The Guild Theater

Founding (2015)

John Robison established Guild Theater in Lawrence, Kansas in 2015, building the company around the Lawrence Improv Guild community. The theater has served as a home for both long-form and short-form improv comedy in the Lawrence area, offering performance opportunities and training for local performers.

Programming

Guild Theater runs regular performances combining long-form and short-form formats alongside classes and workshops that welcome beginners through experienced improvisers.

The Guild Theater emphasizes accessibility and community participation, maintaining free Tuesday workshops open to anyone regardless of experience. Robison's training at Second City informs the company's approach to both short-form games and long-form scene work. The theatre cultivates what co-founder John Robison describes as a creative, safe, and fun environment where performers and audiences collaborate. Faculty member Carol Holstead, a University of Kansas journalism professor with five years of improv experience, reflects the company's appeal to performers from non-comedy professional backgrounds.

The Guild Theater hosts weekly improv workshops every Tuesday evening (6:30 to 8:15 PM), free and open to all, at Ecumenical Campus Ministries at 1204 Oread Avenue. Friday night performances feature short-form games in the style of Whose Line Is It Anyway? alongside long-form scenes built from audience suggestions. Golden Girls Live, a staged improv reading of reworked Golden Girls episodes, became a recurring audience favorite.

Founder John Robison, a 1998 University of Kansas journalism graduate who trained at Second City in Chicago, previously operated a comedy theatre in Bonner Springs until 2013 before finding affordable space at the 19th and Haskell shopping center in Lawrence. By incorporating as a nonprofit, Robison made the theatre eligible for grants and donations, establishing a sustainable model for community improv in a college town. Past Guild Theater members have gone on to perform at Upright Citizens Brigade and The Second City.