Thyrsus, the Dramatic Club of Washington University is one of the oldest organizations of its kind west of the Mississippi. Before the University moved to its present site at the beginning of the second semester in 1905, more or less sporadic dramatic performances had been given, but after the move a definite group was formed and given it’s present name in honor of Dionysus, the tutelary deity of drama in ancient Greece, who was supposed to have carried a staff or “thyrsus” ornamented with pine cones and vine.

The sympathetic authorities assigned the club its use a classroom in Cupples II in which cramped quarters it remained until the close of the First World War, when it moved to an abandoned YMCA hut. The so-called “monthly plays’ were given in the Thyrsus Theatre, but an “annual” was presented early in the second semester in the great Odeon on North Grand Avenue.

After two or three years in the old hut, plays were presented in January Hall until 1935 when Brown Hall was completed and the stage there was built expressly for the use of the organization.

In 1925-26 a rival organization of Thespians made its appearance on the campus and took the name Little Theatre. The two groups functioned separately until 1931, when a merger was effected and the combined groups were known as Thyrsus-Little Theatre.  In 1932 “Little Theatre” was dropped from the name, and Thyrsus again exists unchallenged as the dramatic organization of Washington University, sponsored by the Department of English.

In its years at Washington University there have emerged through Thyrsus such names as Fannie Hurst, Morris Carnovsky, Marvin Miller, Mary Wicks and William Inge. In 1958 Thyrsus received the Chancellor’s Award for the most outstanding organization on campus.

Thyrsus’ aim as the producer of the major campus dramatic activity, in coordination with the Division of Drama and the English Department, is to provide the best possible dramatic experience for the audience while at the same time providing the best possible training for the student of the theatre. Thyrsus includes playwrights, scene designers, producers, and actors. Membership in Thyrsus is by election on the basis of talent, number of hours spent on theatrical activity, and interest in the organization.