Footlight Players offers intimate theater experience

'Big things come in small packages," is how Executive Director Jocelyn Edwards describes Footlight Players community theater. "You can walk by this place every day and never know we're here, but once you're here, it's a surprise."

The simple facade at 20 Queen Street opens into the home of Charleston theater, runs far back along Philadelphia Alley and stretches even farther back into history.

It's founding in 1931 makes it the oldest and longest-running community theater operation in Charleston and the Southeast.

Its foothold of the arts in this city, though, is far better described by the stories that shaped it than by the stories with which it captivates another generation. And Edwards has plenty of those.

She tells of how the building itself was an 1850's cotton warehouse. It wasn't renovated into a theater until the 1930's and has been renewed through various renovations since then. Located in the heart of the French Quarter, the theater also witnessed the revival of a neighborhood.

"In 1931, this neighborhood was run-down," Edwards said. "It went through this renaissance period and revived. With us having this building, it really helped bring back people into this area. It really helped bring this area back to life."

Footlight Players also has helped keep life in the arts in Charleston throughout the years.

"Footlight helped grow the arts in Charleston, being the first performing arts group," Edwards said. "We were here before Spoleto, before Piccolo. We really helped plant the arts here, we helped show there is a cultural art here and we even helped put Dock Street on the map."

Running Dock Street Theater for 50 years, Footlight Players was the first company to occupy it and opened it. But Dock Street wasn't the only place to benefit from Footlight Players entertainment. The theater also performed at the Navy yard, at the Citadel when it was at Marion Square, the Riviera Theater and at parks throughout the area.

Footlight Players' history, entwined with that of Charleston, has made it a home for everybody. As a community theater, it reflects the people who comprise it.

Its actors, directors and behind the scenes players are all volunteers. Anyone, professional or first timer, can audition for any part or volunteer for any function.

"We want to be a place where anyone, whoever you are, can come and be a part of the theater's experience," Edwards said. "And we've got something for everybody.

"When you come here and you sit in the theater, it's intimate, there's something about it that just takes over. It transforms you to another place and time," she said. "You get to see extremely talented people. You see people that are passionate about it and when people are passionate about, it moves you.

"The people I would say are genuine, exciting, magical," Edwards said. "There are no words to describe it. It's amazing."