Mary Hunter Austin founded the Santa Fe Playhouse in 1919, and its home since 1962 is the building you now face. Founded in 1919 by novelist and essayist Mary Hunter Austin (1868–1934) as The Santa Fe Little Theatre and incorporated in 1922, it bills itself as "the oldest continuously running theatre west of the Mississippi. Its earliest performances took place in 1919: the first productions, on February 14 and May 13, were staged in the St. Francis Auditorium at the newly constructed New Mexico Museum of Art.
Originally called the Santa Fe Players, the group took inspiration from the national Little Theater movement, aiming for intimate, progressive, experimental work outside the profit-driven stage. After moving through temporary venues, the company found a permanent home in 1962 at 142 East De Vargas Street, right here in the heart of the Barrio De Analco Historic District. Today the Playhouse remains a professional non-profit, led by Artistic Director Anna Hogan; before her the artistic director was Robyn Rikoon, with Colin Hovde serving as Executive Director.
Stand here and feel how the building and this street carry a century of local theater history. Your seat sits inside a building the Playhouse has called home since 1962, at 142 East De Vargas Street.