The Arden Shakespeare Gild continues a 100-year tradition of community Shakespeare in the historic village of Arden, Delaware. A member organization of the Arden Club, the gild is dedicated to including everyone with an interest in Shakespeare, both as audience and as participant. The gild produces one of Shakespeare’s plays each summer in the open-air Frank Stephens Memorial Theater in Arden, and sponsors lectures, readings and social activities throughout the year. The Arden Shakespeare Gild meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday in the Gild Hall, just south of Harvey Road at Orleans Road. Our address is 2126 The Highway, Arden, Delaware 19810. You can also get the latest Club & gild events or leave us a message at (302) 475-3126. For additional information visit our CONTACT US page.   
Officers 
(as of September 2011)

Current Gild Officers as of September 2011:
Gild Mistress: Valerie Hutchinson
Asst. Gild Mistress: Laura Wallace
Secretary: Barbara Schlenger-Faber
Treasurer: Steve Blades
Arden Club Liaison: Faith Wittington
Nominating Committee Members: Betty Solway Smith & Jan Westerhouse


A Little History

YES, IT'S SPELLED G-I-L-D!

But, no, it’s not the “Shakespearean” spelling of “guild.” In Shakespeare’s day, the English language was growing by leaps and bounds, and spelling was inconsistent. “Gild” does appear as an alternate to “guild,” but it’s not a peculiarly Elizabethan or even British spelling. So why g-i-l-d? The late Holley Webster, community theater activist and founder of Stage Monthly, once told me that early Ardenites chose “gild” because they were following George Bernard Shaw's efforts to reform spelling of the English language.

While I haven’t searched the Arden Archives for Arden Club documents to confirm this, it’s a likely explanation. Spelling reform was a hot topic in the early 1900s. Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt were also notable supporters of spelling reform. Along with linguistic arguments for reform were concerns for social welfare: simpler spelling would eliminate barriers to literacy, especially for an immigrant population. I can easily imagine that, when they created a guild structure for their new Arden Club, Arden folk chose the reformed spelling for "gild," just as they embraced so many other intellectual, political and artistic trends of the time (Esperanto, housework co-operatives, "organic" schooling).   -- Cecilia Vore May 2009

Explore Arden's history
and the Arden-Shakespeare connection

The Arden Craft Shop Museum is a small, charming museum that preserves the history of Delaware's utopian villages — Arden, Ardentown and Ardencroft. The collection features photos, theater costumes and examples of furniture, pottery, ironwork, and other arts and crafts that have been produced in the villages since Arden's founding in 1900. The museum is open Wednesday evenings 7:30-9 pm and Sunday afternoons 1-3 pm. To see more about the museum, go to http://www.theardens.com/museumIntro.htm

View this vintage photo of Arden founder Frank Stephens playing the role of Touchstone in Arden's 1915 production of "As You Like It."


Extended hours at the Arden Craft Shop Museum before outdoor Shakespeare performances:

Contact us for more info