The theater was established by Gerta Bendl[1] as a theatre space around 1956 in a pre-Civil War barn that was part of Martz Farm.
It grew when Bill Loucks and a group from Pittsburgh Playhouse expanded the building and named it the William Penn Theater.
[2][4][5][6][7][8] Apple Hill also produced seasons of adult programming, which included contemporary plays such as Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, Rabbit Hole, and Suite Surrender as well as plays from earlier eras such as Butterflies Are Free and The Prisoner of Second Avenue.
[3][9][10][11][12] The Apple Hill company produced and performed the courtroom drama Nuts in the Westmoreland County Courthouse.
[13] Apple Hill has also performed many musicals over the years, including Evita, Sweet Charity, and And the World Goes 'Round.