Denver Civic Theatre (Original)

The Denver Civic Theatre was formed by Miss Helen Bonfils and a small circle of friends in 1929. The inaugural program of the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, published in 1953, describes the early days of the DCT:

“The Denver Civic Theatre was organized with the cooperation of the University of Denver in 1929 as the University Civic Theatre.

“It began with two gifts and 700 members. The first gift was the auditorium, housed in Margery Reed Hall on the University Park campus and shared for twenty-four years with the theatre department of the university. That was the gift of the late Mrs. Verner Z. Reed.

“The second gift was of lighting and stage equipment, through the generosity of the late Mr. James H. Causey.

“The first years were a struggle and the infant community theatre was sadly in need of godparents. Born in prosperity it had to be fed while it grew through the depression years. The godparents were Miss Helen Bonfils, Mrs. Reed and Miss Florence Martin who time and again underwrote its deficits.”

Miss Bonfils and her stalwart group of supporters did prevail through those times and continued to produce five to six plays per year for 24 years.

Only three directors guided these productions: Maurice Gnesin for the inaugural season 1929-30, succeeded by Walter Sinclair, who led the group from 1930-51. Finally, Alexander Ivo directed all the plays for the last two seasons from 1951-53 and went on to be the producer and principal director at the Bonfils Memorial Theatre from 1953 until the 1963-64 season. He stayed on as producer at the theater until his retirement in 1967.

Here is a list of all the 147 productions* that were mounted in the original home of the DCT:

