MANSFIELD – One of Richland County’s artistic gems, the Mansfield Playhouse, has now been in existence for half a century.
Hailed as Ohio’s second-oldest continuously producing community theater, the Mansfield Playhouse is celebrating 50 years at its current location at 95 E. Third St. downtown. But the theater’s history goes back even further.
According to Tammy Wertz, theater manager of the Mansfield Playhouse, the theater’s origins began in 1925 as the first-ever theater in Mansfield, known as the Community Players. Then, in 1949, another group formed called the Mansfield Little Theatre.
“In 1967 both groups pooled all their money, all their resources, and they bought this building, and we became the Mansfield Playhouse,” Wertz said. “We have 92 years of community theatre history, celebrating 50 years as the Mansfield Playhouse in this location.”
The first production at the Mansfield Playhouse was Brigadoon in 1967. The audience sat in church pews. Drapes and chandeliers were purchased from the Leland Hotel just before it was demolished.
“We’ve come a long way and we expect to go a lot further,” added Doug Wertz, president of the Mansfield Playhouse Board of Trustees. “Hopefully we continue to keep pulling in more community members and continue to build the community that we pride ourselves on building.”
To commemorate half a century at their downtown Mansfield location, the Playhouse hosted a ribbon cutting on Saturday just ahead of their first-ever talent competition, “I AM Talented.” The 15-act show as well as the ribbon cutting kicks off the Playhouse’s new season, which begins Sept. 8 with the rollicking comedy “Noises Off!”
Proclamations were presented to the Playhouse from State Senator Larry Obhof, State Representative Mark Romanchuk, and Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker.
“We have a lot of great assets in the Mansfield and Richland County area, and this certainly is one of them,” Romanchuk said.
Jodie Perry, president of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, echoed Romanchuk’s sentiments.
“It’s organizations like this that give Mansfield the great flavor that it has and makes this community such a wonderful place,” Perry said.
But it was Mansfield Councilman Cliff Mears that offered a personal anecdote regarding the Mansfield Playhouse. Mears had his first experience with the Playhouse in the 1980s when his daughter auditioned and performed in her first community theater show.
“I found the transformation when children first take the stage and learn some lines, and they have the spotlight on them and learn to think on their feet because hey, it’s live theatre and things go wrong,” Mears said with a laugh. “But they gain self-confidence, they learn how to express themselves in front of people, and those are skills that are so valuable as they go through life.
“This is the institution that has done that for so many children, and it’s a great asset within the county and north central Ohio.”
