Lighthouse Drama Players: Sharing Joy in Appo!
Over twenty years ago, Mark and Sandra Landry’s daughter, Alexis, (who was in middle school at the time) expressed an interest in theatrical drama performances. Sandra agreed that this would be a fun activity for the homeschool co-op to pursue, and thus began the Landry drama ministry adventure!
After Alexis grew up and started a life of her own, Mark and Sandra’s theatre adventure would continue to develop in central Virginia over the years with other homeschool co-ops. Today, the Landry’s love for theatre continues to shine through The Lighthouse Drama Players in Appomattox!
Lighthouse Drama Players is the result of many years of hard work and involvement from not only the Landry’s but from several other supporters and talents that have come alongside in the local community as well.
The group offers well choreographed plays for the community to enjoy, completely free of charge!
“As long as God provides, we can continue to do that,” Mark said.
On Church Street
After Mark’s retirement as a music minister in 2021, the Landrys began thinking about how they might spend their retirement years together. They loved the work they had successfully accomplished through theatrical performances over the years, and they wanted to continue giving back to the community in this way.
Only, now, they needed to find a permanent home where they could practice and perform their community dramas.
The Landrys noticed that the former Journey Ministries building on Church Street appeared vacant, and they began conversations with Pastor S. L. Ferguson and the church about the possibility of renting the property.
Knowing the Landrys’ heart of serving their community and sharing God’s love with theatre guests, the church offered the space at no cost to Lighthouse Drama Players! In fact, Journey Ministries does much more, behind the scenes, too, providing monetary support and sponsoring the ministry under their church umbrella.
“We’re so thankful for Journey Ministries and how they have supported us,” Mark said.
With permission, the Landrys, along with other volunteers and local businesses (like Milton Construction), reconstructed the stage area, added professional lighting, and began a casting call for the first play in the newly renovated building, a production of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream!”
“A Christian Theatre Experience”
“We want to be a lighthouse that shines the light of Christ in our community,” Mark explained.
“Our scripture, our vision, is Matthew 5:16 which says “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your God in Heaven,” Sandra added.
While Lighthouse Drama Players does not solely perform Christian plays (some are fairytales, some are Shakespeare, others are just good, family friendly plays,) they take a few minutes at the end of each performance to share with the audience how the theme of the play incorporates into God’s love for people and what biblical principles they can learn from it.
“I just think it’s a wonderful way to share the gospel in different ways, and to do storytelling,” Mark explained. “Also, people that normally wouldn’t go to a church will come to see a play. We have an opportunity to share the gospel with them.”
Though some plays, for example during their annual “Drama Project,” (with actors of all ages) may have topics considered to be rated PG-13, the Landry’s make sure that grown-up topics are discussed in such a way that that it will “go over the heads” of young children, but still get the point across to adults in the audience.
“We are committed to being family friendly,” Mark explained.
Just for (homeschool) kids!
Lighthouse Drama Players offer two drama groups that are dedicated just for local homeschooled children.
The Junior Drama group includes cast members who are ages 8 to 13, only. This popular program is sometimes divided into two groups because so many young people are interested in it and are excited to join. The Senior Drama group is for homeschoolers, ages 14 through high school graduation.
The Lighthouse Drama players Junior and Senior Theatre performances have been a huge hit in the community. The Junior Drama Theatre has performed play such as “Peter Pan,’ “Sleeping Beauty,” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
High school homeschooled students in the Senior High Drama Theatre have performed well-known plays such as “Les Miserables” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Music Man, Jr.”
Plans are also in the works to begin an after-school Drama Club for public and Christian school students at the Lighthouse!
Fun for all ages
Don’t worry! Kids don’t get to have all of the fun! There are opportunities for any person of any age to participate in Lighthouse Drama Players performances.
“We do a summer production called the 'Drama Project,' which is open to anyone who is high school age and older who is interested in being part of a theatrical performance,” Mark explained. “The “Drama Project” is a week-long event in which the cast and crew practice for a few hours each evening, and then hold performances for the community at the end of the week.
“It is a challenge, but you only have to commit to doing it for one week,” Mark explained. In a world that always seems so busy, this compact schedule works well for those involved!
The Community Drama Group has performed “A Christmas Carol,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” and several plays written by Mark Landry, himself!
Why is theatre important?
“Theatre is important as an art form. It’s a neat way to entertain,” Mark said. “It’s also a great way for people to use their own talents and abilities. Everyone can be involved in some way in all of the things we do."
“For children, especially,” Sandra added, “theatre is a great opportunity to learn self-confidence. Our goal is to find something that will grow them and make them reach that next level. As they continue with it, it gives them that confidence to be able to speak up and speak out in life’s circumstances.”
“I just enjoy seeing them achieve a goal we’ve worked toward and to see how it can come together. We teach them that it’s God that does it through them, and they are able to see that God controls and orchestrates that,” Sandra continued. “For me, it’s neat to see them realize that it’s all come together and to see God glorified through that.”
“It’ just fun,” Mark added. “We’ve worked with all ages. We’ve had older, more experienced actors, we’ve had really young actors, and everyone in between. Just to see the joy that they get from it and how they are so glad, when it all comes together in the end, that they did it, and it was wonderful!”
Shining a light in the community
The cast and crew of the Lighthouse Drama Players aren’t the only ones who benefit from their performances. The Landrys’ goal is to uplift their audiences through the live performances.
"My hope is that they leave the theatre with joy in their hearts,” Sandra said. "That they see the joy that we’re trying to portray as we are on stage. I hope that they can also communicate what they’ve gleaned from it with others.” “We hope that they can see God’s glory in all that we do,” Mark added. “It’s not about us; we are about Him. No matter what the play is, we want them to see some aspect of God in it. That’s why we end each play with something scriptural and something about God.”
Volunteer Opportunities
One neat aspect of the Lighthouse Drama Players is that this group is made entirely up of volunteers. Because there are no paid staff, every dollar donated to the group goes into creating family-friendly entertainment for the Appomattox community.
If you’re interested in volunteering with the theatre group, there are plenty of opportunities on stage, as well as off of the stage, including, costuming, set-building, as well as ushering or selling pre-packaged concessions during the performances. Contact Mark and Sandra to learn about how you can get involved!
Lighthouse Drama Players continues to thrive because of generous neighbors and supporters who give financial donations to the 501c3 nonprofit, or who give “in kind” gifts such as mowing the lawn or doing work around the building.
“We also appreciate the prayer warriors that are praying for us,” Mark added.
The Lighthouse Drama Players accepts reservations for each performance. There is no cost to attend their plays, however there is an opportunity to donate to the group while you are there, should you feel so inclined. Donations help cover the costs of royalty fees, printing scripts and flyers, as well as purchasing stage props and costumes.
Lighthouse Drama Players is located at 2002 Church Street. (To support their work with a mailed financial donation, their mailing address PO Box 313 Appomattox, VA 24522.)
You can reach them by phone at 434-664-8517, or by email at lighthousedramaplayers@gmail.com.
You can also keep up with what’s happenings next at Lighthouse Drama Players on Facebook.
This article was written by Teresa Davis and is a sponsored advertisement. Sponsorship for this article was provided by Realtor S.L. Ferguson. Some photos were provided by Lighthouse Drama Players.
If you are interested in promoting your business, church, or charitable group (or sponsoring an article for someone else,) on the Appomattox Happenings website, email, and social media, contact Teresa Davis through the contact form below or email appomattoxhappenings@gmail.com
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