Harp Players are back in show business

WASHINGTON — A nonprofit group of actors will resume its yearly tradition of charity fundraising shows in conjunction with the Washington Community Center this March. The organization, called the Harp Players, had suspended its productions after 2019 in light of the pandemic.

Members will return to the stage March 10, 11, 17, 18 and 19 for a production of Clue, based on the 1985 movie, which was based on the 1949 board game.

Director Greg Wiley said participants were excited to be back after their first hiatus since the group’s founding in 1999. The group lost some members in that interim, 20 years after its creation, as actors decided to take a step back due to age, but he said the mission was still going strong.

“We were going to go last year, but there was a question as to whether or not … things were going to get better,” he said. “You spend at least an hour, for every minute onstage, working. Let’s say you have a 90-minute show, everybody’s spending at least 90 hours, and the director probably twice that. I had no desire to spend 180 hours or 200 hours on a project, and then go, ‘Oh, well there’s COVID, so we can’t do it now.’ So we decided we’d wait a year.”

Like with all Harp Players productions, the proceeds will be split between the community center and Harp Players, with the latter’s revenue going to charitable causes.

Wiley said it was a rewarding experience.

“One of the neatest things of being part of this has been, I’ve been able to find out a lot about the local charities,” he said. “And I was unaware there was such a need for different things … it’s amazing, the needs in the community, and it’s nice to be able to help with that. To be able to, in a very small way, contribute to or help some people that need a little help.”

The Harp Players coordinate with the theater for props and sets, but cast their own actors, direct their own show, and pick their own charities to benefit.

This year, the revenue will go to student supply funds at Highland, Mid-Prairie and Washington schools.

“The three school districts each have a fund for the kids where if they need something, a shirt, a backpack, deodorant, whatever they might need, they can go to this area and it’s for them,” Wiley said. “The money, as I understand it, goes directly to these organizations and not to the school district, so that it doesn’t get bogged down.”

Wiley said the group kept its focus local when picking charities. Previous recipients have included the Friends of Lake Darling, PAWS & More, RVAP, and a local food bank.

“We’re not going to get a ton of money, maybe a couple thousand dollars,” he said. “We want to be able to make a difference, and we know that with these, just a few hundred dollars will make a difference for kids, so we’re excited to do that.”

Contrary to its name, the group contains no harp-based musicians, but was founded by a group of friends who enjoyed the Harp Lager line of beer, and enjoyed being in plays, thus, “Harp Players.”

The name stuck, as did the annual tradition, according to Tom Dawson, one of the group’s original members.

“It’s just because we love to do it, and we wanted to make it count for something,” he said. “It was pretty much that basic.”

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