At Peace Lutheran Church in Waunakee, members of Groundlings Theater rehearse for their upcoming production of Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Kate Hamill from the novel by Jane Austen. It’s one of the story’s most well-known scenes — Mr. Darcy dances with Elizabeth Bennet at the Netherfield Ball. The church’s stage comes alive with fervent conversation and bustling movement as director Hannah Nies observes the scene from a pew.

As Nies watches each cast member, she smiles, sometimes laughs. She takes pride in her work, she says, having wanted to direct plays since she was a kid.

“When I was five, I attended my first theater,” says Nies, who is 27. “It was kind of immersive. I got bit by the bug and did theater from the age of 11 onwards, through high school. I went to college with a double major in English and theater studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.”

Nies returned home and tried to find a directing gig around the end of 2023. But she found that arts groups, still recovering from COVID restrictions, wanted to stay with known entities. “Out of a place of sheer frustration,” she says, “I entertained the thought of doing things myself.”

Nies founded Groundlings Theater in the summer of 2024. It’s named after the 16th and 17th century term for those who paid the cheapest admission fee, usually a penny, to stand in an uncovered pit or yard.

The group’s initial stage was inside a barn at Schumacher Farm County Park, a historic farmstead on the edge of Waunakee.The conditions were not ideal: Doors wouldn’t close, the stage was rotting and there were not enough chairs — cast members were recruited to bring seating. Nies was working with “a shoestring budget.”

But with help from her mother, Deb, Nies went on to direct and produce A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the barn. Nies has continued to direct, while her mother works as executive producer.

Later that year, Nies directed a staged reading of a play called Blue Ribbons, written by Waunakee playwright Thomas Bakken.

The Groundlings’ work attracted the interest of Create Waunakee, a nonprofit that supports art and culture in the community, in 2025.

Jennifer Norback, development director of Create Waunakee, says Groundlings is “one of the best surprises to come out of Waunakee's creative scene. It was obvious right away that something special was taking root.”

“What strikes me most about Groundlings is how it pulls the whole village in, not just the actors and audience,” but businesses and neighbors too, adds Norback. “That's the kind of cultural engagement Create Waunakee is chasing — not just putting on a show, but building community around it.”

Groundlings is funded through donations, ticket sales, silent auctions, bake sales, and the Nies’ own money, as well as Create Waunakee.

Other productions have included The Importance of Being Earnest and a staged reading of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.

Nies had some concerns about attracting actors from the community but about 75 people expressed interest in being involved in some way in the Pride and Prejudice production and 24 people turned out to audition for eight roles.

Staged readings at Groundlings require no memorization — cast members just have to know how to read. All are welcome to audition for any production. “We have cast a lot of people who have never done theater before,” Nies says.

This gives community members a low-stakes entry into theater, and contributes to the group’s mission to keep theater accessible and approachable. “Give theater a try,” she says.

In October, Groundlings will present a staged reading of Nies’ adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage for World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival that celebrates new plays and musicals.

Pride and Prejudice runs July 17-26, at Peace Lutheran Church, 701 S. Century Ave. in Waunakee.