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Community Theater and Bradford's Old Church Community Theater
Researched and Written by Janine Weins
(Posted 10/10/07)

According to the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT), the term "Community Theatre" was coined by Louise Burleigh in 1917 to give a name to the community-based amateur theater movement that has been a part of the American cultural environment since the Colonial War. In her article, Let There Be Art, Twink Lynch writes that community theater, "is the largest, by far, of the theater's numerous segments" and "engages more people in theatrical activity than all the rest of the American theater put together, including schools and colleges." Community theater provides the stage on which many successful actors first perform; community theater audiences become patrons of shows in New York and London; and community theater provides aspiring playwrights an opportunity to perfect their craft.

Community theater, which is sometimes referred to as Little Theater, Local Theater, or Non-Commercial Theater, is theater in a community, by the community, and for the community. The Footlight Club, which was founded in 1877 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, is considered by AACT to be "the oldest continuously producing community theatre in the U.S." Some community theater companies were started by prominent individuals. In 1874, Louisa May Alcott founded the Concord Players. Some focus on the works of a single playwright. The Provincetown Players, founded around 1915, presented the works of Eugene O'Neill in its early years. In North Dakota, Alfred Arvold and Frederick Koch presented works that reflected the life experience of pioneer people.

Community theater performances range from large musicals in which dozens of members of the local high school class may appear to readings featuring a single actor. The performance space may be a high school auditorium, a grange hall, a church vestry, or any other space in a community that can accommodate a stage and seats for an audience.

There are many community theaters in New England. One of these is the Old Church Community Theater (pictured above right) located at 137 North Main Street in Bradford, Vermont, in an old church building. The Old Church Community Theater has been offering theater presentations to the Upper Connecticut River Valley community for the past 22 years. The last weekend in September and the first weekend in October Old Church Community Theater is presenting Laffing Room Only, by Tim Kelly, a delightful farce set in the lobby of a Vermont Hotel. The cast includes students from the local high school and members of the community who find time to rehearse after their day jobs as teachers, coaches, and employees with a variety of different organizations in the community.

On Saturday, September 29, I attended their evening performance. Every cast member did their job with talent, commitment, and enthusiasm. I did not detect a single weak member of the cast or crew. The show, which was appropriate for anyone and everyone in the community, was delightful. There were no words used that some grandmothers might disapprove of and no actions made, or costumes worn, that some parents might want to protect their small children from seeing. I would recommend the show to anyone interested in a relaxing, enjoyable evening of live entertainment.

If you would like to learn more about the Old Church Community Theater visit their website at http://www.oldchurchtheater.org/. To reserve tickets you can call their box office at 802-222-3322. If you are interested in learning about some of the community theaters in New Hampshire, visit the website of the New Hampshire Community Theatre Association, http://www.nhcommunitytheatre.com/.