Our History

 The original “Old Colony Players” were born in 1935 of a small group with a love for theatre and a desire to bring more culture to the town. Included among a wide variety of dramas staged by these players was a 1937 production of Little Women. By 1939, the players numbered 35 and the troop had become a charter member of Charlotte’s newly organized Little Town Theatre.  With the coming of WWII the club had to disband and did not resume productions during the post-war era. Resurrection came with a bang in 1967. The new Old Colony Players were revived to sponsor two major dramatic productions in 1968 in conjunction with the 75th Celebration of the founding of the Town of Valdese. The first was “The Land is Good,” a dramatic extravaganza. The second production was even more ambitious- a full scale outdoor drama, portraying the heroic story of the Waldensians from their early years in the Old Country to the hardships endured in the founding of a colony in America. It is this compelling drama, From This Day Forward, that  is celebrated annually. Old Colony Players is alive and well, a vital part of the cultural scene in Valdese today.