About us
Our Mission
The Reston Community Players (RCP) is committed to excellence in community theater for Reston, Virginia and Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
RCP has a two-fold mission:
Entertain, engage, educate and challenge the citizens of Reston and surrounding communities by staging excellent, professional quality theatrical productions for the audiences we serve.
Create a safe, positive theatre community culture that demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusion by welcoming those with new, creative ideas as well as all who want to practice the wide variety of theater disciplines.
Our Vision
As a result of the incredible passion, talent, generosity and dedication of our volunteers, RCP has become an integral part of our community. Looking ahead, the continuing ingenuity, creativity and thousands of hours of commitment will ensure that this all-volunteer organization will prosper and grow. With this challenge in mind, RCP aspires to:
Provide a variety of opportunities for the residents of Reston and surrounding communities to experience live theater “in their own backyard” that reflects these communities’ demographics
Produce diverse, creative, and collaborative works of theater noted for excellence and professionalism so that we remain widely recognized as an important community cultural asset
Seek new ways to encourage growth and education within our local communities through the performing arts
Value, encourage and increase respect for those who create the theatrical experience by giving them the latitude and safe environment they need to express their art, entertain an audience, and receive the appreciation their efforts deserve
Widen participation by all in the processes and fulfillments of theater through our commitment to diversity and inclusion
Our History
In 1961, Robert E. Simon purchased 6,750 acres of land in
Fairfax County, VA, far from the rapidly developing suburbs of
Washington DC, with a master plan for a new planned community
to be called Reston. Simon’s concept was to create a community
based in part on the idea of providing Reston residents with
artistic and cultural experiences close to where they live and
work.
In the spring of 1966, three residents of neighboring Herndon
approached Simon to ask if residents of Reston might like to
perform their original musical, The Greatest Game in Town. The
plot was centered around adventures and misadventures in the
stock market and made a net profit of $200. Thus, the Reston
Players community theatre organization was born.
Over the years, the Reston Players occupied a number of
different performance venues and encountered a number of
challenges, including the 1972 fire at Bowman Chapel that
destroyed all of the Reston Players’ assets. Later that year, the
company reorganized itself as the non-profit Reston Community
Players (RCP).
In 1979, RCP mounted Applause, its first production in the brand
new state-of-the-art CenterStage at the Reston Community
Center in Hunters Woods and has been performing there ever
since.
In 1984, Lindsay Petersen, then Secretary of the RCP Board of
Directors, purchased a warehouse in Herndon that she leased
back to RCP for a nominal fee. The warehouse was converted
into a rehearsal hall, scene shop and office, and provided storage
for costumes, props, and set pieces. Upon her passing in 2002,
Mrs. Peterson transferred ownership of the property to RCP and it
remains our theatre company space to this day.
Reston Community Players celebrated our 50th Anniversary of
providing high-quality theatrical experiences to the Reston
community in 2016 with over 200 main stage productions. Despite
setbacks during the arrival of COVID-19, we continue to put on
quality shows to entertain different audiences. RCP looks forward
to enhancing the cultural environment of our community for many
years to come.
Our Board of Directors
The RCP Board of Directors is comprised of dedicated volunteers who feel that quality theater will enhance the cultural life of the community. While also working on individual RCP productions, Board members serve diligently throughout the year to maintain RCP's financial and artistic health and to ensure its future.
OUR BOARD
Joey Olson
President
Kimberly Leone
Vice President
Doug Rolston
Treasurer
Lisa Leary
Member at Large
Sara Birkhead
Secretary
Richard Durkin
Member at Large
Jerry Morse
Member at Large
Katie Pond
Member at Large
Michael Jones
Member at Large
Alexa Yarboro
Member at Large
Lizzy Colandene
Member at Large
Kendall Mostafavi
Member at Large
Catherine Zimmerman
Member at Large
Steve McBride Jr.
Member at Large