All About A-Spire!
Welcome to the A-Spire Players, Interlake Manitoba's Community Theatre. Let's draw the curtains back!
Who We Are
The A-Spire Players are a voluntary, non-profit association based in Gimli, Manitoba, which exists to both provide opportunities for the production and presentation of performing arts in our community and for the education of our audience and members in the performing arts.
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As an amateur organization, none of our members get paid for performing or participating. Any funds that we raise through our performances or through hosting outside performers goes into our bank account for the common good of our members. We're not just theatre arts but rather, we embrace all performing arts. As much as we're known for our Summer Theatre program and putting on theatrical performances, in the past, we've hosted and participated in poetry readings, improvisation comedy, dance recitals, and musical performances including Celtic, Country, Choral, Fiddling and Rock!
Our History
The A-Spire Players have been presenting productions for 25 years in the historic Gimli Unitarian Church. The Players were founded in 1992 by actor-writer-director Brian Richardson to bring live theatre to the beach communities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Originally known as the Gimli Theatre Association, the group later changed its name to the A-Spire Players to reflect the picturesque architecture of the century-old church and its steeple.
Over the years, the Players have entertained audiences with varied fare ranging from classic plays penned by Oscar Wilde and Moliere to modern comedies by Norm Foster, Neil Simon and Ken Ludwig. The works of local playwrights such as Mary Kaplan and Glynnis Morris have also been featured. In 2015, the group celebrated the 10th anniversary of its annual summer theatre festival which presents both its own plays and those of other Manitoba community theatre groups over the summer weekends.
Our Home
Operating from the Gimli Unitarian Church located at 76 2nd Avenue in Gimli Manitoba, A-Spire Players is one of only a handful of the performing arts groups in Manitoba to have year-round access to a theatre, with our own sound, lights, stage and storage.
The Gimli Unitarian Church (1904–05) was the first church built after four of Manitoba’s Icelandic congregations seceded from the Lutheran Synod.
This structure became the Mother Church of the Unitarian movement in Western Canada, as well as an institution of central importance to the Icelandic community. The building expresses this religious development in a direct and functional manner through its basic plan, wooden construction, modest Gothic Revival detailing and simple, yet elegant tower.
The interior of the church has been tailored to meet the requirements of A-Spire Players including a stage, backstage, lighting, sound, air- conditioned, theatre seating for eighty.
The building has been designated as a Municipal Heritage Site and continues to be used by the Unitarian Church for services on Sundays during the summers.