Abbey Players Play On Your Heartstrings

Text

Can a group of talented friends provide entertainment to the community? The story of the Abbey Players Theater begins with their first actors highly interested in the performing arts and so Ted and Lynette Winter Cessac and their partner, Dave Pierce formed the Abbey Players. The Abbey Players themselves were a non-profit acting group in 1976 moving around town in Abbeville performing plays like a standard troupe. Their local newspaper captured the heart of their performances and the Abbeville crowd loved the well-done performances each time. It showed how a ragtag team of performers could start something by continuing to practice small plays over and over.

The group rented many locations but they desired a stable venue rather than schools, banks, and small stages.
They featured in many instances for their local newspaper for outstanding performances and eventually placed an advertisement in November of 1980 for a more permanent location. They settled on a lumber mill, the Reaux Lumber Co., which was a saloom in the early 1900s and their public stage was set as they continued to perform for the city. They completely renovated the old warehouse with a stage, backstage, and fitting room as well as installing lights fixtures for their upcoming plays of “the Rainmaker”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Room”, and “The Man who Came to Dinner”.

The theater served hors d'oeuvres and champagne which became such a regular occurrence that it was cemented into their calling card as Patrons’ Night. The waiting area has multiple chairs and tables for a comfortable night out with friends to catch a lovely play. A little known fact about their current location is supposedly haunted and paranormal investigators visited the location where their investigation yielded sounds from a little ghost girl.