Charles Crane/MDN Lin Knickerbocker shows off the Mouse River Players’ voluminous costume collection, which takes up a large section of the theater’s basement.

A community theater, The Mouse River Players, is entering its 54th season this fall, offering a bevy of theatrical entertainment made possible by a dedicated cohort of local performers and volunteers and a great deal of local flavor.

The organization has been a major contributor to local arts in Minot since it was incorporated in 1971 by theater enthusiasts to provide the community with entertainment that otherwise was in short supply outside of school-related productions.

“Number one is entertainment. There’s nothing else in the city that isn’t school connected that brings live theatrical entertainment. We don’t ask people to pay to participate. It’s a way for individuals to be able to grow as people, because they get up on stage and find a piece of themselves they didn’t even know was there,” board member Lin Knickerbocker said.

The group initially staged productions at whatever venues were available, primarily at the Heritage Building downtown and later at the former Rosehill Cemetery Apartments until 2002, when MRP purchased its current home at the Old Labor Temple.

Mouse River Players members pride themselves on their entirely volunteer organization, from the casts populated by local thespians from Minot, Minot Air Force Base and other communities in the region to those who pitch in behind the scenes, constructing sets and putting the finishing touches on the theater’s recently completed remodel.

The remodel included an update to the building’s facade as a part of the City of Minot’s Facade Improvement Program, in addition to the conversion of several offices into a larger reception area and two new bathrooms.

MRP’s spirit of volunteerism has been a major driver for the organization from the beginning, as every part of the theater’s conversion from a dance hall and wedding venue into a functioning theater with stage, seating, lighting equipment and dividing walls was completed through the sweat equity of its members and the public. MRP officially took residence in the venue after work was completed in 2004.

MRP’s theater was named after and dedicated in 2005 to charter member Arlene Saugstad, whom Pearson described as a force both on and off stage in her years dedicated to performing with and promoting the troupe’s activities.

Knickerbocker said most productions often involve several individuals who have little to no experience on stage. Thousands of local actors and talent have taken part in MRP’s productions over the decades, covering a wide range of age groups from tots to senior citizens, though MRP member Nan Pearson said the exact number would be impossible to count.

“We never know. That’s one of the joys I would say of community theater. When we have open auditions, we are always anxious to see who comes to those auditions, and we welcome new people all the time,” Pearson said.

MRP performed the comedy-drama “Steel Magnolias” earlier this month. Other tentative productions include the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical interpretation of “Cinderella,” scheduled for November and December. Performances of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and the children’s play “Aesop’s Updated Fables” are scheduled for January and March of next year. The final play of the 2024-2025 season will be the satirical British play, “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which Pearson and Knickerbocker said comedically explores Murphy’s Law in action as a local theater troupe’s performance spirals into disaster.

Pearson said when planning a season, MRP seeks to put on shows that provide “something for everyone. The ‘Steel Magnolias’ may be a memorable one for people, whereas we want to leave them laughing. So having a last show with humor is important.”

MRP will be exploring additional programming through cooperation with Western Plains Children’s Choir, TruNorth Theatre in Bismarck and date night events with the Taube Art Museum. But the most important aspect of the MRP’s mission, according to Pearson, is cultivating a sense of community onstage and at large in Minot.

“We bring community to community theater. We bring a coming together of families. Families are formed when the cast comes together. We bring local talent. We bring local atmosphere in some of the choices of our plays. We have community in mind with every production that we have. When they come, we hope people have that sense of community, because it is their community theater,” Pearson said.