PHILIP CROSBY: Back in the 1990s, when we first started operating, Richmond Triangle Players was one of the only places that a gay or lesbian couple could go on a date.

So coming to a safe space and being able to be who you were as an audience member was hugely, hugely important.

>>By Ravel >>I don't really know Ravel, what's he done?

>>What do you mean done, babe?

PHILIP CROSBY: Richmond Triangle Players is the longest operating professional theater in the entire mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on LGBTQ+ works, and developing queer artistry.

Every show we do, every show we produce is rooted in that mission.

>>Henry was the first, the only man I ever loved.

No, that's a blatant lie, and shame on me for telling it.

RAJA BENZ: Being a leading queer institution in the city of Richmond means that we have the opportunity to come across people who may not have seen themselves on stages before, welcoming in people who get to see their stories for the first time.

And that goes well beyond just a sense of entertainment, but a sense of belonging in community.

And so it's particularly thrilling to me as a trans woman of color that I get to watch my own story play out live.

PHILIP CROSBY: We believe that since this theater is staffed with folks rooted in the LGBTQ experience there's an authenticity of voice, and an authenticity of attitude.

We can tell the stories 'cause we lived 'em.

KASEY BRITT: RTP is giving the kinds of roles that people deserve to the people who deserve them.

It's taken a really long time for roles like that to exist and immediately Richmond Triangle players will find them, pull them, and be like, quick, here.

TeDARRYL PERRY: I think every piece that we do at RTP, as well as the people who are cast, and the people who work here in front of house, and people who design, there's so much love, and there's so much compassion for people, and empathy.

We're one team with one goal to represent our community.

>>Thank you.

>>Be the best you can be.

PHILIP CROSBY: I like to think that RTP and organizations like us nationwide have had a very transformational effect on society because of the stories we tell.

RAJA BENZ: Sometimes in the privacy of theater, and the privacy of our emotions and our stories, we can really step out and see what it means to be courageous, what inclusion looks like, what abolition looks like, what anti-racism looks like.

So we're sort of rehearsing that in the play and then we have to take that into our real world.

KASEY BRITT: Especially the content of the shows, making stuff that young people feel they have a voice in.

I want to draw them back in and be like, this is an important part of how the queer community has always functioned, come back to the theater.

TeDARRYL PERRY: We are representing a part of ourselves that one for a lot of us had to hide for so long.

So to be at a professional theater doing what we love, and being able to celebrate us and our community, it really feels like a safe haven.

>>Who wants a Manhattan?

PHILIP CROSBY: The LGBTQ community is changing.

This theater can support our society in brand new ways.

We're just waiting for the material to be written, and for the actors to come through our door, so that we can tell the stories.