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South Coast Repertory, 1963-1972: A Case Study

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South Coast Repertory, 1963-1972: A Case Study

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Content SOUTH COAST REPERTORY, 1963-1972;
A CASE STUDY
by
David Michael Enunes
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Communication— Drama)
February 1973
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University Microfilms
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A Xarox Education Company
73-m,J*02
EMMES, David Michael, 1939-
SOUTH COAST REPERTORY, 1963-1972: A CASE STUDY.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1973
Theater
University Microfilms, A X E R O X Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED.
U N IV E R S IT Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L IF O R N IA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
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This dissertation, w ritten by
under the direction o f Ais Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by a ll its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Graduate
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D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
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I
TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................. iv
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION................................. 1 ]
Statement of the Problem
i Importance of the Study
| Limitations of the Study
| Definition of Terms
! Review of the Literature
j Plan of the Study
II. THE AESTHETIC ROOTS OF RESIDENT THEATRE .... 15
III. ANTECEDENTS, 1960-1963 40
The Production of La Ronde
IV. THE FIRST STEP, 1964: DEVELOPING AN
AESTHETIC................................... 72
The Summer of 1964
The Fall of 1964
V. THE SECOND STEP, 1965-1967 132
i
General History
The Aesthetic Position
The Physical Theatre
Productions
Design
IX
Chapter Page
The Company and Key personnel
Administration and Business
Audience and Area
National and International Trends
Aesthetic Analysis
General History
The Aesthetic Position
The Physical Theatre
Product ions
Design
The Company and Key Personnel
Administration and Business
Audience and Area
National and International Trends
Aesthetic Analysis
The Physical Theatre
Productions
Design
The Company and Key Personnel
Administration and Business
Audience and Area
National and International Trends
Conclusion
VI. THE THIRD STEP: 1967-1972 225
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 367
APPENDIXES
Appendix A: Production History 399
Appendix B: Financial History 417
BIBLIOGRAPHY 423
iii
| LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate Page
I. The Alchemist................................. 92
II. The Birthday Party . ........................... 197
III. Juno and the Paycock............................. 198
IV. America Hurrah! ................................. 322
V. We Bombed in New Haven...........................324
F igure
1. -Groundplan of Second Step Theatre..............150
2 . Groundplan of Third Step Theatre.................246
iv
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
South Coast Repertory is a professional (non-union)
resident theatre company situated in Orange County, Cali
fornia. Its stated objective is "to create a resident
theatre of national importance in Orange County."^ Since
1963, under the same artistic leadership, it has moved ever
closer to this goal; South Coast Repertory has grown from a
homeless touring group of 12 individuals into an organized
theatre company of over 60 persons presently housed in a
190-seat open-stage theatre.
South Coast Repertory has won considerable artistic
recognition. In 1970, the theatre won the Los Angeles Drama
Critics Circle Award for "consistent achievement in produc-
2
tion." In addition to commendations from Orange County
^Statement by Martin Benson, personal interview,
April 29, 1972.
2
General Records, South Coast Repertory, 1970.
1
T
public officials, the theatre has received grants from two
3
California foundations to assist its artistic growth. In
1971, in recognition of its artistic achievements, South
Coast Repertory received a grant from the National Endowment
for the Arts under a title designed to support "experimental
4
theatre projects." The theatre has been chosen by the
Office for Advanced Drama Research, an organization funded
by the Rockefeller Foundation, to participate in the pro
duction of plays by new playwrights.5 The theatre has re
ceived consistent praise from the major drama critics of
Southern California.
South Coast Repertory's artistic accomplishments
have brought it within reach of its final goal: a large
permanent theatre that will provide the basis for a full-
scale professional operation. The theatre is currently
participating in the planning of a cultural center to be
constructed in the Fashion Island shopping center of Newport
Beach. When successfully completed, the center will provide
South Coast Repertory with a modern 600-seat open-stage
3
Statement by Warren Deacon, personal interview,
kpril 29, 1972. All subsequent statements by Deacon quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
4
NEA Records, 1971, South Coast Repertory.
5
_________QADR Records, 1970-1972, South Coast Repertory.
3
theatre, a base of continuing community support, and the
g
ability to maintain a fully professional company.
Statement of the Problem
The promise of South Coast Repertory's future rests
clearly on its artistic achievements, accomplishments that
were dictated and controlled by an evolving aesthetic of
theatre. And it is here that a key point must be observed:
South Coast Repertory was founded from a completely theo
retical point of view. That is, none of its founders had
ever been involved in the operation of a resident regional
theatre; they were theatre unknowns, fresh from college, whc
had yet to test their theories. They embraced a broad, yet
untried, commitment to regional theatre and the concept of
a resident company.
By 1965, in the first significant phase of South
Coast Repertory's producing history, they had articulated
six fundamental principles to guide their future theatre
work. One, they subscribed to the concept of non-commer
cial, decentralized theatre that seeks to expand theatre as
a contemporary art. Two, they believed that a resident
company of artists, committed to ensemble work, is the best
6
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
4
means of developing theatre as an art. Three, they advo
cated the full utilization of the presentational and the
atrical qualities of theatre whenever a play permitted such
treatment. Four, they believed that imaginative and rele
vant productions of the classics had an important place in
the repertoire of their theatre. Five, they felt that the
production of experimental or avant-garde plays played an
important part in the development of theatre as an important
contemporary art. Six, they advocated the production of new
plays by American authors as a means of developing a strong
tradition of American theatre.
Given this, a pertinent problem arises: after eight
producing seasons and over 70 productions, what effect have
the practical realities of operating a resident repertory
theatre had on the essentially theoretical basis upon which
South Coast Repertory was founded? Were there factors,
events, and forces encountered in the day-to-day operation
of a theatre that changed or extended the South Coast Reper
tory's aesthetic character? Has South Coast Repertory been
able to develop the kind of resident theatre it started out
to create? How workable, when faced with actual practice,
were the basic aesthetic tenets of resident theatre that
were so often espoused in the early sixties? To what degree
5
have these precepts proved viable; to what degree have
practical realities necessitated a modification or change of
aesthetic belief? Lastly, is South Coast Repertory's aes
thetic experience unique or have other regional theatres in
California experienced similar influences?
The purpose of this study is to investigate the
aesthetic posture of South Coast Repertory and to analyze
those forces vfcich may have affected its aesthetic growth.
First, the study will seek to establish the aesthetic frame
work with which South Coast Repertory began operation.
Next, it will be concerned with providing answers to the
following questions regarding production history:
1. Did the physical theatres of South Coast Reper
tory affect its aesthetic?
2. Did certain plays or productions influence the
artistic point of view?
3. Did practices in design and stagecraft alter or
strengthen the theatre's aesthetic?
4. Did key individuals contribute to or otherwise
shape South Coast Repertory's aesthetic?
5. Did administrative or financial developments
affect artistic beliefs?
6. Did the Orange County audience influence South
6
Coast Repertory's aesthetic?
7. Did national or international trends in theatre
affect the aesthetic?
Thus, by establishing South Coast Repertory's aes
thetic at the beginning of its production history and by
examining those forces present in the day-to-day context of
operating a theatre, it will be possible to summarize and
analyze the aesthetic character of South Coast Repertory.
It will be possible to draw conclusions with regard to the
aesthetic evolution of South Coast Repertory.
Importance of the Study
By analyzing South Coast Repertory as a theatre that
was founded on the principles of resident theatre as they
existed in 1963, it will be possible to discover if these
principles have proved viable and realistic. It will be
possible to determine to what degree the aesthetic goals of
resident theatre were realistically attainable in the pro
ducing realities of Orange County and California between
1963 and 1972.
The study will gain additional value by comparing
the South Coast Repertory findings, in a general way, with
the aesthetic experience of other regional theatres in
7
California. These comparisons, based on interviews with
artistic leaders of other regional theatres, will be able
to provide information with regard to the degree that there
appear to be common aesthetic influences on resident the
atres. Thus it will be possible to view South Coast Reper
tory's specific aesthetic history in the general perspective
of regional theatre in California.
More specifically, the study will be able to provide
information and insight with regard to the problem of how
the producing realities of operating a theatre may have
changed or altered the basic aesthetic with which South
Coast Repertory began operation. It will be possible to
identify those forces which contributed to the successful
artistic growth of South Coast Repertory in Orange County.
The study serves two additional purposes. One, the
study will present a systematic method, based on sound and
workable criteria, of analyzing the aesthetic character of
a regional theatre. This investigative approach, based less
on aesthetic theory and more on the producing practice which
reveals a more accurate view of a theatre's aesthetic, can
provide a methodology with which other regional theatres may
be examined. Two, the conclusions of the South Coast Reper
tory study will be of use to individuals planning the
8
establishment of a similar type of theatre.
Limitations of the Study
The study will be limited to specific investigation
of the theatre aesthetic of South Coast Repertory. As such,
the study will not present a comprehensive history of South
Coast Repertory; areas such as economic growth or business
organization will be discussed only to the degree they serve
the aesthetic analysis.
Similarly, a detailed comparative study of South
Coast Repertory and other regional theatres in California
will not be attempted; such an objective would be beyond
the bounds of the controlling purpose of the study. Rather,
general comparative information concerning other theatres
will contribute to the concluding chapter, which will ana
lyze the aesthetic history of South Coast Repertory and
place it in the general perspective of regional theatre in
California.
The study will be concerned more with discovering
the aesthetic character of South Coast Repertory as a pro
ducing theatre and less with revealing the particular aes
thetic belief of any given individual in theatre. Naturally
the aesthetic contributions of key persons will be
9
discussed, but only to the degree that they influenced or
otherwise helped shape the aesthetic of South Coast Reper
tory.
Definition of Terms
It is commonly acknowledged by aestheticians that
the field of aesthetics is a loosely organized subject area
comprising numerous and divergent theories and points of
view. Generally, however, aesthetics can be defined as the
philosophy of art. As a field of inquiry, it seeks to
answer such questions as what is art, upon what principles
is it created, and what value is it to man and civilization.
To the Earl of Listowell, the concerns of aesthetics range
"from the contemplative enjoyment of art and nature to the
7
mysterious creative process of artistic construction."
Monroe C. Beardsley offers a definition which helps to
narrow the purpose of this study: "As a field of knowledge,
aesthetics consists of those principles that are required
0
for clarifying and confirming critical statements."
Thus, for the purpose of this study, aesthetics will
7
A Critical History of Modern Aesthetics (New York:
Teachers College Press, 1967), p. 195.
^Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criti
cism (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1958), p. 3.
10
be limited to a consideration of the art of the theatre. A
theatre aesthetic, as held by an individual or reflected in
a theatre's work, will be defined as a conception of what
theatre is as an art and how it ought to be realized in
practice. Hence this study, using Beardsley's definition as
a guide, will seek to identify those "principles" which
comprise the aesthetic posture of South Coast Repertory in
order to clarify and confirm the critical statements of
analysis.
Review of the Literature
An important concern of this study is to establish
the theatrical state of the resident theatre movement in the
United States at the time South Coast Repertory was formed.
Thus it will be possible to view South Coast Repertory from
the perspective of the historical and aesthetic development
of resident theatre.
There is considerable literature available in which
to trace the major developments that resulted in the crea
tion of professional resident theatre in the United States.
Before 1920, Edith Isaacs in the Theatre Arts Monthly and
Sheldon Cheney in The Art Theatre envisioned a decentralized
amateur theatre movement that could create a vital national
11
theatre. In 1929, Kenneth Macgowan in Footlights Across
America professed a similar hope for the university and
community theatre. The decade of the 1930s is represented
by Hallie Flanagan in Arena and Harold Clurman in The Fer
vent Years who reveal, respectively, the hope for a strong
regional theatre and a concern for the production of artful
and relevant drama.
In 1941, Norris Houghton in Advance from Broadway
supported a view that the hope of a strong regional theatre
must rest with professional organizations. Frederick
McConnell in a National Theatre Conference Bulletin. John
Gassner in The Theatre in Our Times. and Gard and Burley in
Community Theatre reiterate this idea.
Insight into the professional resident theatre is
provided by Margo Jones in Theatre-in-the-Round. Tyrone
Guthrie in A New Theatre. Herbert Blau in The Impossible
Theatre. and Stuart Vaughn in The Possible Theatre. Evalu
ation and discussion of the movement is provided by numerous
issues of the Tulane Drama Review published since 1960;
Theatre in America by Jack Poggi; Beyond Broadway by Julius
Novick; and Theatre in America, a special study prepared by
the National Theatre Conference.
12
Plan of the Study
This study will make use of the extensive informa
tion sources of South Coast Repertory; the theatre has main
tained an orderly and relatively complete set of files.
These include box-office and tax records, complete press
clippings and reviews, audience studies, designer ground-
plans, production photographs and slides, and program notes.
In addition, there is considerable literature concerning the
theatre's artistic endeavors— correspondence on artistic
matters and printed materials of an artistic nature pro
duced by South Coast Repertory. These materials include
three position papers, produced over a period of five years,
that reveal the theatre's stated aesthetic position. Other
materials available are articles and books on the regional
theatre, articles and features on South Coast Repertory,
and a University of California at Los Angeles Master's the
sis on South Coast Repertory.
In addition, the study will include information
acquired by interviewing 30 selected individuals vrtio are
particularly familiar with South Coast Repertory's growth
and aesthetic development. These individuals can be cate
gorized into five general groups. The first group repre
sents people who have essentially observed the growth of the
13
theatre and includes Board members, audience members, a
University of California drama professor, and theatre pro
fessionals. The second group consists of four theatre
critics who possess an overview of the theatre’s work. The
third group is composed of former members of South Coast
Repertory who have gone on to other areas of professional
theatre and who thus possess a retrospective view of the
theatre. The fourth group includes present members of
South Coast Repertory and contains an individual who has
been active since the beginning of the theatre. The last
group is composed of the three Artistic Directors and
founders of South Coast Repertory.
The South Coast Repertory records and printed matter
and the extensive interview information assure a sufficient
depth and breadth of material to render an objective judg
ment on the aesthetic of South Coast Repertory. Since the
author of this study has been involved with South Coast
Repertory since its beginning, there is a need to insure
objectivity. Obviously, then, personal judgments of the
writer will be avoided; conclusions will be drawn and jus
tified from evidence validated by treatment in the text.
The study consists of a section on the aesthetic
roots of the professional resident theatre and four major
14
units concerning major periods of South Coast Repertory's
production history. These are followed by a summarizing anc
concluding chapter which analyzes the findings of the four
essentially self-contained chapters.
Chapter II discusses the background and history of
the professional resident theatre in the United States and
identifies the sources of the aesthetic tenets of this move
ment. Chapter III establishes the basic events and influ
ences that resulted in the formation of South Coast Reper
tory, develops the background and training of the founders
of the theatre, and discusses the theatrical activity that
preceded the actual beginnings of the theatre.
The next three chapters subdivide the South Coast
Repertory's production history into major areas of growth
and development. The purpose of each chapter is to iden
tify circumstances which influenced the theatre's aesthetic.
The chapters examine a similar pattern of topical subhead
ings : general history, physical theatre, production, key
personnel, design, administration and business, and audi
ence and area. These topics will be discussed only to the
extent they provide information on South Coast Repertory's
aesthetic and to the degree they contribute to the conclud
ing analysis of each chapter.
CHAPTER II
THE AESTHETIC ROOTS OF RESIDENT THEATRE
South Coast Repertory was born in the early sixties,
a time when the promise of professional resident theatre
never seemed brighter. For Richard Schechner it was a time
when many people "looked beyond New York with . . . utopian
hopes.Concluding a six-year study of the American the
atre which began in 1961, the National Theatre Conference
recognized "the professional resident theatre movement as
the newest and most promising development on the American
2
theatre scene." Zelda Fichandler, director of the success
ful Arena Stage in Washington, D. C., wrote:
When the power of men and the power of the movement
come together, anything and everything can happen.
^ • Public Domain (Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-
Merrill Co., Inc., 1969), p. 14.
2
Robert E. Gard, Marston Balch, and Pauline B.
Tempkin, Theater in America (Madison, Wise.: Dembar Educa
tional Research Services, Inc., 1968), p. 111.
15
16
It is possible that the American Theatre is on the
edge of such a time, or already within it, and that
this is the time when our theatre is to come of age
If, as Fichandler writes, the sixties were the time
when the resident theatre movement came of age, then it must
be observed that the time was, from a developmental per
spective, many years in the making. And while the profes
sional theatre movement can be regarded as a phenomenon that
emerged after World War II, there are aesthetic roots that
go back to the first decades of this century. In order to
assess its aesthetic development, it is necessary to estab
lish South Coast Repertory's relationship to the profes
sional resident theatre movement. This can be done only by
identifying the principal characteristics of resident the
atre and their aesthetic roots in American theatre. This
chapter does not seek to provide a comprehensive history of
resident theatre: it will discuss the major ideas and
events that contributed to the artistic makeup of resident
theatre and which, by the early sixties, created the theat
rical environment in which South Coast Repertory was
founded.
As is commonly known, by the beginning of this
’ ■'Quoted in Gard et al.. Theatre in America, p. 117.
17
century the American theatre was largely in the hands of
men who placed business values above artistic values.
Actors and playwrights had to practice their craft within
very narrow and restrictive business confines. Oscar G.
Brockett summarizes the theatrical state:
By 1900, the Syndicate was in effective control of
the American theatre. Now in a position to influence
the choice of plays, it refused to accept works not
likely to appeal to a mass audience, and favored pro
ductions which featured stars with large personal
followings. Thus, between 1900 and 1915, the Ameri
can theatre became largely a commercial venture.
With theatre managing separate from play producing,
theatre became big business. Charles Frohman, one of the
principal forces of the Syndicate, stated his view of the
atre as art:
The idea of "lost art" in the drama exists only
in the minds of the very few who feel that the the
atre ought to be a classroom, and that "Oedipus
Tyrannus" ought to be the standard of the high-class
theatre. As a matter of fact, the class of entertain
ment that is being given is not only satisfactory to
the audiences, but it is beneficial to their health,
and in no way conducive to harm . . . The public seeks
entertainment and diversion from care
4
History of the Theatre (Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
1968), p. 511.
5Quoted in Jack Poggi, Theater in America (Ithaca,
N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1968), pp. 255-256.
18
A rejection of a commercially dominated American
theatre in favor of an American theatre committed to the
art of drama began to develop after 1916. With the estab
lishment of Theatre Arts Magazine, which began publishing ir
1917, the notion of an art theatre modeled after the ideas
of Craig and Appia and the practice of Antoine, Copeau, and
Meiningen began to be advocated. The work of the European
pioneers provided bright examples of what theatre as an art
might be; their work served as a catalyst in the development
of an American art theatre. Edith Isaacs acknowledged their
influence:
. . . the courage and high purpose, the clarity of
vision and creative iconoclasm of certain European
leaders was an example, an aid, and a spur to the
young American artists . . . what these men added
to the generation's free, straight thinking about
theatre is a debt gratefully acknowledged.
With the example of Europe firmly in mind, Sheldon
Cheney stated that the presence of business and the Syndi
cate led to the neglect of a potential American art the-
7
atre. Writing in the spring of 1918, Arthur Hopkins, one
®Edith Isaacs, ed., Theatre (Freeport: Books for
Libraries Press, 1927), p. ix.
7The Art Theatre (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1917),
p. 66.
19
of America's most creative producers, attacked the re
strictive control of New York producers:
Their aims, inclinations and tastes very largely
determine what shall pass as dramatic art in all
the centers, large and small, where people gather
for illusionment,®
In order to improve the American theatre and to
start the work toward the creation of an art theatre in the
United States, Hopkins stated: "To begin with, author,
director, scene designer and actor must become completely
9
the servants of the play." in short, theatre must have its
basis in artistic intent, not financial gain.
In their rejection of the commercially dominated
theatre and their assertion of an artist-dominated theatre,
Hopkins and Cheney established one of the characteristic
tenets vftiich would distinguish the professional resident
theatre movement some thirty years later. This tenet would
be that theatre is a vital art that provides experiential
t
insight into the human condition.
Unique to these early ideas of creating a serious
theatre in America was the notion that a truly national
Q
"Our Unreasonable Theatre," Theatre Arts Magazine.
Spring, 1918, p. 79.
Q
Ibid., p. 81.
20
theatre might be created by the establishment of regional
producing organizations. In an Editorial Comment in 1917,
Theatre Arts Magazine outlined an objective for progressive
theatrical leaders: "a primary aim of every progressive
must be the establishment of independent producing theatres,
concerned primarily with art rather than profits, in every
American city."*^ Sheldon Cheney in The Art Theatre looked
to the future:
I think I see before me a new dramatic map of America.
It is not like the old one— which appeared so strangely
like an octopus, with its bulk over New York and its
arms stretching out to Canada and Texas and the West
Coast. Instead there are many independent centers.
Each represents, I am told, a mature playhouse which
is concerned with the art of the theatre, just as in
these same cities there are galleries concerned with
painting and sculpture, and libraries concerned with
serious literature.
Joining the editorial staff of Theatre Arts Magazine
in April, 1919, Edith Isaacs championed the idea of a de
centralized American theatre. Throughout the twenties, the
magazine carried regular sections on Tributary Theatre, a
term coined by Isaacs and the magazine to identify the
regional theatre. In an article titled "The Tributary
p. 47.
^Editorial, Theatre Arts Magazine. December, 1917,
^ The Art Theatre, p. 228.
21
Theatre Meeting the Mainstream," Isaacs summarized the hopes
of the Little Theatre movement:
The Tributaries must feed the mainstream; the states
must feed New York. As long as New York feeds the
states the American theatre will remain only a back
wash from the waters that run by the market place. ^
A unique feature of this concept of a decentralized
and vital American theatre was that it was to be brought
about by an amateur movement, an amateur movement in the
sense that Antoine and, in part, Copeau's efforts in France
stemmed from positions which emphasized the literature and
art of the theatre and remained, in practice, outside the
"professionalism" of Boulevard theatre. Kenneth Macgowan
summarized the hope for a similar American movement in his
Footlights Across America, a survey of national decentral
ized theatre activity which he completed in 1929:
I believe that it is just as possible that this ama
teur theatrical system may develop into something as
close to a national theatre as the complex of richly
productive playhouses . . . served Germany so well
before the war.^
But this hope of a vital amateur art theatre move
ment which, from various parts of the country, would feed
12
Theatre Arts Monthly. September, 1928, p. 620.
13
(New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929), p. 4.
22
New York did not materialize. The little theatre movement,
as it was called, while preparing audiences for the new
theatre and stagecraft of Europe— there were over 50 such
theatres in 1917— began, after 1920, to be indistinguishable
14
from community theatres. This, of course, was exactly the
opposite of what Edith Isaacs had hoped, because the com
munity theatre, as much today as then, functions as the
amateur extension of the commercial theatre— last year's
Broadway hit, regardless of its artistic merit, is most
often this year's community theatre offering.
Although not directly related to a regional devel
opment of American theatre, there were three theatre enter
prises in New York City that helped establish the viability
of non-commercial, art-oriented theatre. The Provincetown
Players, the Theatre Guild, and the Civic Repertory all
helped to introduce European ideals and practice to Americar
theatre.
Oscar Brockett notes that from 1916, when it began
operation in New York, to 1929, when it ceased operation,
the Provincetown Players contributed to the development of
American playwrights and the production of foreign plays .
14
Brockett, History of the Theatre, p. 631.
23
He states that the group "served an important role as an
experimental theatre both £or new plays and for new produc
tion techniques."^5
The Theatre Guild was another theatre that during
the 1920s helped establish non-commercial theatre. Harold
Clurman believes that the Theatre Guild helped advance the
state of American theatre:
. . . it did make a valuable contribution in organiz
ing audiences through subscription and in maintaining
a fairly consistent program of the kind of contempo
rary European play which had up to that time been
considered caviar to the general. 6
From 1926 to 1933, Eva Le Gallienne operated the
Civic Repertory Company in which she not only produced
European plays but also operated in repertory. In seven
years of growth and struggle to survive, the Civic Repertory
provided an example of the need for subsidy of non
commercial theatres and illustrated the potential strength
17
of the resident ensemble company of players. Present-day
repertory theatres, such as the American Conservatory
I
15Ibid.. p. 633.
^"Challenge of the New Theatres," The Nation.
February 3, 1963, p. 123.
^7Eva Le Gallienne, "Repertory When?" Theatre Arts
Magazine. September, 1958, pp. 14-16.
24
Theatre or the Guthrie Theatre, enjoy federal and private
subsidy to continue permanent companies. Le Gallienne
helped to prove the value of repertory in America and helped
pave the way for many present-day professional resident
theatres.
With the onset of the depression the drive of these
theatres was stalled. Jack Poggi has stated: "The early
non-commercial theatre collapsed at the same time as Broad-
18
way." Poggi points out that the end of prosperity ended
support from wealthy patrons and that rising costs and in
creased risks eroded the vitality of the non-commercial
19
movement of the twenties.
By the 1930s, then, the non-commercial art theatre
in New York had waned, but it had succeeded in introducing
European ideas and practice to America. It was also clear
as the country went deeper into the depression that a
national decentralized theatre based on the work of in
spired amateurs— the hope of Macgowan and Isaacs— had not
come to pass. Lee Simonson, in his seminal work The Stage
Is Set, summarizes the view toward the amateur movement:
18
^Theatre in America, p. 146.
25
As a whole, the promise of artistic insurgence in the
American theatre of ten years ago has not been real
ized. Despite innumerable little theatres, experi
mental stages and fireside players that dot the coun
try, there is not one that gives certain promise of
growing into an important professional organization.
Simonson felt, like the others before him, that the
commercial basis of American theatre would have to be
radically displaced if it was to have any kind of signifi
cant revival. He felt, too, that the rebirth might well
take place through a network of self-sustaining theatre
21
groups throughout the country. He adds, "Such theatres
22
could be run on strictly professional lines." For Simon
son, the art theatre that was talked of in the twenties
could be realized in the future by employing the more crea
tive resources of the American professional theatre.
With the addition of the professional factor, an
other principal characteristic of the modern resident the
atre movement was achieved. But it would be many years
before professional resident companies would exist to pur
sue the aesthetic goals of American art theatre.
While there was discussion, the thirties did not
see the creation of professional resident theatres, although
20
(New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1932),p. 394.
________21Ibid.. p. 402.____________22Ibid.. p. 412.________
26
the work of theatres like the Cleveland Playhouse in a more
23
commercial vein maintained such a possibility. In 1935,
the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was char
tered by Congress to stimulate the rejuvenation of theatre
outside of New York, but as historian Oscar Brockett ob
serves, "Because of lack of funds, little was accomplished
24
. . Yet two organizations can be seen as reinforcing
and developing the possibilities of a decentralized pro
fessional resident theatre movement— the Federal Theatre and
the Group Theatre.
Starting in 1935 and until its demise four years
later, the Federal Theatre Project created jobs for unem
ployed members of the theatrical professions. While at its
peak it employed 10,000 individuals, it is perhaps important
to observe that the Federal Theatre brought professional
25
theatre activities to 40 different states. Hallie Flana
gan, who headed the project, outlined its objectives in her
book, Arena:
The Federal Theatre at its best was working toward
23
Poggi, Theater in America, p. 207.
24Historv of the Theatre, p. 666.
25Hallie Flanagan, Arena (New York: Duell, Sloan,
and Pearce, 1940), p. 436.____________________
27
an art in which each region and eventually each state
would have its unique, indigenous dramatic expression,
its company housed in a building reflecting its own
landscape and regional materials, producing plays of
its past and present . . ,26
Flanagan's description does not differ greatly from
the ideas asvanced earlier by Cheney, Isaacs, and Simonson.
In fact, Flanagan saw the value of the contributions these
people had made to the development of a vitalized and artis
tic American theatre. In Arena. Flanagan acknowledges the
contribution that Edith Isaacs made to the early amateur
movement, recognizes Kenneth Macgowan's hope for strong
national theatre networks, and praises Gilmore Brown's work
at the Pasadena Playhouse and Frederic McConnell's work at
27
the Cleveland Playhouse. Recognizing this preparatory
work, and considering the broad scope and yet deep artistic
base of the Federal Theatre, Flanagan announced, "Now, for
the first time, the professional theatre might also be cai-
28
sidered nationally." Outlining the plans and hopes of the
Federal Theatre, Flanagan offers descriptions of the various
theatre activities which could well define a modern resident
theatre: ". . .in these theatres, resident companies would
do new plays and classical repertory and everything that
26Ibid., p. 371. 27Ibid., p. 22. 28Ibid.
