Theatre Lab
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE THEATRE LAB PROVIDES CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS TO ADULTS AND YOUTH IN THE AREAS OF ACTING FOR THE STAGE AND SCREEN, DIRECTING, PLAYWRITING, MUSICAL THEATRE, AND DRAMA CRITICISM. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO CONDUCTS EXTENSIVE OUTREACH PROGRAMMATIC AND EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE REAL LIFE BENEFITS OF THEATRE EDUCATION TO MEMBERS OF TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS: SPECIFICALLY FINANCIALLY DISADVANTAGED YOUTH AND ADULTS, INCARCERATED AND SEVERELY AT-RISK YOUTH, SENIORS, AND HOMELESS WOMEN
- Income
- $2.3 million
- Spending
- $2.0 million
- Spent on programs
- 87%
- Reserves
- 5.4 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 46%
- Employees
- 88
- Volunteers
- 55
- Highest pay
- $181,298, co exec director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 75 out of 100. Higher than 54% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 5.4 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 42% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 13% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 27% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1587% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 6 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 65% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2520 of 22 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $1.8 million spent. The Theatre Lab offers theatre training to children, adults and seniors across the Washington, DC area. Since inception, The Theatre Lab has taught thousands of students at all levels of experience. The Theatre Lab's faculty has grown to include more than 50 of the area's most accomplished professional theatre artists. Major segments of The Theatre Lab's programs are as follows: "Life Stories" outreach - free drama outreach programs for seniors, incarcerated and at-risk youth, veterans and military families, people in addiction recovery, low-income DCPS students, homeless women and children, and other historically underrepresented populations. "Life Stories" participants receive the acting and storytelling training necessary to create original dramatic works for the stage and screen from their life experiences. In an atmosphere of collaboration and creativity, participants develop advanced communication, problem solving, and teamwork skills that translate into success at home, at work, and in the larger community. Most important, they build confidence in themselves as people who have a story worth telling and a voice that deserves to be heard. Youth programs - The Theatre Lab offers popular summer acting camps and musical theatre institutes for kids and teens. The kids' camp is a unique two-week actor training program for children in 1st-6th grade taught by some of Washington's top theatre professionals, and is designed to immerse young artists in the creative process- from learning the basic techniques of realistic acting to developing mime and improvisational skills. The Theatre Lab also offers four-week programs in musical theatre and Shakespeare, culminating in full productions, for children in 7th and 8th grades. The teens' acting institute is a four-week intensive training program for young adults aged 13-19. The program is designed to help teens build fundamental acting skills through classwork and participation in a public performance. The curriculum includes audition seminars, improvisational workshops, voice and movement training, and scene study, as well as special programs designed to give interested students insight into the working of the professional theatre community. The musical theatre institute for teens is a program for 13-19 year-olds, which culminates in a full production of a full-length musical. The program is an intensive four-week training program in which participants rehearse and perform a full musical production. The musical theatre institute is offered twice each summer. The institute provides young artists with intensive voice, movement, and acting training as they explore challenging, socially relevant material from the contemporary musical theatre world. In 2025, The Theatre Lab introduced the Advanced Musical Theatre Intensive, a program for older high school, college-age, and early career students (ages 16-26) in which they spend one week rehearsing and performing a staged reading of a complex musical. The Theatre Lab also offers a series of afterschool and weekend scene study and TV/film classes for kids and teens year-round. Adult classes - The Theatre Lab offers approximately 80 6-week courses/year for adults in the general population in acting, musical theatre, directing, film and tv acting, playwriting and more. Since 2020, The Theatre Lab has also offered adult 6-week synchronous classes online, approximately 8/year. Honors program - in 2006, The Theatre Lab launched a year-long intensive training program for students interested in a professional acting career. The Honors Conservatory serves 10 students each year. The Theatre Lab is a key partner in the Arts Institute for Creative Advancement, a collective impact initiative of the DC Arts Education Alliance, in which young adults receive training and apprenticeships in technical theatre. In 2025, The Theatre Lab served an enrollment of 1,715 students in its adult curriculum, 860 students in its youth programs, and 10 students in its honors program. The Theatre Lab's Life Stories outreach program reached 844 youth and adults. Most of The Theatre Lab's youth classes are available at free or reduced price for financially disadvantaged participants. In 2014, The Theatre Lab inaugurated the Life Stories Institute, a four-day intensive workshop designed to give theatre artists, educators, and service providers from across the country training in the Life Stories curriculum. The Institute served 21 students in 2025.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 1994.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.