Here’s the press release. Best of luck to all involved as they seek a new space:

Today, The Magnetic Theatre announces that John Crutchfield’s The Strange and Tragical Adventures of Pinocchio or Why Didn’t I Just Stay a Damn Puppet?, which previews February 28 and March 1, opens March 2, and runs through March 23, will be its final production in the space at 372 Depot Street, in the River Arts District, that has been its home since December 8, 2010.

The not-for-profit dedicated to original works exclusively will continue producing in alternate venues as it seeks a new permanent home, which it hopes to secure in time for the next edition of The Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular, the hugely popular annual holiday event on which the company is already hard at work.

“The Magnetic Theatre has done and continues to do spectacularly well,” says Chall Gray, The Magnetic Theatre’s Producer.

“The citizens of Asheville have been warmly receptive to our mission of mounting nothing but world premieres with almost all-local artists, technicians, and administrators. Scott Dedman, Cindy Weeks, and everyone at Mountain Housing Opportunities, developers of the Glen Rock Depot, have been extraordinarily thoughtful, generous, and supportive of our efforts. We dearly wish we could arrange to stay in the special space that has housed dozens of productions and hundreds of performances in a relatively brief span. Unfortunately, with the closing of The Magnetic Field restaurant and bar this past December, it has become imperative for our small, tax-exempt organization to find another facility with lower occupancy costs or additional seating—or, ideally, both.”

The company’s subsequent production will be The Caro Savanti Experience, written by Asheville Fringe Arts Festival co-director and frequent Magnetic Theatre contributor Jim Julien, directed by one of the Magnetic’s three associate artistic directors, Katie Anne Towner, and starring the incomparable Darren Marshall, who has frequently graced the Magnetic stage. Look for it in July.