28
29
commercial theatres cannot always afford to try ..."
In a very real sense, the legacy of the Federal
Theatre Project, given its admitted liberal political bias,
is t^at it did bring professional companies and staffs com
mitted to a non-commercial theatre to all regions of the
United States. To the degree that the Federal Theatre suc
ceeded, it further prepared the ground for the establishment
of professional resident theatre.
The Group Theatre, which began operation in 1931,
can be viewed as a contributing influence on the evolution
of the professional resident theatre movement. In their
establishment of a permanent close-knit company of actors
and directors, and in their particular economic situation,
the Group Theatre provided learning examples for resident
theatres which would follow it.
For the 10 years of its existence, the Group The
atre revealed the vitality and artistry that could come of
collective continuing effort. To Herbert Blau, the Group
"was more companionable with the spirit that infused the
30
Little Theatre Movement." The Group's efforts helped to
29Ibid., p. 21.
3°The impossible Theater (New York: The Macmillan
Co., 1964), p. 58.
29
rein£orce the belief that the resident theatre company
committed to serious theatre was an essential component in
the creation of a meaningful American theatre. Writing in
The Fervent Years, Harold Clurman reveals the objective of
the Group Theatre on its being founded:
What I wanted for the Group, what all these people
wanted, was the chance to tie sporadic individual
work into units of collective endeavor. This would
not only strengthen them individually, but would
serve to make their values objectively effective,
forceful, permanent.^
While many factors— the Depression years, the com
ing of World War II, and the indirect support which was
needed but not found by the existence of other such groups —
contributed to the demise of the Group, the organization
experienced unique economic problems; they were operating
an enterprise committed, first and foremost, to serious
artistic theatre within a New York context that was com
mitted, first and foremost, to Broadway dollars. Blau
states that the Group represented "something essentially
32
foreign to theatre in New York." Yet with the high pro
duction and overhead costs of existing on Broadway, the
31 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), p. 89.
•^Impossible Theater, p. 58.
30
Group (when it had a show running) would pay all of its key
personnel (whether they were involved in the show or not).
While this is essential in maintaining a permanent theatre
ensemble, the reality of New York costs and the lack of a
loss-covering subsidy made survival very difficult. Looking
back on the experience of the Group Theatre, Clurman ob
serves: "The basic defect in our activity was that while
we tried to maintain a true theatre policy artistically, we
33
proceeded economically on a show business basis."
The work of the Federal Theatre and the Group The
atre reinforced the concept that resident companies were
capable of making vital contributions to an evolving Amer
ican theatre. In the existence of the Group, it became
clear that such work could not long survive within the
economics of Broadway production, and a case for decentral
ization was made once again. But while neither organizatior
survived the thirties, they served as final links in a chair
of events which resulted in the professional resident the
atre as it is known today. Herbert Blau offers a tribute;
Those responsible for the Group and the Federal
Theatre were also convinced that a really successful
artistic revolution could alter the nature of things,
and though both enterprises perished in the disillusion
33
_________ The Fervent Years, p. 263._________________________
31
of the forties and the silence thereafter, much of
the boldness and scope and authority in the serious
theatre we do have come from people who were trained
by them or remember their example.^
Orson Welles and John Houseman started the Mercury
Theatre in 1937, and although it did not survive seven
months of production, it showed a way of approaching old
theatre forms with new ideas. Poggi points out that in
productions like its modern dress Julius Caesar and its
simplified version of The Shoemaker's Holiday, the Mercury
Theatre "demonstrated the possibility of playing classics
in a way that is relevant and exciting to contemporary
35
audiences." Looking at resident theatre in 1966, Poggi
concludes that the Mercury Theater "anticipated in many
ways some of the things theatre people are trying to do in
the 1960's."36
The decade of the thirties saw the development of
further ideas and practices that added more substance to
the artistic foundation from which professional resident
theatre would evolve. Yet the pioneering efforts of Flana
gan, Clurman, and Welles would reach a dead end by the close
of the decade, just as the depression brought to an end the
^ Impossible Theater, p. 58.
35Theater in America, p. 165. ^6Ibid.
32
progressive work of the twenties, so did World War II stop
the development of work that began in the thirties. Many
of the theatre leaders who helped establish the value of
non-commercial art theatre in America would go on to make
further contributions in other areas of American theatre.
However, it fell to a new and younger generation of theatre
leaders in the late forties and early fifties to fulfill
the promise of a decentralized network of resident theatres.
By the early forties, the professional resident
theatre was seen to offer the best hope of realizing the
ideals and goals of the early issues of Theatre Arts Maga
zine . In his 1941 work, Advance from Broadway. Norris
Houghton envisioned the establishment of professional rep
ertory groups "presenting a series of plays to regional
37
audiences." Houghton, like Macgowan before him, traveled
extensively within the United States observing, discussing,
and evaluating the work of the existing regional theatres:
I envisage the establishment of resident professional
theatres on the order of the smaller European cities,
each with a permanent staff, directorate and acting
company; each performing a series of the best plays
at popular prices.38
37(New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1941), p.
389.
33
With the notion of "popular prices," well within
the expensive extremities of Broadway commercialism,
Houghton reinforced the notion that the professional resi
dent theatre should organize itself financially on non
commercial terms. In 1944, this idea was advanced further
by Frederic McConnell, who, from the experience of his
successful tenure at the Cleveland Playhouse, proposed the
non-profit corporate structure for resident theatres: "Five
hundred of these professionally organized non-profit the
atres scattered throughout the country will give us a truly
national theatre, democratic and universal in its appeal
39
and influence."
The non-profit corporation has become the distin
guishing organizing feature of the professional resident
theatre movement; it is a buffer from the sometimes finan
cially compromising procedures of the commercial theatre;
it frees a resident theatre from paying taxes and qualifies
it to receive grants from private foundations and govern
mental agencies.
While a theatre of a non-profit nature does not
amass great sums of money after operating expenses, it is
39National Theatre Conference Bulletin. VI, No. 4
(October, 1944), 20.
34
fundamentally committed to paying its artist employees a
relatively continuous living wage. John Gassner in The
Theatre in Our Times stressed the point that in order to
create a national theatre one needs not only decentralized
professional activity, hut a financial situation "in which
the actor-member of the company could achieve prestige and
40
a good living." A livable weekly wage avoids the "feast
or famine" syndrome of the commercial actor— a short period
of employment at a high salary followed by a longer period
of unemployment— and allows the resident theatre artist to
concentrate his energies on the development of his art.
Thirty years of discussion and activity that laid
the aesthetic foundations of resident theatre came to
fruition in 1947 when Margo Jones founded her Theatre 47
in Dallas (the name was changed every year); the profes
sional resident theatre as it is known today can be said to
have its origins in her pioneering efforts. Starting with
a company of eight to nine professional actors, working at
41
modest salaries, she opened a 198-seat arena theatre.
Within five years, Theatre 47 was joined by three other
(New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954), p. 555,
41
Poggi, Theater in America, p. 207.
35
resident theatres committed to the artistic pursuit of a
decentralized theatre.
In 1949, after two years of informal activity, Nina
Vance opened the Alley Theatre in Houston and in some five
years it had made the transition from amateur to profes-
42
sional status. In 1950, Zelda Fichandler, following
Margo Jones 1 pattern, opened the Arena Stage in Washington,
43
D. C. on a small professional basis. In 1952, the San
Francisco's Actor's Workshop began operation under the
44
directorship of Jules Irving and Herbert Blau. With their
fierce dedication to theatre and with painstaking effort,
these four theatres helped create the concept that resident
theatre was viable and important and paved the way for the
many such theatres which would follow them. In 1951, Margo
Jones summed up the hopes:
Today we have the possibility of starting a great
theatre movement in America, it must be done well
or it is not worth doing. It must be done in terms
of resident professional theatres producing new plays
and classics.
42
Julius Novick, Beyond Broadway (New York: Hill
and Wang, 1968), p. 5.
4^Ibid. 44Blau, Impossible Theatre . p. 115.
45Theatre-in-the-Round (New York: Rinehart and
Co., Inc., 1951), p. 27.
36
Throughout the fifties and sixties the resident
theatre movement grew considerably. By 1960, there were
some 23 professional resident theatres.*6 By 1964-65, the
Rockefeller Panel Report on the Performing Arts listed some
47
55 permanent professional theatres. The opening of the
Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis in 1963 and the Rep
ertory Theatre of Lincoln Center in 1964, both large and
impressive operations, lent added prestige and support to
the professional resident theatre movement.
By the early sixties, the professional resident
theatre was recognized as a progressive wave of the Ameri
can theatre future. Visiting the San Francisco Actor's
Workshop in 1961, Henry Hewes reported in Saturday Review
that he had seen an inspired and completely professional
company and concluded by saying that "... the Actor's
Workshop is a vital resource not just for the local com
munity but for the whole rapidly shifting structure of the
48
American theatre." In early 1964, in the first formative
*®Gard et al.. Theatre in America, p. 113.
^ Rockefeller Panel Report on the Performing Arts:
Problems and Prospects (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
1965), pp. 231-233.
*®"Frisco Kids," Saturday Review. August 26, 1961,
p. 26.
37
year of South Coast Repertory, Time magazine praised the
value and the future of the movement:
Repertory theatre, never much of an institution in
the United States, has grown in recent years in every
region of the country, and the movement is overdue
. . . Only professional repertory companies, through
constant revivals, can preserve the history of the
drama in a meaningful form. Similarly, when the art
of theatre is to advance, only a company that is not
hooked to commerce can try something new and almost
certainly unpopular without fear of financial ruin
. . . America has thus been made safe for citizens
who live and breathe theatre. The Lincoln Tunnel is
no longer a rainspout leading from the hanging gar
dens to the desert
Thus, as South Coast Repertory began to plan its
future, two things were clear about American theatre. One,
the professional resident theatre movement never seemed
brighter or so full of artistic promise. Two, with the
vital on-going examples of existing professional resident
theatres, the aesthetic tenets of the movement were clear
and identifiable.
First and foremost, the professional resident the
atre was committed to the development of theatre as an art.
As a movement that embodied Sheldon Cheney's hope for an
American art theatre, resident theatre addressed a wide
dramatic repertoire, from the classics to the avant-garde.
49
Time. February 24, 1964.
38
It produced works that challenged the creative resources of
theatre and that were artistically meaningful to a contem
porary audience.
Second, the professional resident theatre movement
was committed to the decentralization of American theatre.
It advocated the development of a network of regional the
atres that would truly constitute a national American the
atre, the hope of Isaacs and Macgowan.
Third, the professional resident theatre movement
was characterized by its commitment to develop the best
qualities of professional artists, and, in many instances,
through the creation of an essentially permanent company of
ensemble players. With this position, the movement mirrorec
the ideas of Simonson, Flanagan, and Clurman.
Fourth, the professional resident theatre movement
rejected the compromising financial structures of commercia]
theatre. Instead, it embraced the non-profit corporate
structure to insure the means of continuing support for
artists and the retention of popular prices for audiences.
These were the primary aesthetic characteristics of
the professional resident theatre in the early sixties.
These were the fundamental tenets upon which South Coast
Repertory evolved its own aesthetic identity. Now, some
39
nine years later, it can be asked: how viable were these
aesthetic tenets and how did they function in the day-to-daj
reality of producing theatre?
CHAPTER III
ANTECEDENTS, 1960-1963
The first tangible step in the formation of what
would become South Coast Repertory was taken on August 15,
1963, with the opening of La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler at
the Off-Broadway Theatre in Long Beach, California. By the
end of its three-week run, the decision and preliminary
plans to create a theatre had been formulated. While the
seeds of South Coast Repertory's production history and
company organization can be traced from La Ronde. a theatre
does not come into being merely through the production of
a play; a theatre is founded in a particular cultural
environment and in, at least, some kind of aesthetic posi
tion, factors which emerge as a result of the background,
training, and influences which have been brought to bear on
the people who found the theatre.
The first three years of the decade of the sixties
were especially unique with regard to the promise of the
40
41
resident theatre movement, the vigor of the San Francisco
State College Drama Department, and the widespread artistic
recognition of the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. It was
during this time that Martin Benson, John Arthur Davis, and
David Emmes, the founding directors of South Coast Reper
tory, came to San Francisco. Though of essentially dif
ferent backgrounds, these three individuals found a common
purpose in theatre.
Martin Benson, born in 1937, entered San Francisco
State College in September, 1960. He had become involved
in theatre only three years earlier after an undistinguished
high school career and several years of avid participation
in drag racing and working on race cars . Several minor
encounters with the law persuaded him that unless he found
something else, he might find himself in major difficulties.
His solution was to enroll in Diablo Valley College, a two-
year institution, which was situated near his home in Walnut
Creek, California. Recalling a pleasant experience in an
eighth-grade play, he entered a drama class taught by a
young and dedicated graduate of the University of Califor
nia at Los Angeles, Harry Berman. Although his car racing
friends "hooted with laughter" at his interest in such a
seemingly frivolous thing as theatre, Benson found both
42
meaning and purpose in it.1 . He learned of Berman's positive
experiences of running a summer theatre on the Russian River
and from that developed the idea of starting his own theatre
one day. Advised to attend San Francisco State College
because of the excellence of its drama program, Benson pre
pared by adopting what he had heard was Margo Jones 1 prac
tice— reading a play a day: "I devoured most of the Gass-
ner anthologies, especially liking the American plays of
2
the realistic genre." His subsequent South Coast Repertory
productions of The Glass Menagerie and Time of Your Life
bear witness to this early preference.
John Arthur Davis, born in 1942, was raised in
Phoenix, Arizona. He is a member of a prominent Arizona
family^ his father was a judge and his late uncle, Carl
3
Hayden, enjoyed a long career as a United States Senator.
The product of Jesuit education, Davis found that as a chile
his academic interests were not centered in the arts . In
his high school years he spent his leisure time working on
^"Statement by Martin Benson, personal interview,
April 20, 1972.
^Ibid.
^Statement by John Arthur Davis, personal interview,
May 27, 1972. All subsequent statements by Davis quoted in
this dissertation will be from this interview.
43
motorcycles and cars, an affinity that he and Martin Benson
4
shared later in San Francisco. He began his college career
at Santa Clara, a Jesuit institution near San Francisco, and
immersed himself in a philosophy major. He became friends
with Sean McKenna, a fellow student whose father, Dr. J.
Fenton McKenna, was the Dean of Creative Arts at San Fran
cisco State College. Both Davis and young McKenna began
participating in the rather informal drama activities at
Santa Clara. Both of them found that their growing interest
in theatre could not be satisfied where they were.^ Conse
quently, in the spring of 1961, both of them transferred to
San Francisco State College as drama majors.
David Emmes, born David Edwards in 1939, had a
varied and unusual childhood. His parents divorced when he
was five years old and he spent the next 10 years living
alternately with his father and mother. Through his step
father, Samuel Emmes (he took his name when he was 14), he
was introduced to sailing and the informal life of Poly
nesia; he made several ocean voyages aboard small yachts,
voyaging to such places as Mexico and Hawaii. Alice Emmes,
his mother, recalls that he would memorize poetry and songs
*Ibid. ^Ibid.
44
and perform them to the adult crew members on the long ocean
voyages; she observes that he maintained artistic interests
from early childhood.^
Emmes discovered a flair for acting while attending
Newport Harbor High School and was active in local community
theatre. Upon graduation from high school in 1957, he went
to New York and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof-Uta
Hagen Studio. Deciding to continue his theatre education
in a more formal context, he returned home to Newport Beach
in 1958 and enrolled at Orange Coast College, a two-year
institution in Costa Mesa, California.^ He became actively
involved in the drama program and culminated his stay at
Orange Coast College by playing the title role in Hamlet in
the fall of 1959. It was during this time that he made the
acquaintance of David Clements, a young actor who played
Laertes to his Hamlet. Clements recalls their common in
terest in continuing their studies at San Francisco State
College and their talk of starting a theatre one day in
Orange County. In the spring of 1960, Emmes entered San
Francisco State College, where Clements joined him a year
^Statement by Alice Emmes, personal interview,
January 30, 1972.
7Ibid.
45
i * 8
later.
In I960, the Drama Department at San Francisco State
College was at one of its highest peaks. With a drama
faculty of 28 and with over 350 drama majors, it was one of
the largest drama schools in the country and the largest on
the west Coast. Its three producing theatres were seldom
unused, as major faculty productions, master's thesis pro
ductions, workshop projects, and children's theatre works
filled almost all the available playing dates. This oppor
tunity for practical experience coupled with a diverse
curriculum offered the student a broad education in drama.
Dr. J. Fenton McKenna, a leading figure in drama education
in California and the principal force behind the San Fran
cisco State drama program, recalls that
It is my impression that the dynamic relationship
in a common drive for use of theatre as a means to
unfold creative impulse and find an avenue of mean
ingful communication with audiences through vehicles
of significance that motivated both student and
faculty member was of such high quality in 1959-60-61
that the drive would not, indeed could not, end with
the college experience
Q
Statement by David Clements, personal interview,
May 4, 1972. All subsequent statements by Clements quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
q
J. Fenton McKenna, personal letter to David Emmes,
August 15, 1972.
46
One characteristic of the drama program was an in
sistence on dealing with the practical and realistic aspects
of theatre. Don Tuche, a veteran actor and member of South
Coast Repertory from its beginning, remembers Tfromas Tyr
rell's opening comments to all new drama students; Tyrrell,
a respected professor at State with an extensive profes
sional background, would urge new students that if there was
anything else they could do besides theatre that they should
do it.^ He impressed upon them the hard realities of a
life in the theatre.
Martha McFarland, a former South Coast Repertory
actress, observes that the department made sure a student
learned the craft of theatre well, from how a play is con
structed to how the aspects of technical theatre function.
By the time a student finished the program, she feels, he
had a "confidence of being able to do theatre.
A key force in the department during this time and
an individual who advocated hard work within the context of
practical, functioning theatre was Jules Irving, then a
■^Statement by Don Tuche, personal interview, April
27, 1972. All subsequent statements by Tuche quoted in this
dissertation will be from this interview.
^Statement by Martha McFarland, personal interview,
January 24, 1972. All subsequent statements by McFarland
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
47
professor at State as well as a co-leader of the San Fran
cisco Actor's Workshop. Two illustrations demonstrate the
seriousness of purpose and dedication to theatre that Irving
tried to instill in his students.
David Clements, who became one of the principal
actors of South Coast Repertory, recalls his first and some
what traumatic experience of being directed by Irving.
Clements was cast as Valere in The Miser by Molifere and
jumped into the role with "all the pseudo-confidence of my
Hollywood idea of acting." His idea of acting then was to
couple a charming actor personality with a superficial
technique. After rehearsing the opening scene in one of the
first rehearsals of the play, Clements heard Irving's quiet
statement, "I don't believe it, do it again." Clements did
the scene again and again. Each time, Irving would repeat
his statement. After almost an hour of repetitions, Irving
had Clements do the scene using the alphabet as lines, and
the grueling session went on for another 45 minutes.
Clements recalled later:
I really had no idea of what he meant, but after
about 20 repetitions of the scene and after being
stripped naked of my actor pretensions, I finally
started to understand. Irving came up to me after
it was all over and told me that I must always be
lieve in what I do on stage, it was from this exper-
ience that I started on the road to being an actor.____
48
Martin Benson took directing from Jules Irving. He
recalls that Irving stressed far more than how to move
actors on a stage or compose attractive compositions; he
constantly prodded the students to question the very nature
of theatre and the kind of theatre in which they wanted to
work. Irving would say, "If you don't like theatre the way
it is, go start your own theatre." Benson heard this chal
lenge frequently and remembered it later during the dis-
12
cussion stage of South Coast Repertory.
Not only was the San Francisco State College Drama
Department distinguished by a functional aesthetic of the
atre and the dedicated teaching of Jules Irving, it had an
amazingly talented collection of students. Professor Tyr
rell states that during these years there was "an unusual
concentration of gifted students who interacted and spurred
each other on."^ The subsequent success of these indi
viduals validates Tyrrell's view; of the classmates of
Benson, Davis, and Emmes, Dan Sullivan is now a resident
director at the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center; Richarc
Ramos is now a principal actor at the Guthrie Theatre; Teri
^Interview of April 20, 1972.
^Statement by Thomas Tyrrell, personal interview,
August 4, 1972.
49
Ralston was an original cast member in the Broadway produc
tion of Company: Jeff Tambor is a major actor at the Mil
waukee Repertoryj and Michael Devine, to name but one more,
is a successful professional scene designer. Martin Benson
states: "Our classmates didn't just become drama teachers.
A great many had the ability to make it professionally and
14
they did." Martha McFarland observes:
Our peers were awfully good, very talented and in
telligent people. It seems to me that it couldn't
have been common, that common, when you consider how
many of them have gone on and succeeded in the pro
fession .
To be sure, there were many students of lesser
ability, but this core of serious and talented students
created an atmosphere of commitment and seriousness of pur
pose. Benson observes that, on the whole, students took a
strong interest in the avant-garde and experimental works
of theatre: "The musical comedy types stayed by themselves
while most of us talked and worked in Brecht, Ghelderode,
. . 1 5
or Genet."
Mathias Reitz, a former San Francisco State student,
is presently a working professional actor as well as a
14Interview of April 20, 1972.
15Ibid.
50
member of the drama faculty at California State College at
Long Beach. He feels that the drama students of San Fran
cisco State College then were a very questioning group of
people: "We were coming out of the beat generation, the
non-speak generation, and started to question theatre as we
found it."^ The commercial restrictions of the Broadway
theatre and the artistic limitations of television and
Hollywood offered little to a serious student of theatre.
Reitz states:
It was a time when everyone was saying the values
of theatre are wrong. Look to Europe and their
theatre companies, actors doing films but always
going back to the theatre . There was a feeling
generated at State of why can't we do it too?
If the notion of a theatre company dedicated to
serious work was attractive to the drama students, then the}
had an excellent model in San Francisco to reinforce their
beliefs— the Actor's Workshop. By 1961, the Actor's Work
shop was in the second year of a substantial three-year
17
grant from the Ford Foundation. Operating two theatres,
the Actor's Workshop was able to present a varied
^Statement by Mathias Reitz, personal interview,
April 28, 1972. All subsequent statements by Reitz quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
17Poggi, Theater in America, p. 212.
51
professional season of works. The drama students at San
Francisco State College could see in practice that resident
professional theatre could work and with the presence of the
two founding directors, Jules Irving and Herbert Blau, on
campus as professors, resident theatre received theoretical
reinforcement in classes .
The most common feeling at that time was that the
Actor's Workshop was distinguished for its consistent pro
duction of significant and relevant plays. David Clements
remembers that his professors would assign him to see Work
shop productions since the theatre was producing many of the
significant plays that he was studying in his classes.
Martin Benson saw almost all of the Workshop's productions
during this time and was impressed with the relevance that
the theatre was able to bring to a wide range of literature,
18
from Aristophanes to Samuel Beckett. Martha McFarland
states: "They did every kind of play, some better than
others, but they never did any theatre which I considered
irrelevant."
The Actor's Workshop was also a theatre that func
tioned in a practical manner. The Workshop was not born in
^Interview of April 20, 1972.
52
great richesj it grew slowly over the years before it
19
reached a professional level of operation. Benson remem
bers that Jules Irving would frequently recount the organi
zational and financial difficulties of maintaining a viable
20
theatre. Don Tuche, who spent a year with the Workshop
before joining the South Coast Repertory group, observes
that Irving "represented a theatre that worked," and that
while he did the theatre he wanted to do, he was also aware
of the box-office and the community it represented. Hence,
it became clear that if one was to start a theatre, one had
to accept long years of struggle and growth.
The Actor's Workshop had a particular influence on
the formation of South Coast Repertory's general aesthetic
posture; it did not subscribe to just one kind of theatre
or one particular point of view. Rather, within the general
concept of relevance, it produced a wide range of styles and
genres. This aesthetic posture, which would characterize
most of the professional resident theatres at that time,
would be in contrast to the beliefs of many of the radical
theatres which followed later in the sixties, groups whose
19
Poggi, Theater in America, p. 210.
20lnterview of April 20, 1972.
53
political or sociological motivation was as strong as or
stronger than their theatrical motivation. What the Work
shop represented was a theatre dedicated to exploring the
art of theatre in a way that would dramatically embody the
relevant meaning of a play. In a 1959 interview, Jules
Irving revealed the broad artistic base of the Actor's
Workshop:
I think that basically I can say that the aim and
objective of our company is to produce that dramatic
literature which is worthwhile of representation,
and which poses an artistic challenge to the artists
involved in the theatre.2^ -
While Irving's statements are not specific, they
reveal the great hope that was put in the resident theatre
movement— the only thing that was lacking in the American
theatre was imaginative productions of significant plays.
Herbert Blau reinforced resident theatre thus: "What has
kept America from creating a significant theatre up to now
is that our talented people, and they are legion, have nevex
22
stayed together long enough to do so."
Even Richard Schechner, who would later embrace a
2■'•Quoted in Robert E. Gard and Gertrude S. Burley,
Community Theatre (New York: Due11, Sloan and Pearce,
1959), p. 137.
22
Impossible Theatre. p. 46.
54
more radical aesthetic of theatre, strongly supported the
resident theatre movement. In 1961, as editor of the Tulane
Drama Review, he pointed- out that America possessed talented
mature playwrights, actors, and directors. He concluded:
We are building new theatres that offer our artists
real opportunities for experimentation and achieve
ment. We have money, big money, waiting to be spent
on the theatre. And we have a multiplicity of audi
ence still ruefully, inadequately tapped.^3
This, then, was the thinking that pervaded the the
atrical atmosphere in San Francisco in 1962, the year when
most of the people who would create South Coast Repertory
were finishing their education. On a national scale, the
professional resident theatre movement never seemed more
promising or vital. The Actor's Workshop provided a spe
cific and inspiring example of how hard work and organiza
tional struggle can create a theatre whose work is both
relevant and significant.
The San Francisco State College Drama Department
also provided lasting influences on the South Coast Reper
tory founders. Its program was professionally oriented,
stressing the practical ability and insight needed to
23
"TDR Comment," Tulane Drama Review. Summer, 1963,
p. 7.
55
succeed in the hard reality of professional theatre. This
emphasis on the ability to create theatre was supplemented
by the philosophic challenges of Jules Irving, the profes
sor , who consistently made students think about the quality
of theatre and the kind of theatre to which they would wish
to devote their lives. Lastly, there was an unusually
talented core of students who took these ideas and worked
them out among themselves in dialogues and, often, heated
discussion. The result was a theatre graduate who not only
could do theatre quite well but an individual who had done
some thinking, aesthetically, about the nature of theatre.
Given this background and preparation, it is not
unusual that Martin Benson, John Arthur Davis, and David
Emmes, along with many classmates, would wish to create a
theatre, a theatre founded in the general aesthetic tenets
of resident theatre. What would be unusual would be that
that theatre would be able to survive long enough to test
the validity of those tenets in the operating realities of
Orange county, California.
The Production of La__Ronde
David Emmes received his Master's degree from San
Francisco State College in August of 1962 and accepted a
56
teaching and directing position at Long Beach City College,
a two-year community institution. He quickly became im
mersed in his new duties and the notions of resident theatre
retreated to a secondary position in his order of priori-
24
txes .
In the early spring of 1963, Emmes attended a meet
ing of The Council of Living Theatre, an organization cre
ated to foster communication between theatres and to project
a favorable image of theatre to the general community. This
body was composed of the Long Beach Community Playhouse,
Long Beach Civic Light Opera, the Magnolia Theatre, Long
Beach City College, Long Beach State College, and the Off-
25
Broadway Theatre.
At this meeting Emmes met Eleanor Shibley, the
principal managerial force behind the Off-Broadway Theatre,
a community theatre that attempted at least in play selec
tion, if not in production, to represent generally some of
the newer trends in theatre. The organization operated out
of a small rectangular building which had been converted
24
Philip Michael Vine, "The South Coast Repertory"
(unpublished Master's thesis, University of California at
Los Angeles, 1968), p. 10.
