''We're looking all over town for an even better location,'' says artistic director John Ashton. ''We've never really had an actual lease,'' at its current location, he says. ''It's always been rather informal. And now, our landlords say they want to let groups in the banquet room next door have loud music before 10:30 p.m. in weekends, and that means it'll be impossible to do theater in our space.''

The theater opened in the spring of 1987. It is the only non-dinner theater facility in the region whose income exclusively comes form box office sales, Ashton says. It receives no government, corporate or other support.

''In the new order, where rent for commercial properties is well above what most theaters can afford, our status will have to change, I think,'' Ashton tells GlobeSt.com. ''In order to move into a suitable building, we're going to have to obtain 501 (c) (3) status as a non-profit organization. It might be the only way we can survive is to tempt some deep-pocketed donor to step up and help us out…We'll be sad to leave the greatest small theater space in town, but we're eager to find a new home that'll suit our needs even better."