Genesius Guild Theatre

What Genesius Guild Theatre does

Genesius Guild Theatre, operating under the legal entity Genesius Theatre Foundation, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community theater founded in 1956 in Rock Island, Illinois, that produces free outdoor classical theater performances every summer weekend in Lincoln Park. The organization specializes in Greek tragedy performed in mask, Greek comedy, and Shakespearean comedies and tragedies staged as written with period costuming and scenery. Since its inaugural production of Antigone in 1957, the Guild has completed 68 continuous seasons. Its core product is a summer season of weekend performances (June through August at 7:00 PM), exemplified by the 2026 lineup of Love's Labour's Lost, Antigone, The Taming of the Shrew, and Aristophanes' Women's Festival (Thesmophoriazusae), with supplementary offerings that include educational podcasts, PDF play guides, and an online archive of past seasons.

Underlying production technology is traditional theatrical craft: an outdoor stage in Lincoln Park, period costuming, painted scenery, and mask-based performance for the Greek repertoire. There is no proprietary software, AI, or technology platform; supporting digital infrastructure is limited to a content website built by Augustana Web Guild, social media channels (Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter), email newsletter distribution, and PayPal/Amazon Smile donation processing. Operational facilities include a primary mailing address at 1120 40th Street, a secondary address at 3706 Kenwood Ave. in Davenport, IA, and a separate costume house for storage of wardrobe and props.

The business model is entirely donation-funded. All performances are free admission with no ticket revenue. Revenue streams comprise individual donations (tiers from $50 to $20,000), foundation and corporate sponsorships (Rock Island Parks & Recreation, Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, John Deere Classic via the Birdies for Charity 5-10% match program, Illinois Arts Council, Humanities Iowa, Modern Woodmen of America), an Amazon Smile affiliate referral stream, and an in-progress endowment campaign intended to provide a perpetual income base. Following significant reductions in local and state government funding after the 2009 economic crisis, the Guild restructured its funding mix toward individual donors and private foundations. Headcount is 1-10 and the entity operates as a private non-profit with no parent organization, no venture funding, and no public trading.

Name

Genesius Guild Theatre

Legal name

Genesius Theatre Foundation

Website

https://genesius.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Genesius Guild Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1956 in Rock Island, Illinois, producing free outdoor classical theater—Greek drama, Greek comedy, and Shakespeare—every summer weekend in Lincoln Park for the Quad Cities community, funded entirely through donations, grants, and corporate sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Theater

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama) (MPAGABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Theatre & Storytelling Festivals (MPAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Outdoor classical theater
• Shakespeare productions
• Greek drama performances
• Nonprofit theater company
• Free summer theater

Headquarters

HQ city

Rock Island

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Relies heavily on individual donors for operational funding. Donation tiers range from $50 to $20,000 for specific production needs.
2. Foundation and Corporate Support: Support from local foundations and businesses including Rock Island Parks & Recreation, Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, John Deere Classic, and others.
3. Endowment Fund: Campaign to build an endowment fund to provide steady income and reduce reliance on ongoing individual donations.
4. Amazon Smile: Receives percentage of Amazon purchases when customers shop through Amazon Smile program.
5. Birdies for Charity: John Deere Classic provides 5-10% match on donations through Birdies for Charity program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Genesius Guild Theatre produces and presents free outdoor classical theater performances every weekend throughout the summer in Lincoln Park, Rock Island, Illinois. The repertoire consists of Greek tragedies performed in mask, Greek comedies, and Shakespearean comedies and tragedies performed as written with period costuming and scenery. The organization also provides supporting play resources (podcasts, study guides) and volunteer/actor programs (auditions, technical mentorship) around the seasonal productions.

