The Genesius Theatre Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization established to ensure the long term financial stability of the Genesius Guild. The Foundation has a commitment to the performing arts and to classical theatre in the Quad Cities and works to fund the operation of the Genesius Guild and enable its long-term success.

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

The Genesius Guild was organized in 1956 for the purpose of presenting free, summer performances of classic plays (Shakespeare, Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes). The Guild has also staged opera and free performances by a professional ballet company, Ballet Quad Cities. Additionally, the organization occasionally produces performances of modern classics (T.S. Eliot, Shaw, Fry, etc.) as a means of raising funds to support its summer schedule.

The Guild presents its productions in its outdoor classic theatre, the Don Wooten Stage, set in the middle of Lincoln Park, Rock Island, Illinois. The productions are financed through audience contributions and support from businesses and granting organizations.

During its 60-plus years of operation, the Guild has staged all but ten of Shakespeare's plays (most of them at least twice), multiple performances of all of Aristophanes, and most of the extant works of the Greek tragedians. It has also staged eight complete works by Mozart; five Offenbach operettas; five Gilbert and Sullivan productions; and operas by Menotti, Barber, Carlisle Floyd, Mascagni, Salieri, Barab, Copland, and Celius Daugherty.

Well over 2,000 individuals have participated in Guild productions, ranging from professionals to amateurs, all working to a remarkable standard of excellence. A typical summer schedule includes a Greek tragedy, two Shakespearean plays, an Aristophanic farce, and a weekend of ballet programs.

The combination of community participation, classic schedule, and free production make the Genesius Guild the only theatre operation of its kind in the country.

Guild members also participate in a number of other community activities: principally, but not exclusively, theatrical performance. The Guild has always viewed its role as a seminal one for local arts performance and an easy form of education in theatre for the whole region.

The Guild participated in the formation of the Genesius Theatre Foundation, lending its established name to the new group to certify the new organization's commitment to local arts excellence.

The Guild was founded in 1956 by Don Wooten, who has served as executive director since that time. He handed over control of the organization to the Genesius Theatre Foundation's board of directors in the 1999 season and thereafter restricted himself to an annual rewrite of the Greek comedy. In 2006, Doug Tschopp took over as executive director and continues to produce classic theater each summer.

Genesius Theater Foundation Board of Directors

Ann Balderson - Secretary
Aaron Berogan
Jeff Coussens
Taddy Kalas
Dennis Moran
John Phillips
Andy Shearouse - Vice President
Steve Spring - Treasurer
Kai Swanson
Maggie Tinsman
Matt Walsh - President