Railroad Square Reimagined: An Old Cinema Becomes a New Playhouse
The movie screens have gone dark and the scent of the “best popcorn in the known universe” no longer hangs in the air, but new life is coming to the former Railroad Square Cinema. Now rechristened The Playhouse at Waterville Station, the building is the new home for the Aqua City Actors Theatre (ACAT) and a venue for other arts and cultural events. The Playhouse will celebrate its grand opening on June 28, with an afternoon art and craft fair, concerts, and an evening of one-act plays.
Built in 1995 as a two-screen movie theater — the third screen was added seven year later — the building had seen little activity since December 2022, when the Maine Film Center relocated to the second floor of the new Paul J. Schupf Art Center.
But last fall, Randy and Lisa Jones of Augusta, bought the structure. Randy is a member of ACAT’s board of directors and longtime actor in various local theater groups. Lisa is not involved in theater herself, but she supports her husband’s passion. Their vision, as stated on The Playhouse’s website, is to create “a performance and event venue centered around the concept of artful ‘play’. Play can include acting, singing, comedy, music, recreation, education, or any other form of artistry or culture that makes our hearts joyful.”
Their purchase of the building fills a void in the Waterville theater scene, the need for black box theater to replace Studio 93, a 65-seat space in The Center. (A black box theater is small, no-frills performing space, typically with black walls, floor, and ceiling but without a raised stage.) The Center was torn down so that the Schupf Center could be built on the same spot.
Founded in 1994, ACAT is a community theater group that presents small-scale, thought-provoking comedies and dramas that appeal to theater buffs, but not necessarily to the masses. ACAT, which used to stage four plays per year, six performances per play, has not been able to hold regular performances since its last show in Studio 93 in November 2018, when it staged the comedy You Can’t Take It With You — a fitting title for a theater’s company’s last production in its longtime performance space.
Formerly known as Cinema 1, the largest theater at The Playhouse looks the same as it did when the last movie, Casablanca, was shown there on Thanksgiving Eve 2022. Now redubbed simply “The Theater,” the room will be retrofitted as a black box theater. Its principal tenant will be ACAT, but other theater groups will be able to use it when ACAT isn’t.
The Theater currently seats about 150 and has a simple platform two to three yards wide, which runs the length of the front of the room. In time, this platform will be replaced with a proper stage, and the first few rows of seats removed to accommodate it.
The former Cinema 2, now called “The Auditorium,” can hold around 90 people. According The Playhouse’s website, it is appropriate “for lectures, conferences, and performances by smaller groups” and will also be good “for community-participation events, such as open mic nights or karaoke parties.” It will keep its movie screen and will have a projector and sound system.
Plans for the smallest screening room, the 50-seat Cinema 3, and the former Buen Apetito restaurant space have not yet been finalized, but all the seats have been removed from the former and the kitchen of the latter is being renovated.
ACAT is now raising funds so that it can convert the former Cinema 1 from a theater for movies to one for plays. There are three main aspects to this conversion. First, ACAT wants to install state-of-the-art LED theater lights and associated infrastructure. For this phase of the project, ACAT estimates that it will need to raise around $150,000.
Next, ACAT is seeking to build a dressing room and a stage. The latter will include curtains, rigging, and access from the dressing room. ACAT expects the stage and dressing room to cost around $20,00 each.
ACAT has already held two fundraisers at The Playhouse: a voice workshop by Shannon Thurston and concert by singer/songwriter Stan Davis, who was last month’s headliner at the Union Coffeehouse in Belgrade Lakes. An anonymous donor has pledged to match the first $50,000 raised. Additionally, you may be able to deduct your donation from your income taxes. (Check with a tax professional first.) For more information on giving, you may call Stephanie Irwin, ACAT’s fundraising chair, at 319‑2656.
The Playhouse had a soft opening on Saturday, February 24, when the Recycled Shakespeare Company performed the Bard’s Richard III, but the official grand opening will take place at noon on Friday, June 28, with a ribbon cutting ceremony sponsored by the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.
Following the ribbon cutting, there will be an art and craft fair in the parking lot from 1:00 to 6:30, along with outdoor concerts by local performers Bella Ann at 1:00, Brian Richmond at 3:00, and the Elm City Strugglers at 5:00. The day’s festivities will conclude with ACAT’s performance of three, short, one-act plays in The Theater at 7:00. For further details, go to www.theplayhouse.me.
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