^ Ibid.. p. 11.
57
into a 108-seat makeshift proscenium theatre. Mrs. Shibley
had been associated with the Federal Theatre Project and hac
acted with John Garfield, Arthur Kennedy, and Martin Ritt.
26
Additionally, she had been directed by Elia Kazan.
Mrs . Shibley recalled later that she and Emmes spoke
at length about the general state of theatre and the spe
cific kinds of plays that were most deserving of production.
On the whole, she found that their tastes were c o m p a t i b l e .
At the end of the meeting, she proposed that Emmes be a
guest director at the Off-Broadway Theatre during the sum
mer of 1963, doing a project that would interest him.
Emmes responded that he was not sure of his summer plans
27
but would keep her offer in mind.
Emmes observed to his wife soon after that he really
was not interested in the Off-Broadway Theatre offer. He
was finishing an active year at Long Beach city College and
the prospect of getting involved in a community theatre was
not a sufficient artistic challenge. He had previous ex
perience in community theatre during high school and felt
that the Off-Broadway Theatre was not appreciably
26Ibid. 27Ibid., p. 12.
58
28
different. Yet an unlikely reunion and an ironic plan
found David Emmes a guest director that summer.
In June of 1962, Martin Benson graduated from San
Francisco State College and, like many others before him,
found that he had a drama degree and no place to go. Know
ing that he was morally obligated to seek work in his chosen
profession as an actor, he chose to go to Hollywood, as it
seemed less frightening than New York; it was closer to
home. He was accompanied by Edward Saraf ian, his college
roommate and also a recent drama graduate. Arriving in the
early fall of 1962, they went about the task of finding
work. Benson soon found that he hated the tiresome ritual
of making the "rounds" and the "plastic" environment of
Hollywood which seemed so different from the more natural
theatre atmosphere of San Francisco. Benson also very
quickly came to the conclusion that he did not possess the
rapacious "sell-yourself" drive that seemed to be a pre-
29
requisite of Hollywood success.
Benson recalls that one day in the late fall he and
Sarafian remembered that Emmes was teaching in Southern
5o
Statement by Leslie Emmes, personal interview,
January 29, 1972.
29Interview of April 20, 1972.
59
California, and "looking for any excuse not to go out job
hunting," decided to pay him a visit. Benson and Emmes were
not close friends in San Francisco but had worked on proj -
ects together and talked about theatre. Benson remembers
that Emmes "was we11-respected in the department, not so
much as an actor, but as a director and a theatre man with
30
a good background." Benson also recalls that Emmes, be
fore he left for Long Beach, told him to visit him and
added, somewhat facetiously, "and we'll do a play to-
31
gether." This was a statement which would prove to be
prophetic.
Benson and Sarafian enjoyed a pleasant visit with
Emmes, seeing the Long Beach City College theatre and talk
ing afterwards at his home. Benson came away from the visit
with an appreciation for Emmes1 comfortable and secure
position but privately concluded that educational theatre
did not seem the answer for him: "I still wanted to work
in professional theatre as 1 had seen it in San Fran-
,,32
cisco."
Benson and Sarafian continued to visit Emmes occa
sionally and at one meeting, soon after Emmes* meeting with
30Ibid. 31Ibid. 32Ibid.
60
Mrs. Shibley, the three of them talked at length about the
state of theatre. Both Benson and Sarafian revealed their
frustration at not having worked as actors in almost a year.
More practically, they wished they could get cast in a play
in the Hollywood area so that agents and casting directors
could see them and get them work. With this, Emmes men
tioned the offer of the Off-Broadway Theatre and suggested
33
that it might serve both of their two needs .
It was quickly agreed that the offer should be
accepted and that plans should be made for the summer.
Emmes contacted Eleanor Shibley and made arrangements for
the theatre. A mid-August opening date was chosen. It was
agreed that the Off-Broadway Theatre would produce the en
tire project. Emmes further stipulated— foreshadowing Soutl
Coast Repertory's later structure— that once the play was
agreed to that he have artistic control of the project, free
of any interference from the Off-Broadway Theatre's Board
of Directors. According to David Clements, this was
agreed.
Throughout the late spring and early summer the
process of choosing a play took place. A whole gamut of
61
plays and genres were discussed from the point of view of
being "good vehicles" to display the acting talents of
Benson and Sarafian. For a time, Waiting for Godot was
seriously considered."*4
The play selecting process took a different turn as
a result of the arrival of two former San Francisco State
classmates. Pamela Dunlap, who had worked in many produc
tions in San Francisco with Emmes and Benson, returned to
Southern California in 1963 from France, where she had
35
studied acting at the Sarah Bernhardt Academy. David
Clements, the longtime friend of Emmes, graduated from San
Francisco State College in 1963 and returned to Southern
California to seek work in Hollywood. He states that both
he and Dunlap heard of the summer plans at the Off-Broadway
Theatre and asked to be included.
The summer project now required that there be good
roles for four actors and play selection became more diffi
cult. After considerable deliberation, Emmes proposed that
the group mount La Ronde by the Austrian playwright, Arthur
oe
Statement by Pamela Dunlap, personal interview,
March 15, 1972. All subsequent statements by Dunlap quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
62
Schnitzler. Each character figured prominently in two
scenes of the 10 episodic scenes of the play. Emmes be
lieved that each of the four actors would get an equal
chance of being seen at his best. Importantly, in view of
the aesthetic beginnings of South Coast Repertory, Emmes
stated that while the play would serve as entertaining
comedy, it also made a relevant comment on the relation
ships of men and women, showing that sex alone could not
36
bring true fulfillment. La Ronde was chosen as the sum
mer project.
Readings were held in early July to fill out the
remaining roles in the play. Five members of the community
were cast and because a suitable actor for the part of the
Husband could not be found, Emmes performed the role under
the stage name of Michael Edwards.
After a five-week rehearsal period, La Ronde opened
on August 15, 1963 and was performed Thursday through Sun
days for the next four weeks. It closed on Sunday, Septem
ber 8, 1963 after enjoying favorable reviews and a moder
ately successful run; the Off-Broadway Theatre reported that
37
it made back its expenses.
36Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
63
On the whole, the production can be described as
successfully realizing Schnitzler's satiric investigation
of the manners and morals of turn-of-the-century Vienna.
The Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram reported that "The
cast’s overall enthusiasm, sly dialogue and stage action
38
make for a fine two hours ." The Lakewood Enterprise
called the production an evening of "rollicking gayety
[sic]."39
The production did not turn out to be the career-
launching showcase everyone had hoped. With the exception
of Sarafian, who was viewed by two agents, no one in the
cast was visited by Hollywood personnel. Benson admits that
he never really believed the production would work as a
successful showcase because Long Beach was too far a drive
from Los Angeles. He saw the project as an opportunity to
40
act with people with whom he felt comfortable. It was
this attitude more than anything else that created an at
mosphere in which the seeds of South Coast Repertory's
aesthetic character were planted. There were many factors
38
Buck Lanier, Long Beach Independent-Press Tele
gram. August 17, 1963.
3 9M a u r e y Beam, Lakewood Enterprise. August 21, 1963.
40lnterview of April 20, 1972.
64
which distinguished La Ronde from the recreational atmos
phere of community theatre and pointed the way to a resi
dent theatre company.
One factor was the selection of the play itself.
In terms of a suitable Hollywood showcase, Schnitzler's
high style and high comedy period piece was not an out
standing choice. Its acting roles provide no opportunity
for virtuoso display, but rather demand a close adherence
to the text and a more ensemble-like performance. La Ronde
is not an escapist comedy but in many ways reveals a bitter
and melancholic tone, its critical investigation of the
unrewarding sexual games that men and women play gives La
Ronde. for all its comic inventiveness, a contemporary
relevance. The play's modern significance, a primary re
quirement from the resident theatre point of view, was fre
quently mentioned in the rehearsal process and is reflected
in the program notes which were written by Emmes:
The phrase "fin de si&cle" connotes to many the image
of a gay and sophisticated society awaiting the twen
tieth century with mixed expectations. Most would
surely agree that the heart of this era lay in Vienna,
the city of the Danube, Strauss, and the setting of
Arthur Schnitzler's IA RONDE. in this play Schnitzler
takes a long but thoroughly delightful look at the
perennial and ever mysterious relations of the sexes
and the obstacles and inadequacies that keep the
characters from a lasting fulfillment. The ironic,
the paradoxical, and the "this is where I came in"_____
65
actions of the characters are presented with candid
frankness which neither condemns nor falls in love
with the Viennese life presented (one wonders if
our modern and complex urban society is free from
Schnitzler's theme). The result, however, is a
charming and humorous view of man and woman as they
were and shall, no doubt, always be.^
This concern for the play's meaning and relevance
was reflected quite pointedly in the rehearsal process.
Pamela Dunlap, who was playing the part of the Little Miss,
recalls an incident that occurred about two weeks before
opening. The production had been staged, lines had been
learned and the production was in the process of being put
together and polished. A few friends of the cast had
attended an early run-through of the play and had laughed
uproariously at the production, and later offered their
views that the production would be "very funny." This
reinforcement was short-lived; Emmes called the cast to
gether and announced that he now saw that the thrust of the
production was misdirected, that it was seeking superficial
laughter at the expense of internal truth of character.
Not only was the result superficially dishonest, he said,
but the tone of the production seemed secretly to relish
the sexual concerns of the play. Admitting that it was
41
Program Notes for La Ronde (MS in Early History
File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.).
66
more his fault that that of the actors, he announced that
the production would change its objectives by placing truth
of character first over the concerns of creating the "style'
of high comedy. He acknowledged that the production would
lose some of its overt superficial laughter, but believed
that a more honest approach to character would serve the
artistic concerns of the play. This course of action was
followed for the two remaining weeks and by opening night
had been fairly well achieved.
Maurey Beam, reviewer for the Lakewood Enterprise.
acknowledges the production's concern for maintaining the
artistic objectives of the play. From the point of view of
the audience, he observes that ". . .no one is shocked
because the seducers and seducees are not" and comments that
"at the Off-Broadway, truly, sexual insouciance has reached
42
its apogee." He adds that at no time on stage was any
actor "guilty of prurience no matter how guilty their ob-
43
vious intentions." The production had lost its tendency
to relish the actions of the characters and had preserved
the satiric tone of the play; it chose to affirm the
42
Lakewood Enterprise. August 21, 1963.
43Ibid.
67
objective of fidelity to the text rather than succumb to a
plan which would place the entertainment of the audience
first at the possible expense of the play.
David Clements also believes that the rehearsal
process started to establish the basis of a sound and dedi
cated approach to a play: "We were quite serious about our
work and unlike our college days, continued to work on the
play after it opened." He observes that there was also
established a good working relationship between the actor
and director: "We believed in each other and knew that if
something didn't work right away that we could both take
the time to seek a solution."
Perhaps the most important factor in view of the
later aesthetic development of South Coast Repertory was
the start of a healthy and dynamic feeling of company
spirit. For Pamela Dunlap the La Ronde production "was
good fun, and an exciting experience because it was not
college— we're doing something on our own." Martin Benson
describes the production as a very affirming experience of
working in theatre with talented people whom "you knew and
44
cared for." David Clements believes that the production
44Interview of April 20, 1972.
68
marked the beginning of "a fantastic love" and a feeling,
in his opinion, that was characteristic of South Coast
Repertory's spirit during its first years of operation.
Clements recalls that during the run of the play the cast
became somewhat estranged from Edward Sarafian because he
was determined to use the production as a means of promot
ing himself commercially; he chose not to join the develop
ing feeling of group spirit and identity.
It was perhaps with these many positive points in
mind regarding the progress of La Ronde that Martin Benson
and David Emmes began a conversation one night during the
second week of the run. And what started out as a general
conversation over coffee after a performance turned out to
be an intensive analysis of theatre. This resulted in the
determination to create their own theatre. A three-hour
discussion at the Copper Skillet Restaurant on Broadway and
Atlantic in Long Beach became the birthplace of South Coast
45
Repertory.
Several points were made clear by the conversation.
There had been a positive rehearsal process, a sense of
group effort, and many parts of the production had a
69
dramatic substance that could be attributed to the common
vocabulary and rapport of the San Francisco State College
actors. Thus the exciting concept of a resident theatre
company was reinforced in a very personal and immediate way.
Also, there was a feeling that relevant theatre had not just
been talked about, but actually produced. The two men dis
covered that there was sufficient evidence to believe that
they were capable of producing significant theatre.^6
This belief was given further impetus by the Off-
Broadway Theatre. Sufficiently pleased with what they saw
in La Ronde. says David Clements, the Board of Directors
offered to make the theatre available again in the summer
of 1964.
Given all these factors, Benson and Emmes decided
to form a summer theatre in 1964; it would be organized
along the lines of a resident theatre and be dedicated to
creating meaningful productions of significant plays. It
was further determined that this company would test its
capabilities for one summer, possibly two. If its work
seemed to jjustify it, the company would then go into year-
47
round operation and seek its own producing facilities.
46Ibid. 47Ibid.
70
The intervening months before June, 1964 were set
aside for the planning and organization of the summer the
atre. One of the first things decided was that the two men
should seek the advice of Jules Irving. Emmes wrote to
Irving to set up a September meeting in San Francisco:
Martin Benson and I are going to start a theatre in
Long Beach within a year from now. Even though there
are a great many groups working in this area, we do
not believe that good theatre as we understand it is
in existence in our part of the state. We propose to
do something about it and have carried our plans beyond
the stage of merely formulating ideals to the position
of considering how to implement them; the nucleus of
this group to be has already produced La Ronde (cur
rently running in Long Beach with Benson, Sarafian,
Clements, Pamela Dunlap, and other able people) . we
have considered and are working on the task of form
ing a sound business structure for the theatre . . . 8
The period from 1960 to 1963 had an important in
fluence on developing general aesthetic principles which
would characterize South Coast Repertory. San Francisco
State College provided a practical and professional orien
tation to serious theatre. The Actor's Workshop provided
a specific example that struggle and determination can
create a theatre company that is both significant and suc
cessful. The production of La Ronde provided evidence that
48David Emmes, letter to Jules Irving, September 15J
1963 (copy in Early History File, South Coast Repertory,
Inc.).
71
the seeds of company spirit, ensemble, and purpose existed.
And in a greater context, the professional resident move
ment seemed truly the wave of the future.
Thus, with the contacting of Jules Irving, the first
tangible step in the creation of South Coast Repertory was
taken. Ahead would be many difficult years as this theatre
would seek organizational growth and aesthetic development.
Yet Benson and Emmes were not unaware of the challenges thej
would face— the letter to Irving concluded: ". . .we are
most intent on our goal and are also cognizant of the many
obstacles we shall face and the sacrifice that will be de-
49
manded from all concerned."
49Ibid.
CHAPTER IV
THE FIRST STEP, 1964:
DEVELOPING AN AESTHETIC
Nineteen sixty-four was probably the most important
year in the formation of the basic aesthetic character of
South Coast Repertory. In this time, the experience of San
Francisco State College, the example of the Actor's Work
shop, and the cognizance of the professional resident the
atre movement was transformed through theatre practice and
discussion into South Coast Repertory's initial artistic
posture. It was with this essentially theoretical aes
thetic that South Coast Repertory began its independent and
year-round operation.
Still, steps were taken in late 1963 that helped
prepare for the important events which would take place in
1964. First, Martin Benson rejected any further ideas of
trying to succeed in the commercial confines of Hollywood.
He moved to Long Beach to be in closer contact with David
72
73
Emmes and to enroll at Long Beach State College. He ent
ered the graduate program and took courses that would
strengthen his directorial abilities: "La Ronde helped me
to come to the self-realization that I did not have what it
takes to be a top-flight actor.The prospect of becoming
an artistic director, along with Emmes, in the summer com
pany of 1964 provided him with a new avenue for creative
expression and achievement.2
Benson and Emmes held several planning meetings
during the fall of 1963. It was determined that an attempt
should be made to form as complete a resident company as
possible for the following summer— a self-contained unit of
directors, designers, actors, and administrative personnel;
it was felt that the artistic capabilities of the company
could not be accurately tested if it were dependent on the
organizational structure of the Off-Broadway Theatre. Be
cause of the positive experiences that came from working
with San Francisco State College actors in La Ronde. it was
decided that the company should, as much as possible, be
recruited from San Francisco. Local recruitment would be
held to a minimum and only then to utilize specially
interview of April 20, 1972. 2Ibid.
74
3
qualified individuals.
Accordingly, Benson made several trips to San Fran
cisco to recruit personnel. One of the first persons he
contacted was John Arthur Davis . Both Benson and Emmes
4
respected Davis' ideas on theatre. He had heard of the
La Ronde production and agreed to participate in the summer
company which was being formed. Davis assisted in forming
the company and several meetings were held in his apartment.
On these occasions, Benson informed prospective participants
that the summer project would be organized very much like
the Actor's Workshop in that it would be serious and in
tensive work in theatre. He added that if the summer
proved to be an artistic success, the theatre company would
continue operation.
The Summer of 1964
In the spring of 1964, Emmes joined Benson on one
of the final trips to San Francisco. By this time, their
plans had become more clear and he was able to inform San
Francisco individuals that the summer company would produce
three plays over a 10-week period. This would allow suf
ficient time to do the plays well and thereby avoid many of
3Ibid. 4Ibid.
75
5
the compromises of a summer stock situation.
On this same trip north, Benson and Emmes met with
Jules Irving. They informed him of their general plan and
he offered that it appeared to be sound. He agreed with
the plan to test the company's capabilities before making
any long-term decisions and offered to help where he could.*
The recruiting trips proved to be successful. In
June, 1964, 12 former members of the San Francisco State
College Drama Department came to Long Beach to form the
nucleus of the summer theatre. They were: David Clements,
Gerald Dugan, Teri Ralston, Richard Rekow, Don Tuche,
Martha McFarland, Diane Himes, Pamela Dunlap, Jeff Tambor,
Martin Benson, David Emmes, and John Arthur Davis. They
were joined by six individuals from Long Beach who filled
out the basic company: Ron Thronson, Jeff MacNeilledge,
Lana Neece, Sally Daley, Pat Gordon, and Lana BiggsP
By June, three plays and their directors had been
chosen. David Emmes was assigned The Hostage by Brendan
Behan, Martin Benson was given Major Barbara by George
^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
^Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
7Company roster, 1964 Acting Company (list compiled
from Early History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.).
76
Bernard Shaw, and Don Tuche was charged with The Alchemist
by Ben Jonson. These plays were chosen after many lengthy
discussions between Benson and Emmes. The basic guideline
employed was that the three plays present divergent artistic
challenges to the summer company. Emmes was also concerned
that the plays had a certain prestige as dramatic literature
so that the company would project an image of serious pur-
8
pose.
A final consideration was how the summer company was
to be identified to the general public. An important point
is that both Benson and Emmes wanted the company to be re
garded as an independent producing unit, separate in its
artistic concerns from the Off-Broadway Theatre. Under the
pressure of impending publicity and promotional plans, the
g
name Theatre Workshop was chosen. The name clearly shows
the influence of the Actor's Workshop and the wish to be
identified with the professional resident theatre movement.
In order to facilitate a smooth transition in taking
over the complete operational responsibility of the Off-
Broadway Theatre, Benson and Emmes designed the scenery for
the Off-Broadway1 s May production, The Balcony. Thus they
Q Q
°Benson, interview of April 20, 1972. Ibid.
77
gained specific knowledge of the technical resources and
capabilities of the theatre. Also, Benson added to his
directorial experience by staging Look Back in Anger in the
Off-Broadway June production slot (he had directed his first
play, Shadow of a Gunman, only months before at Long Beach
State College) . With David Emmes and David Clements in the
Osborne play, he was able to acquire experience working with
10
San Francisco State College actors .
John Arthur Davis arrived in Long Beach in late May,
some three weeks before the scheduled opening of the summer
company. He went right to work helping to organize the
technical area of the Off-Broadway Theatre and serving as
technical director on Look Back in Anger. In brief, he
assumed the responsibility and concern for the success of
the summer theatre that would shortly make him one of the
three leaders of the theatre.11
The aesthetic position
The general aesthetic posture of the summer company
was revealed through the promotional efforts of David Emmes.
Where possible, he spoke to civic and service organizations
about the objectives of the summer theatre. At a June
10Ibid. 11Ibid.
78
meeting of the Alamitos Bay Women's Club, he gave a talk
entitled "Resident Renaissance: New Energy for American
Theatre." The detailed outline of this speech reveals a
belief in the resident company concept. At the same time,
it shows that the Theatre Workshop did not hold specific
aesthetic beliefs that were characteristically its own.
The speech opens by recognizing the achievements of the
Guthrie Theatre and the Actor's Workshop and goes on to
discuss the commercial tendencies of the American theatre
since the turn of the century. The main part of the speech
deals with explaining a resident theatre company and it is
here that Emmes reflects the thinking of Theatre Workshop:
It is a group of multi-talented people in management
as well as in acting and technical theatre . .. [it
is an] ensemble of players with common vocabulary,
semantics and methods . . . strengthening theatre by
the interchange of ideas and methods . . . dedicated
to the growth of community and national culture . . .
commenting on the human condition.1^
Another view of the aesthetic of the summer company
is provided in a brochure promoting season tickets. Written
by Emmes, the brochure contains a section which describes
the summer company:
12
David Emmes, June, 1964 speech outline (MS in
Early History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.).
79
The Theatre Workshop is a summer resident company of
the Off-Broadway Theatre that will produce, direct
and design the entire summer season. The company is
comprised of individuals educated in theatre who
share an uncompromising belief in the kind and qual
ity of theatre our society should enjoy; they will be
drawn to the company from our own Long Beach area,
San Francisco, and New York. Their goal: to be
second to none in producing plays of the finest ar
tistic merit with the highest production standards
attainable.13
The Sunday, June 28, 1964 edition of the Long Beach
Independent-Press Telegram carried a special feature on the
plans and projects of the summer company. The writer, Elise
Emery, discusses the 1963 background of the formation of the
company and reports that the three plays planned for pro
duction were chosen for their variety, for their stimula
tion to audiences, and for their artistic challenge to the
theatre. The main concern of the feature is to reveal the
nature of a resident theatre company. The writer quotes
Emmes on the subject:
It's an intangible thing, but an ensemble of players
and staff creates a common vocabulary, a quick com
munication and exchange of ideas. The most crucial
thing is a common attitude. There must be respect,
almost a religious regard for theatre. There is no
room for prima donnas.
1^1964 Summer Subscription brochure (copy in Early
History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.).
I4 "Company Comes to Off -Broadway," Long Beach in
dependent Press Telegram. June 28, 1964.___________________
80
Thus, as the production responsibilities of the
summer season approached, the young company could be defined
as possessing only one clearly articulated aesthetic char
acteristic— belief in the resident company. While the com
pany embraced the general concept of devoting itself to
relevant and significant works of theatre, it was not yet
capable of identifying the specific aesthetic components
which comprised its general outlook. The course of the
summer, however, brought these details into sharper focus.
The first meeting of the entire summer company
occurred on the evening of June 14, 1964. From the very
outset of discussion, questions of aesthetic purpose were
raised. What had been intended as an organization orienta
tion to the summer's schedule became an intensive dialogue
on theatre.
Gerald Dugan, a graduate of the Carnegie Institute
of Technology, rose from his seat; he announced that every
great theatre company, citing the Moscow Art Theatre as one
example, could be distinguished by an identifiable artistic
purpose. Richard Rekow, a talented actor with an extensive
professional background, added to the discussion by pointing
out the Actor's Workshop's political consciousness and its
interest in new forms of theatre. A general discussion
81
ensued regarding what should be the specific artistic in
terests of the summer company. It became clear that the
company did not possess specific artistic objectives and a
feeling began to pervade the meeting that somehow this would
be a serious handicap to the work of the summer.1®
With this, Emmes observed that he was not at all
worried about the absence of specific aesthetic guidelines.
Rather, he said, the company's identity would emerge organ
ically from the process of producing theatre; it would be
artificial and superficial to choose some existing theatri
cal cause as the theatre's own. The company would find its
identity through its work and then evaluate it in terms of
meaningful direction and purpose.1® It was with this point
of view that the summer was approached.
The summer plans proceeded on schedule. The Hostage
opened July 2, 1964; originally scheduled for three weeks,
it was extended to a fourth week in order to give The Al
chemist additional rehearsal time. The Alchemist opened on
July 30, 1964 and played for three weeks. Major Barbara
opened on August 20, 1964 and played for two weeks (a week
was cut off its run because of the extension of The
15Benson, interview of April 20, 1972. 16Ibid.
82
Hostage) . All the productions played four performances a
week, Thursday through Sunday at 8:30 P.M.^7 While the
theatre played to haIf-houses on the average, the company
did receive favorable response from its audience and the
press. George Eres, theatre columnist for the Long Beach
Independent-Press Telegram, wrote in August that the summer
company was "a fine group of talented players who have
18
brought brightness to the summer."
Far more important than the fact the company enjoyec
reasonable success was that in many specific areas there was
significant artistic development and progress, growth that
started to lay an aesthetic foundation for South Coast
Repertory. These areas will be discussed in accordance
with the plan outlined in Chapter I.
The physical theatre
The Off-Broadway Theatre was built in an existing
commercial building on the corner of Lime Street and Broad
way in Long Beach (it was demolished in 1966 to make room
for new commercial development). The cement block building
was approximately 55 feet long and 45 feet wide, it had a
17
'Early History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
^Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram. August 18,
1964.
83
steel girdered roof which was covered by sheet metal; this
19
made the building very warm in the summer.
The theatre seated 120 persons in its house— 90 in
the main section and 30 in a small side section. The seats
were mounted on plywood risers vrtiich rose to the back wall
of the theatre in six-inch increments. The seats were old-
i
style movie chairs covered in a blue, nappy fabric.
The stage platform covered the entire width of the
building. It was 45 feet wide by approximately 18 feet
deep. It had a one-foot wooden substructure and was cov
ered with plywood.
The stage opening was 24 feet wide. The proscenium
and areas on either side of it were made of beige curtains
20
supported from behind by a wooden framework.
The theatre had minimal lighting facilities. There
was one light pipe in the house which had six electrical
circuits. There were two crude battens over the stage whicl
provided 12 circuits . Six auto-transformer dimmers were
21
run from the lighting booth in the back of the house.
There was little off-stage space for storage of
scenic elements. Most of the stage-left area was used up
19Davis, interview of May 27, 1972. ^°Ibid.
2 1
*AClements, interview of May 11, 1972.
84
by a makeshift dressing room for women. The men dressed in
a small corridor which led from stage-right to the light
booth.
The theatre had not been expertly planned and had
been built by amateurs. It had the look of crude construe-
22
tion and makeshift planning. Yet in many ways the the
atre proved to be an effective physical plant, providing a
context of flexibility and theatrical immediacy.
Martin Benson observes that he was attracted to the
Off-Broadway Theatre because it was not the concrete and
fixed edifice that one finds in educational theatre that so
often arouses a feeling of technical intimidation: "The
Off-Broadway Theatre had a rustic quality which made you
feel that there was flexibility in what you could do on
23
stage." Indeed, the theatre was used flexibly during the
summer. Not only did the designs vary greatly, but the
theatre was altered as well. A stage-right forestage was
added, and overhead and side-masking units were changed
from permanently fixed elements to movable elements.
The Off-Broadway Theatre allowed for an intimate
relationship between actor and audience. The house was wide
23lnterview of April 20, 1972. 24Ibid.
85
and shallow; no one in the audience was further than 35
feet from the stage. For most of the company's actors, who
had come from the large educational theatres, this meant a
24
scaling down of their performances.
Thus the somewhat rustic and changeable nature of
the Off-Broadway Theatre effectively complemented the ex
perimental and testing atmosphere of the summer company.
The intimacy of the theatre helped to support a developing
presentational style of the company.
Productions
The intended objective— that the three plays chosen
for slimmer production would effectively test the young
company's capabilities— was more than realized. By the end
of the summer specific artistic strengths and weaknesses
could be identified.
The production of The Hostage revealed an energetic
spirit in the acting company, a direct presentational pro
duction approach, and a theatrical freedom from close ad
herence to the text. These qualities gave the company's
early work a performance emphasis as contrasted to a textual
emphasis.
24
Clements, interview of May 11, 1972.
