“Every now and then an opportunity comes along..”

Garrison Players - About Us

In the 1940s, a group of aspiring thespians in Dover got together to put on some plays. In 1953, they incorporated a theatre group called The Garrison Players. Among these pioneers were Hugh Tuttle, Hilda Mccue, and Evelyn Cheney. Brigadoon was one of their first productions.

From these humble beginnings, we have become the second oldest continually performing community theatre group in New Hampshire.

As time went along, new members joined this group, including Tommy Makem performing as the leprechaun in Finian's Rainbow and Bob & Carolyn Ellis who opened tryouts to all comers. Many memorable shows were performed in the Dover High School auditorium, such as Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Gaslight, and other dramas and comedies.

For many years, the Garrison Players went from one venue to another - Simpson's Pavilion, the Sterling motel, Dover High School, and Dover City Hall - to put on our shows. We were sponsored by the Dover Rotary Club and the Lions Club, but the desire to have our own theatre grew. "In 1985, the Garrison Players Board of Directors began to seriously pursue the acquisition of a property. Our nomadic existence, the increase in our costumes, properties, and technical equipment, as well as the difficulty of finding rehearsal and performance space, made that acquisition a priority." (notes from research by Joan DeVries)

An opportunity came up when the Hiram R Roberts Grange Hall in Rollinsford, NH ceased to be active. This lovely building was designed by noted architect Alvah Thurston Ramsdell, who also designed the original Dover High School (subsequently the Junior High), the Wentworth Home for the Aged, the Dover Children's Home, the chapel at Pine Hill Cemetery, the old Strafford Bank building in Dover, as well as the Rollinsford Town Hall and many single-family residences.

A meeting was called in which the membership gathered and discussed the possibility of purchasing the grange hall. Joe Parks, a noted Dover resident and supporter of Garrison Players, encouraged us to have faith and take the leap to try to buy the property. Tom Dunnington met with Frank B. Hayes, the head of the NH Grange Association, to make a proposal to him. Frank was very receptive and agreed we could purchase the building for the cost of quieting the title, and in January 1986, we entered into an option to purchase the property. The sale was finalized in January 1987 and Garrison Players became the owner of the Hiram R. Roberts Grange, renamed the Garrison Players Arts Center, and the work began.

Interestingly, almost 100 years earlier, the members of the grange found themselves in the same position we were in:

"and when it was known that the grange could not hire a building, or suitable room to hold its meetings in, it was decided to build. This decision gave rise to considerable discussion concerning locality, price, architecture, etc. Finally this matter was settled...now our financial obligations were to be kept...To do this, we entered into this commercial swim. At various times, the grange would give an entertainment and supperfor25 cents. We presented dramas, comedies, and mild tragedies, recitations, vocal music and after each performance gave a grange banquet. We have had 6 fairs, with all the money-catching devices known to such sales. We have had nearly as many clambakes, all possessing the merit of success, save one, and that is recorded as the "Late Lamented Clam-Bake". We have had lawn parties, band concerts, weighing parties and boxing parties, all these helping to swell the treasury. So year after year, the work has gone on" -From the notes of grange member George Emerson dated December 27, 1894.

The building had no basement and the back section, where the stage and old kitchen were located, was sinking and needed to be shored up. The board sought the guidance of Paul Ga lanes of Southeast Bank for Savings and a $40,000 loan was assumed, co-signed by Tom

Dunnington. Architect William Schoonmaker gave us a concrete vision for the future, architect Tony Fallon created a model of the proposed renovations, and Pat Miller, a Garrison Player member and engineer prepared bid specifications for the foundation.

On September 21, 1988, Milban Construction of Newmarket, began work to raise the building and excavate a full foundation, pour footings and perimeter walls, creating a basement entrance & retaining wall and pouring an interior floor. Additionally, a new roof, was installed by Palmer Roofing and BT Roofing has done the maintenance on it in the following years.

