Shelby County Players Live Theater (Shelbyville, Indiana)

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www.shelbycountyplayers.com/

Shelby County Players formed in 1988 had a transient existence for several years until the group purchased a permanent building in 1992, which was the old Christian Science Church that was built in 1915.

According to Managing Director B.J. Fairchild-Newman, the local community didn't know that Shelby County Players existed because the theater group had to use borrowed facilities to perform plays. Actors tried dinner theater at local restaurants, dance studios, and a high school auditorium. Planning a full theater schedule was difficult without a guarantee of a facility. There were times when building owners/operators changed their minds about allowing Shelby County Players to use the building even after tickets and advertising posters had been printed. Without a permanent home, many people simply didn't know there was an organized theater troupe in Shelby County.

With the help of donations and grants (Shelby County Players is a non-profit organization), the group was able to purchase and renovate a historic church at 16 S. Tompkins St. in downtown Shelbyville. Since the building was an old church, volunteers enlarged the stage, replaced the water heater, added bathrooms, rewired the building, built storage rooms and dressing rooms, and built a platform for lighting. The goal of all the renovations was to make the building accommodate a fully-functioning amateur acting company, but retain the historic look and feel of the building.

Today, Shelby County Players still operates out of this building and performs about five or six plays a year, depending on directors and actors availability. While there are about 100 members of the theater group, approximately 20 to 25 members actively participate in each production.

Shelby County Players is an amateur theater group. Anyone with an interest in theater is able to join as an actor or crew member.