Haywood County has been doing theater since the 1960’s, but it was always under the umbrella of the Haywood County Arts Council. Productions were done in the Canton Armory, the Waynesville Armory, school auditoriums and other various locations. By the 1980’s, the Arts Council was doing so many performances that it was beginning to pull focus from all the other Arts Council projects. Some council members were becoming bored and wanted to work on things other than theater, so they gave a grant to the theater group and it became the Haywood Arts Repertory Theater, or HART.

HART was founded in 1984 under the direction of Rex and Elizabeth “Libba” Feichter. Rex became the first board director and Libba, who is an emeritus board member, continues to work in the box office to this day. After renting out The Strand Theater in downtown Waynesville, HART opened its first season in the summer of 1984.