Spooky Action Theater (SAT) is a dynamic, theater company that has been recharging the audience's imaginative, intuitive, emotional core by linking artists & audience in a collaborative enterprise. We designed and built a versatile performance space that accommodates multiple seating and staging configurations. Movable walls and audience risers enable us to approach each production with a fresh perspective. We believe a good play imparts a special kind of rapture. Albert Einstein coined the term spooky action at a distance to describe a bit of quantum mechanics even he found incredible: two particles can become entangled such that, forever after, a change in one is matched by instant change in the other, no matter what the distance between them. Spooky action happens when actors provide a bare framework to be fleshed out by the imagination of the audience, creating the world and action of the play.
About the Artistic Director
Elizabeth Dinkova (she/her/hers) is a Bulgarian director, adaptor, and collaborative creator who explores alternative realities at the intersection of theater, film, and music in pursuit of communal transformation. In 2021-22, she was an Associate Artistic Director of 7 Stages Theatre, Atlanta's hub for boundary-pushing international theater. She is an alum of the Alliance Theatre’s Artistic Leadership fellowship, the Studio Theatre's Artistic Apprenticeship, and a recent graduate from the MFA Directing program at the Yale School of Drama, where she served as a Co-Artistic Director of the Yale Summer Cabaret and received the Julian Milton Kaufman prize for Directing. Recent projects include the film Cracking Zeus by Christopher Hampton for the Alliance's Digital Theater Channel, the visual album TIT, inspired by Titus Andronicus and co-written with Jesse Rasmussen, at the NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival, Rage, a play with music adapted from Stephen King, at Quinnipiac University, The Seagull at Serenbe Playhouse, and the opera Orfeo ed Euridice at Bel Cantanti Opera Company. Elizabeth has taught acting, directing, devising, and musical theater at the Toronto Metropolitan University, University of California Riverside, Quinnipiac University, and Queens College CUNY.
Our History
Spooky Action Theater was founded in 2004 by actor/director Richard Henrich, who sought to offer more plays that require audiences to participate with their imaginations. When originally founded, Spooky Action utilized rental space throughout the Washington, DC and Maryland area to hold productions. In 2010, Spooky Action Theater reached an agreement with the Universalist National Memorial Church at 1810 16th Street NW to renovate the downstairs auditorium of the church and create a multipurpose performance space. Work was completed in fall 2010 and the new theater venue in the Dupont Circle neighborhood was born. The result is an affordable, flexible, user-friendly performance space in a convenient, metro-accessible location.
Spooky Action has gained growing recognition as a valued contributor to the DC performing arts community. Our productions are regularly reviewed in The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Maryland Theatre Guide, among others. SAT’s production of Reckless was recognized by DC Metro Theatre Arts.com as one of the best of 2012. DC Theatre Scene praised our recent production of Kafka on the Shore, adapted by Frank Galati from Haruki Murakami’s novel, for its “beautiful and evocative images.” We received our first Helen Hayes Awards © nominations for our Spring 2013 production of Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide, a new adaptation by TJ Edwards, for outstanding ensemble and outstanding movement (Monalisa Arias) and our winter 2014 production of The Wedding Dress, by Nelson Rodrigues, received the honor of being named a Helen Hayes Awards © recommended production and received rave reviews.
Spooky Action has gained growing recognition as a valued contributor to the DC performing arts community. Our productions are regularly reviewed in The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Maryland Theatre Guide, among others. SAT’s production of Reckless was recognized by DC Metro Theatre Arts.com as one of the best of 2012. DC Theatre Scene praised our recent production of Kafka on the Shore, adapted by Frank Galati from Haruki Murakami’s novel, for its “beautiful and evocative images.” We received our first Helen Hayes Awards © nominations for our Spring 2013 production of Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide, a new adaptation by TJ Edwards, for outstanding ensemble and outstanding movement (Monalisa Arias) and our winter 2014 production of The Wedding Dress, by Nelson Rodrigues, received the honor of being named a Helen Hayes Awards © recommended production and received rave reviews.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
At every level - staff, board, artists, programming - we are committed to seeking out and welcoming the participation of Black and Indigenous people, People of Color and members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been underrepresented in our organization. We are currently implementing an action plan specifically addressing these issues with achievable and time-specific goals. This is an ongoing process. We are grateful for your continued support, as we work toward becoming a more equitable, diverse and inclusive company. The Spooky Action mission is to rekindle the shared human consciousness and imagination that link artists and audience. Empathy at this deep, fundamental level is the key to our vision, and exploring a wide range of culturally diverse stories is the primary path for our artistic mission.
