For more than 25 years, Discovery Theater has produced innovative, educational, and entertaining live performances for children in the Washington, D.C., area. 

The Smithsonian's Discovery Theater, located in the Ripley Center on the National Mall, is dedicated to offering the best in live performing arts for young people. Each season more than 300 performances of thirty productions feature puppets, storytellers, dancers, actors, musicians, and mimes in performances that present classic stories for children, folk tales from all over the world, American history and cultures, and innovative theater techniques. Some are written specially for Discovery Theater. Often interactive, Discovery Theater performances unite ideologies, enact themes that reflect the diversity of its audiences, open avenues of self-reflection, and are enjoyable means for parents and teachers to demonstrate life's lessons.