Artistic Director

Raines Carr serves as Artistic Director of ABET (All Beaches Experimental Theatre), one of Northeast Florida's longest-running professional theatre companies.

Founded in 1992, ABET has spent more than three decades producing adventurous contemporary plays, classics, new works, and theatrical experiences that challenge audiences while remaining deeply connected to the community. As Artistic Director, Carr is helping guide the company into its next chapter—one that honors ABET's history while creating new opportunities for artists and audiences throughout Jacksonville and the Beaches.

Building ABET's Next Chapter

Carr joined ABET at a pivotal moment in the company's history. Following years of producing in a variety of spaces—including its longtime home at the Adele Grage Cultural Center and a residency at Players by the Sea—ABET is working toward establishing a new permanent home in Atlantic Beach.

The new space represents more than a physical location. It is an opportunity to rethink what a small professional theatre can be.

Carr's vision for ABET is centered on creating a flexible, intimate environment where artists can take risks, audiences can experience theatre up close, and the company can serve as a home for both professional productions and community-based artistic activity.

The company's 35th season marks an important step in that process, celebrating ABET's history while looking toward its future.

Season 35: Coming Home

Season 35 represents both a celebration and a beginning.

With a new home on the horizon, ABET is developing a season that reflects the company's long-standing commitment to adventurous storytelling while expanding its programming through staged readings, community collaborations, educational opportunities, and partnerships with other Jacksonville arts organizations.

The goal is simple:

To create a theatre that feels both artistically ambitious and genuinely at home in its community.

Selected Productions

As Artistic Director, Carr has overseen productions including:

• A Moon for the Misbegotten

• The Fantasticks

• Four Old Broads on the High Seas

• and other productions presented throughout Jacksonville and the Beaches.

Carr's work with ABET encompasses artistic programming, directing, casting, producing, community partnerships, audience development, and the practical work of building a sustainable professional theatre organization.

Why ABET?

What makes ABET special is its willingness to take chances.

For more than 30 years, the company has occupied a unique place in Jacksonville's theatre community—small enough to be intimate and flexible, but ambitious enough to tackle challenging contemporary plays, classics, musicals, and unconventional theatrical experiences.

Carr believes that small professional theatres can be particularly important to a community because they can respond quickly, experiment freely, and create relationships between artists and audiences that are difficult to replicate in larger institutions.

His goal for ABET is to preserve that spirit while building an organization capable of serving Jacksonville and the Beaches for another generation.

ABET's next chapter isn't simply about finding a new building. It's about creating a place for theatre to come home.

For more information visit: abetjax.com