The Avalon Theatre Company started in 2005 determined to focus on socially relevant, timely and less-produced plays. Larry Mabrey and Erin Kelley dedicated their new endeavor to the professional theater artists who live and work in St. Louis.

The theater’s mission is to provide the highest quality theater experience by producing new treatments of plays and musicals featuring St. Louis professional artists, to celebrate the rich cultural fabric of the St. Louis community and to provide equitable casting opportunities for everyone.
 
In March 2004, Kelley and Mabrey mounted an Actors' Equity Members Project Code (showcase) production of Arthur Laurents' "Invitation to a March." They wanted to highlight local Equity actors and raise awareness of their plans to create the Avalon Theatre Company. The name Avalon was chosen for the mythical significance of the Isle of Avalon as a place to rest, refresh and remove the weight of the world from one's shoulders, and as a magical realm where women hold positions of prominence, value and importance.
 

The theater, set up as a not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3), works to establish a culturally rich identity for its performances, staff and audience. “One of Avalon's primary goals is to celebrate the rich diversity of St. Louis, and in essence, to share St. Louis with itself,”  explains Mabrey.  “ATC plans to develop original works which showcase our city's rich cultural fabric.” The first of such projects, "Little Bosnia," focuses on the St. Louis Bosnian community, performed by a blended cast of Bosnian, Former-Yugoslav, and American theater artists.

Avalon's inaugural production (October 2005) was the St. Louis premiere of David Mamet's “Boston Marriage.” Both of Avalon's 2006 productions received Kevin Kline Award nominations for excellence in St. Louis professional theater:  John Contini, outstanding actor in a play, "A Walk in the Woods"; Joneal Joplin, outstanding actor in a play, "Molly Sweeney"; and John Contini, outstanding director of a play, "Molly Sweeney."

Ron Gibbs directed Avalon’s Spring 2007 production of Maltby & Shire’s "Closer Than Ever" and received recognition for his outstanding work with a Kevin Kline Award nomination. The Fall 2007 schedule included William Inge's classic "Bus Stop."

Mabry points out that “Avalon’s focus on St. Louis professional theater artists, (actors, directors, designers, stage managers) is something that makes us unique.”  He explains that Avalon is deeply committed to providing the highest quality theater experience for its audience while creating excellent performance opportunities, continuity and livable salaries for all performers, staff and involved artists. Avalon operates under a Small Professional Theatre contract with Actors' Equity Association and participates in the Equity Membership Candidate program.  Non-Equity actors receive a stipend.

“Our dedication to ‘sharing St. Louis with itself’ is evidenced by our continued practice to showcase people in ways you may not normally have seen them,” he says. “We provide opportunities for professionals to design, direct and act, in projects other St. Louis theaters don’t produce.  Also, our commitment to compensate every artist involved in our productions further sets Avalon apart from many other small theater companies in town.”

Dijana Groth came to St. Louis from what was then Yugoslavia after the Sarajevo Olympics, she owns Novella Books and Flowers on South Kingshighway.