Product overview

Genesius Guild Theatre is a nonprofit classical theater organization providing free outdoor summer performances of Shakespeare, Greek tragedies, and Greek comedies in Lincoln Park, Rock Island, Illinois. Founded in 1956, the organization operates as a single unified offering—their seasonal theatrical productions—augmented by educational play resources including podcasts and PDF study guides. The core product consists of weekend performances from June through August, with additional services supporting volunteer participation and archival access to historical performances spanning over 68 seasons.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Outdoor Classical Theater Productions Free outdoor summer theater performances featuring Shakespeare plays, Greek tragedies performed in mask, and Greek comedies, staged in Lincoln Park, Rock Island, Illinois. All performances are free admission, begin at 7:00 PM on weekends throughout the summer, and are performed as written with period costuming and scenery.
• 2026 Season Productions Specific 2026 season lineup: Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (directed by Cameron Ulrich, June 6-14), Sophocles' Antigone (directed by Michael Callahan, June 20-28), Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew (directed by Cait Bodenbender, July 11-19), and Aristophanes' Women's Festival/Thesmophoriazusae (director TBA, July 25-August 2), plus special guest performances July 4-5.
• Play Resources and Educational Content Educational resource materials including podcasts of play introductions, PDF study guides, and downloadable text/audio resources for Greek and Shakespearean plays, supporting audience understanding of classical works.
• Historical Performance Archive Archive of past season schedules and performances dating from 1957 to present, with play listings covering multiple decades of productions, providing a historical record of the Guild's 68+ seasons.
• Volunteer and Actor Programs Annual volunteer and actor participation opportunities for productions, including auditions held each April, with mentorship provided by seasoned personnel for young actors, light designers, set designers, costumers, props handlers, and stage managers. Open to people of all ages and experience levels.

Quantifiable outcome

• 68 continuous seasons of free classical theater productions

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered primary, core and minor.

• Rock Island Parks & RecreationprimaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary organizational support partner providing access to Lincoln Park venue for outdoor performances. Critical to the Guild's ability to operate in its traditional location.
• Augustana CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides indoor audition spaces at Old Main and Brunner Theatre Center. Website development by Augustana Web Guild.
• Ballet Quad CitiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPerforms 'Ballet Under the Stars' as part of some summer seasons.
• Opera@AugustanaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAugustana College opera program performs selections as part of some summer seasons.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Illinois Shakespeare Festival: Illinois-based Shakespeare festival producing classical works in a repertory model. Geographic and repertoire overlap with Genesius Guild's classical focus on Shakespeare and Greek drama.
• American Players Theatre: Spring Green, Wisconsin outdoor classical theater producing Shakespeare and classical works. Most directly comparable peer — both are Midwest outdoor classical theater companies with similar repertory and seasonal performance models.
• Shakespeare in the Park (New York): Public Theater's free outdoor Shakespeare productions in Central Park. The most prominent example of the free-outdoor-classical-Shakespeare model that Genesius Guild also operates.
• St. Louis Shakespeare Festival: Free outdoor Shakespeare productions in St. Louis's Forest Park. Same free-outdoor-Shakespeare model serving a Midwest urban region, making it a close functional peer.
• Utah Shakespeare Festival: Large outdoor and indoor Shakespeare festival in Cedar City, Utah, with both classical and contemporary programming. Shares the outdoor Shakespeare model, though at a substantially larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Long-established, large-scale Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon producing classical and contemporary works across multiple venues. Broader and more established than Genesius, but directly comparable repertoire and nonprofit structure.
• Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Major Chicago-based Shakespeare company producing year-round classical and contemporary work. Regional incumbent in the broader Illinois/Midwest classical theater space.

Regional players

• Circa '21 Dinner Theatre: Rock Island, Illinois dinner theater offering year-round live productions. Direct local competitor for performing arts audiences and donors in the Quad Cities market, though it uses a paid ticketed model.

Emerging players

• Michigan Shakespeare Festival: Smaller regional Shakespeare festival producing classical works in repertory. Comparable scale, repertoire, and Midwest outdoor performance model to Genesius Guild.

Others

• Quad City Symphony Orchestra: Regional performing arts institution serving the same Quad Cities donor and audience base. Compares as a fellow nonprofit cultural organization competing for the same philanthropic dollars and civic attention.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/genesiusguild
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/GenesiusGuild
• Facebookfacebook.com/genesiustheatre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/genesius-guild-theatre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Genesius Guild Theatre