Nothing on the front page of today’s Virginia Gazette caught my eye this morning. As I paged through the newspaper, I came to The Last Word, a feature of every edition of the paper. The comments are submitted anonymously, and they are sometimes constructive, sometimes petty, but always interesting. The comment I highlighted above refers to a community institution that is not particularly well-known, the Williamsburg Players, and I thought I would tell you a little about this group.
This organization has offered community theater production in the Williamsburg area since 1957. Tim and I have only gone to see a performance here one time – we saw On Golden Pond in 2017. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and I don’t know why we don’t go more often.
This organization puts on anywhere from 4-6 shows each year. This season (which runs from September 2022 through May 2023, the Williamsburg Players are presenting the following productions:
12 Angry Men from September 9-25
Matilda, from November 4-20
A Christmas Carol from December 8-18
84 Charing Cross Road from January 20-February 5
Ain’t Misbehavin’ from May 17-April 2.
The Spitfire Grill from June 2-18
Ticket prices for performances are in the neighborhood of $20.000, with discounts for children.
Over the summer, the program offers a two-week Summer Theater Camp for young people from ages nine to eighteen running from July 17-30. Attendees can choose from an Acting, Musical Theater, or Combined track for this two-week session. This is followed by a one-week follow-up camp from July 31-August 6. During this camp, students can select from the One-Act, Solo Musical, or Combined track. Each camp will feature a variety of performances along with workshops and classes. My grandchildren are both involved in community theater where they live, and they both enjoy it tremendously.
As you can imagine, the program operates through the participation of volunteers, who are given the opportunity to work in ticket inquiries left on voice mail, in the box office prior to each performance, or as ushers or concession sales on performance days. I’ve never volunteered for this organization but it might be fun. I’m going to check it out.
Sounds like a plan!
We love "small" theater! so many good performances, and we often see things that we would not necessarily chosen in a vacuum. Highly recommend you get season tickets next year - almost without looking at the schedule. You'll be glad.