NO	SEASON	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	1929-30	CANDIDA	George Bernard Shaw
2	1929-30	WHY NOT?	Jesse Lynch William
3	1929-30	REDEMPTION	Leo Tolstoy
4	1929-30	DEAR BRUTUS	James M. Barrie
5	1929-30	THE ADDING MACHINE	Elmer Rice
6	1930-31	THE SHIP	St. John Ervine
7	1930-31	THE ROSE AND THE RING	Harris Deans
8	1930-31	OUTWARD BOUND	Sutton Vane
9	1930-31	THE WHITEHEADED ROY	Lennox Robinson
10	1930-31	CRAIG”S WIFE	George Kelly
11	1930-31	HAY FEVER	Noel Coward
12	1931-32	THE ROAD TO ROME	Robert Emmett Sherwood
13	1931-32	WHEN THE RED ARMY MARCHES	Harry L. Baum
14	1931-32	THE SILVER CHORD	Sidney Howard
15	1931-32	THE EMPEROR JONES	Eugene O’Neill
16	1931-32	ONCE IN A LIFETIME	George Kaufman, Moss Hart
17	1931-32	RANCOUR	Lynn Riggs
18	1932-33	DISTANT DRUMS	Dan Totheroh
19	1932-33	THESE FEW ASHES	Leonard Ide
20	1932-33	THE CRIME AT BLOSSOMS	Mordaunt Shairp
21	1932-33	PASSING THROUGH LORRAINE	Lionel Hale
22	1932-33	GOOD FRIDAY	John Masefield
23	1933-34	MURDER ON THE SECOND FLOOR	Frank  Vosper
24	1933-34	HE	Alfred Savoir
25	1933-34	TWELFTH NIGHT	William Shakespeare
26	1933-34	THE SACRED FLAME	Somerset Maugham
27	1933-34	THE WATCHED PLOT	H. H. (Saki) Munro
28	1933-34	SOLID SOUTH	Lawton Campbell
29	1933-34	EAST LYNNE	Mrs. Henry Wood
	1934-35	THE MOLLUSC Pre-Season Production	H. H. Davies
30	1934-35	YOU NEVER CAN TELL	George Bernard Shaw
31	1934-35	THE BARKER	Kenyon Nicholson
32	1934-35	THE ROOF	John Galsworthy
33	1934-35	THE MAD HOPES	Romney Brent
34	1934-35	CRIMINAL AT LARGE	Edgar Wallace
35	1934-35	NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH	James Montgomery
36	1935-36	YELLOW JACK	Sidney Howard
37	1935-36	THE ROMANTIC YOUNG LADY	G. Martinez Sierra
38	1935-36	LADIES OF THE JURY	Fred Ballard
39	1935-36	NOAH	Andre Obey
40	1935-36	LADIES IN WAITING	Cyril Campion
41	1935-36	GOODBYE AGAIN	George Haight, Allan Scott
	1936-37	MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL Pre-Season Production	T.S. Eliot
42	1936-37	JUDGMENT  DAY	Elmer Rice
43	1936-37	THE OLD LADIES	Rodney Ackland
44	1936-37	IS LIFE WORTH LIVING?	Lennox Robinson
45	1936-37	THE SECOND MAN	S. N. Behrman
46	1936-37	HAIL, NERO!	Mary Stocks
47	1936-37	THE POST ROAD	Wilbur Daniel Steele, Norma Mitchell
48	1937-38	THE DISTAFF SIDE	John Van Druten
49	1937-38	MINICK	George Kaufman, Edna Ferber
50	1937-38	ABRAHAM LINCOLN	John Drinkwater
51	1937-38	NIGHT MUST FALL	Emlyn Williams
52	1937-38	GEORGE AND MARGARET	Gerald Savory
53	1937-38	STAGE DOOR	George Kaufman, Edna Ferber
54	1938-39	SORORITY HOUSE	Mary Coyle Chase
55	1938-39	THE FAR-OFF HILLS	Lennox Robinson
56	1938-39	ARMS AND THE MAN	George Bernard Shaw
57	1938-39	THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN	Sidney Howard
58	1938-39	DOUBLE DOOR	Elizabeth McFadden
59	1938-39	THE MARQUISE	Noel Coward
60	1939-40	FAMILY PORTRAIT	Lenore Coffee, William J. Cowen
61	1939-40	BIG-HEARTED HERBERT	Sophie Kerr, Anna S. Richardson
62	1939-40	DEAR OCTOPUS	Dodie Smith
63	1939-40	THE GOOD HOPE	Herman Heijermans
64	1939-40	ART AND MRS. BOTTLE	Benn W. Levy
65	1939-40	JUNE MAD	Florence Ryerson, Colin Clements
66	1940-41	WASHINGTON JITTERS	John Boruff, Walter Hart
67	1940-41	WHAT A LIFE	Clifford Goldsmith
68	1940-41	THROUGH THE NIGHT	Florence Ryerson, Colin Clements
69	1940-41	BRIEF CANDLE	Robert Hare Powel
70	1940-41	GASLIGHT	Patrick Hamilton
71	1940-41	TWO ON AN ISLAND	Elmer Rice
71	1941-42	QUIET WEDDING	Esther McCracken
72	1941-42	GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE	George Kaufman, Moss Hart
73	1941-42	BROTHER ORCHID	Leo Brady
75	1941-42	THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS	Alan Child, Isabelle Louden
