MACT

Editor’s note: This is slightly condensed from an article written by Dayle Ray in 1993.

On a cold winter’s night in 1979, five individuals met at the home of Tim & Kathy Ray with an interest in forming a community theatre in the area.One of the first things we had to decide on was a name for our group. The wind was blowing snow across the prairie that night and after several attempts Tim came up with “The Prairie Wind Players”, (PWP) a name which has stuck with us ever since. The image above is our first logo.

The city of Barrett had been holding an Old Settlers Reunion every 24th of June since 1905. We thought “What a wonderful time for a debut!”. With the help of a small grant from West Central Regional Arts Council, we chose Spoon River Anthology as our first production. The play was a overwhelming success and got our theatre off to a good start in the community.

We decided that we could perform in the Barrett Pavilion, however at the time there was a dance there every Saturday night. So, we had to build our set after the Saturday night dance, and strike it again before the following Saturday night. We had very little opportunity to practice with a set in place, but somehow managed.

We used this format for three productions, but then decided that these Crazy Sundays were just too much. We thought of several options and finally decided on the old Roosevelt Hall. It had been abandoned by an insulation plant which had gone bankrupt. By this time our membership had grown some and we were able to round up several volunteers to clean up the mess. We rented this place for a few years and then decided to try to get a loan and purchase the place. By this time we had enjoyed several successful performances and were able to come up with $1,000 of the $10,000 purchase price. We secured a loan from the local bank and were on our way.

We had virtually no lights or sound equipment to start with and borrowed what we actually had to have, and as we made a little money we replenished our supply of equipment. We will never have enough it seems. We have been fortunate in having some generous donors.

We have been especially conscious of providing our patrons with both quality performances and quality food at our dinner theatres. We do try to have several dinner theatre performances with each show. We have found that the musicals draw the largest crowds, but also cost the most money to produce.

I think it amazing that what started out as five people looking for some fun has grown into an organization with over 150 members and we are still having fun. We do find, however, that at this time we have to be more conscious of the business end of the organization than at the time we started.

I firmly believe that any community has the talent available to form and to perform a good community theatre. Always try to remember that community theatre is both fun and educational. I can think of no way where a community might become better acquainted with one another than through community theatre. If you have any questions about our organization which I might be able to answer, I would be happy to do so. Also remember we are always looking for new members, and hope you will choose to become involved.

PWP’s next production will be Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park“, which will be presented September 20 – 22.