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The Community Theatre Co. was founded by Ashley Sarver Wachter—a playwright, director, and educator with a passion for turning real-life stories into unforgettable performances.
Our mission is simple: to help communities tell their own stories in a meaningful, creative, and lasting way.
Whether it's a small town's local legend, a school play inspired by its founding, or a new work celebrating everyday heroes, we believe theatre can spark connection, honor heritage, and bring people together in ways that last.
We offer everything from full-scale commissioned plays and musicals to workshops on docudrama, directing, and storytelling for all ages.
Meet Ashley
Ashley Sarver Wachter
Founder
Playwright, Director, Educator & Docudrama Journalist
Ashley is an award-winning director and playwright who specializes in developing new works and using sound design and music to create memorable storytelling experiences.
Currently, she is the program director for Johnson University's theatre program. She has been commissioned to write musicals and plays through grants from the Atlantic World Research Network, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Kodak, TN, and Johnson University. She has also worked for Triad Stage, Playwright’s Horizons, The Timber Theatre Co., Acting Out Theatre Co., the Kankakee Valley Theatre Association and was the program director of Olivet Nazarene University’s theatre program.
She is a musician and singer who performed in the Smoky Mountain String Band at Dollywood and has been in multiple jazz groups in Chicagoland and Greensboro, NC.
She received her MFA in Directing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She holds a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism and a MBA from Olivet Nazarene University.
She is married to the man of her dreams, Jacob and they live in East Tennessee with their two beautiful daughters Amelia and Jane and their sweet black lab, Ella.
Directing credits include: Our Town (JU), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (JU), The Wolves, All My Sons, These Shining Lives, Our Town (ONU), Guys & Dolls, Singin’ in the Rain, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ONU), Romeo & Juliet, Captain Hook, Frozen Jr., A Piece of My Heart, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Seventeen, The Tempest, The Refugee Women, The Little Mermaid, An Evening of Broadway, and a studio performance of MacBeth scenes.