With a need to fundraise, Joan DeVries wrote a grant to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which donated $1000 to our efforts. Subsequent grants were obtained from the Abraham Burtman Trust, Mclninch Foundation, J Henry Hanhisalo Trust, the Ella Anderson Trust and the NH Commission for the Arts. Yard sales, plant sales, and a gala fundraiser headed by Ray Jobin and Don Purdy was held, as was a Victorian tea party at the home of Helen and Ray Jobin in Dover. Our brick walkway, with bricks purchased at $5O/each, denotes the names of loved ones, businesses, and many supporters, and leads from the parking lot to our front door.

Over time, with many volunteer hours, the interior of the building underwent a full removal of the old plaster and lathe walls. All the trim was carefully removed to be re-installed once the walls were ready, and countless hours of demolition, lugging out debris and cleaning up and painting, were put in by our dauntless members, Mary Norris, Paul & Priscilla Barton, Carol & Gadi Bitov, Gary Dinardo, Carol Davenport, Gary Avery, Ann and Rudy Schultz, Tom & Barbara Dunnington, Mary Ruth Lynn, Ken Dunnington, Russ Bolian, Karl Koza, Rich Salvati and so many others. The Rotary Club of Dover, NH, gave us a matching grant of $10,000, which enabled us to install a commercial size septic system. Our well, that went down 620 ft, was drilled. An additional 1.3 acres of land was purchased from our abutter, Kevin Ryan, and a good size gravel parking lot was put in place by Richard Dodier.

The existing chimneys were in need of removal and the New Hampshire Chimney Sweep Guild, organized by Mark Jones, graciously donated their time and talent to take them down and close up the holes in the roof.

After many months of hard work, we had reached an impasse as we needed a big infusion of money to complete the wiring, plumbing, heating and insulation for the building, as well as to install a functioning kitchen and fire suppression system.

Thanks to Rachel Rouillard, then the Executive Director of LCHIP (Land & Community Heritage Investment Program), and to a $4600 PEN grant which enabled us to employ the services of Susan Varn who wrote a grant for us, we were awarded a matching grant of $180000 from LCHIP, enabling us to move forward with our renovations. David Deutsch obtained a donation of all the sheetrock required from Georgia Pacific Gypsum and Gary Avery skillfully guided the installation of the new walls throughout the building. The original trim was reinstalled, costume closets were built in Barton Hall under the direction of our costume mistress, Barbara Rowe, the whole interior was painted, Bob Henry & Paul Barton designed and installed the lighting system in the theatre, and Chris Smith oversaw the construction of an exterior fire escape with a handicap ramp. Painting the outside of the building became an Eagle Scout project of Matt Avery, of Troop 173 in Dover.

And now we had our own theatre in which to perform as well as a basement, which quickly became too small, in which to store our set pieces, flats, props, fabric and construction materials.

In the fall of 2003, we opened with our first production in the theatre -1776, a sold-out show directed by Priscilla Barton. We have added a Youth Ed program for students up to the age of 18, which has blossomed from a summer camp format to both fall and spring productions as well as a two-week camp in the summer culminating in productions such as Willy Wonka Jr and, most recently, Mary Poppins Jr. We installed an outdoor stage on which the Youth Ed shows can be performed, as we had to put our 2020-2021 seasons on hold due to the Covid-19 outbreak and couldn't utilize the indoor auditorium.

We are a resilient organization that has mounted a variety of productions including comedies, dramas, and musicals and we also host outside groups, such as Ball in the House, the late Bill Staines, and a variety of other performers, such as Taylor Marie Music, Zero Gravity, and juggler Jason Tardy, who utilize the additional venue. We have also resurrected our Showstoppers musical ensemble and look forward to increasing the number of productions it does. We must note all the wonderful cast parties hosted by Donna & Charles Bolian over the years - who can forget those delicious deserts Donna made?

As an all-volunteer organization, we always need supportive members and we welcome anyone who is interested in helping as ushers, stage managers, board members, tech crew, etc. We are working hard to keep Garrison Players and community theatre alive and well for years to come.