Talespinner Children’s Theatre was founded in 2011 by Alison (Ali) Garrigan. After many years of dreaming of a professional children’s theatre for the young people and families of her community, the moment that put things in motion came about at a Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) artists’ meeting, when Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan, asked what was missing from the theatre world of Cleveland. “A professional children’s theater” was the resounding response. Ali knew it was time to go to work, creating “something that was smart and unique, a place where children would be honored and engaged, as well as a place where artists could have a voice, stretch and grow.”
 
Talespinner’s first season included two productions: Tale of the Name of the Tree, and the Magic Flute. For the first ten years of Talespinner’s existence, we produced exclusively world premiere, original works, all by playwrights from Cleveland and its surrounds, creating a space by which we have been able to intentionally foster local talent and artistry. Talespinner has been the home for more than 40 new plays in the ten years since, both on our main stage and in our touring productions, and we look forward to continuing to support amazing contributions to the world of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) as we enter our second decade. 
 
We are also excited to begin producing existing work from the field of TYA! As Cleveland’s only dedicated professional children’s theatre, we are honored to be able to bring some of the excellent, vital, transformative work that is happening in artistic communities both nationally and internationally right here into Cleveland’s theatrical home for young people and their families, beginning in our 2022-2023 season with our production of The Snowy Day and Other Stories by Ezra Jack Keats, which originally premiered at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis.