History
West End Players Guild, one of the the St. Louis area’s longest running theatre companies, comprises two groups, the Players Guild and the West End Players, both of which originated and prospered in the city’s Central West End.
The older of the two groups, the Players Guild, a direct descendant of the St. Louis Artist’s Guild, mounted its first evening of theater in November 1911. Over the years they performed at the auditorium in the Artist’s Guild building at Union and Enright. Eventually, they spun off a more professional group, the now-defunct Community Playhouse, which performed in Gaslight Square.
When the Artist’s Guild sold their west end location and moved to Webster Groves, the new quarters held no space for theater; the players were forced to find another home. For ten years they shared space with the Kirkwood Theatre Guild at the Community Center.
Meanwhile, in 1976 a new group in the Central West End formed at the First Unitarian Church and later moved to the New City School. They called themselves the West End Players.
In 1983 at All Saints Parish Hall in University City the two groups merged to form the West End Players Guild. The merger strengthened both groups, and in 1985 the Union Avenue Christian Church invited the West End Players Guild company to make its home with them. Thus, a fine tradition of drama continues almost directly across the street from the original Artist’s Guild where it all began almost 90 years ago.
Beginning with the 2006–2007 season, West End Players Guild continued its growth with the transition to a professional non-Equity company.