Playable Theatre

What Playable Theatre does

Playable Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that supports interdisciplinary creators engaged in designing, producing, and disseminating interactive live performative works — a category the organization defines as "playable theatre" encompassing immersive theatre, live-action roleplaying (larp), alternate reality games, escape rooms, and participatory experiences where audiences have meaningful agency. Founded as a design cohort at Northeastern University and operating with 1-10 employees, the organization functions as a community platform and programmatic hub rather than a technology company, with no proprietary AI/ML systems or software products; its infrastructure is built on Discord (two community servers), a Medium blog, a Squarespace website, and Twitch streaming.

The organization offers a portfolio of programs including the annual IndieCade Playable Theatre Symposium (2026 edition at University of Cincinnati), the Beyond Screens Twitch show produced in partnership with IndieCade, game jams, workshops (such as the $120 Interactive Acting Workshop capped at 20 participants), festivals, seasonal showcases, and an Interactive Acting Workshop & Live Performance. It also provides fiscal sponsorship services to individual artists under its 501(c)(3) umbrella at a 5%-8% administrative fee, contract templates, marketing promotion, and Zoom account access through its supporting membership program. Strategic partnerships with IndieCade, BostonFIG, Larping In Color, and UC Game Lab extend its reach across the U.S., UK, Philippines, and China creator communities.

Playable Theatre's business model is a multi-stream nonprofit model: annual supporting membership subscriptions, individual workshop fees, donations from individuals, and grant funding — including a dedicated Black Immersive Creators Grant program. Membership enrollment is processed via the Givelively donation platform. The organization is governed by a board chaired by Sam Liberty, with Co-Executive Director Caro Murphy providing operational leadership alongside her external roles in the games and immersive theatre industry.

Name

Playable Theatre

Legal name

Playable Theatre Corporation

Website

https://playabletheatre.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Playable Theatre is a Boston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports interdisciplinary creators designing, producing, and disseminating interactive live performative works, including immersive theatre, larp, and alternate reality games.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Community Support Services

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Performing Arts Companies (7111), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Theatre Education, Training & Conservatories (MPAGABAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC), Theatre Services & Design (Scenic/Costume/Props/Stage Management) (MPAGABAO)

Keywords

• Immersive theatre community
• Interactive performance support
• Live action roleplay arts
• Nonprofit fiscal sponsorship
• Creator education workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual supporting memberships with tiered benefits including symposium access, fiscal sponsorship, marketing promotion, contract templates, Zoom access, and exclusive content. Administrative fee of 5%-8% is charged for fiscal sponsorship services.
2. Workshop Fees: Revenue generated from paid educational workshops such as the Interactive Acting Workshop at $120 per participant, which includes lunch and dinner.
3. Donations and Grants: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the organization accepts individual donations and grant funding to support operations and programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Playable Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a community platform and programmatic hub for interdisciplinary creators working in interactive live performative works. It provides educational programs (workshops, symposia, game jams, festivals), a Discord community for hundreds of practitioners, a membership program, and fiscal sponsorship services that allow individual artists to access nonprofit grants and donations under its umbrella.

Product overview

Playable Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that functions as a community platform and programmatic hub for interdisciplinary creators working in interactive live performative works. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including the Beyond Screens Twitch show, annual Symposium conferences, Game Jams, Workshops (covering participatory storytelling, acting, and production), Festivals, and Seasonal Showcases. Additional offerings include an Interactive Acting Workshop & Live Performance, a Discord Community for practitioners, a Membership Program with benefits like fiscal sponsorship and contract templates, and Fiscal Sponsorship services for artists. Together these programs support the design, production, and dissemination of playable theatre across genres including immersive theatre, live-action roleplaying, alternate reality games, and escape rooms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Playable Theatre Membership Program Annual membership program providing supporting members with specialized resources, fiscal sponsorship, marketing promotion, contract templates, Zoom access, and exclusive content curated for the playable theatre creator community.
• Fiscal Sponsorship Service Fiscal sponsorship service enabling individual artists and creators to receive grants, donations, and nonprofit funding opportunities under Playable Theatre's 501(c)(3) nonprofit umbrella, with a 5%-8% administrative fee.
• Interactive Acting Workshop & Live Performance Full-day intensive workshop in interactive performance and theatre with instructors Jeff Wirth and Caro Murphy, followed by a live show. Covers character building, collaborative narrative, working with audiences, and ensemble performance. Priced at $120 per participant, capped at 20 participants, with lunch and dinner included.
• Annual Playable Theatre Symposium Annual in-person symposium exploring playable theatre, including VR performance, live-action role-play, jubensha, digital escape rooms, and alternate reality games. Features keynotes, panels, and networking for scholars, students, and creatives. The 2026 edition is hosted at the University of Cincinnati and sponsored by the UC Game Lab and Taft Research Center. Free admission with registration required.
• Game Jams Dedicated time periods during which creatives come together to work collaboratively and produce finished playable theatre pieces, with some projects going on to become full productions.
• Educational Workshop Series Series of educational workshops for the creative community ranging from 'how to work with actors' to 'best practices for onboarding.' Includes series on participatory storytelling, acting for participation, training the audience, conceptualization, pre-production, development, and event production.
• Playable Theatre Festivals Festivals that showcase artists' work in playable theatre. The organization has hosted online festivals in Second Life as well as in-person events.
• Seasonal Showcase (Playable Theatre Presents) Production and touring support program working with artists and creators to bring playable theatre works to new cities, audiences, and venues. Includes Boston Summer seasons under the Playable Theatre Presents banner.
• Beyond Screens (IndieCade Twitch Show) IndieCade's Twitch show exploring work that pushes boundaries of or comes entirely off the screen, covering participatory theatre, alternate reality games, live-action roleplaying, escape rooms, Big Games, and alternative controllers. Each hour-long episode features in-depth conversations with creators of these genre-defining games.
• Discord Practitioner Community Online community platform on Discord where hundreds of practitioners creating immersive and interactive work connect, share ideas, tools, tips, and tricks.

