Essex Community Players is all about quality theater and community. The community gives to us and we give back. The wide variety of our productions over the years has provided outstanding, entertainment to anyone in our area who enjoys theater.

That’s why community is our middle name!

Our Mission

We, The Essex Community Players, Inc., wish to encourage the production of exceptional live theater in the Essex area and Chittenden County. To this end we will encourage the development of theater skills and the advancement of talents in all areas of theater.

Our History

We began as the Essex Players in 1958, the brainchild of Bess Cohen, Elinor Barr, Bill Devlin and their theater-minded friends. In 1965 we became the Essex Community Players, and made Memorial Hall our home. Essex Community Players has become the “Theater Family” for the Essex community. Each year we present the best in live drama, comedy and musicals. All of our productions, and pleasure they create, would not be possible without the generous support of our many volunteers and local businesses.

Jean True

Jean True exemplified the spirit of giving by dedicating herself to community theater and the Essex Community Players. Literally a one-woman production team, she did anything and everything, both on and off stage, to ensure productions of the highest quality. Her car became famous as a repository for costumes, props, make up and all the other materials necessary for a production. In her honor, the Jean True Award is presented annually to the individual who most closely echoes Jean’s dedication to ECP and theater. A plaque listing the names of the recipients hangs in the Memorial Hall lobby.