Lawton Community Theatre

Lawton Community Theatre is the longest continually running community theatre in the state Oklahoma. For over 70 years, LCT has provided quality entertainment, educational outreach, and extraordinary arts opportunities to the people of Southwest Oklahoma, and beyond. 

Who We Are

History
The Vagabond Playhouse, the original name of the Lawton Community Theatre (LCT), was launched in 1952 by a small, resolute group of theatre lovers, promoted by the Women’s Forum. In 1963 the theatre was renamed the Lawton Community Theatre and has been a vital part of the local arts community for over 65 years. Since 1966 our home has been the John Denney Playhouse, a 195 seat theatre with a thrust stage, dressing rooms, scene shop, costume shop and limited storage. Our full- time staff includes a Managing Director, a Technical Director and a Costumer Director and we also have a part-time office manager. All actors, stage technicians and crews, house managers and ushers are volunteers who are deeply committed to LCT. We value our history, our place within the community, the cultural and artistic development opportunities we provide, and our talented, committed volunteers. Today, LCT stands as the longest running performing arts institution in Southwest Oklahoma. We produce, on average, six plays and musicals each year, with several showcase performances and concerts. Our current membership exceeds 300 Season Subscribers, and more than 400 volunteers working diligently to continue producing quality, live theatre for our patrons.

Mission and Artistic Goals
The mission of the Lawton Community Theatre is to promote live theatre and enrich the quality of life in Southwest Oklahoma by entertaining, enlightening and celebrating the human spirit. Presenting only the highest quality live theatre has and always will be of utmost importance to our Board of Directors, staff and volunteers. We strive to learn, teach and share the beauty of live theatre by selecting programming that enriches the lives of our patrons, opens doors to new vistas, and enhances the values of our community. With the understanding that a productions’ artistic director is essential to a fully realized production, we have established stringent criteria for our director selection. All of our production artistic directors are professionals with credentials in theatre arts, communications and television, or the Broadway stage. We work at developing and expanding our talent pool to include all ages and ethnicities and are identifying ways to attract a younger more diverse audience, as well as developing youth programming.