76	1941-42	SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY	Benn W. Levy
77	1941-42	OUT OF THE FRYING PAN	Francis Swann
78	1942-43	YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU	George Kaufman, Moss Hart
79	1942-43	THE CRADLE SONG	G. Martinez Sierra
80	1942-43	RAIN	John Colton, Clemence Randolph
81	1942-43	WESTERN UNION, PLEASE	Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich
82	1942-43	INCOGNITO	N. Richard Nusbaum
83	1942-43	THE FIRST YEAR	Frank  Craven
84	1943-44	CLAUDIA	Rose Franken
85	1943-44	MORNING’S AT SEVEN	Paul Osborn
86	1943-44	PERSONAL APPEARANCE	Lawrence Riley
87	1943-44	YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER	Mark Reed
88	1943-44	KINGDOM OF GOD	G. Martinez Sierra
89	1943-44	YOUR UNCLE DUDLEY	Howard Lindsay, Bertrand Robinson
90	1944-45	JUNIOR MISS	Jerome Chodarov, Joseph Fields
91	1944-45	THE GREAT BIG DOORSTEP	Albert Hackett, Francis Goodrich
92	1944-45	THEATRE	Guy Bolton, Somerset Maugham
93	1944-45	LADIES IN RETIREMENT	Edward Percy, Reginald Denham
94	1944-45	MR. AND MRS. NORTH	Owen Davis
95	1944-45	JONESY	Anne Morrison, John Peter Toohey
96	1945-46	THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER	George Kaufman, Moss Hart
97	1945-46	SOLDIER’S WIFE	Rose Franken
98	1945-46	THE LITTLE FOXES	Lillian Hellman
99	1945-46	THE MALE ANIMAL	James Thurber, Elliott Nugent
100	1945-46	PAPA IS ALL	Patterson Greene
101	1945-46	THE FIRST LEGION	Emmet Lavery
102	1946-47	YOU TOUCHED ME!	Tennessee Williams, Donald Windham
103	1946-47	KISS AND TELL	F. Hugh Herbert
104	1946-47	WHILE THE SUN SHINES	Terence Rattigan
105	1946-47	ASMODEE, OR THE INTRUDER	Francois Mauriac
106	1946-47	MEET THE WIFE	Lynn Starling
107	1946-47	SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE	Paul Vincent Carroll
108	1946-47	ROOM SERVICE	John Murray, Allen Bortez
109	1947-48	SUDS IN YOUR EYE	Jack Kirkland
110	1947-48	DEAR RUTH	Norman Krasna
111	1947-48	I LIKE IT HERE	A. B. Shiffrin
112	1947-48	THE WHOLE WORLD OVER	Konstantin Siminov
113	1947-48	HER MASTER’S VOICE	Clare Kummer
114	1947-48	SUSPECT	Edward Percy, Reginald Denham
115	1947-48	HEAVEN CAN WAIT	Harry Segall
116	1948-49	LABURNUM GROVE	J. B. Priestley
117	1948-49	DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY	Alberto Casella
118	1948-49	A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT	Clemence Dane
119	1948-49	LADIES OF THE JURY (Revival)	Fred Ballard
120	1948-49	THE BAD MAN	Porter Emerson Browne
121	1948-49	IT’S A WISE CHILD	Larry Johnson
122	1949-50	JENNY KISSED ME	Jean Kerr
123	1949-50	YEARS AGO	Ruth Gordon
124	1949-50	AN INSPECTOR CALLS	J. B. Priestley
125	1949-50	CAROLINE	Somerset Maugham
126	1949-50	BELVEDERE	Gwen Davenport
127	1949-50	FOR LOVE OR MONEY	F. Hugh Herbert
128	1950-51	BED OF ROSES	Falkland L. Cary
129	1950-51	THE SILVER WHISTLE	Robert E. McEnroe
130	1950-51	MR. PIM PASSES BY	A. A. Milne
131	1950-51	DOUBLE DOOR (Revival)	Elizabeth McFadden
132	1950-51	SEE HOW THEY RUN	Philip King
133	1950-51	PETTICOAT FEVER	Mark Reed
134	1951-52	ACCIDENTALLY YOURS	Pauline Williams Snapp
135	1951-52	THE PERFECT ALIBI	A. A. Milne
136	1951-52	THE VELVET GLOVE	Rosemary Casey
137	1951-52	REBECCA	Daphne Du Maurier
138	1951-52	LIFE WITI-1 FATHER	Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse
139	1951-52	VILLAGE GREEN	Carl Allensworth
140	1952-53	DEAR BARBARIANS	Lexford Richards
141	1952-53	THE ZEAL OF THY HOUSE	Dorothy L. Sayers
142	1952-53	SPRING AGAIN	Isabel Leighton, Bertram Bloch
143	1952-53	THE SHOP AT SLY CORNER	Edward Percy
144	1952-53	BLITHE SPIRIT	Noel Coward
145	1952-53	THE HAPPY TIME	Samuel Taylor