About the Genesius Guild

The Genesius Guild is unique in the United States, perhaps in the world. It is, first and foremost, a community theatre which draws its actors and audience from eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois. Since its founding in 1956, the guild has performed on indoor and outdoor stages, in television and cinema (an Academy Award winner), in the Quad Cities and at sites as far away as Chicago. They draw audiences from a wide area of the Midwest to enjoy the unusual and accessible summer program of classic theatre.

The guild's well-established opera series (since 1972) was the cornerstone on which the Quad City Mozart Festival was built. Performances by the Ballet Quad Cities have been included in the guild's annual seasons since 1996, spurring a rapid growth in its training program.

What makes the guild's summer program unique is its diversity and operation. It is:
-- free
-- open-air (on an outdoor stage in Lincoln Park, Rock Island)
-- open to any area resident who wishes to participate
-- devoted to a range of productions most unusual for a community theatre:
Opera in English
Greek tragedy in mask
Shakespearean comedies and tragedies
Greek comedy in contemporary re-writes
Professional ballet

Nowhere else in the country can one find such a mix of free, classical productions: works designed to give our citizens, especially our youngsters, an easy acquaintance with the classics.

The guild has long been pointed out as an ideal in community arts, but no other area has been able to sustain a program of this scope and diversity. It has been built on the talent, commitment, and abiding interest of those who perform and those who attend.

The Genesius Guild is one of the Quad Cities' most unusual assets; one which enriches and educates citizens of all ages, of all social and economic backgrounds.

To sustain this unique theatrical program, send your contribution to:
The Genesius Theatre Foundation
1120 40th Street
Rock Island, IL 61201