[ our mission ]

 

Rock Hill Theatre is a volunteer-based nonprofit that promotes the love of theatre for all ages and exists to provide theatre experiences and education to Rock Hill and the surrounding community!

 

[ our history ]

 

Applause is something that we cherish here at RHT, not just the kind you hear but (in our case) the APPLAUSE sign you see. Those plexiglass words survived the fire that destroyed everything else in our first “permanent” home. Originally designed for 1940’s Radio Hour and used in two productions of Annie, Jr. and again, most recently, in our 2018 winter production of Annie, the sign is a reminder of why we continue to do what we do for our community.

In 1974, Rock Hill Little Theatre was formed as an heir to local repertory tradition begun in 1957 as the Piedmont Players. In 1995, a merger between Rock Hill Little Theatre, York County Children’s Theatre, Main Street Theatre and The Outcasts formed Rock Hill Community Theatre.

It soon found a home in the former Main Street Methodist Church, which we leased from Pilgrim’s Inn for several years. After the fire, we performed in school auditoriums until we were able to rent a storefront on Black Street. Then, due to our need for more space, we transitioned to the Performing Arts Center on Main Street in 2010. With news of the anticipated closure of the PAC, we moved into the former West End School cafeteria on South Cherry Road in November of 2014, where we stayed until March 2019.

November 2018 - Pathways, an agency whose goal is to centralize services for the homeless population of our area, purchased the complex. We applaud their efforts and wish them success. We moved everything into storage and are continuing our search for our new permanent home. In the meantime, Illumine Church graciously allowed us to rent space and perform our 2019-2020 season under their roof.

During our 2020 Annual Membership Celebration, we revealed our newly revised logo as Rock Hill Theatre. Don’t worry we are still all about community…we may have taken it out of our logo but that’s where you come in!

You can help us in several ways.

If you know of any available spaces for productions, please let us know.

To help with ongoing expenses, please consider providing a donation or sponsoring.

With your help, we can continue offering outstanding theatre!


Our Evolving Timeline:

1974 - ROCK HILL LITTLE THEATRE

1995 - Rock Hill Community Theatre

2020 - Rock Hill Theatre

Image: 2018 Annie Production Set

Image: 2018 Annie Production Set

Keep the APPLAUSE coming!