For more than 20 years, Island Theatre has been working to bring varied and exciting works of the stage to the people of Bainbridge.

Many times, they’ve done it with no stage.

IT productions are performed often at Bainbridge Performing Arts, but they’ve also become community staples at the library, and they’ve been put on at Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge High School and even living rooms all over the island.

The performance group operates just slightly under the island’s entertainment culture radar most of the time, having no specific venue of their own and often times not announcing a long-term season schedule. However, their output has been impressive.

Since its inception, the group has presented more than 100 plays to its collective island audience. With very few exceptions, IT productions are free to the community.

This year, in celebration of their second decade of operation, IT’s season playbill will include a retrospective series at the Bainbridge Public Library of some of the best staged play readings from past years, as well as a full production in April of “Humble Boy” at Rolling Bay Hall.

The history of Bainbridge’s “best kept cultural secret” is a purely Bainbridgesque tale of innovation, determination and chance.

It was all supposed to be a one-off thing, according to company lore.

In 1994, Louise Mills, one of the founders of Bainbridge Light Opera (known now as Bainbridge Performing Arts) and owner of an impressive private collection of rare vintage evening wear, persuaded her friend Michele McCrackin to direct and perform in an independent production of the 1926 Broadway comedy “The Play’s the Thing.” The stage classic is a fizzy romantic farce that requires all the characters be in formal evening dress throughout.

Mills raised enough money to rent the Bainbridge High School auditorium for three weeks. The show’s cast included Dave Allen, Steve Buechler, Bob Zinn, Michele McCrackin, Bob McAllister, Steve Stolee, Bob Cederwall and Miles Yanick.

The show was a bigger hit than expected, and at the end of a successful run, during a celebratory group dinner, Mills put it to the cast and crew:

“Well, our show made money,” she reportedly laughed in disbelief. “And I want to ask you all what you think I should do with it? I could give you all a share of it, which would be about $50 apiece, or [dramatic pause] we could start a new theatre company!”

The decision was unanimous, and Island Theatre was born.

“She was kind of a force to reckoned with,” IT president Kathleen Thorne said of Mills.

“She was a huge fan of the theater and opera, especially musical theater,” Thorne remembered.

“It was kind of haphazard for the first couple of years,” Thorne added, and recalled that though the group had figured out a lot of things since the inception, “it remains haphazard.”

Perhaps, but gloriously so.

The fledgling theatre company’s goal was then — and remains now — producing adult-oriented plays rather than musicals or children’s productions, which were well-covered by other organizations.

Though the themes and material may be more adult and often less musical, there’s no lack of fun either in or behind IT productions, Thorne said. Even their board and production meetings, she explained, had maintained a very informal, do-it-yourself moxie.

In fact, the only reason she is president today, Thorne said, is because she had the questionable fortune of having taken a bathroom break, which the rest of the group promptly took advantage of and voted her into the position during her brief absence.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, their unorthodox style, IT has produced numerous memorable shows around the island.

The group became a nonprofit in spring of 1994, and produced its first play, “Blythe Spirit” by Noel Coward, directed by Ron Milton, that same fall at the BHS auditorium.

Plays produced in the first few years include “Crimes of the Heart,” “Love Letters,” “The Nerd” and many more, including two live radio shows titled “On the Air: From the Golden Age of Radio,” under the direction of Frank Buxton.

During those same early years, IT also produced several readings in private homes and, to this day, “Island Theatre at Your House” (called YoHo, a series of gatherings hosted by volunteers in their homes at which participants are invited to join in a potluck dinner and a play reading) takes place throughout the year.

“We’ve done some pretty amazing things,” Thorne said. “But it’s mostly been under the radar. We’re trying to make up for that this year.”

The group’s performances at the library have become events that guests actively look forward to, said Bainbridge Library branch manager Rebecca Judd.

“We always know when it’s an Island Theatre weekend because people call the library to ask about the upcoming show,” she said. “And the plays are enjoyed long after the group has performed.”

“Island Theatre always donates a copy of the script to the library for future community use. Island Theatre is part of the fabric of the library,” Judd added.

Of course, those readers who are better at math may have already started to realize that IT’s anniversary was really last year.

Yeah, Thorne laughed, well, where were you when they needed you, Rain Man?

The performing group and its board members stay so busy, and so many productions come together at the last minute, she explained, that they didn’t even realize it was their anniversary until most of the year had already gone by.

So, in typical IT fashion, they’re doing this whole anniversary thing their own way and in their own time, this year.

To learn more about IT, and to view the most current production calendar and learn how you can host/attend YoHo, visit www.islandtheatre.org.