About Words Players
Students are involved in all of our planning and oversight decisions also, from the Words Players steering committee to play selection and education decisions. As a community theatre, students and adults from a wide variety of backgrounds are involved with our work. Entire families join us during the intense 6-8 week production cycle – painting, hammering, drilling, sewing.
“The children and youth who participate in Words Players — through a class, camp, or theatrical production — are transformed by the experience. Attending the performances is transformative for audiences as well. We feel the energy, language, music, and art, up close and made alive by the kids. As a teacher and parent, I get excited about this home grown, yet very professional, theatrical troupe because the children and teens who fuel it are so focused, energized, articulate, creative, and passionate. And the adults are smart enough to get out of the way, to let them take ownership. Every time I walk through those doors, I think, 'This is what I want for my children.' And every time I see the older youth perform or lead or teach, I see role models for my own children. I see people who are going to create positive change whereever they go.”
— Dr. Pam Whitfield, 2010 MnSCU Educator of the Year
Words Players Theatre is first and foremost a youth theatre organization, we rely on and encourage youth involvement in every facet of our operations. In theatre productions, students are involved in and consistently responsible for set design and construction, props and costumes, stage managing, and sound and lighting design.
Attention to community participation is a focus and priority. Farmers' Markets, arts events, charity benefits – all provide our actors with performance opportunities and outstanding ways to connect with and be a vital part of our community. We actively pursue these opportunities and are frequently asked to take part in events.
Since it's genesis in 2004, Words Players has performed more than 6 dozen plays, from classics like The Music Man, Hello, Dolly!, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Our Town, Godspell, Cinderella, Into The Woods, and A Christmas Carol to their own original adaptations of The Bremen Town Musicians, (Bremen Town) and nAnnie McTwist, an original musical based off of characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Anne Shirley, and many more.
For more than a decade, Rochester MN and the surrounding area has enjoyed exciting and heartwarming, productions of touching, fun, youthfulness.
