The Hagerstown Community College Theater Department first started in 1947, only a year after Hagerstown Junior College first opened. Still operating out of Hagerstown High School, the first theater troupe was created by speech and drama teacher Innes Boyer and was monikered “The Footlighters.” When the college built its own campus and moved to the new location in 1966, HJC president Dr. Atlee Kepler advocated for more student activities like theater. An auditorium was constructed on campus with this purpose in mind, and under the direction of the speech and drama teacher Barbara Guiney, the “Robinwood Players” took shape. Over the years, HJC’s theater department grew under the capable hands of key players such as Sarah Schlensinger who helped solidify the partnership between the theater department and the HJC Chorus. In 1978 work was finally completed on the first new building at HJC, the “Theater Building” as it was called until it would later be renamed for HJC’s first president Dr. Kepler. With the new building and state of the art equipment, theater productions at HJC blossomed. Summer theater workshops began in 1978, lead by Mike Harsh, who would later become a prominent member of faculty at HJC/HCC, who also would direct a majority of the shows between 1986 and 2005. The growth of the program lead to new hires to help continue the level of excellence, including costume designer Robin Shaner, the first full-time professor of music David Warner, technical director and later music director Joseph Marschner, and dance instructor Alyssa Foley. As the department grew, it was determined that they would soon need their own space away from the music department. And in 2012, renovations to the Kepler Theater were completed, providing the space and equipment necessary for the continued production of quality college theater.