History of Clague Playhouse
Celebrating 100 Years of
Community Theatre
In 1928, Bay Village Women’s Club (founded in 1917) established the Bay Village Players, comprised of 52 women who loved theatre. The organization owned a little red schoolhouse on Lake Road just east of Basset Road, which the women began converting into a theater. Husbands began wondering what those women were working so hard on and began helping them by building a portable stage.
The women began creatively stitching a patchwork stage curtain out of scraps of silk, velvet, and even some of the husbands’ old ties. Their first play opened to a full house, and the Players soon outgrew the schoolhouse. They then began playing in larger venues, including churches, school gyms, and other such venues.
In the 1960s, Bay Village Players entered into a lease with the City of Westlake for the Clague Property with the intention of converting the barn into a theater to be known as Clague Playhouse. Bay Village Players’ name was subsequently changed to Clague Playhouse, Inc. and in the summer of 1967, Clague Playhouse and the new Westlake Historical Society met with Westlake Mayor Roman to sign a new lease giving them joint use of the property. On November 30 of that same year, Clague Playhouse inaugurated the new theater with a performance of Sunday in New York before a packed barn of dignitaries.
Thanks to the support of our community, the ongoing dedication of the Board of Directors and staff, and our loyal volunteers, the Playhouse has evolved over nearly a century of both triumphs and challenges, growing into a well-respected, semi-professional theater company known for consistently producing high-quality Broadway shows. Today, Clague Playhouse produces five plays/musicals each season, partners with other theater troupes to bring even more high-quality offerings to audiences, showcases several special events and community gatherings each year, and features talented young actors on the stage through the Red Barn Youth Theatre.
In 2027, we will celebrate our 100th anniversary. As we approach this exciting landmark in our history, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the community, our theater-going audiences, our theatrical partners, our volunteers, our staff, the leadership of our Board of Directors, and those who have supported us over the last 100 years.
Stay tuned for exciting new changes coming in the next year as we work to elevate our brand to meet a bigger and better future and strengthen our ties with the community we serve. We have no doubt that we will pull together like the Clague family we are and present a better-than-ever-celebration for our community as we embark on the next century of exciting, high-quality theatre that will delight and inspire audiences!
In the summer of 2016, our auditorium received a much-needed face lift.
The 93 seats were refurbished (saving them from a landfill) – new padding and fabric, armrests refinished, new carpet installed, tech booth window and cable ports enlarged, stage floor scraped (about 1/2″ of paint!), and the interior repainted. Various private donations and funds raised through the Barn Sale, Jewelry Heist, and Name-A-Seat, covered all the renovation expenses.
To celebrate Clague Playhouse’s 90th Season and 50th in the Barn, a dinner was held on August 19, 2017. To illustrate the expanse and variety of productions during those 90 years, we dug into our archives for photos. We were overwhelmed. Those that we found are mounted on multiple displays. Only news clips were found for the “Early Years” panel, and in some cases photos were unavailable due to cancellations of productions for repairs, upgrades, or renovation or photos were lost. The early news clips, however, did reveal several titles of plays: The Happy Ending, Double Door, The Wonder Hat, There’s Always Tomorrow, Tobacco Alley, Susan and God, The 13th Chair, Late Love, The Male Animal, Enchanted Cottage, Three Taps at Twelve.
Meet our 2026-2027 Board of Directors…
The Board of Directors meets on the second Monday of each month at 7 PM at the Playhouse.
Members and guests are always welcome. If you have a question or wish to address the Board, please advise President@ClaguePlayhouse.org in advance.
John Hnat – Building & Grounds
Tess Snyder – Marketing & Publicity
Meet Our Staff…
Annette Cramer-Thompson – Box Office
Matt Thompson – Box Office
Sherry Bolger – Office Administrator
Andrew Hanwell – Cleaning Staff