About The Players

  • The Barley Sheaf Players is a Community Theater in Lionville, Pennsylvania that offers year-round shows and activities. We strive to promote and encourage dramatic arts in our region and to be recognized within our region as an example of artistic achievement combined with a pervasive sense of community spirit.

  • In the late 1960s, the West Chester Players of West Chester and the Barley Sheaf Players of Coatesville merged to form the West Chester and Barley Sheaf Players (renamed The Barley Sheaf Players). The West Chester Players had members but no money and the Barley Sheaf Players had money but few members. When the two groups merged, they did three adult shows per year in various rented spaces and a traveling children's show, which provided the revenue to keep the group going. An adult show that made any money was cause for a party but, then, wasn't everything?

  • In 1973, all 27 founding members scraped the money together to buy a permanent home in Lionville - the Oddfellows Hall - a hall without running water and with so little electricity that they could only run two Fresnels (theater lights) at a time. They started doing shows as often as possible. In addition to shows, they held children's workshops, art shows, One-Act festivals, and Fuller Brush sales for income generation. Somehow they stayed afloat.

  • Still housed in the old Oddfellows Hall, the Players now boasts a membership over 200. Each year, we offer a 5-show season as well as two summer youth programs, a One-Act Play Festival, a holiday production, and a benefit show. We are always looking for ways to reach out to our community, for example, Relaxed performances to serve neurodivergent audiences, food drives (coordinated with our holiday productions), complimentary tickets offered to women's shelters and other non-profits in the area, special appearances at retirement communities, and more. We have succeeded over the years because we put a strong emphasis on family and community involvement.

  • The Barley Sheaf Players is a community theater organization dedicated to the ongoing promotion and encouragement of dramatic arts in the region surrounding Lionville, Pennsylvania. We encourage the dramatic arts within this area via:

    • The presentation of theatrical productions throughout the calendar year including musicals, dramas, comedies, holiday shows, one-act plays, and youth productions

    • The conduct of educational and experiential events to coach members and non-members in theatrical disciplines

    • The sponsorship of activities and causes which promote artistic endeavors

    • Active cooperation and exchange with other area theatrical organizations for the common good of the community and the arts within our region

    • In all activities, it is the goal of the Players to find the optimal blend of representing a true community spirit, fostering creativity, and maintaining stewardship for the continued well-being of the Players

  • The Barley Sheaf Players will always strive to be recognized within our region, as well as by our peers within the theater community, as a shining example of artistic achievement and encouragement in combination with a pervasive sense of community spirit.