86
David Clements believes that in The Hostage "we made
a discovery of a fantastic force of energy— in some ways we
tried to get through the whole summer on that." From the
singing and dancing opening to the rousing song at the end,
the production kept up a driving and spirited pace. The
Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram described the evening
as a "rowdy, hilarious offering . . . more music hall mad-
25
ness than play . . . a boisterous opening." The Lakewood
Enterprise cited "the madness" of the production and ob
served that the director "has molded an ensemble of authen
tic Irish players who can sing, too. He has not allowed
26
their shenanigans to lag for a moment ..."
The Hostage also developed an ability and a continu
ing interest in presentational production. Pamela Dunlap,
who watched the play every night from her perspective as
lighting technician, observed that the cast revealed no
self-consciousness in their ability to relate to the audi
ence. Part of this skill came from the rehearsal process
of loosely structured improvisations and a directorial
approach which stressed a natural acceptance of the
25
■ ’ Samuel Boyea, Long Beach Independent-Press Tele
gram. July 6, 1964 .
26Maurey Beam, Lakewood Enterprise. July 10, 1964.
87
audience. Clements recalls that David Emmes, the director,
would constantly tell the cast "the fourth wall's behind
the audienceand that they should unpretentiously recog
nize the audience as a part of the theatrical environment.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the pro
duction of The Hostage was the theatrical freedom with which
the text was approached. Many contemporary references were
included in the production to further emphasize that the
play was not taking place in the illusion of Ireland, but
in a theatrical reality in Long Beach. Certain lines were
changed and an audience "sing-along" was added. The Lake
wood Enterprise reported:
Add an occasional off-the-cuff improvisation such as
a flash on the fifth race at Hollywood Park or the
score of the Dodgers ^Mets ball game, and then toss
well. At least the style of "The Hostage" avoids
any danger of the play becoming dated.2'
The Alchemist continued the utilization of the com
pany's performing energy and the immediacy of presentational
performance. it was distinguished by its non-traditional
production approach.
The Alchemist revealed the playing strength of The
Hostage and maintained a fast and driving pace. It
88
succeeded, in the belief of Martin Benson, because the
performance vitality made the audience overlook some of the
technical deficiencies in dealing with Jonson's language
and the production's general absence of subtlety and nu
ance. The presentational recognition of the audience in
performance was extended to the time before the show, with
28
members of the cast serving as ushers.
The Alchemist employed a unique production approach
and style. The company and the director determined that
they did not possess the means to mount a traditional
Elizabethan production of the play; the limited summer bud
get did not permit costly Elizabethan costumes, and the
experience and capability of the company in Elizabethan
theatre was limited. Yet it was felt that Jonson's satiric
probe into man's greed and foibles could be projected in a
29
different style and period. What emerged from discussion
and rehearsal was a kind of "periodless" Renaissance style
somewhat resembling the spirit of the Commedia dell'Arte.
Using a spacious and simple set, the production channeled
its energy into a very athletic and dynamic style, an
20
Tuche, interview of April 27, 1972. (Tuche
directed The Alchemist.)
29Ibid.
89
approach that was unique in its own right, it did not have
a counterpart in prevailing theatre practice. It became,
therefore, the beginning of an identifiable style of the
30
young company.
Major Barbara confronted the young company with
artistic challenges it did not have the resources to meet.
Shaw's refined wit and complex construction could not be
dealt with by energy alone. The realistic structure of the
play demanded the acting maturity that could be overlooked
in the convention of presentational theatre.
Pamela Dunlap, who went on to become a member of
the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center and is now a suc
cessful film and television actress, played the leading role
of Barbara: "I felt uncomfortable. I really didn't have
the faintest idea of what I was doing. It was too diffi
cult." The Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram shared
her feelings; discussing the role of Barbara, the critic
observed that she "gave us a 'tinpot tragedy' instead of
the street-corner conviction of a dedicated Salvation Army
evangelist beating her own drum."^
3°Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
•^Samuel Boyea, Long Beach Independent-Press Tele
gram. August 23, 1964.
90
Martin Benson, who directed Major Barbara, feels
that the production revealed the company's lack of maturity
not just in its ability to credibly perform older character
roles, but in its ability to bring acting polish and finesse
to realistic roles— a skill that can come only from actors
32
who have had considerable experience. This fact can have
an effect on a theatre's aesthetic, since many important
works in theatre will be rejected because of their "matur
ity" demands. As will be seen, this has been true to some
extent in the case of South Coast Repertory.
Design
By the end of the summer, the company had developed
some identifiable artistic characteristics in the area of
design. Some of them were quite clearly strengths. Others
proved to be weaknesses that would take a long time to im
prove .
John Arthur Davis was the principal set designer
for the summer and the general coordinator of all the other
areas of design— lights, costumes, and properties. Don
Tuche, who directed The Alchemist, recalls Davis' advocacy
of simple and uncluttered scenery. Tuche, along with the
^Interview of April 20, 1972.
91
other directors, generally agreed that excessively realistic-
scenery in many ways worked against the overt theatrical
nature of theatre. The discussions in design objectives,
therefore, began with this general reference point.
The Hostage used a simplified impressionist design
for the bordello setting of the play; while still maintain
ing architectural line, wall masses were eliminated and
replaced with transparent gauze, and only a few selected
elements were used to support the environment of the play.
The presentational thrust of the production was aided by a
more theatrical use of lighting— no attempt was made to
33
provide motivational sources of lighting.
The Alchemist, in many ways, was the most unusual
design of the summer (see Plate I). A circular platform
was raked and ramped toward the audience. Fabric panels
decorated with alchemy symbols were raised on poles at the
beginning of the performance to complete the visual design;
or, as the local critic said, the company "used a fine set
which got out of bed like the sun on its way to high
34
noon." On this simple and formal set the actors appeared
JJClements, interview of May 11, 1972.
34
“ "Samuel Boyea, Long Beach Independent Press Tele
gram. July 31, 1964.
37
93
wearing equally simplified costumes which, while retaining
the essential line and color of Renaissance costumes, in
their simplicity and theatricalization were not identifi-
35
able with any period or country.
In Major Barbara the company was faced with a play
that required three realistic sets. It was difficult to
employ a more theatrical and simplified approach to scenery
in dealing with Shaw's complex play. The company decided
to approach the play in a more traditional, realistic way
and, in doing so, discovered some of its technical short
comings . Martin Benson recalls that "dealing with cumber
some flats, realistic painting techniques and set storage
problems really didn't interest us and it showed.""*6 The
result was a minimally functional set that did little to
support the satiric thrust of the play. The Long Beach
Independent-Press Telegram reported that the "sets were
garish rather than imaginative, the library of Lady Brito-
mart looking like a long-lost blood relative of wine and
..37
roses."
Thus, by the summer's end, the company began to
35Benson, interview of April 20, 1972. 3^Ibid.
37Boyea, Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram.
August 23, 1964.
94
reveal an artistic style which tended toward a simplicity
of design motivated less by historical accuracy and strict
adherence to text and more from production concepts and
theatrical immediacy. This style trend would develop fur
ther as South Coast Repertory produced more presentational
works. At the same time, it was clear that not only did
the company have difficulty in performing more realistic
plays, it did not have the means and resources to mount
them; the complex demands of realistic theatre require
skills and organization which take time and experience to
build.
The existence of these design realities had an
effect on the general aesthetic goals of the young theatre.
Since the resident theatre movement philosophically embraces
a wide range of theatre, a company must be able, practically
and artistically, to mount any type of play. In the pres
ence of artistic weakness, a theatre embraces its strength.
For South Coast Repertory, therefore, presentational the
atre became the predominant trend of its early production
history.
The resident company and
key individuals
"Whether it was due to luck or our own credit, we
managed to assemble an exceptionally talented group of
people who were able to give us vfcat we needed at the
38
time." With these words, Martin Benson points out that
the hopes of creating a resident theatre would never have
been realized without the participation and contributions
of very dedicated theatre people. As was pointed out in
Chapter III, over half of these individuals are now suc
ceeding in professional theatre. A group of less collective
talent, in all probability, could not spark the discussion
and seriousness of purpose that so clearly characterized
the process of the summer of 1964.
David Clements points out that the summer's work
created a strong spirit and energy among the individuals
who became the creative nucleus of the company, that there
was a feeling that a creative team was being formed. At
the same time, he observes that the summer was also a
"weeding-out" process of those individuals who could not
commit themselves fully to the emerging feelings of company
spirit. Jeff MacNeilledge of Long Beach and Diane Himes
from San Francisco State were examples of those individuals
who dropped out psychologically from the rigorous demands
38
Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
96
the company imposed upon itself.
Martha McFarland also believes that the summer com
pany had a purity of vision and quite seriously accepted
the responsibility that they were creating the beginnings
of a professional resident theatre. In their talk and ac
tions there was a working together for a common goal.
A primary catalyst in unifying the efforts of the
summer company was John Arthur Davis. He, more than anyone,
possessed the practical ability to translate theoretical
objectives into physical realities. He brought technical
expertise and adaptability to the company. Clements ob
serves that Davis brought a sense of professional thorough
ness and follow-through to the company's plans and organi
zation. Benson credits Davis for his logistical organiza
tion of the company's many activities:
Without Jack, I doubt seriously if we could have
built complete sets and costumes for three major
plays in the space of 10 weeks. Davis' influence
went far beyond the technical area of the company;
his professional attitude and example pervaded all
the areas of the theatre's endeavors. ^
Not surprisingly, by the summer's end he had become one of
the principal leaders of the company.
97
In short, the meiribers of the summer company con
tributed greatly to the aesthetic beginnings of South Coast
Repertory. Benson and Emmes provided the theatrical frame
work of a resident theatre. A group of talented individ
uals— through creativity, through artistic dialogue, and
through disciplined work— created a collective spirit and
energy. John Arthur Davis, almost singly, brought a tech
nical and practical knowledge to the company that allowed
its goals and spirit to find tangible expression.
Theatre administration
and business
The areas of company leadership and the management
of business affairs did not contribute greatly to the aes
thetic development or point of view of the summer company.
These areas were largely unorganized before the summer
operation. Yet as answers were sought to questions of
leadership and financial matters, the artistic direction of
the company was affected in two general ways.
At the start of the summer's work, the company did
not possess a clearly functioning leadership. While Benson
and Emmes were the founders and organizers of the project
and therefore had opportunity to make certain decisions,
the day-to-day functioning of the company in its first few
98
weeks seemed to be controlled by a sense of collective
democracy. Benson believes that while he may have been a
leader in title, he really was not one in function. In
these early times, no one really knew if there was one
single head of the theatre or what the responsibilities of
40
any of the so-called leaders really were.
From the necessity of making decisions concerning
questions of budget, utilization of personnel, and the plan
ning of theatre schedules, a triumvirate leadership evolved
consisting of David Emmes, Martin Benson, and John Arthur
Davis. Emmes became responsible for the administrative
work of the theatre; Benson became a producing coordinator;
and Davis took charge of the design and technical areas of
the theatre. Together the three men assumed over-all ar-
41
tistic responsibility for the theatre.
David Clements believes that "the emergence of com
pany leadership was one of the most important accomplish
ments of the summer." Martha McFarland believes that this
emergence became the start of a more specific artistic
point of view. Indeed, Emmes' strong background in dramatic
^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
99
literature, supplemented by Benson's particular interest in
American playwrights, gave the theatre a strong orientation
to the text, to the play as the key source of theatre en
deavor. At the same time, Davis' interest and skill in
stagecraft and design, his desire to test and experiment,
gave the theatre a strong emphasis on production values.
This particular makeup of the artistic leaders proved to be
a successful formula for the future work of the young com
pany .
The over-all efforts of the business area had an
indirect effect on the artistic development of the company.
This area was headed by David Emmes and Ron Thronson, a
graduate student at Long Beach State College and a promising
writer (his 1971 work Mother Earth, with music by Toni
Shearer, became a South Coast Repertory and national suc
cess). The two men sent press releases and photographs,
got posters.distributed, and coordinated a small advertising
42
budget. On the whole, their efforts to attract large
audiences and box-office revenue were disappointing. The
theatre audience averaged 35 per cent of capacity for the
42
Statement by Ron Thronson, personal interview,
May 27, 1972. All subsequent statements by Thronson quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
100
43
summer. Looking at this disappointing statistic, the
young company did not consider the fact that the dramatic
offerings of resident theatre appeal to a select audience
or that a theatre's reputation takes time to grow and re
ceive support. Rather, the blame was placed upon the Long
Beach area and audience (discussed in the following sec-
44
tion) . This view became one of the principal reasons the
company moved out of Long Beach to Orange County where, as
will be presented later, the audience and area had, ironi
cally, a far greater effect on the aesthetic posture of
South Coast Repertory.
Audience and area
Long Beach, California in 1964 had a population of
338,000. Two of the largest employers in the city were, anc
still are, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and the Douglas
Aircraft Company (now the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation) .
Together these two businesses employed over 13,000 employ
ees, mostly in what would be generally defined as blue-
collar positions. The city is also a major port, contains
a thriving oil industry, and is a home port of the United
^Early History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
^Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
101
45
States Navy.
While from a population view Long Beach would be
considered a large city, it has not projected a commensurate
cultural image. The closeness of Los Angeles and that
city's considerable cultural activity tend to make Long
46
Beach its cultural suburb.
Faced with small audiences, the Theatre Workshop
concluded that Long Beach did not possess sufficient cul
tural interest to support a serious resident theatre. David
Clements recalls that "we saw Long Beach as a cultural
wasteland. It was clear that we had to move." By the end
of summer that decision was made.
The decision to move the theatre reveals the de
termination of the company to pursue its aesthetic goals
without compromise. The company determined that in order
to enjoy any kind of success in Long Beach the theatre would
have to broaden its artistic views to include commercial
theatre. The Long Beach Community Playhouse was an example
of a solvent enterprise in the city, producing plays which
the Theatre Workshop regarded as inconsequential. The
45
Information provided by the Long Beach Chamber of
Commerce, Long Beach, California.
46Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
102
prospect of following the community theatre's example was
. . . 47
unanimously rejected.
In short, the audience and area of the Theatre Work
shop did not directly affect or alter the general aesthetic
goals of the company. The notion that those goals might be
in any way unrealistic was never questioned. The lack of
Long Beach support for their efforts simply reinforced the
decision to move to an area that would.
National and international
trends
Specific developments in the American or world the
atre did not primarily concern the summer company. The
intense producing schedule and the concern for developing
some sense of company organization gave the theatre a
48
parochial posture.
In a more general way, however, the influence of
the resident theatre movement and the Actor's Workshop was
in evidence. The desire to create an ensemble company that
addressed serious works and the name of the summer company,
the Theatre Workshop, reveal this influence.
47Ibid.
4®Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
103
Aesthetic analysis
It is clear that the work of the summer of 1964 did
much to lay the artistic foundation of South Coast Reper
tory. This period of testing and experiment resulted in
the determination to continue the operation of the young
company on a full-time basis. Many factors contributed to
this decision.
One of the factors in the decision to continue
operation was an artistic dialogue that took place in the
company throughout the summer. After many rehearsals and
performances people gathered together to discuss the prog
ress of the company and the kind of theatre it should be
come. This was, in essence, an aesthetic dialogue. It was
motivated by the fact that former drama students were now
producing in their own theatre and had to establish mean
ingful personal guidelines to give their efforts valid
direction. This dialogue created a sincere and genuine
commitment to resident theatre as it was generally embodied
49
by the summer company. The more specific aspects of the
company's point of view were still taking shape. Still,
the work of the summer had brought some of these aspects
49
Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
104
into clearer focus .
The work in The Hostage and The Alchemist revealed
the start of a presentational style that was unique and
organic to the company. While it can be described as being
similar to a vaudeville or Commedia dell*Arte acceptance of
the audience, it was not based in any conscious way on
tradition, but rather evolved out of an organic production
approach that was based on the personal makeup of the com
pany.
This presentational direction was also revealed in
design. The set and costume design of The Alchemist had no
strict basis in tradition, yet created a Renaissance atmos
phere in its selective simplicity.
Another important factor in the aesthetic develop
ment of South Coast Repertory was the permanent establish
ment of its artistic leaders. The theatre was now capable
of taking on a more individual artistic identity, a capa
bility that would be more difficult in a democracy of com
pany consensus.
These were the principal factors, along with the
positive general experience of producing theatre, that
prompted the decision to continue operation. In a program
note written by Ron Thronson and David Emmes, the company
105
communicated its decision to its audience.
With the production of Major Barbara by George Ber
nard Shaw, the Theatre Workshop concludes its summer
festival of plays at the Off-Broadway Theatre. The
Theatre Workshop wishes to express its appreciation
for the enthusiastic support given us by audiences,
the newspapers, the radio stations of Southern Cali
fornia, and the board of this theatre. It has allowed
us to test and evaluate the performance of this com
pany in producing the resident concept in theatre,
the idea embodied so well in such groups as the San
Francisco Actor's Workshop, The Alley Theatre, and
the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre. As a result, we of the
Theatre Workshop have decided to continue in our idea
in our own theatre where the objective will be as it
is now— to provide our audiences with nothing less
than the best theatre attainable, emanating from a
firm conviction relative to the responsibilities of
theatre, produced with high production standards, in
order to stimulate as well as entertain our audi
ences .5®
As the run of Major Barbara continued, the company
was taking steps to organize its activities for the fall of
1964 . This period of activity created the springboard from
which the company would enter its Second Step.
The Fall of 1964
With the decision to continue operation and move
the theatre to a better location, the question of where to
move arose. Several people in the company, particularly
50Program note, Major Barbara program (Early History
File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.).
106
Gerald Dugan, wanted to move into Los Angeles, into the
51
center o£ theatrical activity in Southern California.
The view that prevailed was articulated by David Enunes .
This view was that the commercial atmosphere of Hollywood
would undermine the special nature of an ensemble company,
that a resident theatre was something essentially foreign
to Hollywood, and that it would be difficult to maintain a
cohesive group of people with the commercial distractions
of the "industry"— the prospect of work in television or
becoming a "star." Also, with the existence of many groups
of various kinds already producing in Los Angeles, it would
be difficult, in the face of this competition, to gain
recognition— this being a desired factor in the future
growth of the theatre. If the theatre moved to an area
where there was not a lot of theatre activity, yet had the
means to support a resident theatre, the chance for recog-
52
nition and growth would be greater.
David Clements recalls that he and Emmes strongly
advocated moving to Orange County. It was widely publicized
at the time that Orange County was one of the fastest-
51
J Tuche, interview of April 27, 1972.
52
Benson, intervxew of April 20, 1972.
107
growing areas in the United States; they reasoned that a
young theatre company could grow and prosper as this area
did. A major league baseball franchise in Orange County
and a campus of the University of California that would
open shortly at Irvine were cited as examples that Orange
County was becoming more metropolitan. All of these fac
tors , they argued, would begin to balance the politically
conservative makeup of the area which otherwise might limit
the theatre's plans and choice of plays.
A further impetus to an Orange County move came as
a result of a visit by several Newport Beach citizens. One
of them; Mary Sherwood, had previously worked in a community
theatre production with David Clements. She and her friends,
who were also actively interested in theatre, came to see
the summer productions. Upon hearing of the company's
decision to move, the Newport Beach people urged the the-
53
atre to move to their city.
The decision was made to locate the company in
Orange County. Newport Beach was chosen as the headquar
ters. The immediate area, which included the nearby city
of Costa Mesa, contained over 100,000 people, and over a
53
Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
108
half-million people lived within a 20-mile radius of Newport
54
Beach. in addition, Newport Beach was recognized as a
colorful resort area and it was felt that this would add a
55
pleasant ambience to the theatre.
In September of 1964, the company left the Off-
Broadway Theatre and took up temporary quarters in the home
of David Emmes, which was located in Lakewood, a city ad
jacent to Long Beach. From this base, the company planned
to rehearse a production and then tour it into Orange
County. The hope was that after several touring produc
tions, the company would eventually generate sufficient
income and audience support to convert some existing build
ing into a small theatre.^
In October, the company changed its name to South
Coast Repertory. This change was motivated by a September
meeting in Los Angeles between Jules Irving, Martin Benson,
and John Arthur Davis. Irving recommended a change of name
because he had found from experience that the word
54
A Community Guide to Orange County. 1964, pub
lished by Security-First National Bank (no publication data
available) .
^5Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
56
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
109
"workshop" confused people and did not clearly indicate a
fully functioning theatre . Accordingly, a new name was
chosen to reveal the Newport Beach location of the company
57
and to identify it with the resident theatre movement.
Ironically, the word "repertory" would prove to be equally
- . 58
confusing.
On November 12, 1964, South Coast Repertory opened
its production of Tartuffe at the Ebell Club meeting house
in Newport Beach. It had rented the building for two week
ends, set up 60 seats in a large room, and given a total of
four performances. While the audiences were generally
small, the production was well received. This led to book
ings at Orange Coast College and the Laguna Beach Play-
59
house.
During this same time, John Arthur Davis proposed
that the company try to find an office and rehearsal loca
tion in Newport Beach. It was clear that it was difficult
to develop an Orange County theatre from Lakewood. A New
port Beach location would give the company and its members
57
Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
58
Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
59
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
110
a better sense of identity and permanence
As it happened, Samuel Emmes, the stepfather of
David Emmes, was closing out a secondhand marine hardware
store in order to retire to the country. He owned the two-
story building which contained his business and an upstairs
apartment. He agreed to rent the upstairs to South Coast
Repertory for use as an office and rehearsal area.^
The theatre took occupancy of the upstairs apartment
in late November and began planning its future touring pro
ductions . In a matter of weeks, however, events and plans
led the theatre to the decision to convert the entire
building, located at 2815 Villa way, Newport, into the first
permanent home of South Coast Repertory— the Second Step
Theatre.
The aesthetic position
In preparation for the company's independent exist
ence, David Emmes wrote an information brochure explaining
the theatre and its makeup. It was completed at the end of
the slimmer season in Long Beach, before the company changed
its name, and was used to familiarize interested people witt
®®Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
61Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
Ill
the Theatre Workshop. While it does contain much that is
pure information, it also functions as a general artistic
manifesto and reveals the aesthetic views of the theatre in
the fall of 1964.
Theatre must be a vital and forward moving con
tributor to America and our national growth; it must
question and evaluate our everchanging and intense
reality, and the individual's place in this complex
scheme. Theatre cannot exist solely to provide escape
and superficial diversion nor, indeed, the froth and
stale truisms so often disguised as meaningful drama.
That theatre must never lose sight of its most impor
tant responsibility of entertainment, we do not ques
tion, but we choose to define entertainment to include
the spiritual experience of witnessing a King Lear or
a Cherry Orchard. Any great play, regardless of its
subject or its tone, does not fail to entertain.
We shall present plays solely on the basis of
their artistic integrity and relevance to modern
times. We shall present plays, comedy through trag
edy, that shall not fail to entertain and stimulate
audiences, but that shall, nevertheless, probe the
human condition.®^
This passage was the first formal statement the
company made regarding how it saw its function as a pro
ducing theatre. In the objective to "probe the human con
dition" it committed itself to producing theatre as an art.
In its concern for responsible and significant achievement
in theatre, the company echoed the hopes and thought of
62
[David Emmes], "The Theatre Workshop" (promo
tional brochure issued by the theatre in August, 1964), p.
1.
112
Shelden Cheney and Lee Simonson.
The manifesto also announced the company's inten
tions to align itself with the professional resident theatre
movement:
We seek to ally ourselves with a number of ex
cellent repertory companies throughout America in
cluding, The Seattle Center Theatre, The San Francisco
Actor's Workshop, the Houston Alley Theatre, the
Washington, D. C. Arena Theatre, and the Tyrone Guthrie
Theatre of Minneapolis . The common aim of such the
atres, including our own Theatre Workshop, is nothing
less than the creation of an American theatrical tra
dition, a tradition of continuous achievement by a
tightly knit theatre organization as opposed to the
"hit or miss" philosophy of Broadway's commercial
show shops . .
In its avowal to work for the development of a
strong American theatre tradition, the company embraced one
of the principal tenets of the resident theatre movement, a
tenet that had its genesis in Cheney's, Isaacs', and Mac-
gowan's hopes for the creation of a national theatre. The
Theatre Workshop's rejection of the commercial theatre was,
of course, a logical view in relation to its aesthetic
position.
A section of the manifesto entitled "What Is the
Theatre Workshop?" offers a more specific indication of the
63Ibid., p. 2.
113
theatre's developing sense of the importance of a resident
company of theatre artists . The section announces that the
resident form of theatre organization is "the best assurance
of consistent production quality" when it is used to create
theatre that emanates from a "sound philosophical position
as to what constitutes good theatre."^4 It then lists four
attributes of the resident company:
a) ENSEMBLE. People working together with common
goals on many plays can acquire a common vocabu
lary, method of approach, and semantic values on
theatre.
b) GROWTH. The exchange of ideas and the process of
learning from one's fellow company members can
increase the overall effectiveness of the individ
uals in the Theatre Workshop.
c) INDIVIDUALITY. The resident company manner of
production allows a theatre to evolve a definite
character and style which would distinguish itself
from other theatres.
d) ACHIEVEMENT. By having ensemble, growth, and a
definite style, it is possible to produce plays
of artistic integrity, and plays of greater com
plexity and challenge
The four points do suggest a logical progression of
a resident theatre's growth. They also clearly state the
advantage of resident theatre production over the general
commercial practice of casting each new production with
fresh personnel— all things being equal, the resident
64Ibid.. p. 4.
114
company would achieve more in a rehearsal period than a
newly created commercial company. However, the qualifica
tion of basic artistic equality is an important factor; the
value of resident theatre is in direct proportion to its
artistic depth— a weak resident company will probably not
realize as much of a play as a strong commercial company.
The summer productions of The Hostage and The Alchemist were
successful because of the energy and spirit of the resident
company. Major Barbara was less successful because of the
lack of artistic maturity within the same resident company;
it is possible that had the company held open auditions for
the Shaw play, it could have acquired the mature personnel
it required and a better production might have resulted.
Maintaining a strong and viable resident company
that is capable of genuine artistic versatility is the
fundamental necessity for any resident theatre, without it,
a theatre's aesthetic beliefs and goals are just rhetoric.
South Coast Repertory faced the reality of this crucial
necessity as it entered years of full-time production; but
in the fall of 1964, as seen above, it revealed full faith
and confidence in its company and its ability to produce
the broad repertory of resident theatre.
115
The physical theatre
The most unusual aspect of the physical producing
environment of South Coast Repertory during the fall of 1964
was that it did not possess a fixed one. As a touring
company it had to adapt to different performing environ
ments . The theatre's production of Tartuffe played in the
meeting room of an Ebell Club, the proscenium stage of the
Laguna Playhouse, an open-stage arrangement at Orange Coast
College, and in the clubhouse of an apartment complex.66
It is to the credit of John Arthur Davis that the
production was easily portable and physically flexible.
Davis was a prime force in shaping the theatre's touring
plans for the fall. He advocated that a production should
be chosen that would be free of bulky scenery, heavy hard
ware, and extensive lighting requirements, because this
would limit the theatre's adaptability to different physical
environments; if the theatre toured a realistic play, it
would need a fully equipped theatre in order to successfully
present the production. He maintained that South Coast
Repertory should be capable of performing its touring pro
duction almost anywhere— from a park to a conventional
66Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
116
67
theatre. His position was similar to theorist Richard
Schechner's concept of "found space," in which one does not
create an environment by transforming space (traditional
theatre practice) but one in which "one negotiates with an
68
environment, engaging in a scenic dialogue with a space."
Davis' aesthetic view of the physical environment
was accepted by the theatre and did much to influence the
production Tartuffe. The production was very presenta
tional in style, improvisationslly flexible, and could
physically travel in one station wagon. Much of the success
of the production came from the fact that it could be
69
adapted to almost any performing space.
The production of Tartuffe
Rehearsals for the fall 1964 production of Tartuffe
began in October under the direction of Martin Benson. The
company had initially planned a production of The Miser.
with David Emmes directing; this was cancelled because of
Bmmes ' college schedule and an inability to cast The Miser
6^Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
68Public Domain, p. 168.
69Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
117
* i 70
adequately.
