Sali Lieberman and then Mill Valley Mayor Al White founded Marin Theatre Company in 1966 as the Mill Valley Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA), providing a diverse range of cultural programming, from theater to poetry to film. Over the years, theater became the MVCPA's main activity, with 20 consecutive seasons produced at the Mill Valley Golf Club.

In 1984, the MVCPA was renamed Marin Theatre Company, in recognition of the company's growing role as the preeminent regional theater in Marin County. and the construction of its new two-theater home on Miller Avenue. MTC’s two intimate theaters include the 231-seat proscenium Boyer Theatre, and the 99-seat thrust Lieberman Theatre.

Today, MTC's core focus is its main stage season of classic and contemporary plays, running a combined 185+ performances and serving close to 40,000 patrons from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

MTC is committed to the development of new plays. The New Works series presents staged readings of works by new and emerging playwrights both local and from across the country. In 2007, MTC established two playwright prizes, the Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, and the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize. MTC is a member of National New Play Network. The first prizes were awarded in 2008 to Zayd Dorhn (for Magic Forest Farm) and A. Zell Williams (for Blood/Money).

MTC’s theater education programs now serve more than 6,000 students each year in after-school programs, summer theater camps, student matinees, and more.

In the past 15 years, MTC has grown from an annual budget of $800,000 to over $2 million, and is now considered one of the top Bay Area professional theater companies. MTC is home to numerous local directors, designers, and equity actors of the highest caliber. Member of the League of Resident Theatres, MTC is one of five LORT theaters in the Bay Area.