The theatre officially opened on March 11, 1989 with a benefit screening of Harrel's video work Jack, a retelling of the Jack the Ripper story.
The first staged production in SRT's history was Westlake's semi-musical The Foofy, Open-Toed Shoe: a Not Necessarily Politically Correct, Lesbian, Feminist, Mystery Farce, featuring Allison Coe, Mackenzie Wren, Patty French, and Holly Bennett.