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

In 1984, the MVCPA was renamed the Marin Theatre Company, in recognition of the company's growing role as the preeminent regional theatre in Marin County and the construction of the company's new two theatre home on Miller Avenue. Today, MTC's central activity is a five-play 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.

The main stage season is complemented by Nu Werkz, a staged reading series presented on four weekends in the Studio Theatre each season; Words + Music, a performing arts series presented on certain Monday nights throughout the season on main stage; the MTC Conservatory; and MTC’s Outreach Program.

In the past fifteen years, Marin Theatre Company has grown from an annual budget of $800,000 to over $2 million, emerging as one of the Bay Area's leading professional theatres, home to numerous local directors, designers and actors of the highest caliber. MTC celebrates its 40th season with the 2006-07 season.