History
On September 14, 1970, Helen Katherine Mason founded the Black Theatre Troupe. As an official in the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department she knew the value of creating needed community based programs. As a longtime Civil Rights activist she knew the power and importance of the Black Arts Movement started in 1965 by playwright Amiri Baraka and his Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem. It was her dream to use her experience as a city program developer and as a community activist to call upon activist/artists of the movement in New York and at Howard University to serve as critical advisors and teaching artists.
Their belief in and support of her need to create a critically needed platform for Black voices to be heard in the Southwest was vital. Through the inspiration of this national movement she created a space for underserved artists to present works that would heal and serve Phoenix’s African American community, as well as start to build a bridge between cultures.
During its fledgling years Black Theatre Troupe performed in several city facilities including the community room at Sidney P. Osborn Housing Projects as well as the Amphitheatre at Eastlake Park in downtown Phoenix. In 1976 they secured a former LDS Church at 10th Street and Moreland. In 1981 the building stood in the path of the planned Papago Freeway and the Deck Park. After a campaign spearheaded by community, corporate and the city leaders they rallied to purchase the company’s first permanent and mortgage free facility at 333 East Portland in downtown Phoenix in what is now known as the Roosevelt Row–Churchill District.
The company continued their strong relationship with Eastlake Park community and continued to often use the historic parks Amphitheatre.
333 East Portland
In the 2006 city of Phoenix bond election, the taxpayers voted millions of dollars to fund the capital projects of four of the City’s cultural institutions. This included an award for The Black Theatre Troupe to secure a larger facility.
After a successful capital campaign to raise matching funds to furnish and equip the facility, BTT celebrated the opening of their new home, The Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center on the first day of Black History Month – February 1, 2013.This new state of the art facility is located at Washington and 14th Street in downtown Phoenix – exactly two blocks from where it all began for BTT: the historic Eastlake Park.