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About the Factory Theatre
History
The Factory Theatre is a theatrical venue for both
Greenville College and the surrounding communities. The theatre
program is a part of the Communication Department of Greenville
College, a Christian liberal arts college of 1,200 students in Greenville, IL.
The Factory Theatre, an intimate studio setting, has a fascinating
history. It is housed in what was originally four businesses.
The Greenville Steam Laundry picked up and delivered in a
horse-drawn laundry cart. The Hygienic Ice Company and the
Hygienic Dairy and Ice Cream Company were flourishing businesses
before electric refrigeration. Refrigeration cars on the Pennsylvania
Railroad adjacent to the now-existing Factory Theatre were switched
onto the siding south of the factory and loaded with ice.
The Model Glove Company manufactured and sold about 100 varieties
of styles, weights, and sizes of work gloves for men, women, and
children. Their customers were largely wholesale paper, hardware,
grocery, dry goods and large mail order houses throughout the United
States. Among them are J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Sears
Roebuck and Company, Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company, Campbell
Soup, and Rice-Stix Dry Goods. Gloves were manufactured in
the building from 1907 to 1960.
In 1970 Greenville College took occupancy, and in 1973
the newly-dubbed Factory Theatre produced its first play there,
David Mellick's The Wall. The show was
produced for an audience of sixty people in folding chairs, and
was lighted with one-gallon vegetable cans fashioned into stage lights.
Today
The Factory Theatre currently performs plays for almost 3,000 patrons each year with a season
of up to six plays. It is staffed by theatre majors, and has well-equipped
scene, properties, and costume shops, and state-of-the-art lighting
and sound equipment. Now the sewing machines in the costume
shop create colorful dresses, hats, and capes rather than work gloves.
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