Rochester Community Players

rochestercommunityplayers.org | 585. 234. 7840 |

The Rochester Community Players has been continuously producing theater in Rochester since 1925.
RCP has staged over 620, and continues to present plays that challenge actors, directors and audiences with the finest in community theater.

Most RCP productions are staged under the name of our "Shakespeare Players" or "Irish Players" program names. RCP's Shakespeare Players program has produced a free Shakespeare at the Highland Bowl production in early July every year since 1997, and also produces Shakespeare plays indoors during the year. RCP is a member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.

RCP's Irish Players program produces an annual production of Irish drama each Spring. After its performance in Rochester, our Irish Players production hits the road (or the air) and is performed at the annual Acting Irish International Theater Festival. In the past several years, our Irish Players production has been staged in Chicago, Winnipeg, South Florida, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Calgary. Our Irish Players is the only theater program in Rochester that regularly provides community actors the opportunity to perform in major league cities around North America.

RCP productions are guided by three principles: professional-quality directors, community actors, and open auditions.

Upcoming Productions:

Coming in Spring 2022

Rochester Community Players: Irish Program presents The Playboy of the Western World

Rochester Community Players PRESENTS...

•Comedy

•Drama / Comedy

Rochester Community Players: Irish Program presents The Playboy of the Western World

By John Millington Synge • Directed by Jean Gordon Ryon
APPROPRIATE AGE RANGE: 15 - up | APPROXIMATE RUNTIME: 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

John Millington Synge’s classic comic masterpiece:

A bashful young man wanders into a public house, claiming he has just killed his father with a spade. Instead of condemning the murder, the locals greet the man like a rock star, and he starts to develop a personality to match. Things go well until….

The Playboy of the Western World had its first performance at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1907, and it provoked riots because of its unflattering depiction of the Irish national character. The play is famous not only for its hilarious story, but also for the beauty of its language. The Playboy of the Western World is as funny and relatable today as it was at the turn of the 20th century —maybe more so.