60 Years in the Playing
The Pinawa Players are an amateur theatre group that have been performing plays for Pinawa and the surrounding region since 1964. Pinawa’s first performance was “Variety -The Spice of Life”, a musical variety show presented in the spring of 1964 in the newly constructed elementary school. The Pinawa Community Centre was still under construction and in 1966 became home to our theatre productions.
Variety Show - The Spice of Life
The Players were formed by a group of scientists from the UK who had come to work at the newly established Whiteshell Nuclear Research Laboratory, operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. They lived in the new town of Pinawa - “The Town at the End of the Road”, and brought with them their love and knowledge of music and theatre. These theatre loving Brits were instrumental in ensuring our community auditorium/gym included a proscenium stage, a fly loft, stage lighting and a backstage rehearsal facility.
Since then, the Players have continued to delight audiences with over 70 plays, including well-known dramas, comedies, farces, tragedies and pantomimes (which involved throngs of community members of all ages and talents). In 2008, we added dinner and dessert theatre to our repertoire which has proven an extremely successful form of theatre, well attended and anticipated every season. We have been fortunate to maintain a strong group of actors, directors and backstage crew and continue to welcome new members.
The Players are members of ACT Manitoba (1979), an association of Manitoba community theatres, and have presented a play at almost all of its annual drama festivals.