Company of Fools

Company of Fools (COF) is an award-winning professional theatre in Idaho and is located in the mountain resort community of Sun Valley. COF produces the work of today’s greatest playwrights, augmented by occasional productions of classics. COF’s work is marked by an emphasis on the connection between theatre and community, a commitment to excellence in acting and design, and the signature intimacy of our theatrical home, the Liberty Theatre, which seats a maximum of 240 patrons.

The Company was founded in 1992 in Richmond, Virginia, as a response to an essay by the visual artist Cecil Collins entitled “The Vision of the Fool.” In Collins’ essay, the fool embodies truth, joy, creativity and a childlike wonder of all that is magical and mysterious. The response took the form of a question: "What would it be like to have an acting company that embodies the qualities of the fool?"

In November 1996, Company of Fools relocated to Hailey, Idaho. Twenty years later, COF has grown and evolved into an award-winning theatre that produces a full season of plays while providing substantial arts-in-education programming for the community. In November 2012, the Company merged with Sun Valley Center for the Arts (The Center), becoming part of a 45-year-old organization that is now the largest arts institution in Idaho.

Complementing the Main Stage Series are the collaborative offerings of The Center’s BIG IDEA projects (two or three annually). For more than 15 years, The Center has focused on creating original programs and exhibitions that consider themes that are topical, immediate and artistically muscular. These multidisciplinary projects are designed to stimulate the imagination, promote conversation, provoke thought and engage the community.

Beyond our work onstage, COF and The Center also provide dynamic arts-in-education programming targeted primarily to grades K-12. In addition, all of COF’s productions and programs are embedded with a highly tuned understanding of the unique community they serve.