Incorporated in 1923, the Rochester Community Players, Inc. (RCP) is one of the oldest continuously operated committee theater organizations in the United States. Its first production, Wedding Bells, opened January 19, 1925 at the German House, Gregory St., Rochester.

For its first fifty years, RCP was considered the premiere theater in Rochester. Perhaps RCP's strongest season was 1958-59, when RCP produced Guys and Dolls; Inherit the Wind; Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal; Blithe Spirit featuring Foster Brooks; and As You Like It by William Shakespeare. 12 year old Mimi Kennedy appeared in The Spider Web, by Agatha Christie, in October 1960.

Through the summer of 2009 RCP has produced 625 full theatrical productions and has operated continuously for 83 seasons. RCP believes that we are the second oldest continuously operating community theater in the United States.

In 1926,RCP hired its own full-time professional director and manager, Robert Stevens of New York City. RCP believes it was the first community theater in the United States to hire a full time director. He was "engaged" for 3 weeks and stayed 28 years. Mr. Stevens operated RCP until his retirement in 1953, assisted for many years by Scene Designer Milton Robinson, who retired in 1951.

Mr. Stevens was succeeded by George Warren and Harriet "Hattie" Warren. For nearly twenty years, starting with the 1953-54 season, Mr. Warren acted as RCP's business manager and Mrs. Warren as the artistic director. They were assisted by Betsy Hall, who worked as Scenic Designer from 1953 to 1976. Mr. and Mrs. Warren, known simply as "the Warrens", came to Rochester in 1953 after 17 years of developing community theater in Jamestown, New York. George Warren passed away March 11, 1972 and Hattie Warren retired the next year. Various full-time and part-time managers operated the theater over the next twenty five years. RCP has been managed entirely by volunteers since 1998.

RCP's first nine productions were staged at the German House on Gregory Street (one was staged at Rochester's old Lyceum Theater, built in 1903). In 1926, RCP purchased the Playhouse, located at 820 South Clinton Avenue, at the corner of Meigs Street and Clinton Avenue South, in Rochester. The Playhouse was built as a church but had been used as a machine shop for the eight years prior to being purchased by RCP. The first RCP production at the Playhouse was Captain Applejack by Walter Hackett, opening November 1, 1926.

The Playhouse deteriorated over time and was temporarily abandoned as a performance space from 1976 to 1980.  The Playhouse was permanently closed and sold in 1984. The last RCP production at the Playhouse was Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters, which opened May 11, 1984. RCP staged approximately 500 productions at the Playhouse.  RCP staged its productions at the Holiday Inn (now known as the Clarion on East Main Street) from 1985 to 1992. RCP has operated out of various venues since then.

In 1994, RCP established the Shakespeare Players, a free Shakespeare program. Since 1997, RCP's Shakespeare Players have performed an annual free Shakespeare in the Park production in early July at the Highland Park Bowl, 1200 South Avenue, Rochester. The Shakespeare at the Bowl productions are co-sponsored by the Monroe County Parks Department.

In 1997 RCP established The Irish Players of Rochester as a program that produces Irish theater. The Irish Players are a member of the Acting Irish International Theater Festival.

