6 Best Performing Arts Venues in Harvard Square, Boston

Founded by Robert Brustein and since 2009 under the helm of Tony Award–winning director Diane Paulus, the ART is one of America’s most celebrated regional theaters, winning Tonys for Broadway originals All the Way and Once as well as revivals of The Glass Menagerie, Pippin, and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. The ART often premieres new works and seeks to expand the boundaries of theater through productions such as Waitress, Finding Neverland, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 among others. The Loeb Drama Center, home of the ART, houses two theaters: the Mainstage and The Ex, a smaller black box often staging productions by the irreverent Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. OBERON, the ART's "club theater" with flexible stage design, engages young audiences in immersive theater (and has attracted national acclaim for its groundbreaking model) with gay, alternative, and cutting-edge programming.

This gilt-wood jewel box of a stage is the preferred venue for many of Boston's classical orchestras and the home of Harvard University's many ensembles. Located in Memorial Hall, 180-degree stage design and superb acoustics afford intimacy and crystal projection. A favorite of folk, jazz, and world-music performers, the 1,000-seat Sanders hosts the holiday favorite Christmas Revels, a traditional participatory Yule celebration. Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Leonard Bernstein, and Oprah Winfrey have appeared at this famed seat of oratory and music.

Screening independent, foreign, classic, and experimental films rarely seen in commercial cinemas, the Harvard Film Archive is open to the public Friday through Monday. The 188-seat theater, with pristine film and digital projection, is located in the basement of the stunning brick-and-glass Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Le Corbusier's only American building. A division of Harvard Library, this is one of the country's largest and most significant university-based motion picture collections—more than 36,000 global audiovisual items from almost every period in film history. Tickets are $10; seniors and students, $8.

The oldest (1844) collegiate theatrical company in the United States still has all-male casts, though women participate in the troupe's staging and production. Its single annual madcap show plays at its theater in February and March, then tours to New York and Vegas. The troupe infamously honors actors as Man and Woman of the Year in an annual awards ceremony, complete with a celebrity roast and drag-queen and boa-laden party parade through the streets of Cambridge for the chosen woman. The 2021 honorees were Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.

This troupe is building an exciting, contemporary repertory under Cuban-born José Mateo, the resident artistic director-choreographer. Performances, which include Dance Saturdays and an original Nutcracker, take place October through April at the Sanctuary Theatre, a beautifully converted Gothic revival church at Massachusetts Avenue and Harvard Street in Harvard Square. The vibe is intimate cabaret-style seating with 250 seats, each with its own perfect view.

A classic moviegoer's den with 230 seats and only one screen, The Brattle shows art house, new foreign, and indie films, classic movies, theme series, and directors' cuts. Tickets sell out for its Valentine’s Day screenings of Casablanca; the Bugs Bunny Film Festival in February; March's Underground Film Festival; Trailer Treats, an annual fundraiser featuring classic and modern movie previews; and DocYard, a stunning series of documentaries. At Christmastime, expect seasonal movies like It's a Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn. Enjoy a rotating selection of local beers and wines.