The Arena Players
A Creative Fountain, Built Through Dedication to the Arts

Sam Wilson and friends at piano

Old West Baltimore’s African American community has continuously embraced and nourished its culture. One of the local venues, The Arena Players, stands as the oldest continuously running African American community theatre in the United States, celebrating 55 years of performances in 2008. Although Baltimore had its reputation for Pennsylvania Avenue’s theatres and movie houses, many upwardly mobile blacks wanted to share their knowledge of history and culture.

They wanted to entertain their friends and families, and to perform before small audiences, but audiences, none-the-less. Among the group’s supporters was Henry G. Parks, Jr., founder of Parks Sausages Company. The group’s first production was “Hello Out There” by William Saroyan, which opened in 1953.

“A few of us did everything: Made and sold the tickets, built the costumes, did the lighting, built and painted the sets, everything. When it came time to act, we were so tired that we could hardly see.” - Samuel Wilson, Jr.

June Thorn & Ed Terry

The theatre’s founder, Samuel Wilson, graduated from Douglass High School and Coppin State College. Formed in 1953 with the assistance of June Thorn, the first black woman to host a local Baltimore television show, and George Barrett, an arts educator, the Arena Players was initially envisioned as a dramatic arts youth theatre. The Arena Players’ first home was Coppin State College, later moving to the Druid Heights YMCA. After a brief “Y” occupancy, the Players purchased the Orchard Street location, performing upstairs, in spite of the building’s poor condition.

Wilson raised $500,000, allowing the theater to move the entrance to McCulloh Street, and completed additions and renovations with costume closets; dressing rooms; classrooms; art, music, and dance studios. Actors Howard Rollins (A Soldiers Story), Charles Dutton (Roc, The Corner) and Damon Evans (The Jeffersons) and recording artist, Maysa Leak (Incognito) can trace their earlier years to The Arena Players.

801 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21201