Our Mission
Entertain, engage and enrich Reston and the surrounding region with professional quality productions while creating a safe, positive and inclusive theatre culture.
Entertain
Fostering a welcoming home for local artists, volunteers, and audiences since 1966.
Engage
Striving for professional artistic standards and technical brilliance in every production.
Enrich
Empowering theater lovers of all ages through mentorship and our youth conservatory.
Our Vision
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Produce diverse, creative and collaborative works of theatre noted for variety, excellence and professionalism;
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Provide a collaborative, respectful and safe environment that values and encourages self-expression, diversity and inclusion;
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Express appreciation to our technicians, artists and audiences, while being recognized and respected by the broader community as an award-winning cultural asset;
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Foster innovation in our work, coach and train volunteers, educate and expand viewpoints, and build empathy for one another;
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Ensure RCP remains fiscally sound, properly managed, and efficiently structured as an all volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization; and
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Steward a legacy that honors our history, values our community and ensures our mission is successful across generations.
Mission and Vision Statements revised in November 2025
and approved by the RCP Board of Directors on December 7, 2025.
Back Row: Doug Rolston, Michael Barret Jones, Sara Birkhead, Dan Widerski (non-Board), Franklin Coleman; 3rd Row: Liz Mykietyn; 2nd Row: Liz Colandene, Weston Weber, Alexa Yarboro, Leslie Daugherty, Cathy Rieder; Front Row: Charlene Sloan. Missing: Katie Pond, Anthony Pohl, Cathy Gurson, and Sean Jefferson
Meet the Board
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.
Michael Barret Jones
President
Sara Birkhead
Member at Large
Weston Weber
Member at Large
Katie Pond
Vice-President
Leslie Daugherty
Member at Large
Anthony Pohl
Member at Large
Doug Rolston
Treasurer
Liz Mykietyn
Member at Large
Cathy Gurson
Member at Large
Franklin Coleman
Secretary
Cathy Rieder
Member at Large
Sean Jefferson
Member at Large
Lizzy Colandene
Executive Producer
Charlene Sloan
Member at Large
Vacant
Member at Large
RCP may have up to 15 board members; if you are interested in membership, contact president@restonplayers.org
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.