In early October John Arthur Davis obtained, through
a friend, a loosely adapted version of Tartuffe which had
been used by the San Francisco Mime Troupe. This version
cut the text almost in half, combined characters, and re
arranged units of the original play. It called for a cast
of eight; the original traditionally called for 12 principal
characters. The script clearly minimized the literary
aspects of Tartuffe. and thus placed a heavy emphasis for a
successful production on the theatrical approach. It was
this point that was attractive to South Coast Repertory— it
could evolve a production that was flexibly suited to its
touring objective and yet not be held to the traditional
expectations of Moliere.7*
The company evolved a Commedia dell'Arte approach
to the shortened version of Tartuffe. The production used
character names that were based on the commedia tradition.
Orgon became Pantalone, cieante became Dottore, and other
characters, with the exception of Tartuffe, were given
appropriate names. Pantalone, Dottore, and Tartuffe all
70Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
7*Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
118
wore full-face masks vrtiich were loosely and theatrically
based on commedia models. The production forsook any con
cern for neo-classic restraint and embraced broad comedy,
including lazzi-inspired acrobatics, slapsticks, and direct
contact with the audience. Many of the units of the play
were left to the actors to improvise and while, after a
time, these parts got set into patterns and regular re
sponses, the actors were able to adapt their performances
72
to different audiences and performing situations.
Critical response to the production was quite
favorable. The energy of the company and the unique ap
proach to the play were cited positively. The Long Beach
Independent-Press Telegram called the production "wild,
73
wanton and thoroughly enjoyable." The critic cited the
energy of the Commedia dell'Arte style and especially noted
one piece of business in which the actor playing Pantalone
(Orgon) became the table (draped with a cloth) under which
the character traditionally hides to overhear Tartuffe and
his wife. Tartuffe and Isabella (Elmere) use the "actor-
72
Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
7^Samuel Boyea, Long Beach Independent-Press Tele
ram. December 11, 1964.
119
74
table" for several bits of business.
Douglass Rowe was the managing director of the
Laguna Playhouse in 1964. He was instrumental in booking
Tartuffe in his theatre in December of that year. In a
weekly column that he wrote for the local newspaper, Rowe
discussed the South Coast Repertory performance:
Never has a group attacked a play with such ferocity
as was witnessed in Tartuffe. Abandoning the tradi-
tional interpretation and shaking the dust off the
worn-out dialogue, they emerged with a fresh, lively
and thoroughly entertaining vehicle.75
Tom Titus, drama critic of the Daily Pilot, one of
Orange County's largest daily newspapers, observed that the
production "goes furthest toward demonstrating the improvi-
sational talent of the repertory players, who probably con
stitute the greatest collection of talent under one roof in
Orange County."7®
In short, the production's energy and uniqueness
introduced South Coast Repertory to Orange County in a posi
tive way. More importantly, in view of its developing
aesthetic, Tartuffe continued to develop a style that was
74Ibid.
75Laguna Beach News-Post. December 24, 1964.
76Pailv Pilot. February 19, 1965.
120
unique and individual to South Coast Repertory.
Design
John Arthur Davis designed all the production ele
ments of Tartuffe and they were consistent with his desire
that they be portable and flexible.
The set consisted of four wooden poles mounted on
plywood bases. Three blue sateen drapes, hung on battens,
were suspended between the poles to suggest walls. Three
openings were cut in the drapes for entrances. These
entrances were backed up by additional drapes, mounted on
77
simple wooden frames. These units masked backstage areas.
The costumes were equally simple. The men's cos
tumes consisted of white muslin tunics and pants (which were
adjustable, like pajamas, to different actors) . Each actor
had a simple overpiece— vest, cape, etc.— to suggest his
character. The women wore simplified Renaissance gowns made
78
of contemporary fabrics.
The production did not use specialized lighting.
It was designed to be performed under worklights, house-
lights, or whatever lighting a given touring facility might
77Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
7Q
°Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
121
79
possess.
The design approach was unique because it rejected
a more elaborate traditional method of stagecraft. Davis'
simplicity of design became another important element in
the emergence of the company's unique commedia-based style.
The company and key personnel
The resident company in the fall of 1964 consisted
of 12 individuals. Of these, seven people were from San
Francisco State College and the remaining five were from
Long Beach.
The small group endured many difficulties and un
certainties in the rehearsing and performing of Tartuffe.
but this process, according to Martin Benson, was charac
terized by a dedication to the theatre and the production
80
that started "to reveal a developing company ensemble."
For David Clements, remembering the spirited productions of
The Hostage and The Alchemist, the company's work in Tar
tuffe "was a continuation of the energy of the summer."
John Arthur Davis continued to be a person whose
work and ideas contributed to the developing aesthetic of
70
^Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
80Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
122
the young company. His contribution to the simplicity and
flexibility of Tartuffe. and the over-all theatrical empha
sis of the commedia style, helped develop an aesthetic
characteristic in South Coast Repertory that was perform-
81
ance-oriented rather than text-oriented. While the the
atre later developed more along a text-oriented or literary
line, it continued to produce works that had artistic ob
jectives solely in performance. This emphasis on the more
theatrical or presentational capabilities of theatre was
formalized in 1965 into one of South Coast Repertory's
aesthetic tenets .
Administration and business
The artistic leadership of the company during this
time was provided by Emmes, Davis, and Benson, but on the
whole there was a feeling that decisions were being made on
82
a democratic group basis. In reality, without a physical
home or any developed company organization, there were not
many decisions to be made and those that were made dealt
with the mounting of Tartuffe. where individuals had defined
responsibilities such as actor, designer, or director. The
81Benson, interview of April 20, 1972 .
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
123
general lack of highly specialized positions in the company
no doubt contributed to the sense of group unity and spirit.
On the whole, the business and promotional areas of
the company operated minimally and did not directly affect
the aesthetic outlook of the theatre. While press releases
were sent and groups were contacted regarding tours, the
theatre did not enjoy great financial success from its
83
efforts. But in the absence of financial success, no one
felt that the company's work would not succeed; there was
84
a sense that money and support would be forthcoming. This
sense of well-being, then, reinforced and in no way limited
South Coast Repertory's belief that it would establish a
professional resident theatre in Orange County. South Coast
Repertory's view toward a play selection that embraced the
broad repertoire of modern theatre, a tenet it took from
the resident theatre movement, was not affected by its
financial status.
Audience and area
The audience and area of Orange County were not key
factors in the fall of 1964 in influencing South Coast
Repertory's aesthetic position. As a touring company, it
®®Benson, interview of April 20, 1972. ®4Ibid.
124
did not get to know an area well or receive feedback from
audiences concerning its work. As in its view toward its
financial success, the theatre held an attitude that once
people heard about South Coast Repertory and its resident
theatre objectives, sufficient numbers of people would
quickly support it.85
In short, the theatre engaged in a one-way communi
cation context; it would bring resident theatre to Orange
County and supply waiting audiences with what they wanted.
South Coast Repertory maintained the general outlook that
86
any play it deemed relevant would be supported. This viev
did not, therefore, impose any restriction on the aesthetic
outlook of the theatre or on its commitment to the tenets
of resident theatre. However, in later years of operation,
South Coast Repertory became more sensitive to its audience
and area.
National and international
trends
Without question, South Coast Repertory was influ
enced in its aesthetic outlook by the national resident
85
Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
86Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
125
theatre movement which in 1964 was still being touted in
magazines and journals as the movement of the future. in
deed, the Guthrie Theatre had opened only a year earlier
and received national publicity. Harold Clurman saw the
Guthrie as an important step in the continuing effort to
create a strong sense of national theatre:
For the theatre is not the business of putting on a
series of brilliant "attractions," but a unified
effort to create an artistic identity which bespeaks
the life of both the company and some important seg
ment of the community . . . Let Minneapolis applaud
and persevere, and let the rest of the country emu
late and improve on this Midwestern example.8'
In 1964, Tyrone Guthrie published A New Theatre.
which described the planning and objectives of the Minnea
polis project. Throughout the book Guthrie acknowledges
the promise of the resident theatre movement:
This project is something more than the sum of a
number of disparate productions and performances,
more than the expression of a group of particular
personalities. It is an attempt to relate a the
atre to its supporting community.88
The year 1964 also saw the opening of The Repertory
Theatre of Lincoln Center. Under the leadership of Elia
87"Theatre," The Nation. August 10, 1963, p. 78.
88(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1964),
p. 178.
126
Kazan and Robert Whitehead, the promise of significant the
atre, based on the art-oriented philosophy of the resident
theatre movement, provided hope that a strong American the
atre tradition would have a root in the commercial world of
Broadway. In his article entitled "Elia Kazan's Great Ex
pectations," Thomas Morgan outlined Kazan's hope for Lincolr
Center and the resident movement in general:
The dream takes many shapes; but eventually it has
always been defined as a theatre where a group of
players could work continuously, free from box-office
pressure, to put on the great plays of the past as
well as the best new work being written.
The Impossible Theatre by Herbert Blau was published
in 1964. The work reveals the struggles and crises of
developing the aesthetic identity of the Actor's Workshop
and also presents Blau's complex and sometimes obtuse views
on the theatre and its place in American society. Through
out the work, Blau affirms the resident theatre movement:
Every theatre that has ever struck the imaginations
of men knew that the play was not the thing— but a
continuum of plays, conveying a significant view of
human action in a particular time, and passing on a
heritage of perception.9®
Blau's book was circulated and discussed within the
89Harper's. September, 1962, p. 66.
90
_________ Impossible Theatre, p. 81.________________________
127
South Coast Repertory Company and was regarded as an affir
mation of the company's goal in Orange County. Events in
Minneapolis and New York and the positive national recogni
tion of the resident theatre movement gave South Coast
Repertory additional hope that its efforts would be success-
ful.
Aesthetic analysis
The period from June of 1964 to December of 1964
constitutes what South Coast Repertory refers to as its
First Step— the first of four planned phases that the the
atre sees as necessary before full professional operation
92
can be achieved. This seven-month period was an important
time in the development of the many fundamental aesthetic
tenets of South Coast Repertory, beliefs that directly
embraced the principles of the resident theatre movement.
By the end of 1964, South Coast Repertory had
affirmed and subscribed to the concept that theatre is an
important art, not a commercial source of diversion. The
theatre's brochure/manifesto (see pages 111-112 above)
stated that "we shall present plays solely on the basis of
91
Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
92
7 Benson, interview of April 20, 1972.
128
their artistic integrity and relevance to modern times."
South Coast Repertory advocated a theatre that would be
stimulating and challenging to its audience because of its
artistic relevance. At the same time, as its production of
Tartuffe bears witness, South Coast Repertory advocated that
its audience shouLd also be entertained through the immediate
and theatrical qualities of the dramatic works of art.
Thus, in calling for the artistic pursuit of theatre and
the objective of developing the theatrical methods and
practice of theatre, South Coast Repertory embraced one of
the fundamental aesthetic tenets of the professional resi
dent theatre movement.
South Coast Repertory's commitment to the concept
of a resident theatre company was another acceptance of a
resident theatre aesthetic principle. The observance of the
Actor's Workshop's resident company and the actual experi
ence of producing theatre with a dedicated group of in
dividuals firmly planted the resident concept in South
Coast Repertory's aesthetic outlook. This belief was
clearly advocated in its manifesto.
South Coast Repertory also mirrored the resident
theatre movement in its rejection of the commercial the
atre. This was evident in its play selection. It did not
_______________
129
produce commercial or Broadway hits, but rather embraced a
wide range of plays, both of the past and the present. It
produced two classics: The Alchemist and Tartuffe. The
Hostage was an offering from the contemporary theatre and
Major Barbara was a selection from the early modern theatre.
One of the general objectives of the resident the
atre movement called for imaginative and fresh approaches
to plays; innovative approaches would create a theatrical
vitality with which the resident theatre could realize its
artistic objectives in a relevant and interesting way.
South Coast Repertory's Commedia dell'Arte-inspired produc
tions of The Alchemist and Tartuffe resulted in the begin
ning of a vital presentational acting style for the young
company, a production style that possessed a freshness and
individuality. Don Tuche, a member of the Tartuffe cast whc
was formerly associated with the Actor's Workshop, believes
that while South Coast Repertory was in many ways influenced
by the play selection of other established resident the
atres, the production of Tartuffe was "uniquely our own"
and helped reinforce the feeling that South Coast Repertory
was capable of developing "its own individual artistic
identity."
In its determination to create a professional
130
resident theatre in Orange county, South Coast Repertory
embraced the concept of decentralized theatre, the hope
espoused by such people as Isaacs and Macgowan. The South
Coast Repertory manifesto of 1964 reinforced this objective,
After identifying itself with existing professional resi
dent theatres, the young company stated:
The common aim of such theatres, including our own
Theatre Workshop [South Coast Repertory] , is nothing
less than the creation of an American theatrical tra
dition, a tradition of continuous achievement by a
tightly-knit theatre organization . . . Our aim is
to fulfill the growing need for professional reper
tory theatre in Southern California by offering the
best plays, past and present, produced with the
highest professional standards
Thus, as South Coast Repertory prepared to begin
year-round operation in its own theatre, it had firmly
embraced, through seven months of production history, the
basic general aesthetic tenets of the resident theatre
movement. It was committed to and had produced theatre that
was directed toward the development of theatre as an art.
In doing so, it rejected the commercial theatre and advo
cated a decentralized network of viable professional resi
dent theatres. Lastly, through the imaginative and mean
ingful productions of the most significant plays in the
9^[Emmes], "The Theatre Workshop," p. 2.
131
repertoire of modern theatre, South Coast Repertory hoped
to contribute to the creation of a strong American theatre.
CHAPTER V
THE SECOND STEP, 1965-1967
With the opening of the Second Step Theatre in
Newport Beach on March 12, 1965, South Coast Repertory
entered its first phase of full-time production aimed toward
the creation of a professional resident theatre in Orange
County. During the period of time that the Second Step
Theatre was operated, the young company articulated specific
aesthetic tenets that were directly related to the resident
theatre movement, operated in and then abandoned a rotating
repertory of plays, and so developed its artistic capabili
ties and financial support that it was able to move to a
larger theatre in only two and a half years.
With the promise of the resident theatre movement
in full bloom, South Coast Repertory, as will be seen later,
eagerly sought to create its own individuality as a resident
theatre. For the first time, the young company was able to
test the viability of the aesthetic tenets of resident
132
133
theatre both with regard to its own artistic makeup and
with regard to the nature of the greater Orange County
community.
General History
The steps that led to the construction of the Second
Step Theatre began in the fall of 1964 with the renting of
office and rehearsal space from Samuel Emmes. His two-story
building on Villa Way was 25 feet wide and 60 feet long.
The upstairs was built as a spacious two-bedroom apartment;
a large living room and family area provided room for re
hearsal, and the bedrooms were used as offices.^
While the Villa Way building offered the company'a
sense of Orange County identity, the prospect of continuing
to be a transient touring company, going from hall to hall
and booking to booking, was not happily accepted by the
South Coast Repertory leaders. Consequently, in December
of 1964, the leaders discussed the idea of converting the
bottom floor of the villa Way building into a small theatre.
The downstairs had an inside dimension of 23 1/2 feet wide
by 58 feet long, and John Arthur Davis concluded that a
small end-stage theatre could be built in it.
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
134
The prospect of having a permanent theatre, even a
small one, was greatly desired by the company. With a per
manent location, the leaders reasoned, the company could
enjoy faster growth, bring greater substance to productions,
and gain in reputation. Artistically, it meant that the
company could undertake more technically demanding plays
2
than they could if they continued touring.
One stumbling block that had to be overcome before
the theatre could be built was money. The company had
realized very little money from its tours after expenses;
3
its bank account in January, 1965 totaled $135.50. Davis
estimated that a modest conversion of the building would
cost $3,000.
A somewhat risky plan to raise the money was sug
gested by David Emmes; he proposed selling season tickets
to a spring series of plays and using the money to build
the theatre. He argued that if South Coast Repertory could
sell 500 subscriptions priced at $7.00 (for four plays),
the necessary money could be raised. Knowing the dangers
of committing themselves to produce four plays in a theatre
2Ibid.
■^Financial Records, 1964-1965, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
135
that did not yet exist, the three leaders, convinced that a
theatre was vital to the immediate growth of the company,
4
decided to adopt the season ticket plan.
Accordingly, in January of 1965, the theatre circu
lated its first season subscription brochure which announced
that "South Coast Repertory, Orange County's only profes
sional regional theatre, invites you to attend four exciting
and stimulating productions."^ The theatre called itself
professional even though it could not pay salaries because
it viewed its aesthetic objectives and potential capabili
ties as those of professional resident theatre.**
The subscription campaign lasted through February
and succeeded in selling 119 subscriptions. This smaller-
than-hoped-for revenue resulted in several outstanding
theatre construction debts that hampered the theatre finan
ces for almost a year.7
Construction on the theatre conversion began in late
January. The downstairs area of the Villa Way building was
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
5"Spring Series" brochure, 1964-1965 Promotion
Records, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
^Financial Records, 1964-1965, South Coast Reper-
tory, Inc. ____________________________________________________
136
cleared of refuse from the previous occupant to reveal the
large cement floor room. The company then set about con
structing the audience risers and stage that had been de-
8
s igned by John Arthur Davis .
Work on the building went quite slowly because of
lack of organization and a failure to understand the physi
cal requirements for a theatre that the California Building
Code demanded. Newport Beach Building Department inspectors
made frequent requests for modification of Davis' plan; they
also required additional construction elements, such as an
extra bathroom and a fire-resistant barrier between the
g
downstairs and upstairs areas of the building.
By the middle of February, the theatre was only
one-third complete and the company had scheduled the open
ing of the theatre for February 27. South Coast Repertory's
troubles were solved when George Quinn, a construction
foreman and husband of a new company actress, offered to
assist the young company. Quinn took charge of the con
struction and the organization of the company manpower.
The opening date of the theatre was moved to March 12 and
o
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
9Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
137
Quinn planned every working hour and its objectives until
the opening on a roaster chart. He also brought in skilled
carpenters who volunteered their time to help the project.*^
South Coast Repertory attributes the successful completion
of the Second Step Theatre to the tireless dedication of
George Quinn.^
The opening production of the Second Step Theatre
was waiting for Godot. Before this plant was closed in
June, 1968, 22 additional productions were produced, pro
ductions that provided the artistic and financial momentum
that allowed South Coast Repertory to move to its larger
Third Step Theatre.
Even while the small theatre was being built, the
company looked toward the acquisition of a larger theatre.
It was apparent that the Second Step Theatre, which could
hold 75 seats, would not provide a substantial financial
basis to develop a professional operation. The company
envisioned that two additional steps of progress would have
to be taken. The first of these steps would be to acquire
10Statement by George Quinn, personal interview,
March 22, 1968, quoted by Vine, "The South Coast Repertory,"
p. 30.
11Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
138
a Third Step Theatre of some 200 seats that would function,
both in its artistic flexibility and financial capability,
as a transitional step to a Fourth Step Theatre. The Fourth
Step Theatre, as envisioned in 1965, would be a large 600-
700 seat theatre that would be built in a cultural center,
supported by the community, and which would provide South
Coast Repertory the basis from which it could conduct a
fully professional operation.^-2
One of the first steps taken in working for the
larger theatres was the incorporation of South Coast Reper
tory as a non-profit corporation. Using copies of the
articles of incorporation and by-laws of the Actor's Work
shop which Jules Irving had given them, the three artistic
leaders of South Coast Repertory incorporated the theatre
on June 25, 1965. Shortly thereafter they applied to the
state and federal governments for tax-exempt status. This
. J 13
was granted.
It was clear from talking with Jules Irving and
reading the 1964 Rockefeller Report on the Performing Arts
that organized community support would be needed if South
12
A Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
^Corporate Records, 1965, South Coast Repertory,
Inc.
139
Coast Repertory was to succeed. One of the first efforts
in this area was the formation of the South Coast Repertory
Board of Directors. This board was created successfully
through the efforts of David Hill, a high executive with
the Hughes Aircraft Company who, in 1965, was serving as
the President of the Council of Arts of Coastal Orange
County. Hill, a frequent theatregoer, was impressed with
South Coast Repertory and sought to help it in its develop
ment. He first helped the theatre to join the Council of
Arts and then volunteered his services to help in the for
mation of a board.^
During the fall and winter of 1965, Hill wrote to
many individuals in the Newport Beach area who had an in
terest in the arts and who also held some position of social
influence in the community. By the spring of 1966 the board
had been organized. It consisted of the three artistic
leaders of South Coast Repertory (the original incorpora
tors) ; Hill; Nancy Ebsen, the wife of actor Buddy Ebsen;
Mrs. Milton Bren, known in the acting profession as Claire
Trevor; Alan C. Stoneman, the Chairman of the Board of the
14
Statement by David A. Hill, personal interview,
June 10, 1972. All subsequent statements by Hill quoted in
this dissertation will be from this interview.
140
Purex Corporation; and Ladislaw Reday, a businessman.15
Of particular interest regarding this Board of
Directors was the fact that it was not legally constituted
within the guidelines of the adopted by-laws of South Coast
Repertory, Inc. The three incorporators— Emmes, Benson,
and Davis— were, in accordance with the Articles of Incor
poration, serving as corporate leaders until the election
of their successors. This election did not take place for
two reasons. One, the by-laws required that the electing
membership of the corporation be composed of the "sponsor"
and "guarantor” subscribers of the theatre. These classi
fications of subscribers, taken word-for-word from the
Actor's Workshop By-Laws, required that in addition to pur
chasing a season ticket, the individual make a considerable
donation to the theatre ($200 for a sponsor, $300 for a
guarantor),15 In 1966, the theatre had not been able to
attract any guarantors and only seven sponsors, four of whom
were serving on the "Board."17 In short, there was hardly
15Corporate Records, 1965, South Coast Repertory,
Inc.
16By-Laws, Corporate Records, 1965, South Coast
Repertory, inc.
17Financial Records, 1964-1965, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
141
an electorate.
Another reason the election was not held was the
desire of the company leaders to maintain control of the
theatre. The theatre was still very young and only begin
ning to develop a sense of identity. With the problems of
the electorate, the leaders did not press for an election,
feeling that the company could grow more freely in an at
mosphere in which there was no possibility of Board inter-
18
vention.
Nonetheless, the South Coast Repertory Board mem
bers, although serving in an advisory capacity, were most
helpful to the young company. Within a matter of months
after its incorporation, South Coast Repertory, thanks to
David Hill, had a seat and voice on the Council of Arts of
Coastal Orange County. In January of 1967, as a result of
the efforts of Nancy Ebsen, a Benefit Performance was held
at the 3,200-seat Melody land theatre in Anaheim, California
in which Buddy Ebsen led a group of Hollywood television
celebrities in an entertainment program to raise money for
19
the Third Step Theatre. Over $ 3 , 0 0 0 was raised.
18
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
1Q
Financial Records, 1966-1967, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
142
In short, in the period from January of 1965 to
September of 1967; South Coast Repertory built and operated
the Second Step Theatre. It produced 23 productions and;
as it sought to create a resident theatre; it developed a
strong artistic reputation and an emerging sense of artistic
identity (see following sections). Through the incorpora
tion as a non-profit organization and the creation of a
community support "board;" South Coast Repertory grew closer
to its goal.
The Aesthetic Position
In December of 1965; South Coast Repertory issued
a nine-page brochure entitled "South Coast Repertory The
atre: Growth and Development." This publication; written
by David Emmes, serves as the written artistic manifesto of
the theatre and reveals the aesthetic principles that the
company embraced.
On the first page of the manifesto; South Coast
Repertory aligns itself with the resident theatre movement.
It cites the existence of such theatres in Dallas, Minnea
polis; Seattle, and Washington, D. C., and states that the
goal of South Coast Repertory is to provide Orange County
with a similar quality of theatre. In addition, the
143
brochure advocates the decentralization of theatre and, in
so doing, echoes the hopes of Cheney, Isaacs, Macgowan, and
Blau:
We believe that important new developments in the
American theatre are not limited to what goes on in
ten blocks of New York City. If America is ever
going to foster its own dynamic and unique theatri
cal tradition, it will come as the result of a con
certed effort from regional theatres free from the
2n
fetters of Broadway economics. w
On the same page, South Coast Repertory professes
its belief in the concept of a resident company. It states,
in terms that recall Harold Clurman, Tyrone Guthrie, and
Herbert Blau, that the resident company concept can bring a
new vitality to the American theatre.
The South Coast Repertory is a company of trained
actors, directors, technicians, and designers whose
aim is to establish a permanent professional theatre
in Orange County. In contrast to many other theatres
in this area, our theatre is committed to producing
the great plays of the past and present with a resi
dent company of professional theatre people. We
believe that our principles in theatre can be best
expressed by an ensemble of actors working towards
a common realization of our ideas in a number of
different and varied productions. In short, we hope
to achieve that singleness of vision, that unity of
style and continuity of development which have been
so conspicuously absent from much of our American
20
[David Emmes], "South Coast Repertory: Growth
and Development" (brochure issued by South Coast Repertory,
December, 1965, Newport Beach, California), p. 1.
144
_ . 21
theatre.
|
|
The brochure expands the theatre's position on the
^resident company in the area of artist's wages. It rejects
the "feast or famine" economics of the commercial theatre:
[
Our goal is to provide liveable wages to our person
nel; in doing so, we hope to create a more respected
place for the artist in society, and to provide him
with the financial security that can allow him the
j freedom for artistic experimentation and growth that
is essential in the creation of a vital theatre ,22
This belief that an actor who does not have to spend
his time hunting for a job but, rather, with a reasonable
continuing income, can devote himself to growing as an
iactor, was strongly advocated by South Coast Repertory.
I
This can be seen in the company's workshops where theatre
personnel could receive advanced training.
I
| Inherent in these objectives, is the training of
j theatre personnel in the various phases of play
j production and in developing theoretical and philo-
| sophical backgrounds— to develop ourselves beyond
j the productions we present, regardless of our ex-
j istent ability, we have various workshops in which
talented and qualified personnel teach stage diction,
movement, technique, design, and other integral sub
jects relating to our productions.^3
Another important section of the manifesto dealt
with the kind of theatre South Coast Repertory wished to
21Ibid.___________ 22Ibid.. p. 6. 23Ibid,
145
produce. Instead of stating only that the company wished
to produce plays of contemporary meaning and relevance, as
its earlier manifesto had done, the company announced that
it wished to channel its creative energies into four major
areas of theatre.
The first of these areas was the classic theatre.
Under a heading labeled "Great Plays Are Great Entertain
ment," South Coast Repertory revealed its commitment to a
broad range of style, and revealed, again, the influence of
the resident theatre movement:
We commit ourselves to producing the great plays of
the past, not because history has told us they are
classics, but because these plays provide a rich
and meaningful entertainment. We do not believe
that any living theatre should be a museum for dead
historical curiosities; we, too, have had enough of
dust-covered and unimaginative revivals. We pro
duce great plays of the past— such as The Alchemist.
Othello, and Volpone— because they reveal life in
vibrant terms; because they communicate meaningful
and enduring truths about life that are relevant to
our time; and, finally, because they offer challenges
to our personnel in discovering imaginative produc
tion approaches in our
temporary meaning of a
attempt to amplify the con-
While the commitment to classic theatre was charac
teristic of the resident theatre movement, the advocacy of
an artistic direction inspired by its presentational work
24Ibid.. p. 2.
146
was more uniquely an aesthetic development of South Coast
Repertory. In a section labeled "The Fourth Wall's Behind
the Audience, " the theatre stated its position:
The theatre is, perhaps, one of the last places in
our mechanized and computerized society where we can
experience an immediate and living confrontation with
life. Theatre is not pre-taped for later viewing, or
flickered at our passivity in a darkened motion pic
ture house. Theatre is concerned with the momentary—
the Now. It is dependent on real people, breathing
and feeling, in the audience as well as on the stage.
It works to effect a comradeship between everyone
involved in the dramatic event, to share commonly
the emotion or the knowledge communicated by the play
wright .
