The Community
Players
1921 - 2008
IN THE BEGINNING ... In the late spring of 1920, a few impractical dreamers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island got together to stage a play for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). They had so much fun doing it that they decided to continue the fun by forming a permanent organization to present a series of plays each year. They would help "...carry the torch of culture to the Blackstone Valley and enrich community life by presenting locally the best that theater had to offer." In fact, The Players’ constitution reads: "The purpose of this organization shall be to encourage interest in dramatics by the production and reading of plays and by such other manner as may serve this end."
But the primary motive, as the group was formed, was to have fun.
Among that founding group were Flora and Philip Curtis, Bob Chase,
Mable Woolsey,
Howard Kelly, Francis Crowell, John J. Sullivan and Florence Bray.
Our founders realized that certain essentials were needed for
a successful
beginning --- public support, money and an audience --- and they worked
tirelessly towards that goal.
Thus,
on May 9, 1921, The Community Players came into existence with our
first presentation -- "Milestones" -- performed at the
Old Star Theater on Main Street in Pawtucket, and staged for the benefit
of the Associated Charities. It was a successful opening. The Pawtucket
Times, in its review, reported: “The Community Players last
evening proved conclusively the value of the amateur theatrical organization
in the social life of a community.”
That
performance actually turned out to be a "milestone" in
the cultural history of the city. More than eight decades later,
The Players present a yearly program of plays that help constitute
the cultural
base for Pawtucket and the Blackstone Valley area.
ALONG
THE WAY ... Our direct collaboration with city activities began immediately.
In the fall of 1921, when the City of Pawtucket
was
observing its 250th anniversary, The Players were asked to open
the celebration
and they responded with "Hamilton," a play about the
Revolutionary-era statesman. It played to a packed house.
Fifty years later, in 1971, as the city marked its 300th anniversary,
The Players (also observing our own 50th anniversary) provided some
of the highlights for the city's tri-centennial and, in 1976, we worked
with the Bi-Centennial Committee to enrich its treasury. A commemorative
celebration for the city's 100 incorporation anniversary was co-celebrated
with our 65th Anniversary Season on May 17-18, 1986 at Jenks Jr. High
School Auditorium.
The Players have also presented special Christmas plays for the Retarded
Children's Association of the Blackstone Valley, and were proud recipients
of a special award in 1975 for our contribution. We've entertained
community organizations such as PTA's and Women's Councils, Lion's
Club, Quota
Club, Kiwanis, Friends of the Library, Rotary, League of Women Voters,
etc.
Over
the years The Players have performed all over the city on the way to
our present quarters. After the Star Theater,
there
were the
old Bijou
Theater on Broad Street, The Grand Army Hall on Exchange
Street, then to the former Jenks Junior High, the Pawtucket
Senior
High School buildings,
and the Oak Hill Tennis Club. It was in 1968, with the
approval of the City Council, that The Players moved into the upper
floor of
the Slater
Park boathouse, which we named the Flora S. Curtis Playhouse,
for one of the group’s founders. For 12 years, we
grew in members, talent and resources.
In
1980 vandals set fire to that historical building, which destroyed
the interior and most of the contents. Again,
The Players fell
back on the good will of the community while searching
for a new home.
The Pawtucket
Congregational Church and St. Martin's Church loaned
their auditoriums and, for one production, we found ourselves
back at Jenks Jr.
High, but in their new facility. That initial collaboration
extended into months
of working with the School Committee and the City Administration
to convert the Jenks Auditorium into a working theater.
In 1982 we moved
into Jenks
Auditorium and started to rebuild our resources. That
same year, past president Larry Reedy received the A.T. Cross
Community Action
Award
for heading our efforts in the development. His prize
money was
donated to The Players and initiated our scholarship
fund which helps young
people in the area extend their education in the performing
arts. To date, The
Players have given out over $ 26,000 in scholarship monies.
In addition to the scholarship, The Players performed
acts of charity
such as
helping raise funds and food for The Blackstone Valley
Emergency Food Center;
which feeds the needy in the Central Falls-Pawtucket
area. One season during the run of the musical "Nunsense" a
basket was passed (part of the show) through the audience
requesting donations for
The Blackstone Valley Emergency Food Center and they
collected over $1,000
for the center! We are continuing to donate each season
with the proceeds going to a charitable organization.
AND
NOW ... Today, our membership nears 600 and we offer nine nights of
performances for musicals and six nights
for non-musicals
during
four yearly productions. The Community Players have
been performing for the
past 26 years in the Jenks Auditorium, Pawtucket, RI.
Anyone can join by paying the annual membership fee
and just about
everyone does. Our
performing members are average citizens -- teachers,
nurses, lawyers,
factory workers, students, housewives, secretaries,
mechanics -- just "people" who
enjoy the atmosphere of the theater, where the stagehand is as important
as the actor. They know the joy of being part of a working unit, and
seeing something they've worked on develop. They experience the satisfaction
of their efforts being appreciated and they respond. The results? Well,
a recent Pawtucket Times editorial commented "...The
Players have been consistent and exciting in bringing
good theater
to the area."
We continue our "open-door" membership policy, restricted only to the willingness to participate -- as performers and behind the scene workers, of course -- but as audience members as well. By the end of this 87th year, as the oldest community theater group in the State of Rhode Island, The Community Players will have presented well over 325 plays, a formidable achievement for a non-profit organization held together only by a mutual love of theater and the community it entertains.
Claire L. Beauregard