The Waterworks Players, Farmville's local theater group, got its start in the early 1970s. Dudley Sauve, then a professor at Longwood College (now known as Longwood University), was approached by some friends about doing a theatre production. Shortly thereafter, they found a place to perform -- Southside Virginia Community College  in Keysville -- and put on their first production, "The Odd Couple." It was a complete sell-out.

The play, which starred Keysville attorney Ed Baker, gave birth to what was then called the Daniel Players (The group got its original name because the Keysville campus of SVCC is known as the John H. Daniel campus). The Daniel Players performed there for about three years, putting on three or four shows per year. But eventually, the group got too big for the college and was asked to leave.

Their move coincided with the play "Shenandoah," which was first produced at SVCC. During its run, which was also during the very first Heart of Virginia festival, the group and the production moved to the lower dining hall at Longwood. That became their home for a number of years until the early- to mid-1980s.

The group then planned to move into a new home at the old water treatment plant, which is now home to the Farmville Fire Department. That move fell through, however, and they instead set up shop in the building may be best known for once housing Six-Shooters. But it was from the water plant that the group took a new name - Waterworks Players.

Waterworks performed out of the "Six-Shooters" building through the mid- to late-eighties. When the water on the property was cut off, leaving performers and patrons with no way to use the bathroom or wash their hands, the group moved out and became inactive for the next two years.

Waterworks received new life in the early 1990s when Richmond attorney Mort Tahlhiemer contacted Sauve about purchasing the Old State Theater on Main Street in Farmville. He lowered the asking price, and Ralph Haga secured financing to buy it. After a summer of cleaning out the mold and rats, as well as installing new pipes and rope for the stage pulleys, Waterworks was back in business.

They stayed there for about five years, but had to move out when the roof caved in during an ice storm. At that point, they traded the theater with the town for the property they now occupy. Sauve and others built the playhouse from scratch, and Waterworks put on the first production in their new home, "The Fantastics," in February 1996.

More recent productions have included "Miss Saigon", "Picnic", "The Glass Menagerie", "Cabaret", "Arsenic & Old Lace", "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", and "Jesus Christ Superstar". Cast members and crew are all local residents of Prince Edward and its surrounding counties or students at Longwood University and Hampden Sydney College. In the past two years the Waterworks Players have begun what is hoped will be come a Holiday Tradition performing a traditional British Pantomime every year at the beginning of December. In 2006 they performed "Puss In Boots" and in 2007 they performed "Aladdin". As a popular form of theater, British pantomime combines song, dance, and slapstick comedy that are loosely based on traditional children's stories. Audience participation is built into the shows and there are jokes aimed at both the children and the adults accompanying them.

Waterworks currently puts on four or five shows per year. Occasionally they'll have a dinner theater, which allows patrons to enjoy dinner before the show.