Stage

The Walker’s McGuire Theater hosts world-class performances, supporting out-of-the-box thinking, and creative dialogue.

The William and Nadine McGuire Theater is home to the Walker Art Center’s acclaimed performing arts program. As a space for experimentation, the McGuire Theater offers state-of-the-art technical capabilities that support out-of-the-box thinking, creative dialogue, and cross-disciplinary productions.

Each year, the McGuire hosts the Walker’s highly anticipated performing arts season, which presents contemporary music, theater, dance, and performance art from around the world. Alongside new work and commissions, the theater is home to long-standing shows including the annual Choreographers’ Evening and the January/February experimental theater series Out There. Integrated into the heart of the Walker, the theater supports performance works that draw on the full range of disciplines represented by the Walker, including visual arts, moving image, design, and more.

In its construction, the McGuire Theater melds older traditions of European theater design with 21st-century aesthetics. It combines the large stage and fly space of a modern opera house with the intimacy and flexibility of a classic black box theater. Attracting thousands of visitors each year, the Walker stage actively bridges the divide between audience and performer.

To learn more about the latest Performing Arts season, head to our Performing Arts department page.

Since the 1960s, the Walker has supported the creation of new performance work by providing artists with financial support and often other resources, such as space, time, and technical or curatorial expertise.

Learn more about Performing Arts Commissions here.