1924-25 , Wedding Bells, Charm School, Expressing Willie, 1925-26 , Dulcy, In the Next Room, Goose Hangs High, Kick In, Ensmeared, Three Old Meddlers, Outward Bound, 1926-27, Captain Applejack, Adam & Eve, Grumpy, Smilin' Through, Ensnarled, Arms and the Man, Nothing But the Truth, 1927-28, Pals First, Icebound, Whole Town is Talking, Spread Eagle, So This is London, Jane Clegg, Come Seven, Alias the Deacon, 1928-29, Creaking Chair, Torch Bearers, Silence, Seven Keys to Baldpate, Queen's Husband, Tons of Money, Good Hope, Tea for Three, 1929-30, Treasure Island, Show Off, Trelawney of the Wells, Mary the Third, A Voice in the Dark, Aren't We All, Beyond the Horizon, Two Crooks & a Lady, Valiant, Suppressed Desires, 1930-31, Nineteenth Hole, Wisdom Tooth, Alice in Wonderland, Salt Water, A Little Journey, Skidding, Miss Nelly of N'Orleans, 1931-32, Baby Cyclone, Merchants of Glory, Cradle Song, Nut Farm, Shannons of Broadway, Blazen, First Year, Little Princess, Nervous Wreck, 1932-33, Little Old New York, Patsy, A Christmas Carol, Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp, Old Lady 31, Little Accident, Iz Zat So, Nine till Six, New Brooms, Reluctant Dragon, Criminal at Large, 1933-34, Whistling in the Dark, One Sunday Afternoon, Men Must Fight, Mrs. Bumpstead Leigh, Three Cornered Moon, A Tailor Made Man, Ghost Train, Patchwork Girl of Oz, When Ladies Meet, 1934-35, Her Master's Voice, Invitation to a Murder, Judgement Day, Under the Gas Lights, Big Hearted Herbert, Milky Way, Outward Bound, Claire Willowby, School for Husbands, 1935-36, Bishop Misbehaves, Ceiling Zero, Post Road, Twelfth Night, Accent on Youth, New Brooms, Fly Away Home, Children's Revue of 1936, A Man Who Married A Dumb Wife, Pierre Patelin, 1936-37, Let Us Be Gay, Libel, Black 'Ell, To the Ladies, Cricket on the Hearth, That's Gratitude, Dead Sister's Secret, Call it a Day, Clinging Vine, Emperor's New Clothes, Confessional, Real McCoy, Lady and Gent, Widow Barnsfield & The Major, Diary, Success Story, 1937-38, Spring Dance, Excursion, Night of January 16th, Penny Wise, One in a Lifetime, As Husbands Go, Jack & The Beanstalk, Fireman's Flame, Tin Cup, Spring Piece, Spring Fever, Safe Conduct, Sit Downers, Old Lady of Lynbrook, 1938-39, French Without Tears, Father Malachy's Miracle, Tovarich, Tonight at 8:30 (Ways & Means , Still Life, Family Album), Big Hearted Herbert, Hansel & Gretel, Star Wagon, Lady Has a Heart, Two Men and a Maid, Return from Tomorrow, Falling of the Tide, 1939-40, Susan & God, Our Town, Pinocchio, Idiot's Delight, White Steed, Candlelight, Alice in Wonderland, Pure as the Driven Snow, My China Doll, Tarbush, Scars of Zalagai, Photo Hobby, 1940-41, Guardsman, Two on an Island, I Killed the Count, Rumpelstiltskin, Margin for Error, Young April, When We are Married, Bat, George Washington Slept Here, 1941-42, Skylark, Male Animal, Flight to the West, Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp, Mr. & Mrs. North, All the Comforts of Home, Adam & Eve, Sixteen in August, Cuckoos on the Hearth, 1942-43, Claudia, Heaven Can Wait, Minick, Arsenic & Old Lace, Papa is All, Abie's Irish Rose, First Year, 1943-44, My Sister Eileen, Guest in the House, Charlie's Aunt, Spring Again, Uncle Harry, Junior Miss, You Can't Take it with You, 1944-45, But Not Goodbye, Ladies in Retirement, Janie, Village Green, Three's a Family, Spider, Kiss & Tell, 1945-46, Blithe Spirit, Bell for Adano, Over Twenty One, Soldiers Wife, Ramshackle Inn, Hasty Heart, My Sister Eileen, 1946-47, Late George Apley, Ten Little Indians, Ring Around Elizabeth, I Remember Mama, I Like it Here, Dear Ruth, Hasty Heart, 1947-48, Joan of Lorraine, Years Ago, Apple of His Eye, Hope for the Best, Ready Money, State of the Union, Fortune Hunter, 1948-49, Life With Father, An Inspector Calls, A Date with Judy, John Loves Mary, Thirteenth Chair, It Pays to Advertise, Man Who Came to Dinner, 1949-50, Belvedere, Winslow Boy, See How They Run, Life With Mother, Light Up the Sky, Broken Dishes, Two Blind Mice, 1950-51, Silver Whistle, Heiress, Good Housekeeping, Harvey, What a Life, Three Men on a Horse, Goodbye My Fancy, 1951-52, See Naples and Die, Gramercy Ghost, Father of the Bride, Pinocchio, Grand National Night, Born Yesterday, Varieties of 1952,  Curious Savage, 1952-53,  Happy Time, Second Threshold,  Golden State, Affairs of the State, Room Service, John Loves Mary,  Princess & the Goblin, Arsenic & Old Lace, 1953-54, Remains to be Seen, Angle Street, Stage Door,  Flying Gerardoes,  Country Girl, Jack & the Beanstalk, Too Many Husbands, Shadow of the Glen  & Riders