The Theatre Guild is a

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

society founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1918 by Lawrence Langner,

Philip Moeller Philip Moeller (26 August 1880 – 26 April 1958) was an American stage producer and director, playwright and screenwriter, born in New York where he helped found the short-lived Washington Square Players and then with Lawrence Langner and Hel ...

Helen Westley Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen Early years Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, ...

and

Theresa Helburn Theresa Helburn (January 12, 1887 – August 18, 1959)"Theresa Helburn"
Internet Broadway ...

. Langner's wife,

Armina Marshall Armina Marshall (1895-1991) was a playwright and actress, and the first co-director of New York's Theatre Guild. Marshall's New York acting debut was in 1922 in Paul Claudel's ''The Tidings Brought to Mary''. She shifted to producing once she ...

, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the

Washington Square Players The Washington Square Players (WSP) was a theatre troupe and production company that existed from 1915 to 1918 in Manhattan, New York City. It started as a semi-amateur Little Theatre then matured into a Repertory theatre with its own tourin ...

History

Its original purpose was to produce non-commercial works by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and foreign

playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. It differed from other theaters at the time in that its board of directors shared the responsibility of choosing plays, management, and production. The Theatre Guild contributed greatly to the success of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

from the 1920s throughout the 1970s. The Guild has produced a total of 228 plays on Broadway, including 18 by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

and seven by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

. Other major playwrights introduced to theatre-going Americans include

Robert E. Sherwood Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...

Maxwell Anderson James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Background Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to ...

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

, and Philip Barry. In the field of

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, the Guild has promoted works by Richard Rodgers, teamed with both Lorenz Hart and

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

, and

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 19 ...

, all of which have become classics.

Warren Caro Warren Caro (24 February 1907 − 1 January 1995) was an American theatre executive and lawyer. He was the executive director of the Theatre Guild from 1946 through 1967, and director of theater operations and projects development director for The ...

served as the organization's executive director from 1946 through 1967. Under President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, the Guild was engaged to assemble a U.S. theatre company, headed by

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

, to tour the capitals of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

with works by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

, and

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

. In 1968, the Guild became involved in the travel field by taking 25 of its subscribers to European capitals to see plays. In 1975, it instituted its Theatre At Sea program with a 17-day cruise aboard the ''Rotterdam'' with Hayes and

Cyril Ritchard Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...

. Since then they have hosted more than thirty cruises, each with seven or eight performers. Among them have been

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

Zoe Caldwell Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...

Anne Jackson Anne Jackson (September 3, 1925 – April 12, 2016); retrieved April 16, 2016Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2016. was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was the wife of actor Eli Wallach, with whom she often co-sta ...

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, th ...

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley ...

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

Gena Rowlands Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations w ...

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and devoted wife of Arc ...

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

, and

Lee Roy Reams Lee Roy Reams (born August 23, 1942) is an American musical theatre actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and director. Early life and career Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary doctorate ...

, who served as the program's resident director. The last Broadway play produced by The Theatre Guild was ''

State Fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

'' in 1996.

Notable productions

*1920: ''

Heartbreak House ''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...

'' *1921: ''

Liliom ''Liliom'' is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was well known in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1945 musical ''Carousel''. P ...

'' *1922: ''

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) ''R.U.R.'' is a 1920 science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. "R.U.R." stands for (Rossum's Universal Robots, a phrase that has been used as a subtitle in English versions). The play had its world premiere on 2 January 1921 in H ...

'' *1922: ''

He Who Gets Slapped ''He Who Gets Slapped'' ( rus, Тот, кто получает пощёчины, links=no) is a play in four acts by Russian dramatist Leonid Andreyev; completed in August 1915 and first produced in that same year at the Moscow Art Theatre on ...

'' *1923: '' Saint Joan'' *1925: '' Processional'' *1927: '' Porgy'' *1928: ''

Strange Interlude ''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill began work on it as early as 1923 and developed its scenario in 1925; he wrote the play between May 1926 and the summer of 1927, and complete ...

'' *1931: ''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...

'' *1933: ''

Ah, Wilderness! ''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...

'' *1935: ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...

'' *1936: '' The Masque of Kings''; '' Idiot's Delight'' *1939: '' The Philadelphia Story''; ''

The Time of Your Life ''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway in 1939. Cha ...

'' *1943: ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' *1943: ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' *1944: ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'' *1945: ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' *1946: ''

The Iceman Cometh ''The Iceman Cometh'' is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 perf ...

'' *1947: ''

The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict c ...

'' *1950: '' Come Back, Little Sheba'' *1953: ''

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

''; ''

The Trip to Bountiful ''The Trip to Bountiful'' is a 1985 American drama film directed by Peter Masterson and starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay. It was adapted by Horton Foote from his 1953 play of the same ...

'' *1955: ''

The Matchmaker ''The Matchmaker'' is a 1954 play by Thornton Wilder, a rewritten version of his 1938 play ''The Merchant of Yonkers''. History The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce ''A Day Well Spent'' had been exte ...

'' *1956: '' Bells Are Ringing'' *1958: ''

Sunrise at Campobello ''Sunrise at Campobello'' is a 1960 Warner Bros. biographical film telling the story of the struggles of future President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family when Roosevelt was stricken with paralysis at the age of 39 ...

'' *1960: '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' *1965: ''

The Royal Hunt of the Sun ''The Royal Hunt of the Sun'' is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that dramatizes the relation of two worlds entering in a conflict by portraying two characters: Atahuallpa Inca and Francisco Pizarro. Performance history Premiere ''The Royal Hunt ...

'' *1974: ''

Absurd Person Singular ''Absurd Person Singular'' is a 1972 play by Alan Ayckbourn. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples. Each act takes place at a Christmas celebration at one of the couples' homes on successive Christma ...

References

External links

*
Encyclopædia Britannica entry Finding Aid to the Theresa Helburn Theatre Guild Collection, Bryn Mawr CollegeTheatre Guild records, 1949-1952
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Theatre Guild technical drawings and other production materials, circa 1925-1953
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

Sara Greenspan Theatre Guild files, 1925-1969
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

* Theatre Guild Archive., Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{Special Tony Award Broadway theatre Guilds in the United States Special Tony Award recipients Defunct Theatre companies in New York City