We know our readers appreciate history, so we’d be remiss in not giving you some background on the Community Players. As luck would have it, they made that really easy by including a history section on their website, written by Robert Stuart, Penn Virgin and Doug Schwarz. Here’s our synopsis:
The Community Players was founded in 1927, and during its early years was based out of the Concord City Auditorium (Audi, for short). The first play the group performed was “The Mollusc,” a comedy, one of three shows put on each year. Shows were performed for one night only, and all proceeds went to local charities.
Highlights of the Community Players’ first few decades include a 1948 performance of “Winner Take All,” written by locals Alvah and Alison Sulloway, a 1949 production of “Alice in Wonderland” that used costumes from the professional production directed by Eva LeGallienne, and in 1957, John Adams played the role of Jerome, the planter’s son, in the 1957 production of “South Pacific.” John would later compose the modern opera “Nixon in China.”
In 1960, the Community Players found themselves without a home as the city needed their storage and rehearsal space at the Audi. As the writers of the history put it, “for the next 37 years, the players became nomads.”
Temporary homes included a church, a former bakery, warehouses and the old waterworks complex, some of which lacked proper space, running water and even heat – understandably an issue in our chilly New England climate.
During the 1970s, a new home for the players was proposed, but it wasn’t until 1983, when Liz and Dennis Hager donated land to the group on Josiah Bartlett Road, that the idea became a real possibility. In 1984, the players cleared the land and had a foundation poured, but work proceeded slowly from there. The players, being Yankees, wanted to do the work themselves or only hire help when they had the money.
In 1995, the board of directors voted to borrow the funds necessary to finish the players’ studio. Thanks to Brix and Stix Construction and thousands of volunteer hours, the group moved into their new home in May 1997, and the loan was paid off in two years with help from a fundraising campaign.
We’d like to say that the players lived happily ever, but record-breaking snowfall caused some problems last winter. As you may recall, the roof of the players’ studio collapsed in February. The group was only able to pull off its winter performance of “The Odd Couple” with speedy help from local theater groups, who replaced costumes, set pieces and props.
Fear not, readers, there is a happy ending. The players were able to rebuild the studio over the summer with help from a generous response to the annual fund drive.
Today, the players still perform three shows a year but offer multiple performances of each. The group also sponsors a children’s theater project, which includes one major show in the fall and theater camp during spring vacation. They also sponsor a playwrights’ workshop, a program that results in five staged productions. And that’s not all – the Players also lend costumes and props to schools and theater groups, offer lighting equipment to other users of the Audi and allow set-building and rehearsal space in the studio for nonprofit groups. In addition to that already impressive list of community involvement, the group offers an annual scholarship for a Concord High School senior who will study theater in college. (Whew . . . that was tiring. But in a good way.)
We’ll leave you with the authors’ closing lines:
“We’re not saying we’re perfect. We’re not even saying we’re the best. But we are saying, ‘We’re still here after 81 years!’ And as long as you buy tickets and come to the Audi, the Community Players will do their best to entertain you.”
