Playhouse on the Square, an outgrowth of Circuit Playhouse, opened in 1975. The theatre has become well known for its student matinee series and for an intern program that today includes 12 college graduates hired to assist in all phases of production.

In 1990, Playhouse on the Square instituted the city’s first independent theatre school with classes for children, teens, and adults. Two years later, it acquired an adjoining building in which to create a new scene shop, a meeting room, and other facilities. In 1994, construction began on TheatreWorks, a nearby venue that was built to house a variety of small performance groups unable to afford quarters of their own. The following year saw the inception of a program that has had a major impact on the national theatre scene: the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions.

Playhouse has continued to expand and is (as of mid-2010) in the midst of a $15 million capital campaign to construct a new theatre that will include rehearsal space, administrative offices, and costume and scenic facilities.