I drive by The Players Barn at least two times every day near Peninsula on RT 303, and each time I have the same thoughts. I never went to the Players Barn, or know much of its history. But I know two things at least. One, I wish it was still alive. And two, I know an old one-time local or community theater when I see one. Should be stated up front here, live theater will never die. It has been around for thousands of years and will always find a way. But there have been challenges.
I have never in my life been in the cast or crew of a community theater, or high school play. Surprising because my entire childhood, I was surrounded by it. My mom, brother and sister were all heavily involved in the old Berea Summer Theater growing up which was very popular in Northeast Ohio. My mom wanted me to, but my dad bailed me out. My mom starred in a whole lot of roles around Northeast Ohio many years ago, and my brother went on to be a professional actor for a number of years before becoming a college acting professor and now a Dean of a heavily theater driven college. Then, I was playing tons of organized sports, and had no interest. Still don't.
But the local community theater was a gigantic part of a whole lot of cities, when your friends and neighbors would perform in shows. Others did costumes, and some played in the orchestra. There were chorus parts, lighting, sound, set building, costumes, as it drew many parts of an entire community together. Then, we all went to see those we knew in plays. It was a great system. The strength of it, the backbone of it was, we all knew the people involved with the show. This is not to say these troupes are gone. The Akron area still has a fair amount of them and that's great!
People change, times change, we're busy, we all work, and we're occupied now by more exciting things of all kinds. We don't know our neighbors as much, we have less kids, we travel more, and the sense of local community hacs changed. Not as many have the time to dedicate to such a huge undertaking, in short the world has really changed in what people choose to do with the free time they have.
Some decided doing shows with professional actors was a good idea, and I feel exactly the opposite. Communities seldom come out to support local live theaters to see professionals they didn't know. They come to see their friends, neighbors, workmates, their doctor or dentist, and relatives give their all and be vulnerable in their new roles no matter what they were in or to the production. Truth be told, I went to probably over 100 local theater productions in my life. I saw all the shows, all the musicals and all the performances of my family and other people we knew - or sort of knew. Whether the show was good or not, they always got a standing ovation and curtain call at the end. We were applauding the mighty effort, and dedication, the willingness, and the community more than anything.
Great places like The Players have been victims of the times as have a lot of other community events. The past few decades have not been kind to this kind of thing, and that's too bad. Many colleges have big theater programs now and that's fine. Good for them as they are a community in themselves and the formula of old can and does work there.
If you are lucky enough to be practicing your passion in a community theater group, well done. I bet thousands of people over decades enjoyed The Players Barn. I can see that in my minds eye.