to the Sea, 1954-55, Detective Story, Point of No Return, Time Out for Ginger,  Bishop Misbehaves,  Barretts of Whimpole St., Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp, Happy Birthday, 1955-56,  Rainmaker, Kind Lady, Private Lives, Papa is All,  Remarkable Mr. Pennypaker,  Princess & the Goblin, Dark of the Moon, Day that was THAT DAY, Two Slatterns & a King, Period House, 1956-57,  Solid Gold Cadillac,  Desperate Hours, Reclining Figure,  Mousetrap, Cyrano DeBergerac, Bus Stop, Snow White & the  Seven Dwarfs, 1957-58, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Witness for the Prosecution, Desk Set, Great Sebastians, Rope, Dark Lady of the Sonnets, End of the Beginning, Simple Simon, All for Mary, Happy Journey to Trenton & Camden, 1958-59, Guys & Dolls, Inherit the Wind, Visit to a Small Planet, Blithe Spirit, Forest Ring, As You Like It, Happiest Millionaire, 1959-60, Goldilocks, Death of a Salesman, Who Was That Lady I Saw You With?, Morning at Seven, Counselor-at-Law, Gazebo, 1960-61, Auntie Mame, Spider's Web, Come Back, Little Sheba, Devil's Disciple, Boy Friend, Marriage-Go-Round, 1961-62, Mr. Roberts, Lady in the Dark, Waterbabies, Deadly Game, Captain Paradise, Antigone, An Heir of Virtue, Best Man, Teahouse of the August Moon, Dark of the Moon, Wizard of Oz, 1962-63, Three Men on a Horse, Write Me a Murder, Fourposter, Ah, Wilderness!, Visit, Ozma of Oz, A Majority of One, Call Him Louder, 1963-64, Harvey, Take Her, She's Mine, Come Blow Your Horn, Old Lady Shows Her Medals & The Twelve Pound Look, Taming of the Shrew, Critic's Choice, Hair of the Dog, These are Not Children, A Choice to Make, 1964-65, Everybody Loves Opal, Calculated Risk, Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad, Jennie Kissed Me, Make Mine Mink, Hamlet, Sunrise at Campobello, Wizard of Oz, Three Bears, Tom Sawyers Treasure Hunt, 1965-66, My Friend the Fox, Never Too Late, Dear Me, The Sky is Falling, Days Between, Trap for a Lonely Man, Tartuffe, Send Me No Flowers, Three Bears, Racketty-Packetty House, 1966-67, Mary, Mary, A Case of Libel, A Thousand Clowns, All About Eve, Amphitryon 38, Sunday in New York, Three Little Pigs, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Young Mozart Writes His First Symphony, 1967-68, Barefoot in the Park, Ivory Tower, Wish I Had a Nickel, Subject was Roses, Fifth Season, Man Who Came to Dinner, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel & Gretel, Jack & the Beanstalk, Lady on the Rocks, Eye of the Hurricane, 1968-69, Odd Couple, Summertree, Present Laughter, A Delicate Balance, Amorous Flea, Philadelphia Here I Come, Red Shoes, Peter Pan, Heidi, yoUTHeater 1969, Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, Of Mice and Men, High Signs, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Me, 1969-70, Amorous Flea, Lion in Winter, Star Spangled Girl, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Flea in her Ear, Andersonville Trial, Little Princess, Aladdin, Great Cross Country Race, yoUTHeater 1970, George M!, Black Comedy , A Funny Thing Happen on the Way to the Forum, Celebration, 1970-71, Cactus Flower, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Don't Drink the Water, Right Honorable Gentleman, Man in White, A Shot in the Dark, 3 Bears Christmas, Tarzan, Bad Children, yoUTHeater 1971, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest, Once Upon a Mattress, Canterbury Tales, 1971-72, Don't Drink the Water, Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Sheep on the Runway, Power & the Glory, Room Service, Separate Tables (Table by the Window, Table #7), Gold Rush, Indian Captive, Pied Piper, yoUTHeater 1972, Serpent, Collision Course, Celebration, Land of Orlac, Rimmers of Eldritch, A Clearing in the Woods, MaryJane Ain't the Same, Cuba Si!, Dames at Sea, Dracula, 1972-73, Sunday in New York, Last Sweet Days of Issac, Halfway Up the Tree, Brown Pelican, Desire Under the Elms, Royal Family, How the Other Half Loves, Christmas Carol, Prince & the Pauper, 1973-74, Carnival, A Golden Evening at the Theater, How the Other Half Loves, Tonight at 8:30, Physician in Spite of Himself, You Can't Take it With You, Lily, The Felon's Daughter, Hadrian the 7th, Butterflies are Free, Rope Dancers, Seven Keys to Baldplate, Aesop's Fables, Rapunzel, Unwicked Witch, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, 1974-75, Damn Yankees, Rainmaker, Rainmaker, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Night Watch, Anna Christie, 6 Rms Riv Vu, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Ice Wolf, Golden Slippers -- Ragged