Washington Square Players (New York, N.Y.)

The Washington Square Players was an independent, non-commercial theatre group founded in 1914 by Lawrence Langner, Edward Goodman, Philip Moeller, Lee Simonson, and others wanting to produce plays of artistic merit. The group was seminal in beginning the "little theatre" or "art theatre" movement in the U.S., attracting innovative theatre artists. Their first production opened at the Bandbox Theatre in 1915, later moving to the Comedy Theatre as the group became more successful. Katharine Cornell acted with them. Productions included works by Zoë Akins, Susan Glaspell, Maurice Maeterlinck, and Eugene O'Neill. The group ended in 1918, due to World War I and financial difficulties. Several members of the group went on to form the Theatre Guild.