OUR VISION
To create community through theatre
The Victory Theatre Center is recognized as an inclusive multi-disciplinary venue that champions and challenges artists to move audiences with new works from new voices through dramaturgy and theatrical world premieres. These events serve as an intellectual and emotional touchstone of expression –a place where audiences can share in a deeper sense of humanity.
Our Mission
To develop new plays, produce world premieres and significant revivals by American playwrights, and to foster the emergence of new talent.
The Victory Theatre Center is a small theatre, but what’s experienced here is large. Intimate space cultivates closeness; shared experience creates connection and community. We are a creative hub where audiences and artists engage with one another through groundbreaking productions, educational opportunities, and social events — in a setting that can’t help but spark meaningful conversation.
All of the theatrical arts are fostered here: productions, dramaturgical workshops, acting classes, directing and technical seminars. VTC engages in creative partnerships that dramatize current social, political, and economic issues — designed to engage artists and to educate, challenge, and entertain audiences.
FOUNDERS
About Maria Gobetti
Maria Gobetti is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Victory Theatre Center and one of Los Angeles’ most respected acting teachers and directors. She has directed over 80 plays, many of them world premieres, earning critical acclaim for her precise, emotionally grounded work. As founder of the Gobetti/Ormeny Acting Studio, she trains actors with a rigorous focus on truth, discipline, and repeatable craft. Her approach—technical accountability with emotional life—has shaped generations of working actors, writers, and directors.
About Tom Ormeny (1946–2023)
Tom Ormeny, co-founder of The Victory Theatre Center, was a driving force behind one of Los Angeles’ most enduring homes for new work. A director, teacher, and producer, he helped build the theatre from the ground up and guided decades of productions and artist development. Widely respected for his leadership and deep commitment to playwrights, Tom’s legacy is rooted in his belief in the power of new stories and the artists who tell them. His impact continues to shape the Victory and the community it serves.
Board of Directors
CEO
Maria Gobetti
CEO / Artistic Director
Officers
Herb Hall
Co-President
Actor / Director
Donna Peacher-Hall
Co-President
Dialect Coach / Consultant
Kevin Klein
Zilah Mendoza
Treasurer
Actress/ Co-Producer/ Associate Artist Mentor Artist- MAAP
Members
Cheyenne Wilber
Realtor / Fundraiser / Actor
Lauren Hammond
Creative Charity
(Paige Conroy Actress / Marketing Strategy / Fundraising & Audience Growth)
Zilah Mendoza
Board MemberActress / Co-Producer/Associate Artist
Mentor Artists – MAPP
Advisory Board
Cheryl Howard
Writer
Ron Howard
Director
Norm Levy
Professor Emeritus
Audience Development
Phyllis Cohen
Audience Development
Kathy Dailey
Creative & Strategic Consultant
Robert E. Alschuler
Producer
Jennifer Logan
Creative Director, Studio Fuse
Jessica Kaye
Attorney: Kaye & Mills
Raymond M. Cohen
Leigh Kennicott
Creative Consultant
Kathleen Neumeyer
Journalist
OUR COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM, EQUITY & INCLUSION
The VTC recognizes that systemic racism has shaped whose stories get told in theatre. We acknowledge that silence and neutrality are forms of complicity, and we are committed to anti-racist practice.
The arts play a critical role in culture and national conversation. To accept responsibility for positive change, we commit to becoming an anti-racism and anti-oppression organization — working to end racial inequities in our industry and in our culture. Anti-racism is a core value and a central part of our standards of excellence. That commitment includes listening to and centering People of the Global Majority (PGM) in the plays we select and the artists and crew we employ.
Artistic Development
- We commit to a safe and welcoming workspace for all artists, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, or medical condition. All humans are welcome.
- We will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for donations from individuals or organizations that knowingly uphold racist practices.
- We commit to increased recruitment and representation of PGM and under-represented designers and artists, creating more opportunities to join VTC production teams — with the goal of genuine equity of representation.
- We commit to seeking out works that reflect the racial and cultural diversity of our community.
- We will apply a rigorous anti-racist lens to new work development and our play selection process.
- Casting breakdowns will be written with an eye toward anti-racism, equity, and inclusion.
- We will conduct a rigorous review of casting for every role in our season, keeping cultural specificity and appropriate considerations in mind.
- We will prioritize dramaturgs and cultural consultants for culturally specific productions.
- A representative from each production will serve as deputy to ensure this policy is upheld.
Board of Directors
- We will prioritize anti-racism practices in our institutional governance.
- We will increase representation of PGM and historically under-represented persons on the Board and diversify our donor base.
- Board representatives will serve on a company accountability task force to ensure this policy is maintained.
Marketing
- We will examine our approach to audiences to ensure that, over time, our audiences more accurately reflect the city of Los Angeles.
- We are committed to open discussion about this policy and to being held accountable by our community and colleagues. This statement is the beginning of our work, not the end.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that we are living and working on the unceded territory of the Tongva and Kizh people, the original stewards of this land. Achieving healing and reconciliation requires a long and sustained commitment — this acknowledgement is a first step. We hope it helps raise awareness of histories that are often suppressed or forgotten, though very present all around us. We encourage you to learn whose land you live and work on, and to continue learning about the Indigenous people who made their homes in and around what we now call Los Angeles.