Temple Dickinson, left, who plays Sheriff Heck Tate, and Charley Goodman, who plays the judge, refamiliarize themselves with their lines during a moment of downtime.

GLASGOW – Far from the glitz and glamour of Broadway, a group of actors have come together to perform a classic tale about racism and prejudice.

The Far Off Broadway Players, a theater troupe that has existed in Glasgow for more than 50 years, will perform “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It opens Thursday with a school-day matinee for students in area school districts.

During a rehearsal at Glasgow’s Plaza Theatre, the actors went through a practice run that included light and sound cues for the play’s second and final act.

Dressed for the most part in everyday attire such as jeans, T-shirts and checkered button-downs, the actors nevertheless became their characters on the stage in front of the wooden facades representing the humble houses of fictional Maycomb, Ala.

Guiding them from his vantage point of a control panel at the back of the auditorium was Paul Glodfelter, creative director for the Far Off Broadway Players and husband of Carolyn Glodfelter, the Plaza Theatre’s director.

The actors went through the second half of the play, including sections of the trial, occasionally consulting their playbooks or asking Glodfelter for their lines or what to do during certain points when the lights dim or grow brighter.

Kendall Ford, who plays Tom Robinson, a black man on trial for raping a white woman, wasn’t a theater kid in school and didn’t develop an interest in acting until he was about 19.

When he was a member of Woodsonville Baptist Church in Munfordville, he volunteered to act in some skits.

“After I did a few of them there, it just gave me a knack (for) acting,” he said.

Now the pastor of the church, Ford has experience in two other productions of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,” he said.

In a production with the Kentucky Repertory Theatre in Horse Cave, he played a townsperson and in a production with the Barn Lot Theater in Edmonton, he played Reverend Sykes.

Robinson is the biggest role he’s had so far.

“I think it’s a real serious role, and it brings light to society and I hope people will be uncomfortable when they leave this play and ask themselves what they can do to make it better,” he said.

Ford said he’s been spending “every waking moment” rereading the play and going through his lines with friends and family and an app called LineLearner.

“So far, I think it’s been going great,” he said. “I think we become more of a family as we go along.”

Carlie Sanders, 11, who plays Scout, described “To Kill a Mockingbird” as her first serious play.

Previously, she’s played the title character in a Barn Lot Theater production of “Winnie the Pooh,” the Genie in “Aladdin” and a “silly girl” in “Beauty and the Beast.”

Before getting the part of Scout, Sanders said she’d never worked with the Far Off Broadway Players.

“We kind of just saw the ad for the Far Off Broadway Players auditions and since I’ve never been in a serious play before, my mom kind of wanted me to,” she said.

Her mother encouraged her to act at a young age because she saw that it would be a good outlet for her, Sanders said.

“I’ve always been that type of kid to love to play dress-up and act like different characters,” she said.

Though she had never worked with the company before, Sanders said she was enjoying her time with the Far Off Broadway Players, whose adult members have given her plenty of pointers on acting and helped her understand the story, which she acknowledged was the most “mature” work she’s been involved in.

John Botts, who plays Atticus Finch, said this is the second time he’s played the character, having performed in the same production in which Ford played Reverend Sykes.

Like Ford, Botts said he didn’t get involved in acting until after high school, though he began performing with the Higher Ground Drama Ministry at Coral Hill Baptist Church in his mid-20s.

“Everybody has a hobby. Some people fish, some people hunt, some people play a sport, and I enjoy sports as well, but I guess this acting thing has sort of been my niche, been my hobby now for about 20 years,” he said.

Botts also said he thinks of acting as a way to give back to the community.

In the last seven weeks, the troupe has progressed in their ability to bring the play to life and still isn’t finished, he said.

“We’re still fine-tuning,” he said. “So we’ve come a long way, but we’ve got a lot of things to tighten up in this last seven days.”

Botts has confidence in the Far Off Broadway Players.

“I have no doubt we will because I know so many of these folks and I know how dedicated they are but it’s still, there’s always that nervousness when you’re this close to production,” he said.

Being a stage actor comes with a lot of stress, Botts said, adding that the secret to managing the stress is to be prepared and to be encouraging, adding that some encouragement is important, especially when the actors are putting in about three hours of work acting after their regular day jobs.

“You’re already tired when you get here but just try to encourage, lift up everyone and that’s kind of the key,” he said.

He said he believes the Far Off Broadway Players provide a valuable service to the community by allowing people to see quality plays without having to go to Louisville or Nashville.

“Not every community of our size has something like this so we are blessed to have this because it’s a good outlet for folks like me,” he said.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is the first play Glodfelter has directed for the Far Off Broadway Players, though he has years of experience directing and acting in stage shows in Kentucky and across the country.

There aren’t many jobs that allow you to do work toward delighting an audience, Glodfelter said.

“I think that’s what keeps bringing me back,” he said. “It’s just that privilege and joy to just create something for the audience.”

So far, the professionalism of the actors has made Glodfelter’s job easy, he said.

“I don’t really have to do much, man,” he said. “I put out a schedule, like a very detailed rehearsal schedule and people know when they have to come in, people have to know what they’re expected to know and learn when they come in here so I haven’t had any problems with anybody.”

Though he wasn’t involved in the troupe’s play selection committee choosing “To Kill a Mockingbird,” he sad he’s thrilled to be presenting Glasgow with a story that, even today, has a lot to say about race and prejudice in American society.

Glodfelter said the play is closer to the book than the movie, which he said was a great film, though it was given the PG treatment.

“The book is really kind of raw, and the movie didn’t quite grasp that,” he said.

The troupe has been in rehearsal three to four nights a week for the last seven weeks, Glodfelter said.

“These are local people, you know,” he said. “These aren’t professional actors but I’m telling you, you see them do what they do and it’s amazing.”

– Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.