The Little Theatre Guild of Charlottetown was established in 1935 "to promote the study of and interest in drama as a form of entertainment and to encourage the development of Canadian dramatic art in entertainment and all its other phases". Members staged, directed, and acted in plays, performing locally throughout the year and participating in the annual Dominion Drama Festival. Rehearsals and performances took place in church halls, school auditoriums, and theatres such as the Lyceum, Prince Edward, and Empire. In 1937/38 the standard season was five performances, each composed of three one-act plays and one three-act play.
In 1936/37 a play written by a member of the Charlottetown Guild, Harry E. Foster, entitled "Nocturne" placed first in the regional Dominion Drama Festival. Both the Dominion Drama Festival and the Charlottetown Little Theatre Guild went into hiatus through the war years although the latter organization, largely under the direction of J.A. Lawson, continued to give benefit performances and Carry on Canada concerts for the armed services stationed in Charlottetown. The Guild reorganized in 1946/47, introducing children's plays in 1949/50. Following the opening of the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown in 1964, the activities of the Guild gradually diminished and ceased altogether early in the 1970s.
1938-1965