Sneakers, 1975-76, Mad Show, Our Town, One acts (What's Dead, The Hairy Falsetto, The Old Lady Shows Her Medals), 6 Rms Riv Vu, Sunshine Boys, Petrified Forest, Secretary Bird, Little Foxes, Finishing Touches, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Gingerbread Boy, 1976-77, See How They Run , Oliver, Happy Time, Sherlock Holmes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Not Now Darling, Four Dancing Princess, Indian Captive, King of the Ice Cream Mountain, West Side Story, Charlie's Aunt, 1977-78, Room Service, Plaza Suite, King and I, Speaking of Murder, Don't Start Without Me, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cabaret Theatre, Auntie Mame, Life With Father, Rumpelstiltskin, Hobbit, 1978-79, Absurd Person Singular, My Fair Lady, Vivat, Vivat Regina, Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, Unsinkable Molly Brown, Cat Princess, Pinocchio, Status Quo Vadis, "Ladies & Gentlemen, Mr. Dickens Will Read...", Great Cross Country Race, Once Upon a Mattress, Once Upon a Mattress, 1979-80, Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia, Kiss Me Kate, Dial "M" for Murder, Step on a Crack, Sly Fox, No Sex Please, We're British, 1980-81, I Do, I Do, Black Comedy, Veronica's Room, Relatively Speaking, An Evening With Cecile Saine, Cave Dwellers, Runaways, 1981-82, Chapter Two, Anything Goes, Ladies in Retirement, That Championship Season, Solid Gold Cadillac, Story Theater, Working, 1982-83, High Spirits, Bus Stop, Toys in the Attic, Child Buyer. The, A Hotline to Heaven, A Midsummer's Night Dream, 1983-84, Desperate Hours, Murder Room, All the Way Home, True West, Spoon River Anthology, 1984-85, How the Other Half Loves, Whodunnit, 1985-86, Lovers & Other Strangers, Rashomon, Romantic Comedy, Sea Marks, Whose Life is It Anyway?, Pippin, 1986-87, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Deathtrap, Drunkard, Equus, Bedroom Farce, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 1987-88, Apple Tree, Sleuth, Drunkard, Rope Dancers, Best of Friends, Robber Bridegroom, Original One Acts (The Celebration, Watch it Gridley!), 1988-89, Nerd, Odd Couple [*The Female Version], Cabaret, Nuts, Gypsy Centerfold, 1989-90, Agness of God, Table Manners [The Norman Conquests], Company, Gingerbread Lady, Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, 1990-91, Shadow Box, Wait Until Dark, Two by Two, Sunshine Boys, Driving Miss Daisy, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Don't Sleep Under the Mapoo Tree, 1991-92, Towards Zero, Come Blow Your Horn, I Do, I Do!, Clever Dick, Lend Me a Tenor, The Shaggy Dog Murder Trial, 1992-93, Steel Magnolias, Prelude to a Kiss, Side by Side By Sondheim, Rumors, 1993-94, Love Letters, Social Security, Lips Together/Teeth Apart, Baby, 1994-95, Arsenic & Old Lace, Some Enchanted Evening, Breaking Legs, Bear & The Marriage Proposal, 1776, Twelfth Night, Tempest, 1995-96, Taming of the Shrew, Midsummer Night's Dream, Spoofydoof's Funnybone, World Goes Round, Story Theater, Jake's Women, The (Aprox.) 15 Minute Hamlet & other Really Neat Shakespearian Scenes, 1996-97, Macbeth, Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, Young Prince Hal, Jungle Book, South Pacific, Hamlet (A Workshop version), 1997-98, As You Like It, Rumpelstiltskin, Importance of Being Earnest, Tale of Marina, Playboy of the Western World, Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, Brush Up Your Shakespeare, Runner Stumbles, 1998-99, Othello, Kiss Me, Kate, Tempest in a Teapot, Evening at the Abbey: Spreading the News, Riddrs to the Sea, Cathleen Ni Houlihan, Henry V, Love's Labor's Lost, 1999-2000, Julius Caesar, Da, Twelfth Night (Children's), Midsummer Night's Dream, 2000-2001, Hamlet, Juno & the Paycock, Cymbeline, King of the Britons, Comedy of Errors, 2001-2002, Translations, Tempest, 2002-2003, Evening of Lady Gregory One Acts, Someone to Look Over Me, All's Well that Ends Well, 2003-2004, Whiteheaded Boy, Waiting for Godot, King Lear, 2004-2005, , Kings of the Kilburn High Road, Comedy of Errors, 2005-2006, Dancing at Lugnasa, Taming of the Shrew, 2006-2007, Poe Stories I, Faith Healer, Romeo & Juliet, 2007-2008,  All My Sons, The Hostage,  As You Like It,  2008-2009,  Love in the Title,  Hamlet

For extensive newspaper articles about RCP, see the Rochester Times Union June 7, 1960; Rochester Democrat & Chronicle January 3, 1965; Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, page 1H, Feb. 10, 1974;

Bound volumes of all RCP playbills from 1925 to 1972 are in storage at the Local History Department of the Rochester Public Library.