Black Hills Playhouse rebrands, adds Sioux Falls location

A longtime staple South Dakota theater production company has a new name and an additional location.

The historic Black Hills Playhouse – a professional summer stock theater company founded in the 1940s in Custer State Park – has rebranded to Theatre 605 but focuses on its same core mission, vision and values rooted in “telling stories and changing lives.”

Theatre 605 is both professional and educational with outreach across the state while it prioritizes inclusivity and accessibility to the arts.

“We want people to know we’ve been here — we’re just helping put the puzzle pieces together for people,” Deb Workman said. “I don’t know of any other company that does the variety of theater that we do.”

Its family of programs include Theatre 605 Black Hills Playhouse, Theatre 605 Jr. Camps, Theatre 605 Tours and Theatre 605 Expanding Stage, which is a partnership with various organizations such as DakotAbilities.

Workman, an artistic director who also oversees Expanding Stage, said this rebrand gives the company more visibility statewide.

“We’re not in it to make the next Broadway star, but we are in it to have creative politicians who think outside the box … engaging teachers … people of all ages and abilities learning healthy ways to express themselves,” she said of those whom Theatre 605’s programming will reach. “Theater covers all of that.”

Theatre 605 now has space inside Wesley United Methodist Church at 1700 E. Sixth St. for office and storage space in addition to performances.

Before, Workman’s employees and volunteers would work around the theater programs at Augustana University, the University of Sioux Falls or the University of South Dakota to train tour teams on lighting or set design.

“It is company-changing for us, and we’re excited to see what the possibilities are in this space moving forward,” she said.

Learn more about Theatre 605 or get involved online or on Facebook.