dedicated to promoting cultural enrichment, racial harmony and an appreciation for the arts through theatre. The organization is committed to making critically acclaimed theatre works accessible to culturally and socially diverse audiences of all ages throughout the Hudson Valley and New York State.



Artistic & Cultural Vision

New Day's vision is to make professional quality live theatre accessible to culturally/socially diverse, economically disadvantaged, and underserved audiences of all ages. New Day tours throughout Dutchess, Ulster and Orange Counties to community arts centers, schools, colleges, alternative art facilities, social service organizations, churches of all denominations and performance spaces in malls and outdoors. Since 1963, this program has been an important part of New Day's work because of its commitment to promoting racial harmony, education and cultivation of the mind, and entertainment through theatre arts.  The infusion of "new blood" on the administrative team will not only re-energize the organization, but signals the first step in New Day's resolve to return the company to the days when it operated at full capacity.



 

PROGRAMS

This season, New Day will realize its artistic and cultural vision by the production of plays and workshops.



Resident Theatre Program​



This year New Day will produce two plays:

          1. Home, a play by Sam-Art Williams

          2. Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play by Langston Hughes



Workshops  

 

          1.  Professional Acting Workshops for professional and aspiring  actors, children to adults

          2. Theatre-based workshops for at-risk youths ages 7-21 in the City of Poughkeepsie.

          3. Theatre-based workshop program for mentally developed and disabled individuals ages 7-adults in the

              City of Poughkeepsie.



While many local theatres offer camp and workshop programs, to our knowledge New Day is the only theatre that offers training workshops for youth-at-risk and the developmentally disabled. It is also the only local theatre that places an emphasis on serving a minority and/or underserved/disadvantaged audience and on producing works by African American and South African playwrights.

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New Day is different than other local theatres because it actively seeks as its audience members, members of local ethnic and minority groups, as well as the low income, non-income, homeless, economically disadvantaged, and the illiterate members of our community. New Day Repertory serve the unserved in the community in many ways: theatre, workshops, Classes, an amateur variety night, dance, drums, rap & hip-hop, poetry, singing and other joyful elements.