Commonwealth Theatre Center works everyday towards a vision of a wise, resilient community transformed by thoughtful and engaged student and adult leaders who have been empowered by the skills and life lessons developed through their time with CTC.

Nancy Niles Sexton founded Walden Theatre as a conservatory for young people with a serious interest in theatre studies. Nancy was regarded by her peers as one of the finest theatre instructors in the United States. In her tenure as Producing Director, she founded the first Shakespeare Festival by and for young people as well as the Young Playwrights Program. Nancy firmly believed that the benefits of theatre education come from the discipline and rigor of artistic training and practice of the craft. Over the past nearly 50 years, Walden Theatre has become a deeply respected name in the Louisville arts community. 

With hundreds of plays produced and thousands of alumni, we continue to achieve the seemingly impossible today as we continue Walden’s legacy. That includes becoming the first youth theatre program to perform all of Shakespeare’s plays (a feat accomplished by only a few professional companies around the world). Additionally, the uniquely effective Walden model of training was the subject of a peer-reviewed, academic publication by researchers at George Mason University.  A rigorous, six-year study was able to measure and quantify growth in specific 21st century skills like initiative and collaboration among our students.

Notable alumni of Walden are performing on Broadway and in America’s top regional theatres as well as in film and on television. Whether you know it or not, you’ve likely seen our former students at work!