The Community Players began life in 1988 as The Community Health Players formed by Community & District Nurses from the North East Derbyshire Health Service.
Led by Mavis Oscroft and Sue Jaye, the group performed in front of fellow colleagues from the Health Service in the Lecture Theatre at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
After the first few performances the show grew and started attracting a wider public audience and the performances turned to an annual (very) amateur pantomime all in the name of entertaining colleagues, family and friends plus more importantly raising funds for local charitable causes.
The yearly spectacle grew further with what started as a 2 night performance for staff growing to a 4 night and a matinee. With these changes the Players also evolved and soon became a group bigger than just health care staff. The Players gained additional support (sometimes volunteered, often coearced) from existing members' friends and family and morphed into The Community Players, but still holding the same values and still a considerable amount of health care staff.
Fast forward to the early Millennium, the already popular show moved to the Playhouse at Hasland where it still performs to this day.
Below are details of all the performances that The Community Players have performed along with any history surrounding each performance
1988 - Them Outdoors