Two year-round arts nonprofits will be combining forces in the new year, forming a creative coalition that encompasses theatre, film, literary and arts education. The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and Circuit Arts announced this week that they plan to merge in 2026.
Two year-round arts nonprofits will be combining forces in the new year, forming a creative coalition that encompasses theatre, film, literary and arts education.
The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and Circuit Arts announced this week that they plan to merge in 2026.
Kristy Brooks, treasurer of the playhouse board of directors, said the merger with Circuit Arts will strengthen both organizations at a time when nonprofits have seen their funding sources slashed.
“We view it as this rare opportunity to bring together two mission-driven organizations to strengthen the creative ecosystem,” she said.
Brian Ditchfield, executive director of Circuit Arts, said the playhouse will keep its own identity under the Circuit Arts umbrella.
Brian Ditchfield, executive director of Circuit Arts.
Brian Ditchfield, executive director of Circuit Arts.
“Like the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, that brand stays alive and well,” Mr. Ditchfield told the Gazette this week.
Circuit Arts’ Brooke Hardman Ditchfield will take over as artistic director of the playhouse, following the retirement at the end of the year of longtime playhouse executive and artistic director MJ Bruder Munafo.
Ms. Hardman Ditchfield, who is married to Brian Ditchfield, has long been a major figure in the Island’s theatre scene. In addition to her role at Circuit Arts, she heads up the theatre program at the regional high school, which she will continue.
“How we bring the arts to life in our community and how we sustain the legacy of an organization [to] keep it going and a home for the artists — it’s really important,” Ms. Ditchfield said.
The Ditchfields’ long relationship with the playhouse is another plus, Ms. Brooks said. Both are accomplished actors who have appeared on the playhouse stage many times — particularly Mr. Ditchfield, who took improv classes with Ms. Bruder Munafo when he was a young teen.
“Brooke and Brian have such a deep history,” Ms. Brooks said. “They are young and energetic and enthusiastic, and we think that it’s a great place to put the stewardship of the playhouse.”
Mr. Ditchfield’s early years at the playhouse were foundational, he said.
“I feel like I grew up in that theatre. MJ was a mentor to me when I was young,” he said. “To come back in this way and help it blossom into its next stage is thrilling.”
Brooke Hardman Ditchfield will become the artistic director of the playhouse.
Brooke Hardman Ditchfield will become the artistic director of the playhouse.
Both organizations have made a large impact on the Island arts scene for many decades.
The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, located in a historic meeting house on Church street in Vineyard Haven, began as a seasonal theatre when it was founded in the early 1980s by two summer residents from Westport, Conn., Isabella McKamy and Eileen Wilson, who named it the Vineyard Playhouse.
Ms. Wilson became a mentor to Ms. Bruder Munafo, who joined the playhouse as a volunteer in its early years and was appointed director in 1995.
After a $2.5 million restoration in 2014, the nonprofit changed its name to the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and began hosting off-season concerts, movie nights, poetry readings and other events, keeping the lights on throughout the year.
Circuit Arts began as an outgrowth of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, which was founded in 2001 by Thomas Bena, now of Stillpoint in West Tisbury.
Mr. Ditchfield became executive director after Mr. Bena’s departure in 2021. He established Circuit Arts the following year as a parent organization for its programming, which includes the film festival, the Vineyard Drive-In, a filmmaking division and an educational component that produces the Martha’s Vineyard Children’s Theater Camp.
“It makes sense, for an Island of our size, to work together,” Ms. Brooks said. “It expands what we can offer year-round for the community.”
Ms. Brooks said there are no plans to change the playhouse’s signature programs such as Virginia’s Drama Club, created by Ms. Bruder Munafo for adults with disabilities.
“Our intent is for those things to continue,” she said. “We want to just add to that. It’s an expansion... an amazing opportunity to unify arts across the Island in a really smart way.”
Playhouse employees will keep their jobs, Mr. Ditchfield said.
“All the existing staff will continue on, which was important to everybody as we had these conversations,” he said.
Circuit Arts holds a long-term lease from the Vineyard Preservation Trust for the Grange Hall in West Tisbury, which has a theatre upstairs. With one stage in Vineyard Haven and one up-Island, Ms. Brooks said, the merger has the potential to reach more audiences closer to their homes.
“We could bring music to the playhouse, more theatre to the Grange.... There’s just so much opportunity,” she said.
The merger also offers the opportunity to combine and expand the two nonprofits’ popular summer camps for children, she said.
Circuit Arts and the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse are both seeking donations to fund the transition, but Ms. Brooks said fund-raising will be unified once the merger is completed.
“Everyone is of the mindset that we want to make this happen, and we’re all enthusiastic and looking at the future,” she said.
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