The Gaslight Theatre is a nonprofit theatre troupe and venue in

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

. Founded in 1966 as the Enid Community Theatre, the group stages productions of ten plays per year, including

Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...

, musicals, and dinner theatre. Since 1989 Gaslight has called the historic Billings Theatre its home. It is located in the Enid Downtown Historic District.

History

The Enid Community Theatre was formed in 1966, first performing at the former K-GEO TV studio on the 200 Block of East Randolph in Enid. Later, a converted warehouse in the 200 block of East Maple was the group's venue. The Gaslight Theatre group renovated a former live theater and

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

building in 1989, located at 221 North Independence in Enid. It was built in 1924 by the Boller Brothers to house the Billings Theatre, which featured

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts and other live performances. In later decades a number of

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s were successively housed in the building, including the Criterion Movie House, the Chief Movie Theatre, and Cinema Twin.

Productions

Gaslight presents ten productions each year, including five regular season shows and a summer musical. In addition, dinner theatre is presented at the

Stride Bank Center The Stride Bank Center is an arena in downtown Enid, Oklahoma. About Arena construction began May 2011. It opened on June 15, 2013 with the Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce Business Expo. The building was designed by Convergence Design and constr ...

is presented free in

Government Springs Park Government Springs Park is a park located in Enid, Oklahoma. Prior to Oklahoma statehood, the park was a natural spring used by Native Americans, and later soldiers and cattle drivers along the Chisholm Trail. Skeleton Ranch, (North Enid, Oklahoma ...

, area teenagers present an annual play under the moniker of Gaslight Teens, and Gaslight host a children's drama camp production each summer. Gaslight Theatre renovated their additional

black box theater A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

The Turpin Little Theatre in 2017 and reopened in 2018 with the new name The Turpin at Gaslight. The Turpin is named for long-time Gaslight actor, director, and supporter Dr. Jerry Turpin. Gaslight Theatre holds an annual awards ceremony to honor volunteers and stage talent. The annual Charlie Awards Ceremony is named for Charles Norman Duff, a long-time supporter of the Gaslight Theatre. Volunteers regularly staff both onstage and backstage with support from community residents.

References

External links

Official Gaslight Theatre website
Theatres in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Enid, Oklahoma Cinemas and movie theaters in Oklahoma Dinner theatre Tourist attractions in Enid, Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-struct-stub

History

Productions

See also

References

External links