Not all theatres should be aimed at erecting the
"fourth wall," that sacred (and sometimes stagnating)
invisible line drawn across the proscenium from which
no actor or audience member may transgress . South
Coast Repertory is committed to the production of
all types of plays, but especially to the kind of
play that permits an "immediate" production approach,
and makes the audience a more direct contributor to
the theatrical event
A third area to which the company committed itself
was the progressive modern theatre. In a section entitled
"Contemporary Statements for a Contemporary Audience," the
theatre advocated the production of the more relevant and,
sometimes, more unconventional plays in modern theatre:
In many instances the American theatre has been pro
vincial, lagging behind other nations in revealing
147
in their theatre the issues and trends of the twen
tieth century, in a century of Joyce, Kafka, Schoen
berg, Stravinsky, and Picasso, it is not unreasonable
to think that our theatre can reflect the works of
Brecht, Ghelderode, Beckett, and Pinter. We produce
plays like Waiting for Godot. Baal, and The Birthday
Party because, not only are they about our time, but
they also express our time with mordant wit and a
brilliant juxtaposition of comic and tragic elements.
Finally, the theatre announced its commitment to
produce new plays by American playwrights. The theatre's
statement is consonant with the resident theatre movement,
and is especially similar to Margo Jones' beliefs. She
stated: "I think that the only way a theatre can be pro
gressive is to do new plays . . . I believe in a play-
27
wright's theatre." South Coast Repertory stated in a
section called "New Spokesmen for Dynamic Theatre":
Unlike many theatres who are committed in principle
to producing new plays, but somehow never get around
to actually producing one, South Coast Repertory has
produced at least one original work in each of its
seasons, and is presently involved in an extensive
original play program with scripts being submitted
from all over the country, we do not feel that the
economic fetters of the commercial theatre will ever
develop the significant number of new playwrights a
vital theatre requires. Repertory theatre offers
the opportunity for new playwrights to learn by
26Ibid.. p. 8.
27
'"Theatre '50: A Dream Come True," in Ten Talents
in the American Theatre, ed. by David H. Stevens (Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1957), p. 109.
148
doing, and hopefully, by having the chance to learn,
create a theatrical tradition to rival countries
like England, France, and Germany.^®
Although the statements refer to a new play produc
tion in "each of its seasons," the statement included the
yet-to-be-produced Chocolates. which opened in the spring
of 1966. But by December of 1965, it did have a Play
wright's Unit, headed by Sheila Goldes, aligned with the
theatre. Young playwrights and would-be playwrights met
regularly at the theatre to discuss their work toward a
29
possible South Coast Repertory production.
The South Coast Repertory manifesto, then, provides
an insight into the aesthetic position of the company. In
the following sections of this chapter, and in subsequent
chapters, these aesthetic principles— so clearly related
to the aesthetic tenets of the professional resident the
atre movement— will be analyzed and evaluated in terms of
their viability and validity as they relate to South Coast
Repertory's tenure in Orange County, California.
^®[Emmes], "South Coast Repertory: Growth and De
velopment," p. 3.
29
' ’Statement by Sheila Goldes, personal interview,
January 10, 1972. All subsequent statements by Goldes
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
149
The Physical Theatre
One of the first realities that South Coast Reper
tory faced as it started in earnest to put aesthetic theory
into practice was dealing with a physical plant. The young
company found that its producing environment developed new
artistic directions and modified old directions.
As a small 75-seat theatre, the Second Step Theatre
was a functional and, given its physical limitations, a
well-designed plant. John Arthur Davis was, with input frorr
the company, the over-all designer of the theatre.
The main producing part of the plant was located on
the ground floorj the costumes, props, dressing areas, and
restroom were located on the second floor (see Figure 1) .
Upon entering the theatre from the street, one
entered a lobby that meastired 13 feet deep. To the left was
a box-office counter, a door to the upstairs, and a door to
the light control booth. Continuing on a straight line, one
went up stairs that led to the top of the audience risers
and aisle access to the 75 seats. The audience section
consisted of one ground row of seats and six elevated audi
ence platforms. These platforms were each three feet deep
and rose to a height of 36 inches in six-inch increments.
The audience section to the left had six seats in each row
u
1
U P
UP
-n r-
NT
DOWN
! '
L-,
noon i FLOOR ■*
JJCTMG M E *
|«MH S E X T M G
a L o a s r
SUG HT BOOTH
g w O E R CLOSET
■ M M C U P
2 K I TCWH
■ O M E S S M B R O O M
J S 10WM E
T O O F f C E
3 3 * b c m s * l m e * . oosT tac
jtM W IC K M C TE LOC*nOM OF M J T C S
FLOOR PLAN: 2NO STEP
-=Wftfl -SSB----------— • » »
— 1 / 1 / T3 I _____ , ____1-—
mn cur ram nuni
151
with the exception of the bach row which, because of the
stairwell, could contain only four seats. The audience rows
on the right all contained five seats. No seat in the house
was more than 24 feet from the stage.
The stage itself was constructed of plywood with a
wooden substructure. The stage was raised to a height of
one foot, which allowed an 11-foot clearance to the 12-foot
ceiling of the building. The stage extended 23 1/2 feet
from wall to wall and had a workable depth of 16 feet. An
additional five feet of depth consisted of a downstairs
bathroom and a backstage area. Because the audience sec
tions went from wall to wall, no downstage masking was ever
used in the theatre. Most often, according to John Arthur
Davis, the walls to the left and right of the stage were
used as design elements.
The theatre possessed a functional lighting system.
The light control booth was located at the left rear of the
audience and provided good visibility of the stage. The
control board was composed of six auto-transformer dimmers.
A patching panel in the booth allowed the operator to
flexibly control the 24 lighting circuits of the theatre.
The control board and nine fresnel spotlights were obtained
on a long-term loan from the ex-members of the defunct
152
30
Newport Harbor Community Players.
The 24 lighting circuits led from the light booth
down each side of the theatre to three permanently installed
lightpipes. These pipes were made of 1 l/2-inch steel pipe
31
and were constructed by Jack Murray, a company member.
These pipes gave a lighting designer the ability to ade
quately cover the entire stage area with light.
At the top of the stairs to the second floor was a
large room that was used for costume construction and stor
age. Clothes racks, in two layers, surrounded the room.
The center area provided room for a cutting table and sewing
machines.
Stage properties were stored in two closets which
were located in the middle left section of the upstairs
area. Here, special or expensive props could be kept under
lock and key.
The dressing room area was located in the rear of
the upstairs in what was formerly the kitchen-family area
of the apartment. There were makeup tables that could
accommodate 10 actors. Access to the backstage was provided
3°ciements, interview of May 4, 1972.
^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
153
by outside rear stairs, a distinct disadvantage on rainy
32
nights.
The building possessed a backyard that measured 30
by 30 feet. This was vised as a set construction area and
as a storage area for lumber and set pieces . The entire
area was unpaved and the ground was composed of sand. Con
sequently, it was difficult to achieve precise construction
of set pieces which required exacting level or fit; these
33
pieces had to be built inside the theatre.
The over-all psychological effect of the theatre
was one of considerable intimacy. Indeed, the audience and
actors occupied an area that was only 48 feet long and was
not architecturally separated by a proscenium. The actors
and audience, in essence, shared the same large room.
It is the opinion of many directors and actors who
worked in the Second Step Theatre that the closeness and
intimacy of the producing context affected the company's
artistry. Sheila Goldes, a former member of the Guthrie
Theatre who worked with South Coast Repertory, believes that
"the Second Step was an enclosing unit which required a verj
^Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
33Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
154
realistic approach to acting." Mathias Reitz, who directed
A Moon for the Misbegotten. The Typists, and The Tiger at
the Second Step Theatre, feels that the actor "had to strive
for much more believability in this theatre" as compared to
a larger theatre's requirement for the projection or
heightening of a performance. Hal Landon, Jr., who appeared
in principal roles in five productions, believes that the
Second Step Theatre functioned best with plays of the
realistic genre: "Inter-personal plays, with small casts,
34
worked best."
Martin Benson, who directed eight plays in the the
atre, makes several points about the Second Step Theatre.
He reinforces the belief that the theatre functioned best
in intimate plays: "We did do the more presentational
35
plays, but they were almost too big for our small area."
He noted that multi-set plays were almost impossible to do,
especially realistic plays. Plays like Othello or Baal had
to utilize single unit settings. "Scenically," Benson
states, "the theatre worked marvelously well with realistic
34
Statement by Hal Landon, Jr., personal interview,
January 24, 1972. All subsequent statements by Landon
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
35Interview of April 29, 1972 .
155
sets, we'd texture and finish them so well, you'd get the
feeling that you were literally sitting in the character's
36
room." Finally, Benson sums up the opinion of many com
pany members by stating that the company developed a very
intimate, realistic acting style during the two and a half
years it operated the Second Step Theatre, and that this
style was characteristic of almost every production whether
37
it was a realistic play or not.
This development of a more intimate, realistic act
ing style was, of course, a new development for the young
company that had success with its presentational, Commedia
dell'Arte-inspired productions. Yet the realistic style was
seen in the October, 1965 production of Othello. John Moat,
an Englishman who taught poetry at the University of Cali
fornia at Irvine, wrote the theatre congratulating the com
pany on its performance. Observing that he had seen Lau
rence Olivier's production in London the year before, he
declared of the South Coast Repertory production that "It
was the finest production Shakespeare I have seen . . . I
36
have always felt that Shakespeare must needs be intimate."
36Ibid. 37Ibid.
38Personal letter to South Coast Repertory, October
19, 1965.
156
Another audience member wrote:
Of the many Shakespearian plays and operas I have
attended (of the world's best), I never before felt
shaken— as though it were all real! The intimacy of
your charming little theatre may have something to
do with it . . .39
The smallness of the Second Step Theatre contributed
to the development of a new aesthetic quality in South Coast
Repertory— an intimate, realistic acting style. The theatre
also contributed to a trend in extremely realistic set de-
sign; the confines of the stage— the closeness of the walls
and ceiling— did not accommodate presentationally theatrical
sets, and the illusion of exterior settings simply could not
40
be achieved. As a result, the company tended to favor
plays that had one set and that could be approached realis
tically.
Productions
As mentioned above, 23 productions were produced at
the Second Step Theatre before South Coast Repertory moved
to its larger theatre. While it is a fact that the Second
Step Theatre was operated for one season along with the
3%elen G. Nixon, personal letter to South Coast
Repertory, October 8, 1965.
A A
wBenson, interview of April 29, 1972.
157
Third Step Theatre, the first 23 productions serve as a
major unit of South Coast Repertory's artistic progress and
development. The purpose of this section will be to provide
a production review of this period and to examine nine pro
ductions in more detail which, in the opinion of the company
leaders, critics, and audience, were significant in develop
ing or revealing South Coast Repertory's aesthetic charac
ter .
The opening production in South Coast Repertory's
first permanent theatre was Waiting for Godot by Samuel
Beckett. According to John Arthur Davis, many people in
the company and friends questioned whether the play was a
suitable vehicle to open the theatre and to introduce the
company to its audience: "We thought this over and decided
that the play would let Orange County know where we stand."
Davis added, however, that the production had been planned
since the fall of 1964 to tour during the spring of 1965;
when South Coast Repertory was able to acquire the Second
Step Theatre, the production schedule of the company dic
tated that waiting for Godot open the new theatre.
The rehearsal and performing process of Waiting for
Godot did much to galvanize the abilities of the company and
to develop a sense of growing ensemble. John Arthur Davis,
158
who played the part of Estragon, believes:
Godot was one of the best working processes and one
of the best acting jobs I've ever done. Everyone
was highly motivated, no one had any negative feel
ings about the project, and we all worked to our
limit.
David Clements, who played Pozzo, believes that
Waiting for Godot was the start of artistic maturity for the
company: "After the more overt and presentational work of
Tartuffe. Godot gave us a chance to start a melding to
gether, to get to serious ensemble work." Clements believes
that in the production he experienced, for the first time,
the give-and-take of actor inter-influence.
Waiting for Godot was the first South Coast Reper
tory production to be seen by Warren Deacon, a Canadian
actor and director who later joined the theatre. Deacon,
who had an extensive repertory theatre background in Canada,
in Toronto and at Stratford, was tremendously impressed with
the performance. He went away from the production feeling
that South Coast Repertory was an inspired group with a
serious working relationship. He also felt that he had not
41
seen such "fine ensemble work" since he left Canada.
41Statement by Warren Deacon, personal interview,
April 29, 1972. All subsequent statements by Deacon quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
159
The reaction of the press to the Beckett play re
vealed how unusual the production was for Orange County
audiences. Peter Vogel, writing in The Newporter, offered
his reviewer's response in the form of an open letter to
David Emmes, the director of the production:
I note that you refer to Samuel Beckett's play as
"magnificent," its "bitter humor," and as a "mile
stone of contemporary theatre.1 1
If I say that it is awkward, contrived, ridiculous
and dirty, no doubt you will feel here is another of
the unenlightened who claims that the first require
ment of a play is that it be entertaining. You are
the misunderstood new generation . . . and I am the
reactionary . . . Don't you believe itI I have seen
plays which reached great heights of entertainment,
and with messages which were giants compared to your
puny and pathetic ode to the futility of waiting. 2
Vogel's review was the subject of much discussion
within the company. It prompted a letter to the editor
which was published the following week. It was written by
Gerald Dugan, a graduate of Carnegie Tech, who, in addition
to serving as an actor and director, accepted the responsi
bilities of company Public Relations Director. In the let
ter, Dugan attacked the reviewer's inability to react rea
sonably "when confronted with anything new or different,"
42The Newporter. March 26, 1972.
160
43
and went on to make a scholarly defense of the play.
Tom Titus, the reviewer for the Daily Pilot, further
reinforced the bafflement that many audience members had on
seeing the play. In his review, he mentions that many
audience members walked out on the performance the evening
he attended, and makes the following judgment on the play
and the two tramps who are waiting:
They are waiting as, presumably, all mankind waits
for its personal deliverance or salvation . . . How
ever, many agree with Vladimir when, late in the
second and final act, he remarks to Estragon, "This
is really becoming insignificant."44
The reaction of many members of the Orange County
audience was summarized by Larry Swindell, an articulate
writer with a strong literary background. Swindell, who
was involved in many areas of writing and the arts, would
later be commissioned to write the biography of Spencer
45
Tracy. In the April 9, 1965 edition of The Newporter.
Swindell began the first of a continuing commentary on South
Coast Repertory's progress in Orange County. In his
43The Newporter. April 2, 1965.
44Daily pilot. March 18, 1965.
45Tracy by Larry Swindell, written with the cooper
ation of the late actor's estate, was published in 1969.
161
article, Swindell put aside the reply-rebuttal controversy
on the production which had grown in size as a result of a
series of pro and con letters to the editor from audience
members. His comments were directed to what he perceived
to be the theatrical reality of Orange County:
My opinion is that this place— Newport Harbor or
anywhere close by— is not the place for, is not
ready for, "Godot" or probably any other Beckett.
Or even Pinter. Ionesco, probably; some of Genet's
work perhaps. In the main, there is no likely habi
tat for avant-garde theatre. The area is not ready
for it ,4^
The storm of controversy that arose over waiting
for Godot did have some effect on the company's artistic
outlook. Martin Benson believes that "it tempered our out
look on the avant -garde theatre. Godot's poor showing at
47
the box-office was a sign of audience feedback." Benson
points out that the artistic leaders by no means lost faith
in their commitment to the more experimental area of con
temporary theatre, but that they proceeded with more caution
48
when discussing similar projects. Indeed, it is inter
esting to note that it was not until eight other productions
had been produced, not until a year later, that South Coast
46The Newporter. April 9, 1965.
47Interview of April 29, 1972. 48Ibid.
162
Repertory produced what would be considered in 1966 an
avant-garde play. This work, Baal by Bertolt Brecht, would
produce a controversy similar to that over Waiting for
Godot.
Following the Beckett play, the theatre produced
Volpone by Ben Jonson, which opened on April 1, 1965. On
May 6, 1965 The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak opened; this was
a new play written by Mel Shapiro, a college friend of
Gerald Dugan, who directed the play. Shapiro, a successful
director in the American resident theatre, saw the produc
tion, enjoyed it, and recommended South Coast Repertory's
work to his friends and associates. Through him, Cecil
Smith, drama critic of the Los Angeles Times, heard of the
49
theatre and began seeing its productions.
During the first three months of operation in the
Second Step Theatre, South Coast Repertory ran in repertory.
It presented two different plays each week on its four
playing nights— Thursday through Sunday. Tartuffe. waiting
for Godot. Volpone. and The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak alter
nated weeks and were performed until the end of May.
The theatre had two principal reasons for performing
49
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
163
in repertory. The first reason was artistic; the theatre
felt that the resident company could develop its abilities
and ensemble by the changing artistic challenges of reper
tory. The second reason was economic; the theatre believed
that audience members seeing one play would be motivated to
return and see another play; also, the theatre believed that
it could protect its financial needs by being able to extend
the number of performances of a successful box-office play
and shorten the number of showings of a play that was not
successful.^0
By June of 1965, it had become apparent that the
repertory system was not working, instead of spending time
developing ensemble, the actors of the company spent long
hours moving scenery. John Arthur Davis states, "we were
poorly organized and didn't possess the means to build good
repertory sets— they looked shabby and makeshift." Also,
with the demands of rehearsing a forthcoming production and
performing only four nights a week, each play was performed
only twice every other week. As a result, the productions
in performance lost timing and depth. The artistic process
was further complicated by the fact that most members of the
50Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
164
theatre had to work at outside jobs during the day to sup
port themselves
The repertory system was also frustrating to the
financial area of the company. The theatre had difficulty
informing the public of its repertory schedule. Press re
leases containing the schedule were not always sent on time
and the theatre worked on such a small budget that it could
not afford regular advertising in newspapers. The net re
sult was the creation of a good deal of confusion for audi
ence members
Reluctantly, in June, the Artistic Directors decided
to abandon repertory until such time as the theatre pos
sessed the technical and logistical means to produce in
repertory and until it could create a financially stable
business operation that could efficiently inform the public
of the theatre's schedule. It was not until the late spring
of 1970, five years later, that the theatre returned to
repertory.
In June, the theatre opened The Glass Menagerie by
51Landon, interview of January 24, 1972.
52McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972. McFar
land served as the theatre's business secretary from 1965
to 1968.
165
Tennessee Williams. The production was well received by
54
audiences and critics. Pat Brown, an English actress
trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, saw the pro
duction: "I remember being terribly impressed with seeing
such obvious talent in Orange County.
In late June, the company revived its production of
The Hostage and performed it for three weeks at the Laguna
Playhouse. This production was brought to the Second Step
Theatre after the close of The Glass Menagerie, and played
throughout the remainder of July.^
In August of 1965, South Coast Repertory opened the
first in a series of three consecutive productions that
would have an influence on the theatre's aesthetic. The
August play was Ring Around the Moon by Jean Anouilh, and
was directed by Gerald Dugan.
The Anouilh play, which takes place in the Winter
Garden of a French chateau in spring, concerns the efforts
of a young French aristocrat to thwart the efforts of a
55Statement by Pat Brown, personal interview, May
27, 1972.
56Financial Records, 1964-1965, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
166
scheming millionaire's daughter who plans to ensnare his
twin brother in matrimony. The comedy demands a production
approach that is aristocratic in design and acting style.
Gerald Dugan, with a strong interest in style and with a
background in stylized theatre, sought to give the South
Coast Repertory production flair and sophistication. The
visual design was rendered in Beards ley-inspired art nou
veau. sweeping curvilinear lines and a profusion of paper
flowers. Dugan staged the play with carefully planned
movement and composition aimed at capturing upper-class
elegance and style.^7
While the production can be termed a success in
terms of audience reception, there was a feeling in the
theatre that the company had not achieved the sense of style
58
and intellect that Anouilh demanded. In a letter to the
Artistic Directors which discussed the artistic progress of
the theatre, Larry Swindell discussed the company's work
with Anouilh:
Once I advised you (in print) to do the show. I
realize that my advice had nothing to do with your
ultimately doing it, but in any case the advice was
^7Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
58Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
167
bad and the decision was wrong. Ring Around the
Moon and much (but not all) of Anouilh simply will
exist beyond your capabilities. Bert Lahr may wait
for Godot, but he cannot emulate on stage the Arch
duke Rudolph Maximilian von Ho Is burg. There are
some things you can do. and you should do them.^®
The company leaders agreed with Swindell's assess
ment that South Coast Repertory did not possess the requi
site maturity or sophistication to produce works that were
oriented to high comedy. More importantly, however, the
leaders felt that Ring Around the Moon indicated a direction
that led to a more cerebral or idea-oriented theatre. They
felt that the strength of the company was revealed in the
more earthy direction of Tartuffe or The Hostage. Martin
Benson observes, "The company's strength was one of an
immediate and even coarse vitality. The production approach
to Ring Around the Moon seemed theatrically pretentious.
As a director, Gerald Dugan was oriented more toward a
theatre of ideas and symbol, whereas the Artistic Directors
were oriented more toward a theatre of immediate theatrical
experience. These opposed aesthetic preferences would later
result in artistic conflict. The production of Ring Around
the Moon first brought this issue to light.
59
Personal letter, December 17, 1966.
_______ 60Interview of April 29, 1972.______________________
168
In October of 1965, South Coast Repertory opened
Othello. This was the first production of the theatre's
1965-1966 season, the first complete operating season the
theatre produced. The idea of producing Shakespeare came
at once from the theatre's announced aesthetic of producing
the classics and from a specific suggestion by Robert Cohen,
a University of California at Irvine drama professor who
also worked informally with the theatre. During the run of
The Hostage. Cohen communicated to the company's Artistic
Directors that South Coast Repertory's previous successes
came, in his opinion, from productions that emphasized group
performance. He felt that it might be interesting to
choose a production that would challenge the company in the
area of individual actor performance. As an example of
such a play, he suggested Othello.61 This idea, after con
siderable discussion and planning of the season, resulted
in the decision to produce Shakespeare's play.
One of the unique characteristics of the production,
as discussed earlier under physical theatre, was its immed
iate and more realistic quality. Adjusting to the small
^Statement by Robert Cohen, personal interview,
February 14, 1972. All subsequent statements by Cohen
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
169
staging area of the Second Step Theatre, the production
stressed psychological interaction over the size and flow
of language. Larry Swindell observed:
"Othello" certainly is one of the most modern of
Shakespearean plays in its dramatic psychology and
also in its thematic construction. Well enough:
the South Coast performance is strikingly modern.
While Othello continued the development of a char
acteristic acting style in the company, it also marked the
beginning of South Coast Repertory's ability to employ and
effectively synthesize a wide range of design and technical
elements. For Martin Benson, Othello was "The first time
we had a degree of professional stagecraft— all elements
were pulled together, the production had a look of quality
63
and completion." Benson adds that before Othello the
physical aspects of the theatre's productions had a "make
shift" and "seamy" look about them.^
Tom Titus of the Daily Pilot, who has covered South
Coast Repertory since it began operation in Orange County,
also observed that Othello was an important step forward
for South Coast Repertory. His review describes the
62Personal letter, October 11, 1965.
63Interview of April 29, 1972. 64Ibid.
170
production's "thunderous power.He termed the productior
"a technical masterpiece both in staging and costume" which
was "further evidence of the tremendous growth of the reper-
,.66
tory company."
Othello proved that not only could the company
create a modern and immediate acting approach to a classical
work, but it also was capable of creating a physical pro
duction that had sweep, magnitude, and sense of completion.
David Clements observes, "Othello gave us a feeling that we
could do plays of greater theatrical challenge." Aestheti
cally, this broadened the range of plays the company could
consider, and prepared the way for such complex productions
as Baal and Serjeant Musgrave's Dance.
In November of 1965, South Coast Repertory opened
one of the most important productions in its history— The
Birthday Party by Harold Pinter. After many months of nego
tiation, the theatre acquired the rights to produce the
first Southern California production of the play. Producing
the area premiere meant that the theatre attracted many new
audience members and critics. Seeing his first South Coast
Repertory production, Los Angeles Times critic Cecil Smith
65Pailv Pilot. October 13, 1965. 66Ibid.
171
wrote a review of the play and a subsequent article that
gave South Coast Repertory an immediate statewide reputa-
67
tion. Smith's review states that the company "offers
such a high level of performance and such fine ensemble
68
acting that the production is a devastating experience."
In a later article. Smith stated that the production "qui-
69
vered like an arrow, perfectly aimed and shot."
Other critics were unanimous in their praise of the
production's depth and high level of acting. Arnold Hano,
writing in the Laguna Beach News-Post, stated that the pro
duction was a "shattering experience, and the best produc
tion to come this way in years."7* * Tom Titus called the
production a "milestone" for South Coast Repertory.71 The
normally demanding Larry Swindell declared that "The Birth-
72
day Party ... is flawless."
The Birthday Party provided the theatre with ample
evidence that it could produce acting ensemble. In the
67Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
68Los Angeles Times. November 30, 1965.
88Lob Angeles Times. December 12, 1965.
7°Laguna Beach News-Post. November 23, 1965.
7^Pailv Pilot. November 22, 1965.
________72The Newporter. December 17, 1965.________________
172
opinion of Martin Benson, the director of the production,
the rehearsal and performance process was successful be
cause of the resident company. He believes that the dis
cussion, improvisation, and character development of the
rehearsal process succeeded because of the many months of
73
experience the actors had together on other plays. "There
was a special chemistry created in the cast that could only
74
come from the fact that we knew each other artistically."
The widespread recognition of the company at once
gave South Coast Repertory faith in its acting ensemble and,
at the same time, raised the level of performance that was
to be expected for the company. In the words of Don Tuche,
a principal actor in the company, "we knew we were now ex
pected to produce all our plays more like the level of The
Birthday party." Larry Swindell also communicated his
feelings toward this mixed blessing to the theatre:
Othello was a bright feather in the company cap,
because it well preceded the production of The Birth
day Party that actually has deposited you in a bucket
of pickled hot water. The Birthday Party catapulted
your company into access of an extraordinary reputa
tion it does not yet deserve, but which by all means
must be preserved and protected! Because of The
Birthday party, your patrons now are expecting more
than they would have expected. I sense that most of
73Interview of April 29, 1972. 74Ibid.
173
you realize Othello was timed supremely; the same
production, now, would not collect its audience in
awe, as was the c a s e .^5
The instant success story that came from the Pinter
play did, in fact, make the theatre more cognizant that it
would have to work at its fullest to maintain its new-found
reputation. This had its effect on the aesthetic character
of the theatre. It meant, for example, that the theatre
had to be very careful taking "chances" in casting. Before
The Birthday Party, the theatre was more willing to try and
let an actor "stretch" into a role; after the Pinter suc
cess, the theatre found it was using its better actors more
frequently in an attempt to assure a high level of perform-
76
ance . This obviously meant that younger and less experi
enced actors got fewer opportunities to perform and grow,
and, as will be discussed later, undermined the theatre's
objective to train and develop the company as a whole.
The Birthday Party also marked the start of a South
Coast Repertory trend toward the contemporary British the
atre, and the plays of the British Isles in general.
British plays comprise a little less than half of the plays
7®Personal letter of December 17, 1966.
76Reitz, interview of April 28, 1972.
174
produced at the Second Step Theatre and almost one-third of
the plays ever produced by South Coast Repertory. South
Coast Repertory's interest in the contemporary British the
atre grew simply out of a belief that these plays were the
most theatrically relevant plays being written and that
77
they dealt with issues that were immediate and important.
Peter Nyberg, a professional actor and director, has ob
served that South Coast Repertory's production of British
plays paralleled the practice of other resident theatres in
which he himself had worked. Nyberg states: "It's quite
78
simple, the best plays were being written abroad."
In January of 1966, the theatre opened its produc
tion of Candida by George Bernard Shaw. The work proved
successful artistically and financially and was another
step in South Coast Repertory's advancing reputation.
Martin Benson observes that with the success of Candida
following The Birthday Party and the growing audience
acceptance of the theatre, there was a feeling in the com-
79
pany "that we could do anything well." With the next
77Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
7®Statement by Peter Nyberg, personal interview,
February 5, 1972 .
79Interview of April 29, 1972.
175
production of the theatre, the company experienced a set
back which tempered any feeling of artistic arrogance.
Baal opened on February 14, 1966. The South Coast
Repertory production represented the West Coast premiere of
the play. Written when Brecht was 20, the play traces the
sensuous exploits of its poet-vagabond central figure as he
rapes, murders, and ravages his way to death. Professor
Otto Sorensen of the Department of Foreign Languages at the
University of California at Irvine worked with the director
on the production, clarifying translations from the original
German. In addition, he wrote a short paper on Baal which
the theatre used for promotional purposes . Sorensen points
out Brecht's investigation "of the universal isolation in
80
a cold and friendless world." Talking about audience
response to Baal. Sorensen observes: "Undoubtedly, the
reaction to the play will be mixed, and it can be safely
predicted that partisans and antagonists of the work will
81
not be half-way in their praise or condemnation of it."
