Our company was founded in 1978 as "Little Miami Theater Works." From 1978 to 1988, we built our reputation with original plays based on Ohio history. We toured throughout Ohio reaching audiences through local arts councils and schools. In 1988, we changed our name to Mad River Theater Works in order to clarify that our plays were for people of all ages. We started a summer season in a tent near West Liberty that same year while continuing to tour in the winter.

Our home season attracted a broad cross-section of the community and premieres included Freedom Bound, Coyote Road, and Evelyn and the Polka King, which was later staged at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival in 1992. The home season, though artistically satisfying, was not financially viable and was discontinued in 1993. We expanded our performance calendar with the addition of tours throughout the U.S. and the combination of local and national touring is still the backbone of our programming. In our 26-year history we have created 27 original plays and all of the work we produce today is company-developed. We reach an audience of over 60,000 people each year with more than 200 performances throughout Ohio and the rest of the country. This season we will travel from Maine to Florida and Maryland to Iowa performing in more than 13 states. Recently we have also toured to rural communities in Alaska, California, and North and South Dakota as well as appearing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.