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual symposium with free attendance for members and access to back-catalog of videos
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• IndieCadecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndieCade is an international juried festival of independent games, known as the video game industry's Sundance. Playable Theatre partners with IndieCade for the Beyond Screens program, an IndieCade Twitch show exploring work that pushes boundaries of or comes entirely off the screen, covering participatory theatre, alternate reality games, live action roleplaying, escape rooms, and Big Games.
• Larping In ColorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLARPing In Color is an initiative to increase connections between LARPs and fantasy world builders with PoC and LGBTQ+ writers, sensitivity readers, and consultants. The partnership supports diversity and inclusion in the playable theatre community by providing resources, scholarships, and consultancy services for underrepresented creators.
• BostonFIGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBostonFIG is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit celebrating independent game development in New England and globally. Co-executive director Caro Murphy has a ten-year leadership history with BostonFIG, and the organizations share missions around fostering game creators and interactive entertainment.
• University of Cincinnati - UC Game LabmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe 2026 IndieCade Playable Theatre Symposium is sponsored by the UC Game Lab in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, in collaboration with the Taft Research Center. This represents a significant academic partnership for the organization's flagship annual event.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Third Rail Projects: Independent immersive and site-specific performance company (Then She Fell, The Grand Paradise). Comparable as a producer of intimate, participatory theatrical experiences with overlapping creative territory to playable theatre.
• Punchdrunk: British immersive theatre company behind Sleep No More; a pioneer in audience-agency immersive performance. Directly comparable as a creator/producer of participatory theatrical experiences, though at a far larger commercial scale.
• Ars Nova: New York-based nonprofit supporting emerging theatre artists through development, production, and community programs. Comparable as a nonprofit that combines creator support, education, and producing for an emerging-theatre community.
• Meow Wolf: Large-scale immersive art and entertainment company creating participatory, story-driven installations. Comparable because it operates in the immersive, audience-participatory space that defines playable theatre, but at much greater scale and with proprietary venue infrastructure.

Direct peers

• IndieCade: International juried festival of independent games and a direct strategic partner of Playable Theatre; operates the Beyond Screens Twitch show together. Comparable as an organization that supports indie creators at the intersection of games and non-screen experiences.
• BostonFIG: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit celebrating independent game development in New England; shares a co-executive director (Caro Murphy) with Playable Theatre. Directly comparable as a nonprofit community organization serving indie interactive creators.
• Take Action Games: Co-founded by Playable Theatre board member Susana Ruiz; creates socially engaged playable/immersive games. Comparable as a creator of playable, participatory experiences and is organizationally linked to Playable Theatre through shared leadership.

Others

• New England Foundation for the Arts: Regional nonprofit that grants and supports artists and arts organizations across New England. Comparable as a regional nonprofit that channels funding and resources to creators in the same geographic and artistic ecosystem Playable Theatre serves.

Emerging players

• No Proscenium: Independent publication and community hub covering immersive and location-based entertainment. Comparable as an ecosystem-builder for immersive creators and audiences, with a narrower production scope than Playable Theatre.
• The TEAM: Brooklyn-based ensemble producing participatory, documentary-driven theatre with audience agency. Comparable as a creator of immersive/participatory theatrical works for niche but engaged audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/playablet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/playable-theatre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Playable Theatre