People's Light and Theatre Company is a professional non-profit theatre company in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

History

People's Light, a professional non-profit theatre company, was founded in 1973 by Dick Keeler, Ken Marini, and Megan and Danny Fruchter, after the group left Hedgerow Theatre. They became known as the Hedgerow Theatre Corporation, but renamed as the People's Light and Theatre Company in 1974. The original site of the theatre was in Strode's Mill, a historic

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

in East Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. '' The Emperor Jones'' by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

was the first production staged by the company in July 1974. They had a $16,000 production budget and 1,300 attendants in their first season. From 1976 to 1978, the company performed in the Center for the Performing Arts in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, to gain more seating. Their first production in Chester Springs was '' Mother Courage and Her Children'' by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. They moved to Malvern, Pennsylvania, in 1979. The theatre company performed tours at prisons until 1986. The company celebrated its 10-year anniversary in October 1984 with a gala. The People's Light campus is located on of what was once a tract granted by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

to the Malin family in 1709. Part of this tract of land was occupied by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's troops after the Battle of Brandywine. The barn that houses the Leonard C. Haas Stage of the theatre was renovated in 1978 by Knabb Associates. The residence was built in 1790 and was used as a private boys' school, which was the first school in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania. In 1986, a second stage holding 150 seats, initially called Second Stage and later the Steinbright Stage, was built on the Malvern site for $1.5 million. By 1987, People's Light had an operating budget of $1.3 million, 5,400 season ticket subscribers, and an annual attendance of over 65,000 people. By 1989, the budget increased to $1.75 million, and People's Light established an annual resident company of actors. It produces classics and contemporary plays, and commissions and produces new work: of their 436 productions by 2018, over one-third (166) had been world or regional premieres. It has an agreement with the labor union

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in Theatre, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions w ...

Community programs

In 1987, People's Light started the "Project Discovery" program, which was later renamed "Arts Discovery." Project Discovery was initially a three-year project designed to allow 4,000

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

, high school students to see two productions at People's Light. Community Matters is a series of events with free staged play readings and town hall-style discussions in partnership with local service organizations.

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in Pennsylvania 1974 establishments in Pennsylvania