Community Theater Returns to the Brown County Playhouse

~story and photos by Boris Ladwig

Community theater is returning to the Brown County Playhouse this fall with a Tony Awardwinning comedy.

Local officials hope the shows will spark a new era for the venue, with more community involvement, greater diversity of entertainment offerings, and perhaps, greater cash flow.

The theater’s unassuming exterior on Van Buren Street belies its surprisingly spacious interior, which features a concession stand/bar, gallery with works of local artists and a 425-seat auditorium that often welcomes locals and tourists to experience touring performers or movies on a 23-foot screen.

But when community theater veteran Mark Stolle moved to Brown County nearly three years ago, he thought the venue would be ideal to host plays in which community members act, build sets, design costumes, and perhaps even sing. He pushed for the performances in part because he missed acting.

“I wanted a place to play,” he said.

An electrical engineer by education, Stolle formerly owned a small business, but in his spare time he has been involved in community theater for more than 35 years and has acted in more than 30 productions, including Macbeth, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the comedy the Playhouse will host late summer.

When Stolle moved to Brown County from Liberty, he set out to bring community theater back to the Playhouse and got immediate support from the nonprofit’s board.

“We all on the board were thrilled with that,” said Patty Frensemeier, the board’s president.

Stolle joined the board, relaunched Theatre Brown County and, with community help, picked the play, secured a director, and scheduled auditions for March 2020. The pandemic forced a postponement of just over a year, but performances are planned for two weekends in September.

The Playhouse hosted auditions in mid-June, and about 20 people showed up to read for six roles. Stolle auditioned and will reprise his role as Vanya, which he had played in Richmond. All the other actors, however, are novices.

Sometimes in community theater, actors and staff recruit other talent: For example, the play’s director, John Elmore, convinced a physical trainer at the local YMCA to audition for a part that required a trim physique.

“He did a fantastic reading,” Elmore said.

Elmore, an Indiana University graduate who formerly worked at the Playhouse in the 1980s, retired from the entertainment industry and worked on commercials, TV shows, and blockbuster movies, including as assistant director on Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. He also has worked with Hollywood royalty, including Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.

Elmore said that when he returned to Brown County and attended shows at the Playhouse he struck up conversations with Stolle and Hannah Estabrook, the venue’s executive director, and offered his services as director.

In mid-June, Stolle, Elmore, and Estabrook were still looking for community members to get involved with costume design, make-up, set decoration, and other offstage duties.

“You can’t have a production if those people don’t show up,” Stolle said.

And while Stolle promised that rehearsals for the actors would be fun, he and the board still want to put on good shows.

“We want to build a reputation that the Brown County Playhouse puts on quality productions,” he said.

Frensemeier and Estabrook said diversifying the venue’s entertainment offerings makes sense for many reasons, including community involvement and financial stability.

Frensemeier said that audiences consist primarily of tourists, but Playhouse officials envision the venue more as the community’s living room.

And, she said, it’s called the Playhouse, so that should mean it hosts plays.

Frensemeier, Estabrook, and Stolle said the plays also will add another revenue stream.

The nonprofit over the last decade has incurred some small losses, but the venue also has stayed in the black some years. About 40% of the nonprofit’s revenues come from ticket sales, with 60% coming from grants and donations.

Estabrook said bringing in touring artists costs a lot of money, sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars. Putting on local plays costs a lot less, and while they may draw fewer spectators, the lower overhead can make them solidly profitable.

But Estabrook said bringing back community theater is about more than finances.

Community theater likely will get more local people involved in the Playhouse, including people who otherwise would have little to no connection to the venue.

Courtesy photo of Mark Stolle in the Vanya role.

“Community theater will be a great draw for a new crowd … and that is very valuable,” she said.

In addition, as the theater adds costume, set design, and other capabilities, the plays can get bigger and more complex. The initial play has a cast of six and only one set.

As plays get bigger and require more actors, including children, the Playhouse may be able to draw more people into theater at a young age who may be more inclined to support the nonprofit as they get older. And when children get involved in plays, their friends, siblings, parents, and grandparents usually fill the auditorium.

Stolle said the value of adding community theater also lies in getting more people in the community involved in the performing arts.

“I know how important that was and how exciting that was at Richmond,” he said. “There’s no reason we can’t get there as well.”

Stolle said he hopes next year’s lineup will include a drama and possibly another comedy, though he also may push for a musical.

Stolle is maintaining a Facebook group called Theatre Brown County where information regarding upcoming auditions and performances will be posted for those who are interested.

What: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a Tony Award-winning comedy by Christopher Durang. Where: Brown County Playhouse When: Sept. 10–12 and 17–19, with matinees on Sundays. Significance: After years of absence, community theater is returning to the Playhouse. Artists needed: The Playhouse and Theatre Brown County are looking for community members who want to contribute behind the scenes with costume design, set decoration, make-up, and other duties. If interested, contact director John Elmore at 323-855-4420. •