About the Chester Playhouse

The Chester Playhouse is owned and operated by the Chester Theatre Council Society (CTC). 
A registered Society since 1984, the CTC is a charitable organization with a volunteer Board of Directors chosen from the members.  The mission of the Society is: To foster, promote, encourage and develop the performing arts and to maintain a community arts facility in the municipality of the district of Chester.

In 2004, the CTC envisioned the future and stated: The Chester Playhouse will endeavor to produce, present and reward the artistic diversity and vitality of the cultural community of Canada and our own community of Chester, in order to be recognized as a primary South Shore destination for entertainment and development of the arts in Nova Scotia.

The village of Chester is a seaside resort with a small year round population that more than doubles in July and August.  The Chester Playhouse, on the main street, was originally a movie theatre built in 1938 and converted for live entertainment in 1963 when the Chester Jesters presented the first summer productions on stage.

In 1975, Leo and Dora Velleman operated Canadian Puppet Festivals from the theatre until merging with Mermaid Theatre in 1983. In 1987 the building was renamed the Chester Playhouse and the first Chester Summer Theatre Festival presented a series of touring shows over an eight week period.

In1993 the first phase of renovations took place and the capacity rose to the present 176. In 2000, a much more substantial renovation took place with a two-story addition made to the back of the building which now incorporates dressing rooms and a Green Room, as well as a workshop in which to create props and sets.  A beautiful, new upper lobby was created along with expanded offices.   Renovations continued in 2005 bringing new washrooms and an improved entranceway.  Despite all of these major changes, the Chester Playhouse remains one of the most charming and intimate small theatres in Atlantic Canada.

Matching the physical growth of the Playhouse is a steady growth in performances.  From a brief summer festival of plays, the theatre has now evolved to offer a year round schedule of approximately one hundred performances: high profile popular concerts, touring theatre and dance, classical music, readings and lectures, community rentals, comedy, world premiere theatre productions, musicals and so on.

The eclectic nature of programming here is evident again as we begin 2007 with concerts from Matt Mays, Andrew White, Mary Knickle and others. We have established the Playhouse as a venue for community outreach through presentations by local High School Drama groups, Nova Dance Studios, The Chester Drama Society and a winter play reading series. We have produced such diverse productions as the South Shore Youth Music Festival, The SS Piano Jazz festival, and the SS Songwriters Circle, and we will present an off- season production from The Luna/Sea Theatre Company. 

At the heart of each year remains the Chester Summer Festival of Performances.  The Chester festival is unique in this region.  Rather than run a rep season or summer stock, summers in Chester often include concerts, dance, youth productions and stand up comedy along with the core theatre subscription package.  Our own Chester Playhouse Productions encourages co-productions and nurtures local performers.   The Festival nature of our summer programming give us great flexibility in bringing in artists from across Canada and around the world thus placing our own talent in a milieu that enables critical appreciation and growth.

In the summer of 2007 we will offer three Canadian works within our four-part subscription package.  July begins with Once Upon A Mattress, a large scale musical comedy that we will produce where we combine both professional and amateur actors. We will import 3 other shows for presentation on our stage from Nova Scotia Theatre companies: Metamorphic Theatre, In Good Company and Mulgrave Road Theatre Company. We have hired a new Artistic Advisor for this season. Mary Lou Martin has directed two shows here over the last 2 years, to great critical acclaim, and she will again direct our own production in July as well as have artistic input regarding the other productions, and our annual summer theatre school.

When ever possible we try to expand the knowledge of our patrons and performers through programs such as  a mentorship program aimed at diversifying participation in learning opportunities that are theatre related and a workshop series that will seek to encourage young talent during our annual Summer Theatre School. We are also in the process of developing new works for stage from established playwright Chris Heide, and veteran Director/ Performer Mary Lou Martin.

The support for the playhouse was recently demonstrated through financial donations from Members and Patrons. We were facing a critical shortfall for 2006 due to a decline in audience numbers for our summer festival this past year. When a request was sent out, our membership responded with a 40% increase in contributions over the previous year. We are extremely thankful to all the supporters, our sponsors, advertisers and volunteers who all play a large role in the operations of the theatre.

On the administrative level, the Chester Playhouse has never been stronger! We have diversified our revenue sources and have built solid fundraising models.  As a result, the CTC has no mortgage, a small interest free loan and has established modest reserves to support building maintenance and cash flow needs. The Theater has been successful in attaining 3 year Financial Operating Status from the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Board has worked diligently to complete the many governance requirements resulting from our participation in the Sustainability Program of the NS Foundation for Heritage and the Arts.