ARTfactory’s Community Theatre Getting New Name, Professional Status

ARTfactory’s community theatre, Rooftop Productions, will be functioning under a new name, ARTfactory Actors Theatre, and paying its actors beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

The ARTfactory’s transition marks a significant one for the area, as it is the only professional theatre company in the Greater Manassas area.

Talya Conroy, CEO of the ARTfactory, said paying actors is part of the organization’s mission and the nonprofit was ready to take the leap.

“We have worked hard to be able to pay production teams for their time and talents, and now the ARTfactory is in a position to extend that professional credit to local actors,” she said in a press release.

In an interview, Conroy said this was a big step for the nonprofit to take, but it provides more grant opportunities both in the Commonwealth and in the United States if they were to pay their actors. She also noted with the community’s support and volunteers, this was made a possibility.

As for the professional status, this was another leap the nonprofit took on its own. Conroy said she and Producing Artistic Director Kimberly Kemp presented the opportunity to gain a professional status to the ARTfactory’s Board of Directors.

Conroy clarified the only difference moving forward is that the nonprofit now pays its people, but it will always be community-oriented.

“Our culture … will always remain: that community-based culture. We are just going to the next step, but we are community-based and invite everyone to participate and audition,” she said.

Update Nov. 12, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.: An earlier version of this article stated the ARTfactory would become the only professional theater company in the Greater Prince William County area. There is another professional theater company in Bristow. This article has been updated with the correct information.