In honor of Signature's late Founding Playwright-in-Residence, Signature is thrilled to announce the naming of The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre.  Read the Press Release below to learn more about this much celebrated commemoration.

Company’s New Frank Gehry Designed Signature Center to Open February 2012

New York, NY – September 23, 2011 – Signature Theatre announced today that philanthropist and Signature Board of Trustees member Margot Adams has made a gift honoring playwright Romulus Linney in support of Signature Center, the Company’s new, permanent home opening in February 2012. Spanning an entire city block at 42nd Street between Dyer and 10th Avenue, the Frank Gehry-designed Signature Center features three intimate theatres, a studio theatre, rehearsal studio, and a public café and bookstore. The Center will be both a theatre community hub and a neighborhood destination, and has been designed to foster interaction among playwrights, artistic collaborators, and the public.

Mrs. Adams, a long-time supporter of Signature Theatre since her late husband, actor Mason Adams, performed with the Company in 1999, made the gift in honor of playwright Romulus Linney. Linney was Signature’s founding playwright-in-residence during the Company’s first season in 1991, and a collaborator and friend of Mr. Adams’. Upon Linney’s passing in early 2011, Mrs. Adams resolved to honor the playwright’s memory in the form of a donation in support of Signature Center. In recognition of this $5 million gift, one of Signature Center’s new theatres—a flexible 199-seat space that can be transformed into multiple configurations—will be named “The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre.”

“Signature Center fills a void in New York’s theatrical landscape, by providing an artistic home for multiple playwrights to create new work, interact with the public, and support one another in an extraordinary creative community,” noted donor and Board of Trustees member Margot Adams. “As a long-time supporter of this great Company, I am proud to support Signature Center and to honor Romulus Linney’s legacy with the naming of this glorious new theatre.”

Signature Theatre is distinguished for its pioneering programs that celebrate the playwright’s body of work. Signature Center will enable the 20-year old Company to expand its programming, introduce new initiatives, and build audiences. The Company will present up to nine plays each season at the Center, which will serve as the artistic home for as many as 11 playwrights at any one time, allowing Signature to expand its commitment to playwrights and foster a creative community that brings together audiences and theatre artists.

“Romulus Linney inspired our beginnings and without him there simply wouldn’t be a Signature Center,” noted Signature’s Founding Artistic director James Houghton. “We are indebted to Margot Adams for her extraordinary gift and vision. We look forward to honoring Romulus’ memory and work with the naming of ‘The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre’ and it is my hope that ‘The Linney’ will serve as an inspiration for the generations of playwrights to come who will work at Signature Center.”

Signature previously announced the naming of “The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre,” or “The Griffin,” in honor of scholar and educator Alice Griffin.

Since its founding in 1991, Signature has presented entire seasons tracing the trajectories of Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Arthur Miller, Paula Vogel and August Wilson, to note only a few. Signature’s recently concluded 20th Anniversary season presented the work of Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner.

In pursuit of its goal to build new audiences and remove the price barrier to those interested in experiencing live theatre, Signature has provided $20 tickets to all of its productions since 2005 through its groundbreaking Signature Ticket Initiative. This innovative program has served as a model for theatres and performing arts organizations across the country.

The $66 million Signature Center project is being funded through a public-private partnership and will be staffed by more than 400 people annually. Signature Center is housed within MiMA, Related Companies’ newest high-rise mixed use development. The 63-story glass tower is also home to rentals and condo units and YOTEL, the innovative European pod hotel.

About Romulus Linney
Romulus Linney was the author of three novels, four opera librettos, twenty short stories, and 85 plays which have been staged throughout the United States, in Europe and Asia. His plays include The Sorrows of Frederick, Holy Ghosts, Childe Byron, Heathen Valley, and an adaptation of Ernest L. Gaines’s novel A Lesson Before Dying, which has been produced in New York and in numerous regional theaters. Recently, Linney wrote a libretto for an opera based on his first play The Sorrows of Frederick, with music by Scott Wheeler, commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater. His last play, Over Martinis, Driving Somewhere, received a workshop at New York Stage and Film in 2010 and was published in the September 2011 issue of American Theatre magazine. Among Linney’s many awards were two Obie awards, one for sustained excellence in playwriting; two National Critics Awards; three Drama-Logue Awards; and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters which conferred upon him its Award in Literature, Award of Merit and its highest award, the Gold Medal. He was the founding playwright of Signature Theatre Company, which will name a theatre in his honor in the new Signature Center. Romulus Linney died this year at the age of 80.

About Margot Adams
Margot Adams is a writer and philanthropist. She is the widow of Mason Adams, a distinguished stage, screen, radio and television actor whose career spanned more than 50 years. She lives in New York City.

About Signature Center
Opening in February 2012, Signature Center is the new, permanent home of Signature Theatre Company. Designed by Frank Gehry, working hand-in-hand with Signature leadership, Signature Center spans an entire city block at 42nd Street between Dyer and 10th Avenue. At Signature Center, the Company’s expanded programming will include: Residency One, the continuation of Signature’s core program which provides audiences with an immersive exploration of the work of a singular playwright; Residency Five, which provides five-year residencies for multiple playwrights to support the creation and staging of new work; and the Legacy Program, which honors the lifetime achievement of artists who have previously been in residence at Signature. Signature Center will serve as the artistic home for as many as 11 playwrights at any one time, fostering a dynamic creative community where playwrights will engage directly with audiences and one another. More information on Signature Center and Signature Theatre Company’s expanded programming can be found at www.signaturecenter.org.