A summer theater helped Creede survive after the mines slowed

By the 1960s the silver mines around Creede were fading, and the town needed a new reason for visitors to come. In 1966 local business owners and a pastor mailed letters to universities, asking for students who might put on summer shows. One letter ended up on a bulletin board at the University of Kansas. A small group of students answered it, drove to Creede, and staged a season of plays in repertory in a former movie house and opera hall.

That summer became the Creede Repertory Theatre. What started as a stopgap turned into a professional company that has run every summer since, drawing audiences to a town of a few hundred people at roughly 9,000 feet. Over the years it has become one of the larger summer employers in the whole county.

The theater is a good example of how small mountain towns reinvent themselves. When the original industry leaves, what replaces it is often a mix of recreation, tourism, and culture rather than a single new employer. For Creede, the arts are part of that mix, and they shape the rhythm of the local year, with the busy season tied to the summer shows.

To read the founding story and the current season, the Creede Repertory Theatre’s own history pages are the place to start.