In 1984, The Grundy Foundation, located in Bristol, Pennsylvania, purchased an old movie house on the Delaware River, and invested over one million dollars to transform it into a state-of-the-art theater in the riverfront park. The finished theater combined the exciting possibilities of a large stage with the intimacy of a 300-seat theater, along with outstanding lighting and sound technology. The Grundy Foundation offered the theater to Repertory Theatre of Bucks County (REPCO), a company dedicated to developing new plays and playwrights, and Bucks County’s first Equity Regional Theatre was born as the Bristol Riverside Theatre. Since 1986, the Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT) has brought consistently acclaimed professional theater to Bucks County,and maintained a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays. BRT has developed such new works as country music star Larry Gatlin’s musicals Alive and Well (And Livin’ in the Land of Dreams) and Texas Flyer; Jules Tasca’s critically acclaimed and Barrymore Award-winning drama The Balkan Women; Mark Medoff’s The Majestic Kid, and Garson Kanin’s Happy Ending, and Shielah Rae, Thomas Edward West, and Michele Brourman’s I Married Wyatt Earp.

BRT has also brought nationally renowned theater artists to the region in a number of capacities, including Katherine Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Micki Grant, Adrian Pasdar, Kim Hunter, John Henry Redwood, Stephen Schnetzer, Keir Dullea, Hugh O’Gorman, Ron Link, Susan Powell, Bethe B. Austin, Aileen Quinn, Rita Taggart, and Richard White. In addition to its mainstage productions, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community, with such programs as children’s theatre, community concerts and exhibitions of local visual arts.

BRT, now in its Twenty Second season, is the recipient of over 50 nominations for The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater, given annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. A few of the past nominees and winners are BRT’s Artistic Director Edward Keith Baker, nominated for his direction of BRT’s World Premiere of The Balkan Women, Larry Gatlin, winning for the best original music of Texas Flyer, Bethe B. Austin winning for in a musical for Texas Flyer, Jules Tasca, winning the Best New Play Award for The Balkan Women, Brad Little winning for Best Actor in a musical for Evita and Douglas Campbell winning for Best Actor in a play for The Dresser.