The Dayton Theatre Guild opened with Outward Bound at the Dayton Art Institute in late 1945* and has continuously staged live theater in every year since with more than 400 productions to date. It has a tradition of good plays done well, utilizing all-volunteer casts, crews and administration (with no membership fees) and participation open to anyone wishing to become a part. Anyone with a passion for theater can find a home here regardless of prior experience.

Like all theater groups, the Guild struggled to find a home in its early years. After performances at the USO and the Dayton Art Institute, the theater finally settled in a carriage house in Dayton View at 607 Belmonte Park North (not much bigger than the average living room!) in 1950 and started our tradition of intimate theater and moved to its home for 46 tears on Salem Avenue in 1963. That theater was a converted (by sweat and blood) postal substation that featured a 90-seat thrust stage backed up by sophisticated light and sound systems installed by Guild volunteers. First time visitors were often amazed at the variety and scope of productions that had been telescoped into the tiny playing area. Quite literally, every square inch of the 3000 square foot building was utilized. (Our largest production there was the musical Of Thee I Sing! with a cast of 38...talk about a crowded dressing room!)

The Guild has a tradition of never repeating plays for twenty-five years that has only rarely been broken. Over the years we have presented a broad spectrum of excellent scripts often done as area premieres such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest long before New York or Hollywood had discovered it; A Peasant of EL Salvador that exposed the abuses of the right and our government's participation; and As Is brought home the reality of AIDS early in the epidemic's onslaught. Contemporary scripts are always a part of our season. Our production of Old Wicked Songs was described by one critic as "reaching new heights for Community Theater". We enjoy reviving American classics such as the mad-cap Marx Brothers' romp Room Service, Arthur Miller's All My Sons and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Nobody's perfect so the list contains some Thanksgiving fare as well. Fortunately, it is a small list so we'll save that for some future Cocktail hour.

Always interested in innovation, from 1996 to 2001, the Guild was honored to share its stage with FirStage Productions, the labor of love of John and Marty Riley. Together with then FirStage Artistic Director Greg Smith, they treated Guild audiences to 19 outstanding new plays that had never before had a professional production. Searching the nation for award winning new plays, they brought us tears of laughter, sadness, high drama, slap-stick comedy, and a chance to share a little bit of theater history. (How often do you get a chance to see a brand new play?) Sometimes even the playwright came to see his or her brain-child come to life. The concept of FirStage will live in future Guild seasons. We will attempt to produce one new play every year along with our regular season of established plays.

Our popular Guild Kids summer workshop for some years provided a program for children 7-13 that culminated in a staged production for children wherein the class acted, made their own costumes, built their own sets, etc. Great stuff and the kids loved it. It is our hope to revive this popular program with the space we now have on Wayne Avenue.

After some years of scrimping, saving and the support pf our audience members, local foundations and trusts and other good-hearted folks we were able to select a new home in the Oregon District of Dayton. In 2008 the Guild purchased the building formerly occupied by the Dayton Gym Club and opened the 2009-2010 season at its new home. This building has ample space allowing the consolidation of our costumes, props and furniture under one roof. The new location continues with the same kind of intimate thrust stage that our audiences have loved for almost 60 years, and the building is large enough to permit simultaneous rehearsal of two plays--something we could not do before.

And now the Guild is indeed at home on Wayne and our old home on Salem is a warm memory. The future looks bright indeed.

*The corporate name dates back to 1925 when a group of prominent Daytonians organized a community theater that was disbanded during the Depression. They generously passed the corporate charter onto to the new 1945 group to save them the cost of incorporation.