Gulfshore Playhouse was incorporated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit professional theatre on May 21, 2004 in Naples, Florida.

Playhouse Founder Kristen Coury saw a niche in the local arts community that could be filled by creating a professional, self-producing theatre presenting a wide spectrum of theatrical presentations and hiring the highest-quality professionals both locally and from around the country that she could find.

Originally from New York City, Ms. Coury comes from a rich and varied theatrical background and has experience that spans directing and producing film and theatre, theatre management, press and marketing. Kristen has directed several new works, produced a CD and worked on a variety of musicals in various stages of development, for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Company, and for London's English Shakespeare Company. Kristen is listed in the Who's Who of American Women.

At its inception, Gulfshore Playhouse was without a base of operations, thus creating challenges for rehearsal and performance space, set building, and storage as well as the requisite office space. At that time, rental facilities in the SWFL area had little or no availability, which prohibited the staging of full-fledged productions. Other unique production opportunities were sought, created and developed. Through the excellence and innovation of these initial presentations, Gulfshore Playhouse was able to begin to grow a devoted following and establish itself as a member of the Southwest Florida arts community and begin to make an impact in the area.

The lack of dedicated classroom space also created some challenges for the burgeoning Gulfshore Playhouse Theatre Education Project. In an effort to circumvent these challenges and create a new and innovative means of outreach and education, Gulfshore Playhouse hired long-time arts educator Irene Horowitz to undertake an assessment/survey of Southwest Florida schools to determine what type of arts practice existed and how, if at all, it was being used to deliver content curriculum. When the results of the survey revealed that nothing similar existed in the region and that there was significant interest by the area educators, ART SMART was created.

In 2006, space became available at The Norris Center, a municipal building run by the city of Naples. With a 200-seat performance venue, as well as the necessary classrooms and storage space, it was a perfect home for a young theatre company.

The opportunity to rent performance and classroom space in this beautiful downtown venue opened the door to the success and growth Gulfshore Playhouse has experienced in just a few short years. Gulfshore Playhouse, in conjunction with the Norris Center, has won the Naples Daily News Reader's Choice Star Award for Best Live Theatre for the past three years in a row.

In just six years, the innovative performance events have given way to a full-fledged season of professional productions. The use of the facility has also lead to a successful partnership between The City of Naples and Gulfshore Playhouse sparking the birth of their Cabaret Series co-productions, offering theatrical music events in a New York-style jazz club atmosphere. The Gulfshore Playhouse administrative offices have been located at the Norris Center since September, 2009.

With classroom space available for use, the management and staff at Gulfshore Playhouse quickly went about expanding and augmenting the educational offerings, creating first adult offerings which eventually became the "Saturday Series", one-class offerings on Saturday mornings on a variety of subjects such as Improv, audition technique and History of Greek Theatre. In 2009, after-school and summer acting intensives for students were created.

Click here to see past productions.