The Summit Playhouse

Playhouse Association was founded in 1918 as a World War I relief organization. Since then, we have mounted over 290 productions, making us one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the United States. We present three shows a year: a Fall show in November, a Winter show in February and March, and a Spring show in May. During the summer, Kaleidoscope, our theater for youth, presents a production for and with! students. Our community service includes a benefit performance of each of our regular plays, scholarships for Dramatic Arts students, and donations of books on theater to Summit Free Public Library We have our own theater, off Springfield Avenue just west of the Summit business district. The old stone part of the building was constructed in 1891 to house Summit's first library. At that time, the library was run by the Summit Library Association, a private, non-profit organization created by a group of Summit residents who felt the town needed a library. In 1900, the City of Summit established a municipal library ( the Summit Free Public Library ), and took over day-to-day operation of the library. In 1910, the city constructed a new library building, near the site of the current public library, and abandoned the old building at 10 New England Avenue. It was standing empty when our founders began using it as a theater in 1918. For the next fifty years, Summit Playhouse Association rented it, for one dollar a year, from the Summit Library Association. During that time we maintained and improved the building, and in 1960, we added a 120-seat auditorium and converted the original 1891 building into a stage. In 1968, the Summit Library Association, now essentially defunct, officially deeded the building, its last remaining asset, to us.