History
Wayside Theatre is one of the oldest professional theatres in Virginia. The company itself goes back over fifty years, and the piece of land on which our theatre sits has hundreds of years of recorded history. History of the Theatre Company The company was born in 1962 as the Maralarrick Players. A year later, Leo Bernstein, a Washington DC-based financier and real estate developer, bought the theatre building and changed the name to Wayside Theatre. He hired Owen Phillips, then artistic director of the Barter Theatre, as the Wayside's first artistic director and in 1963 the theatre began employing professional actors through Actors' Equity Association. In 1966, Wayside Theatre was incorporated as Wayside Foundation for the Arts, an independent non-profit organization with a Board of Directors from surrounding communities. Our current Artistic Director, Warner Crocker, succeeds Christopher Owens, who led the company's growth from a 10-week summer stock company to a seven-month region
Specialties
Wayside Theatre is a small and intimate venue perfect for experiencing powerful, actor-driven plays. Formerly a movie theatre (the lot has also been home to the town hall, a barbershop, and a jail), our building has been through many changes to become the performance space of today. Recently, it has been renovated further with plush new seating, a redecorated lobby, and a state-of-the-art lighting grid. Every row offers a unique experience in our 180-seat house. Some love the front row, inches from the stage. Others always choose the front of the balcony, or the back of the orchestra. But no seat is a bad seat at Wayside, where our small size makes it possible to enjoy every nuance of the production.