The production of Baal was directed by John Arthur
Davis and was one of the most innovative works the theatre
®®Notes on Brecht, February, 1966 (South Coast
Repertory Production File 11).
81Ibid.
176
had done up to this time. One-third of the actors in the
production wore face masks to heighten the societal in
difference the character of Baal elicited in his raging
against the barriers to free expression. The costumes had
an organic unity in muted color and rough texture. The set,
by Michael Devine, continued this color and texture scheme
into a rough wood set, hung with burlap strips and pieces
* i 4-v 82
of cloth.
Critical response to the production was mixed.
Cecil Smith, drama critic for the Los Angeles Times. com
mented in a review entitled "Baal Is Exercise in Nullity"
that the play was "meaningless" and "formless" and unin-
83
volving. He wrote:
The ambitious young South Coast Repertory company
. . . has, I'm afraid, bitten off more than it can
chew in its current production of Bertolt Brecht's
"Baal."
The company, as always, is inventive and adventurous;
director John Davis has swept his huge cast in free-
flowing movement through the score of scenes; there's
the use of masks for the teamsters, rangers, farmers
and others that is highly effective . . . But the
play doesn't really come off.®4
Tom Titus of the Daily Pilot found the play "dynamic
®2Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
®®Los Angeles Tiroes. February 22, 1966. 84Ibid.
177
85
and discomforting." He commented on the skill of the
company in handling a play of such "physical immensity,"
but criticized the play for being "sometimes oversimplified,
sometimes overly complex."®**
If critical response was mixed concerning the play,
yet laudatory of the production, the general audience re
sponse was decidedly negative to the entire project. The
theatre received numerous complaints both in person and by
letter. One woman, a season subscriber who had also en
couraged friends to subscribe, wrote that her friends were
deeply shocked as I am that a performance of such
caliber was being presented in our community.
I shudder to think what may be the future effect
on the lives and memories of the young girls in the
cast. . . . I blush for them and all of you that
your sense of what is acceptable allowed you to
present such a performance.87
David Hill, one of the theatre's organizing board
members, found that the production of Baal frustrated his
attempts to gain support for South Coast Repertory from
influential citizens in Newport Beach. Unknown to him, one
of the city's most important leaders, heeding Hill's advice,
85Pailv Pilot. February 21, 1966. 86Ibid.
87Harriet M. Speegle, personal letter, March 15,
1966 (South Coast Repertory Production File 11).
178
decided to see one of the theatre's plays. He brought three
of his friends to see Baal. They were shocked and offended
and left at the first intermission. Hill believes that this
incident impaired the acceptance of South Coast Repertory bj
the greater community.
Artistically, Baal was successful in developing
South Coast Repertory's ability to deal with the dramatic
challenges of episodic theatre even though it was clear,
later, that the company was dealing with an imperfect first
88
play. Yet the audience response to the play continued to
temper the theatre's aesthetic commitment to more experi
mental or unconventional works. Looking at the list of
plays that comprise South Coast Repertory's production
history, one sees that Baal is listed eleventh. The next
play that is similar in form, tone, and critical viewpoint
is America Hurrah1. the fortieth production of the company
produced over two years later. And while no company leader
admits to abandoning the theatre1s announced interest in
experimental theatre, it seems clear that the negative
audience response and poor box-office of both the Beckett
and the Brecht plays affected, to some degree, the theatre's
®8Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
179
attitude.
In April, the company opened Chocolates. an original
work by Ian Bernard. The playwright had a successful back
ground in screen writing and music. He first submitted the
play to the theatre as a one-act. At this time, Sheila
Goldes, another San Francisco State College trained actress
who had recently joined the company from the Guthrie The
atre, was in charge of dealing with the new plays that were
submitted to South Coast Repertory. Seeing promise in the
work, she agreed to direct the play.
Out of what Goldes describes as "a positive and
exciting rehearsal between actor, director, and playwright,"
the play evolved over weeks of planning and rehearsing into
a three-act work. The reviewer for the Los Angeles Times
described the play as a tragi-comical investigation of an
individual trapped by society, and as being somewhat irreg
ular, dramatically, in communicating this concern to the
89
audience. The production drew mixed reactions from the
audience, but on the whole the feeling in the theatre was
that the process had been positive, and that South Coast
Repertory's commitment to produce new American plays had
89Stan Bernstein, Los Angeles Times. April 2, 1966.
180
been affirmed.^®
In May, South Coast Repertory produced Juno and the
Pavcock by Sean O'Casey. This was the most challenging and
demanding realistic play the company had ever produced, and
it revealed one of the weaknesses of the company— youth.
It was generally agreed within the company that many of the
roles in the play demanded a verisimilitude of acting that:
came from the authority of maturity. The average age of
the people in the company was somewhere in the mid-twenties.
Many of the mature roles in the play— Captain Boyle, Joxer,
and Mrs. Tancred, for example— were played by young actors.
Martin Benson, who directed, agrees with the critical re
sponse that found the production lacking in dramatic
weight.
The summer production for 1966 was a South Coast
Repertory Commedia dell'Arte adaptation of The Mandragola
by Nicolo Machiavelli. This proved to be one of the most
successful productions of this type that the theatre pro
duced in that it synthesized many of the positive elements
of the previous Volppne and Tartuffe productions. Ron
90
Goldes, interview of January 10, 1972.
9interview of April 29, 1972.
181
Thronson, an Associate Artistic Director of the theatre fron
1967 to 1971, saw the production and believes that it had
outstanding design elements, especially "good, imaginative
costumes" that had a flavor of the Renaissance period yet
92
possessed a unique theatrical life of their own. The
production also employed theatricalized masks and was
played before colorful backdrops that represented three
houses. The production used Machiavelli's script as its
basis and then added to it through improvisational and
93
frequent instances of "slapstick" business.
Audience and critical response to the production
was very positive. The Los Angeles Times called the pro
duction "a bedlam of excitement as the actors literally
94
dashed through the action." The Daily Pilot stated that
95
the production "bursts in a kaleidoscope of color." The
Dean of Fine Arts at the University of California wrote the
96
company and praised them for a "first-rate production."
^Thronson, interview of May 27, 1972 .
93Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
Q4
* Stan Bernstein, Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1966.
95Tom Titus, Daily Pilot. July 16, 1966.
96Clayton Garrison, personal letter, August 15, 1966
(South Coast Repertory Production File 14).
182
A Universal Pictures executive, Douglass Bankston, wrote:
The production of Mandragola was absolutely splendid.
From end to end a delight to watch a company so well-
directed, playing with such individual and ensemble
vitality and intelligence
The response to The Mandragola was a strong rein
forcement of South Coast Repertory's commitment to the
immediate and overtly theatrical qualities of presentational
theatre. For the opening production of the 1966-1967 sea
son, the company attempted to channel its comedic vitality
into French farce.
In October of 1966, South Coast Repertory opened
Let's Get a Divorce by Victorien Sardou. The play is writ
ten in the classical French farce style and demands, as
Eric Bentley has pointed out so well, acting that is highly
structured comedically while still retaining a basis in
98
truthful human behavior.
The production was well received critically. Stan
Bernstein stated that "the Newport Beach group romps through
this French farce with the necessary wit and style that
97
Personal letter, August 24, 1966 (South Coast
Repertory Production File 14).
QQ
°"The Psychology of Farce" in Comedy: Meaning and
Form, ed. by Robert Corrigan (San Francisco: Chandler Pub
lishing Co., 1965).
183
comes from a perfect blending of acting, directing and
99
staging." Arnold Hano observed that the play was
"brightly produced . . . in high style."1®®
While the general response to the production was
favorable, the company had the feeling that in many ways the
farce style was too difficult for it. it was felt that the
company needed not only greater maturity in some of the
roles, but also greater technical proficiency in voice,
movement, and comic timing.1®1 Robert Cohen believes that
the production was too caught up in "all the faddish ex
cesses of theatricality" and "missed all the subtlety of
the play." Hal Landon, Jr., one of the present Associate
Artistic Directors of the company, believes that the pro
duction went "too far and seemed to force laughs, " and he
observes that this might have resulted from the influence
of the company' s commedia work .
The conclusions that the company reached regarding
its ability to produce farce had an effect on the aesthetic
outlook of South Coast Repertory. According to Martin
qq
Los Angeles Times. October 22, 1966.
*-°°Lacruna Beach News-Post. October 6, 1966.
1®1Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
184
Benson, the leaders of the theatre believed that the com
pany was not capable of successfully producing comedic works
that required a high degree of proficiency in voice and
movement. In discussions of plays being considered for
production, Restoration works or Shakespearean comedies,
for example, were dismissed as being beyond the company's
102
capabilities. Plays of this type, in many ways consid
ered a basic staple of resident theatre, have never been
produced by South Coast Repertory.
In November of 1966, the theatre opened The Care
taker by Harold Pinter, and the company continued to show
strength in its acting ensemble. David Hill, who saw the
New York production, compares the South Coast Repertory
version "quite favorably" and states "it was a beautiful
job that reinforced my feeling about Pinter's importance as
a playwright."
The production of The Caretaker illustrates one
benefit of South Coast Repertory's commitment to a resident
company. All three cast members had played important roles
in the highly successful production of The Birthday Party.
Martin Benson directed both productions. He feels their
common experience with Pinter was the most significant fac
tor in The Caretaker1s success: "It was one of the most
103
fully realized productions we've ever done."
Frederic McConnell, who had a long and distinguished
career as the head of The Cleveland Playhouse, was living in
retirement in Laguna Beach and saw the production. In a
letter to David Emmes, he offered his comments:
I enjoyed the performance and production of Care
taker the other night— very well done. One may have
reservations about Mr. Pinter now and then. None
theless, this kind of thing in the theatre is a bit
of fresh air.^0*
In January, the theatre performed The Playboy of
the Western World, a production which enjoyed critical and
financial success.*05 In March, the company performed two
short plays on two consecutive Monday nights; these per
formances were produced by members of the company who were
not then working in one of the theatre's major productions.
Samuel Beckett's Act without Words II was produced along
with a new play, Last Day of the Year by Peter Renno, a New
103Ibid.
Impersonal letter, January 1, 1967 (South Coast
Repertory Production File 16).
*-®3McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
186
York playwright who had submitted his work to the the-
106
atre.
In late March, the theatre produced A Moon for the
Misbegotten. a seldom-produced work of Eugene O'Neill. On
the whole, the production received unfavorable reviews that
attacked the play, primarily, for being overly long and
redundant. Hal Landon, Jr., who played the central charac
ter, recalls that the rehearsal process under the director,
jMathias Reitz, was one of the most intense investigations
I
Jof psychological character development that he had ever had.
The presence in the company of Reitz, a method-oriented
director, seemed to raise questions concerning South Coast
Repertory's aesthetic approach to acting (this will be dis
cussed further in a later section of this chapter).
In May, the theatre produced the West Coast premiere
of Serjeant Musqrave's Dance by John Arden. This play,
which makes a strong statement for pacifism and is written
in a sprawling, episodic form, offered a production chal
lenge that the company had not faced since Baal. The pro
duction affirmed South Coast Repertory's ability to create
a vital and dynamic theatre. Cecil Smith wrote:
106Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
187
The play has a throbbing drumbeat compulsion that
floods the theatre with pulsing life and, as visual,
the young Newport Beach company performs it with
flare and dash and spirit.^®7
The Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram described
the production as "disturbing, engrossing and beautifully
108
staged." The Daily Pilot referred to the production as
109
"brilliant and powerful." Board member David Hill de
scribed the work as "a thought-provoking evening that
knocked me out of my seat."
With the success of the Arden play fresh in the
company's memory, South Coast Repertory accepted an invita
tion to tour a production of its choosing to Beverly Hills,
California. The Beverly Hills Unified School District
sponsored a cultural series as part of its Community Ser
vice program. Irwin Parnes, an independent producer who
provided booking management for the series, arranged for
South Coast Repertory's engagement.110
The prevailing attitude in the theatre was that the
107Los Angeles Times. May 17, 1967.
108Ralph Hinman, Jr., Long Beach Independent-Press
Telegram. May 17, 1967.
109Tom Titus, Daily Pilot. May 15, 1967.
110Business Records, 1966-1967, South Coast Reper-
tory, Inc.___________________________________________________ _
188
tour would be an important step forward for South Coast
Repertory in gaining a wider audience exposure and also
making sizable income. The company also felt that the tour
could enhance South Coast Repertory's artistic reputa-
111
tion.
In choosing a play for the tour, the artistic lead
ers felt that they should produce a play that was unique
and experimental, in keeping with previous South Coast
Repertory successes. In the spring of 1966, David Emmes
had directed a production of Red Magic by the Belgian play
wright Michel de Ghelderode at Long Beach City College.
Many members of the company had seen and admired the pro
duction. It was hoped that this work, an investigation of
greed and sensuality reminiscent in tone of the paintings
of Bosch, would have a startling impact on the Los Angeles
112
audience. The theatre decided to produce it.
The central role of the play is exceedingly diffi
cult and requires an actor capable of revealing numerous
facets of a demented mind and also capable of sustaining
three long soliloquies, each one almost 10 minutes in
^^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
112Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
189
duration. Believing that there was not an actor in the
existing resident company who could adequately perform the
role, the Artistic Directors secured the services of David
Sullivan, an actor at the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln
Center and a former San Francisco State College classmate.
Since Sullivan was a member of Actor's Equity, the theatre
decided to produce the play professionally. Actor's Equity
required that five members of the cast of eight be union
members, and therefore two members of the company joined
the union; the additional two union members cast were for
mer San Francisco classmates
The run of Red Magic in Beverly Hills proved to be
one of the largest artistic and financial setbacks the the
atre ever experienced. The production received poor reviews
and did extremely bad business— the play performed to houses
of less than 100 audience members in the 900-seat house the
school district provided.
Several reasons are cited by the company for the
difficulties of Red Magic. The company had never toured a
play that required a fully mounted technical production of
114
Business Records, 1966-1967, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
190
a massive set and elaborate lighting. The company experi
enced considerable logistical difficulties moving the pro
duction into the theatre in the four days it was allotted.
Lighting rehearsals were still being conducted hours before
the production opened. The production had not been "brought
115
together" when the critics saw it.
Another factor was that the company had never played
in an auditorium of considerable size. After two years of
working in the Second Step Theatre, the company's intimate
acting style could not psychologically "fill" the larger
theatre and many essentially good moments of the play did
• x.
not project.
The negative experience of Red Magic had a numbing
effect on the company and in many ways challenged the the
atre's aesthetic concerning the relationship of South Coast
Repertory's work and its relationship to audience. The
intent of the Red Magic project had been to impress Los
Angeles with the company's daring and vitality; the effort
failed. Recalling the experience, John Arthur Davis said:
We went there . . . and tried to come on like the
Royal Shakespeare Company. Everything about the
H 5Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
*16Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
191
project was well intended, but finally, in that con
text, unrealistic. We didn't just lose money or
pride— we got bombed 1 We got killed!
According to Martin Benson, the Red Magic experience
marked the first time that the company's leaders began to
seriously question the viability and acceptance of its
aesthetic position regarding experimental or avant-garde
theatre. While the negative audience response to waiting
for Godot and Baal had made the theatre question its posi
tion to more radical forms of theatre, the experience of
Red Magic seriously threatened it. South Coast Repertory
had embraced this kind of theatre philosophically, as part
of the manifesto that set out the theoretical objectives of
the company. Now, in the practical light of audience re
sponse, the company had to face the reality that what might
look good on paper as a desirable tenet of a resident the-
118
atre could prove to be unrealistic in practice.
By no means did the theatre abandon its belief in
experimental theatre, but it did alter its position in the
company's balance of priorities. In view of the lack of
audience support, the leaders decided that experimental
117Interview of June 16, 1968, cited by Vine, "The
South Coast Repertory."
lift
__________qBenson, interview of April 29, 1972.
192
productions would be produced less frequently and that they
would be scheduled for short runs. It was also decided that
where it was desirable, these productions would not be pro
duced as subscription productions for the ongoing audience,
but rather as special productions outside the regular sea-
119
son series. Indeed, the production of a controversial
contemporary play as a subscription production, Saved. was
not presented until almost two years later.
The next two productions that closed out the period
of South Coast Repertory's principal occupation of the
Second Step Theatre played during the summer and early fall
of 1967. In July, the theatre opened The Miser by Moliere
in the company's presentational commedia-inspired style.
In September, the theatre played The Typists and The Tiger
by Murray Schisgal; this was the first recent Broadway suc
cess the company had ever produced, and while no company
leader believes it was a factor at the time, it was the
first instance, of several which would follow, in which the
company produced one of the more artistic works of commer
cial theatre.
While the fuller implications of South Coast
119Ibid.
193
Repertory's Second Step Theatre period will be discussed in
the aesthetic analysis at the end of this chapter, there are
some general observations that can be made. In its mani
festo, the theatre announced a commitment to four major
areas of theatre production, areas that were consonant with
the prevailing practice of existent professional resident
theatres. Yet, in the actual practice of 23 productions,
the theatre produced only two classical plays— Volpone and
Othello. It is true that Tartuffe. The Mandraqola. and The
Miser are considered classical works, but they were produced
in the commedia-inspired presentational production approach
of South Coast Repertory. The commitment to new plays by
American playwrights resulted in productions of two full-
length works and one short work. By far, the greatest body
of work the theatre produced— 14 plays— were of the modern
theatre. In short, the theatre announced a commitment to
a broad repertoire of plays, but well over half of its plays
were modern.
Design
The operating period of the Second Step Theatre saw
an evolution from a very unclear aesthetic position regard
ing theatrical design to an emergence of a characteristic
194
South Coast Repertory style of design approach. This style
developed partly because of the physical environment of the
theatre and partly because of the work of a gifted young
designer, Michael Devine.
Before Devine joined the company in June of 1965,
the company had developed a rather makeshift and erratic
approach to design. Sheila Goldes, who joined the company
in the spring of 1965, commented: "After coming from the
Guthrie, I was shocked at the shabbiness of the sets."
According to John Arthur Davis, who was responsible for the
technical areas of the theatre during this period, the
simple blue drops hung on poles that Tartuffe employed
looked shoddy on the bare cement floor that was used for a
time in the theatre. Davis observes that neither Volpone
nor The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak had any real sense of
design concept about them: "They consisted of odd pieces
and drops that looked like they were put together by a
committee." Indeed, the program for Volpone gives no de
sign credit, and The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak only attrib-
120
utes a "decor" credit to Davis.
With the arrival of Michael Devine, the theatre had
^®Production Files 3 and 4, South Coast Repertory,
Inc.
195
its first real designer. Like many members of the company,
Devine had been a student at San Francisco State College.
After leaving San Francisco, Devine did advanced design
study in New York at the Parsons School of Design and the
Lester Palakov Studio of Scenic Design. While in New York,
he served as an assistant to three Broadway designers:
William Rittman, Ed Willstein, and Peter Harney. In addi
tion, Devine designed three Off-Broadway productions and
served as a resident designer for several theatres, includ
ing the National Shakespeare Company.121
In the summer of 1965, Devine returned to the West
Coast and on hearing of South Coast Repertory's accomplish
ments and plans, accepted the position of resident designer
122
of the company. Before he left the theatre in the fall
of 1967, he had designed 10 productions for South Coast
Repertory and had established a design aesthetic for the
company.
As a designer, Devine did not favor any special mode
of design. Rather, he was strongly oriented to the given
play that was to be produced. In discussions regarding
121
■ ‘ ■[Emmes], "South Coast Repertory: Growth and
Development," p. 4.
*22Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
196
design, Devine's investigative process would examine the
meaning of the play, its relationship to the artistic re
sources of the company, and, finally, its place in the
123
American society. Speaking of his work, Martha McFarland
said: "Michael's style of design came from the individual
play, he had no set view about design. His sets were al
ways internal and organic to the play."
While Devine was capable of highly colorful and
theatrical sets, as in the revived production of The Hostage
or Ring Around the Moon. Martin Benson expresses the general
company opinion with his observation that Devine's greatest
contribution was the establishment of a strong realistic
style of design, a coarse and textured realism that seemed
especially suitable to the physical makeup of the Second
124
Step Theatre. In sets such as The Birthday Party and
Juno and the Paycock. for example (see Plates II and III),
Devine rejected the traditional practice of flats and scene
painting. He used real wooden doors and trim, stains, and
asbestos plaster texture. Walls were constructed of strung
125
lace, wooden lath, or real wallpaper. In short, he
^^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. ^^Ibid.
^^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972 .

PLATE III. JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK
198
199
evolved a style of design that complemented the intimate,
realistic acting style that South Coast Repertory developed
in the Second Step Theatre.
In the opinion of Sheila Goldes, "Michael's scenic
contribution raised the whole aesthetic level of the com
pany's quality." GoIdes' conclusion is supported by the
critical praise for Devine's work. The Long Beach Inde
pendent -Press Telegram commented on Devine's work on
Othello:
Technically, Michael Devine's mobile sets eloquently,
yet simply juxtaposing vested Venice with carnal
Cyprus make such marvelous use of the stage's limited
space— almost non-existent— that genius is stamped
all over the scenic design.
Cecil Smith of the Los Angeles Times frequently
praised Devine's work. In his review of Baal. Smith stated:
"... designer Michael Devine has worked wonders out of
burlap and slats for an abstract, all-purpose set, complete
127
to a makeshift turntable."
The over-a11 opinion of the company leaders was that
Devine was a gifted and imaginative designer, a creative
126Samuel Boyea, Long Beach Independent-Press
Telegram. October 10, 1965.
*27Los Angeles Times. February 22, 1966.
200
force not only in design but also in the company as a whole.
His influence contributed to the strong aesthetic commit
ment to the creative value of design that South Coast Reper- .
128
tory developed during the Second Step Theatre years.
When he left in the final major season of the Second
Step Theatre, Devine's influence carried over. In the view
of Martha MacFarland, the coarse and textured sets of The
Caretaker and Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, both designed by
David Emmes, were consonant with the style of design that
was established by Devine. In following seasons, Devine's
work became the standard to which the theatre referred.
The Company and Key Personnel
In terms of spirit and a sense of common goal, the
resident company of South Coast Repertory was at its
strongest during the Second Step Theatre period. As the
company made the transition from a touring group into a
permanent performing organization, there was a unity and
commitment that gave the theatre's work great vitality.
Douglas Rowe, the former director of the Laguna
Playhouse, was impressed with the company's vitality-. He
saw most of the early productions of the company and
15ft
■ ‘ ■ “ ’Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
201
observed:
I was impressed with the energy and drive of the
company . . . the actors seemed committed to the
idea of the production, not just their own roles.
You had a very definite feeling of ensemble playing
when you saw an SCR s h o w . 129
Tom Titus, the critic of the Daily Pilot, has seen
every South Coast Repertory production ever produced. Dis
cussing his impression of the group in its early history,
he said:
I was impressed with the level of talent and ambi
tion of the group. I saw the strife for the birth
of a theatre. This struggle for survival resulted
in a great energy.*30
Arthur Koustik became a company member in the sum
mer of 1965. A former San Francisco State College student,
Koustik had just returned from New York where he had been
working at the Sheraton Square Theatre with such theatre
people as Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, and Robert Duvall.
On joining South Coast Repertory, he sensed the same kind
of devoted, professional commitment that he had experienced
129
Statement by Douglas Rowe, personal interview,
February 1, 1972. All subsequent statements by Rowe quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
130
Statement by Tom Titus, personal interview,
February 11, 1972.
202
in New York. He observed: "There was a comparable spirit
131
and talk, and I knew this was vdiat I wanted."
While the company regularly held auditions to add
new people to the resident organization, the basic creative
nucleus of artists had been trained at San Francisco State
College. This core of 12 people— in a company that fluctu
ated between 30 and 40 individuals— were responsible for the
direction and principal acting roles in the 2 3 productions
132
that comprised the Second Step Theatre period. Their
common background, commitment to resident theatre, and sense
of personal unity was, no doubt, the key factor in the
development of ensemble playing.
The acting company, as discussed earlier, developed
an intimate, realistic acting style. This was based on a
Stanislavsky or "internal" approach to acting. Martha
McFarland, a principal actress in the company for five
years, states that the company stressed "an internal con
cern— truth to character and, as a result, truth to the
play." Hal Landon, Jr. defines the company's approach to
131
J■ ‘ ■Statement by Arthur Koustik, personal interview,
April 27, 1972. All subsequent statements by Koustik
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
132Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
203
acting then as a "basic kind of naturalistic acting, derived
from Stanislavsky."
While the company sought honesty and believability
from its acting, it did not prescribe any set way of attain
ing it— there was freedom for the individual actor to find
his own solutions within a general method context. Warren
Deacon observes that the company "allowed a variety of
approaches, a freedom of method."
One of the shortcomings of the acting company was
its youth and the consequent fact that in the more realistic
type of play young actors had to play mature roles. Douglas
Rowe feels that the lack of mature actors restricted the
company's ability to realize fully many of its productions.
Larry Swindell wrote to the company on this issue:
. . . your "Othello" has a collegiate spirit. This
does not level individual criticism, but a collective
one. Most importantly, it is not a matter of age,
but of youthful bearing. What is missing from your
ensemble is the natural authority of maturity. 133
The artistic leaders of the company were well aware
of this shortcoming, but were unable to do anything about
it. Good mature actors were not available and the better
community theatre actors lacked the training, inclination,
133personal letter, October 11, 1965.
204
and commitment that South Coast Repertory demanded of its
members.134
One area that the artistic leaders attempted to
address was the company's general weakness in the craft of
acting, especially in the areas of voice and movement.
Several times during the operation of the Second Step The
atre, workshops were established for company members; these
included a movement awareness class taught by Judith Ashton,
a dancer and movement consultant, and an Alexander Technique
voice class taught by Margaret Cowles, a professional resi
dent theatre actress who had been trained in England. Other
informal workshops were held in improvisation and basic
.135
acting exercises.
On the whole, the workshops proved to be ineffec
tive. According to Martin Benson, the rehearsal and per
formance requirements of the theatre made enormous time
demands on company members, most of whom held full-time
jobs during the day; this made it extremely difficult to
136
find the time to schedule the workshops. In short, and
134Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
135Statement by Ronald Boussom, personal interview,
May 15, 1972. All subsequent statements by Boussom quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
136
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
205
ironically, in view of the theatre's desire to develop a
versatile company that could pursue a resident theatre pro
gram, South Coast Repertory did not have time to develop its
actors outside of a very restricted rehearsal or performance
situation.
As Hal Landon, Jr. points out, most company members
accepted the fact that the young theatre, operating in a 75-
seat house, could not pay actors. Actors knew that they had
to get some outside means of support, but they accepted this
in view of the goals and the promise of the future.
In general, the acting company at the Second Step
Theatre possessed a sound but basic acting style rooted in
the Stanislavsky system. To this style, the company brought
spirit and vitality. Unfortunately, because of demanding
time restrictions, the company was unable to successfully
develop its skills through additional training, thereby
shutting off one means of developing the versatility it
des ired.
While the makeup of the general company affected
the aesthetic objectives of the theatre, so, too, did the
contributions of individual company members. Of the many
people who added to the theatre, three individuals— Sheila
Goldes, Stephen Facey, and Michael Devine— made particular
206
contributions to the evolving artistic character of the
theatre.
More than anyone, Sheila GoIdes made South Coast
Repertory's theoretical commitment to new plays an actual
producing reality. For the two beginning seasons of the
Second Step Theatre she headed the theatre's new play pro
gram and proposed projects to the company. Warren Deacon
believes that Goldes' "influence and dedication was a force
in the theatre's production of new plays." Martin Benson
suggests that Goldes' influence reinforced a commitment to
new works that has lasted throughout the theatre's his-
137
tory.
Stephen Facey received his theatre education in New
England and had worked at several small theatres in the East
before joining South Coast Repertory for the 1965-1966
season. Facey was a friend of Michael Devine; they had met
138
in 1964 when Devine was designing in New York. Facey
brought to the company a quality it did not possess— exper
ience in the running and organizing of a theatre. He had
experience in administration and stage management, and
137 ,
Ibxd.
138Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
207
immediately put them to use at South Coast Repertory.
Martha McFarland, who served as the company secretary during
the period, recalls how Facey turned South Coast Repertory's
loosely organized plans into a series of schedules, budgets,
and procedures; she believes that Facey introduced to the
theatre the value of a more professional organization and
led the company away from its amateurish manner of planning.
As David Clements pointed out later, the artistic benefit
was that the theatre could make more effective use of its
time and resources; it could more properly channel its
artistic energies to the project at hand.
Michael Devine's contribution to the company’s area
of design has already been noted, but he was also an aes
thetic force in his advocacy of progressive and radical
theatre. In 1965, when resident theatre seemed to be the
only viable wave of the future, Devine was talking about
the vitality of the Off-Off-Broadway movement and the La
139
Mama operation. John Arthur Davis recalls that Devine
would investigate kinetic art exhibits and "happenings."
Me would challenge the artistic leaders of the company to
deal with the ideas and implications of such activity in
igo
■ ‘ ■^McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
208
order to keep the company vital and full of new ideas.
The contributions of Goldes, Facey, and Devine addec
to the vital energy of the resident company during the
Second Step Theatre period and added to the spirit and
optimism with which the company looked to the future.
Administration and Business
The Second Step Theatre period brought new changes
in the artistic leadership of the company. The theatre
changed from a sense of collective group control to one of
definite leadership by an artistic triumvirate of Benson,
Davis, and Emmes. Out of this emerged a more identifiable
aesthetic for the company.
The first few months of operation in the new theatre
were characterized by what Sheila Goldes called "kind of a
democratic ensemble," a sense of group participation. But
later in 1965, a conflict in artistic direction would
change this.
As has been discussed earlier, the production of
Ring Around the Moon brought to light an aesthetic conflict
between the Artistic Directors and Gerald Dugan. In the
view of John Arthur Davis, this conflict arose from the
theatre's concern for theatre that "explored the immediacy
209
of the theatrical experience," one that placed production
values over literary values, and Dugan's preference for a
theatre that more directly linked to literature and concerns
of "language and dramatic symbol." Simply stated, it can
be seen as a conflict between visceral and cerebral ap
proaches to theatre.
By the late fall of 1965, this conflict began to
manifest itself negatively. There was a feeling of dis
sension in the company as a result of this artistic breach.
After considerable discussion, the three artistic leaders
determined that it would be in the best interests of the
company to have Dugan leave. Whi le they respected his views
and abilities, they did not feel that it would be possible
to work positively with him. In December, Gerald Dugan left
.. 140
the company.
For John Arthur Davis, the Dugan incident was a
very difficult time for the company and a landmark in the
life of the young company. He believes that the conflict
brought the company face-to-face with "the realities of
daily life” in running a theatre, and that eroded the com
mon group attitude the company had been able to maintain in
140
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
210
the absence of any major disagreement. Speaking of the
decision of the Artistic Directors in relation to the
artistic leadership of the company, Davis stated: "With
that act, we took the sole responsibility of shaping the
theatre." For Sheila Goldes the Dugan incident was a
"struggle for power" that ended a kind of artistic honey
moon the company had enjoyed, "it made people withdraw"
from a group identity and made them relate to an artistic
hierarchy. In short, before the Dugan incident, the Artis
tic Directors had functioned covertly, within the group;
after the incident they functioned overtly, above the group.
After the emergence of the Artistic Directors, the
artistic leadership of the company could be more easily
identified in terms of its character. John Arthur Davis
was the strongest proponent of a production or performance
orientation to theatre. Mathias Reitz describes Davis as
"a tireless worker" who challenged the theatre "to open up
imaginatively" and who influenced Benson and Emmes toward
more imaginative production approaches. warren Deacon sees
Davis as an imaginative force that "reinforced South Coast
Repertory's posture to be flexible and adventurous."
Martin Benson is recognized for his contribution to
a sound process of approach to production. Deacon observes
211
that Benson was able to find the practical means to utilize
the new ideas and approaches that were being discussed
within the company. Reitz believes that occasionally Benson
was conservative in a directorial sense: "He sometimes
seemed frightened to really let go and explore an idea in
a play." Though his work was less radical during this per
iod than that of other directors in the theatre, he estab
lished a sound and stable manner of working that contributed
to the company's sense of continuity.
Martin Benson believes that the literary character
of South Coast Repertory can be generally attributed to
141
David Emmes . Warren Deacon observes that while the com
pany has always sought an immediate and overtly theatrical
approach to theatre, and plays that would accommodate this
interest, the theatre has essentially been oriented to the
playwright; he believes that Emmes' extensive background in
dramatic literature was a principal force in this literary
emphasis. Hal Landon, Jr. believes that Emmes influenced
the company in the exploration of new and experimental
dramatic forms.
The artistic triumvirate of Davis, Benson, and Emmes
14interview of April 29, 1972 .
212
functioned efficiently. Davis represented an artistic
emphasis toward production, Emmes represented an artistic
emphasis oriented toward new dramatic forms, and Benson
represented a practical balance between these two positions.
Together, they found that they could work in a cooperative
142
way.
In the area of theatre business structure, South
Coast Repertory made considerable progress during the perioc
of the Second Step Theatre. It progressed from a haphazard
operation into a relatively efficient organization that
could promote its productions and administer its finances.
Two individuals were key contributors to this area
of the theatre. Stephen Facey, mentioned earlier, provided
a structure that organized the workings of the theatre's
internal affairs, warren Deacon, who joined the theatre in
the spring of 1966, organized and refined the promotional
or more external areas of responsibility in the company.
Through his efforts the company established effective rela
tions with the press and other media and improved the qual-
143
ity and frequency of its promotional activity.
142 Ibid.
143McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972
213
The establishment of an effective business structure
resulted in a more efficient utilization of the company's
resources, and helped develop a larger audience for finan
cial support. This provided a greater artistic freedom with
which the theatre could pursue its artistic objectives .
Audience and Area
Unlike the fall of 1964 when South Coast Repertory
was a touring company, the period of the Second Step Theatre
operation was a time when the company started to become more
aware of and sensitive to the Orange County area. A trend
started, though it would not be realized fully until the
company worked in its Third Step Theatre, in which the
audience became a greater consideration in play selection
than it was ever intended to be when the theatre was
started.
One of the factors that contributed to this trend
was the audience reaction and lack of support for the com
pany's productions of Waiting for Godot. Baal, and Red
Magic. This tempered the theatre's position that whatever
project it deemed worthy of production would somehow be
supported by its audience. The fact that there was not a
sufficient audience for the theatre's experimental
214
interests brought the company to a realization that while
their artistic objectives must not be changed, the theatre
would have to pursue them within the reality of Orange
„ . 144
County.
South Coast Repertory's response to the reception
of its experimental work was reflected on stage. For former
Board member Ladislaw Reday, the company seemed interested
in the "shock value" of its work but seemed to take an
145
"aloof" posture in the presentation. Robert Cohen of
the University of California at Irvine observes that many
times the theatre seemed to have a "paranoia" and reach to
its audience with a superior tone. Curiously, John Arthur
Davis believes that the company was at times "paranoid . . .
we were the minority and had some fear of offending Orange
County."
In general, the theatre remained committed to the
philosophical objectives of the professional resident the
atre. However, it began to face the reality of finding
practical ways, especially in the area of experimental
144
A Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
^^Statement by Ladislaw Reday, personal interview,
May 22, 1972. All subsequent statements by Reday quoted in
this dissertation will be from this interview.
215
theatre, to pursue them in Orange County.
National and International Trends
During the period from March, 1965 to August, 1967,
the period that South Coast Repertory grew and evolved in
its Second Step Theatre, the professional resident theatre
still rode a wave of future promise, although doubts about
its viability began to be discussed.
In 1964, Harold Clurman professed a qualified belief
that the resident theatre might be capable of bringing
America a vital, decentralized theatre. Observing that
much work would have to be done in developing the artistic
capabilities of companies who would be devoted to a wide
range of plays, he concluded:
With the establishment of the new theatres we have
our best chance for a transformation . . . these
new theatres must not be as good or better than
Broadway but altogether different. They must forge
new paths for actors, dramatists, directors, audi
ences and the monied patrons . This cannot be done
in a hurry. One, two, or even three seasons will
not be enough.
In 1966, Julius Novick traveled throughout the
United States, like Macgowan before him, and visited exist
ing resident theatres. In a series of articles he wrote for
146"challenge of the New Theatres,"
216
The Nation. Novick provided a comprehensive look at the
resident theatre movement. Although he cites areas of weak
ness in actor preparation and progressive leadership,
Novick's conclusion regarding resident theatre is positive,
and that there is a future for the movement:
The theatres are interested in art, not money (though
they try not to be self-righteous about it) . . .
Currently, they are booming. Audiences are increasing
rapidly; acting companies are being expanded. 7
In 1965, Richard Schechner began to raise questions
regarding the resident theatre movement's ability to advance
the state of theatre art in America, in his opinion the
movement had been taken over by its middle-class audience,
and that resident theatre seemed to be running the danger
of becoming merely a reflection of the middle-class mores
148
and values.
In the Summer, 1966 issue, the Tulane Drama Review
published excerpts from the TDR Theatre Conference, a meet
ing of theatre leaders that was held in November of 1965.
Theodore Hoffman, then the director of the Theatre Program
147"Touring the Hinterland," The Nation. May 23,
1966, p. 626.
148
"Ford, Rockefeller and Theatre," Tulane Drama
Review. X (Fall, 1965), 48.
217
at New York University's School of the Arts, discussed what
he perceived to be the current state of resident theatre:
Yes, the resident theatre is now facing stultifica
tion. The trouble with it is you can't get to an
operational level that is reasonably comfortable.
If you're not paying mortgages, you can just about
break even. It's difficult to expand and there's
a temptation not to expand.149
But if Schechner found weakness regarding its audi
ence, and Hoffman in its economic situation, Herbert Blau
stated that the mission of the resident theatre movement
held promise:
If we didn't do it this time, we will do it next
time. We will do it by applying ourselves to our
craft, by trying to train our actors, by understand
ing our plays more deeply, by finding ways of imbed
ding whatever good ideas we have more concretely in
the experience that you perceive when you are in the
theatre looking at that stage.
Finally, Life magazine reinforced the resident the
atre movement. In June of 1967, Life Theatre Critic Tom
Prideaux advocated the growth and support of resident the
atre :
. . . these companies can provide us with the unique
140
Quoted m Richard Schechner, ed., "The TDR The
atre Conference," Tulane Drama Review. X, No. 4 (Summer,
1966), 111.
^®Quoted in ibid., p. 124.
218
virtues of a repertory— the team play of a permanent
cast, a priceless hatchery for young acting talent,
and a significant variety of plays the tame commer
cial theatre runs from. Rep performs a cultural
service in the way that libraries, museums, opera
houses do, and deserves the same kind of subsidy.
The bill to keep it alive will be high. But if we
opt for the blessings of civilization, let's go for
broke.151
The sentiments of Blau and Prideaux describe the
position of South Coast Repertory during this period. Mar
tin Benson states: "We believed that we were part of a
progressive movement and had complete faith that the resi-
152
dent theatre was the answer to theatre's troubles."
Aesthetic Analysis
There are several conclusions to be reached from
the discussion of the previous pages, conclusions that re
late to South Coast Repertory's objective of creating a
resident theatre in Orange County.
South Coast Repertory succeeded in its objective of
creating a resident company with common purpose. Martha
McFarland believes that the Second Step Theatre period was
South Coast Repertory's "finest hour" in terms of group
identity: "Everyone was working for a common goal."
151"Rep comes High," Life. June 2, 1967, p. 17.
152
________ Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 . ____________
219
Mathias Reitz, who joined the company in the fall of 1966,
recalls his first impression of the theatre:
[it was] a devoted group of people whose ideals had
not been crushed. I felt the variety of shows was
exciting, the energy was exciting, and the commitment
was exciting.
Robert Cohen also believes that the resident company
had dedication and energy. Cohen, who had just finished his
doctoral work in theatre at Yale University, came to Orange
County in 1965 to join the drama staff at the University of
California at Irvine. Recalling South Coast Repertory's
early work, he stated: "If there was one aesthetic prin
ciple about South Coast Repertory, it was boundless energy."
In the opinion of the artistic leaders of the com
pany, the dedication and vitality of the coirpany was one of
the key artistic strengths of the theatre. It was a factor
that compensated for the company's weaknesses in acting
maturity and acting craft. John Arthur Davis states that
"we brought a tremendous, even coarse, spirit to our work
that overshadowed many of our weaknesses."
If the theatre succeeded in creating a resident
company that had a unity of commitment and energy, it fared
less well in developing its depth and versatility. In its
manifesto, South Coast Repertory had stated its desire to
220
expand the capabilities of the company "beyond our produc-
153
tions" through training.
The clear fact is that during the Second Step The
atre period, South Coast Repertory was not capable of
developing the company through training. Most of the com
pany members worked at full-time jobs . Since many actors
had to perform four nights a week and rehearse the other
three nights for the next production, there was no available
time for effective training.
The demand for high production quality required that
the stronger actors in the company had to be used in every
production. Mathias Reitz saw the danger in this method of
working. Recalling the situation later, he stated:
I saw some traps from the dual commitment of working
during the day and working at the theatre at night.
Energy gets split, it wears people out, there's little
time for preparation. Rather than a repertory situa
tion it becomes a stock situation where a few people
are carrying such a monumental load that they don't
grow, they get bad habits.
John Arthur Davis was one of the principal actors.
He also believes that the lack of time to train and the
necessity of using the same actors continually was
153
[Emmes], "South Coast Repertory: Growth and
Development,” p.
221
artistically damaging:
After two seasons of constant work, I got saturated,
I started cranking things out, I got tired. I re
ceived no new information, no new data or ideas, and
so it became, after awhile, a limited artistic experi
ence .
It was clear that the company was experiencing
artistic attrition. By the summer of 1967, South Coast
Repertory had been producing for three years. The working
conditions of the company were extremely difficult, and the
demands of production allowed actors little rest, let alone
time to advance their skills through training.
It is this last point, perhaps, that explains why
South Coast Repertory did not fully pursue one of the four
major areas of theatre it announced in its manifesto. The
whole area of classical theatre, a mainstay of the pro
fessional resident theatre, was represented by only two
productions. As it has been discussed earlier, the Artistic
Directors concluded that the company did not possess the
craft to produce plays that demanded skilled voice ability
and movement. Ironically, the time demands on the actors
did not permit the creation of a training context where
these skills could be learned. And so an artistic vicious
circle was created.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
222
If the period of the Second Step Theatre operation
revealed South Coast Repertory's inability to pursue clas
sical theatre, it also revealed the company's strength in
contemporary theatre and in its commedia-inspired presenta
tional work. In plays like Sergeant Musqrave 's Dance and
The Mandragola. for example, the company's artistic vitality
resulted in productions that were cited for their sweep and
theatrical immediacy. In its productions of The Birthday
Party and The Caretaker. South Coast Repertory created a
strong reputation as an interpreter of the works of Harold
Pinter.
South Coast Repertory, then, revealed two strong
artistic characteristics. One was a theatrical immediacy
that the company's vitality brought to a production. Tom
Titus, critic, stated that the theatre revealed "an aes-
154
thetic of audience involvement and immediacy." The other
characteristic was the company's ability to produce relevant
productions of works from the new, contemporary theatre .
By the summer of 1967, as the theatre planned its
move to the Third Step Theatre, the Artistic Directors felt
that the theatre had revealed real strength and
Intervxew of February 11, 1972.
223
accomplishment in dealing with contemporary theatre, and
that its hopes of becoming a versatile company, proficient
in all periods and genres of theatre, had not yet material-
155
ized. The strength in contemporary work was reinforced
by Larry Swindell in a letter to the Artistic Directors:
. . . SCR should apply itself with consummate and
prohibitive dedication to new theatre. I definitely
do not mean to unproduced plays, but to new theatre,
meaning theatre of our age, vital to our age, fixed
in enlightened contemporary viewpoint. Previously,
I had regarded you as an outstanding and promising
repertory company, but at the same time a conventional
repertory, and have presumed to advise (often rashly
and freely, for it seldom has been solicited) on the
basis of a standard repertory company. But you are
not that. Nor should you continue to opt the char
acteristic postures of the prototype repertory groups.
Unto yourself, you can be dynamic, volatile, provoca
tive, inspiring. On your best modern behavior, you
are A5 6
As South Coast Repertory came to the end of its
Second Step Theatre period, the position of the company
leaders toward the artistic makeup of the theatre was that
it was still in the process of becoming, of finding its own
artistic identity. And although the theatre had tempered
its views toward experimental and classical theatre, the
predominant view was that the basic tenets of the resident
*55Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
156Letter of December 17, 1966.
224
theatre movement to which South Coast Repertory had sub
scribed were still viable and should be pursued in the
157
future of the Third Step Theatre.
The leaders were encouraged with the emergence of
the theatre's strength in company vitality and contemporary
theatre. Yet the hope was that the Third Step Theatre would
provide the artistic flexibility and financial strength
which would allow more opportunity for training and growth,
and a wider, more fully realized repertoire of plays. The
hope was that in the Third Step Theatre the theatre would
become more in practice the resident company it wished to
158
be in theory. It was with this view that South Coast
Repertory entered its third major period of production
history.
157Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
158Ibid.
CHAPTER VI
THE THIRD STEP: 1967-1972
The first five years of the operation of the Third
Step Theatre represent the roost important period of South
Coast Repertory's history. This is not just that the the
atre survived five years of operation (although this is
significant), but that the period marks a time when the
theatre grew out of what can be considered its artistic
youth and entered a phase of search for a sense of artistic
and organizational maturity. The Second Step period was a
time of vitality and unfettered idealism as the young com
pany sought to test its ideas and skills as a permanent
resident theatre. The Third Step period was a time in which
the first flush of excitement of running a theatre had gone;
in its place were the challenges of organizational survival
and the problems of artistic attrition. It was in this
period of time that, for the first time, the basic aesthetic
position of South Coast Repertory was questioned with regard
225
226
to its relationship to the artistic tenets of resident the
atre. Through a process of trial and error, success and
failure, South Coast Repertory arrived at a more complete
understanding of its own artistic identity, its relationship
to its audience, and its position in the resident theatre
movement.
This chapter, then, will trace the principal ideas
and events that shaped the aesthetic position of South Coast
Repertory during this time. Following the organizational
patterns of the preceding units of this study, this chapter
will seek a definition of the theatre's artistic character
as it prepares to enter its fourth major phase of theatri
cal history.
General History
By the summer of 1967, South Coast Repertory was in
what the Artistic Directors termed a crisis. The theatre's
production of Red Magic had failed to be financially suc
cessful in its tour to Beverly Hills; South Coast Repertory
lost $2,000 on the project. This sum could be absorbed only
by the theatre's building fund for the Third Step Theatre.
After paying off its losses, South Coast Repertory was
227
almost totally depleted of building funds.^
Despite the financial setback, the Artistic Direc
tors felt that in order for the theatre to survive, it would
have to grow. It was clear in the two and a half years of
operating the Second Step Theatre that the small plant could
not provide a financial basis with which the theatre could
move closer to a professional operation. In addition, the
leaders determined that the morale of the resident company
was low due to the physical demands of continuous operation
for over two seasons, the failure of the company in Beverly
Hills, and the prospect, given the theatre's financial
position, of at least another year of production in the
2
Second Step Theatre.
Throughout the preceding year, South Coast Repertory
had been seeking a building in the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa
area that would be large enough to accommodate a 200-seat
theatre and that would satisfy the California Building Code
with regard to its fire-resistant construction. In addi
tion, such a building would need adjacent parking space to
accommodate audience members' automobiles. Buildings of
this type were extremely difficult to find, and this fact
1 " >
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. Ibid.
228
added to the frustration of South Coast Repertory in the
3
early summer of 1967.
In July, however,-as a result of a fortunate chain
of events, a suitable building became available for lease on
Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa. Charles M. Johnson, an
architect who also administrated the complex of commercial
stores in Costa Mesa, attended a Costa Mesa businessman's
breakfeast in the fall of 1966. At this meeting he heard
David Emmes, a guest speaker, discuss the nature of South
Coast Repertory and also its need of a larger building.
When a 5,000-square-foot building became available in July,
he remembered the theatre's need and contacted South Coast
4
Repertory.
On examining the building, the South Coast Repertory
leaders found that it was completely suitable for their
building needs. In addition, there were municipal parking
spaces in front of the building which could be used by the
theatre. Charles M. Johnson proposed terms for a seven-year
lease on the building which were within the financial capa-
5
bilities of the theatre.
^avis, interview of May 27, 1972. 4Ibid.
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
229
The theatre leaders were now faced with a dilemma.
They had finally been able to locate a building which could
provide the basis for the continued artistic and financial
growth of the theatre, but the funds to convert the building
into a theatre were almost depleted.
After considerable planning among themselves and
after discussion with the Advisory Board of Directors of the
theatre, the Artistic Directors adopted a bold plan, similar
to the one they chose for the Second Step Theatre. They
decided to lease the building, begin the conversion, and
hope that they would be successful enough to raise the
$12,000 they estimated the basic Third Step Theatre would
. 6
cost.
The fund-raising plan was based upon foundation
support and private patronage. South Coast Repertory
applied to the Irvine Foundation, a related part of the
large Irvine Company which has extensive land holdings in
Orange County. It also applied to the Newport Harbor
Foundation, a community trust in Newport Beach. The theatre
hoped to raise some $7,500 from the foundations, and it
hoped to receive the remainder through private and business
6Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
230
patronage ?
The plan was one o£ calculated risk because the
actual conversion of the building into a theatre began be
fore adequate funds were in hand, in the view of the
Artistic Directors, this financial risk— which could easily
end in failure and thus end South Coast Repertory— had to
be taken. Martin Benson stated:
We knew the chance we were taking, but we be
lieved that if the theatre didn't move forward, it
would die anyway— only slower. We could only go up
or down, a status quo couldn't be maintained.9
As it happened, the theatre almost died. The the
atre's grant application to the Irvine Foundation could not
be considered because its funds were frozen as a result of
9
a legal action. The theatre succeeded in raising only
$2,500 of a $5,000 goal of private and business patronage.^
Through the efforts of David Hill, an Advisory Board member,
the Newport Harbor Foundation gave the theatre a $2,500
grant.^ In brief, the theatre raised a total of $5,000
7 8
Ibid. °Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
9Reday, interview of May 22, 1972.
^■°Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
^Hill, interview of June 10, 1972.
231
toward the building conversion, and although South Coast
Repertory tried to reduce its costs, $12,000 was spent.
The Third Step Theatre opened with a debt of $7,000 owed to
12
electrical, plumbing, and lumber companies.
The outstanding debt of the Third Step Theatre was
a tremendous hardship on South Coast Repertory during the
1967-1968 season. And, as will be discussed later, the debt
affected the artistic work of the theatre.
The financial burden of the theatre was eased in
November, 1968, when the Irvine Foundation, freed of liti
gation, awarded the theatre a $7,500 grant to retire its
13
outstanding debts. It was a year and a half, then, before
South Coast Repertory was freed from the demands of making
payments to its creditors from box-office receipts, funds
which ideally should have been invested in subsequent pro
ductions .
A major decision was made during the planning of
the Third Step Theatre regarding the Second Step Theatre.
The Artistic Directors were attracted to the idea of oper
ating two theatres . They reasoned that the Third Step
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
■^McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
232
Theatre could produce the more standard works of the resi
dent theatre repertoire, and that the Second Step Theatre
could be utilized as an experimental plant where new plays
or avant-garde works could be produced. They believed that
since all the major costs of the Second Step Theatre had
been paid, they could afford to run the theatre at a rela
tively low overhead. The net result of a two-theatre oper
ation, they believed, would be an increase in South Coast
14
Repertory's artistic breadth and potential.
Accordingly, the Second Step Theatre was operated
during the 1967-1968 season along with the Third Step The
atre. Five productions were presented; these included the
West Coast premiere of two contemporary British plays and
15
the world premiere of a new American play.
By the end of the season, however, it was determined
that the burdens of operating two theatres made too many
demands on the artistic resources of South Coast Repertory.
Counting the offerings at the Third Step Theatre, the com
pany presented 12 productions from October, 1967 to July,
1968. In an effort to reduce a quantity versus quality
^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
15Production Records, 1967-1968, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
233
problem, the Second Step Theatre was closed and the com
pany's energies were directed solely toward the Third Step
Theatre. ^
The initial planning of the two-theatre operation
resulted in one of the major events in South Coast Reper
tory's aesthetic history. As the Artistic Directors dis
cussed the prospect of running the Second Step Theatre, it
became clear that the existing resident company in 1967 did
not possess a sufficient number of capable people to suc
cessfully run two theatres. John Arthur Davis proposed that
the Actor's Circle Theatre in Long Beach, California be
asked to join forces with South Coast Repertory. Thus
strengthened, he reasoned, South Coast Repertory would have
a larger company, of greater artistic depth, that would be
capable of a two-theatre operation.
One of the principal leaders of the Actor's Circle
Theatre was Ron Thronson. He had worked with South Coast
Repertory in the summer of 1964, but had returned to college
the following fall to complete a Master's degree. Sometime
after South Coast Repertory had left Long Beach for Orange
County, Thronson and some of his classmates began a small
*6Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
234
theatre organization near California State College at Long
Beach. By the summer of 1967, they had made, steady progress
in developing their own resident company, but they were, in
Thronson's view, behind South Coast Repertory in terms of
achievement and recognition.
South Coast Repertory approached the Actor's Circle
Theatre and proposed joining forces. The two groups of
leaders met and worked out a plan to create a large resi
dent company under the South Coast Repertory banner and
leadership. Benson, Davis, and Emmes remained the Artistic
Directors of the theatre. Thronson and his two colleages,
James dePriest and Paul Ford, became Associate Directors of
the theatre. Along with Mathias Reitz, who was already an
Associate Director of the South Coast Repertory, all the
directors of the theatre served as the Artistic Staff. This
body had the responsibility of making the principal artistic
decisions of the company. The Artistic Directors, however,
retained the power to assign directors to productions and
could, among themselves, veto any decision of the Artistic
Staff.17
The assimilation of the 25 members of Actor's Circle
17T. ..
Ibxd.
235
Theatre gave South Coast Repertory the capability of running
two theatres, added several good actors to the company, and
18
resulted in a new force of energy in the theatre. While
it was not initially apparent, there were far-reaching
effects on the artistic makeup of South Coast Repertory that
resulted from this major change in the theatre's organiza
tional structure. These effects will be discussed further
in subsequent units of this chapter.
From October of 1967 until August of 1972, South
Coast Repertory produced 48 productions in five seasons of
operation. Forty-three productions were produced in the
Third Step Theatre and five were produced in the 1967-1968
season at the Second Step Theatre.
After two seasons at the Third Step Theatre, South
Coast Repertory had recovered from the financial difficul
ties of theatre building costs and began a steady growth in
operating income. For example, using box-office receipts
as a barometer, the gross income for the 1968-1969 season
was $19,710.80; the gross income for the 1970-1971 season,
19
just two years later, was $54,561.83. These figures do
*®McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
*®Box-0ffice Records, 1968-1971, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
| 236
not include other sources of income like season subscription
revenue or patronage.
The theatre also grew in the administrative area.
In 1967, the paid business personnel of South Coast Reper
tory consisted of a part-time secretaryBy 1972, the
theatre employed a Business Director, an Administrative
Director, and two box-office employees. In addition, the
21
theatre retained a full-time resident technical director.
i
In 1967, the theatre would occasionally pay prin
cipal actors a small fee based on a percentage of produc-
22
tion profit. By 1972, the theatre operated on contrac
tual agreements with its principal actors for a weekly
salary. In addition, other actors received set fees on a
per performance basis. By 1972, South Coast Repertory was
23
also paying contracted fees for designers.
In the spring of 1970, South Coast Repertory re
turned to its practice of presenting plays in repertory— a
policy it had abandoned in the spring of 1965. Unlike then,
20Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. 21Ibid.
22Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972. Deacon
worked in the administrative area of South Coast Repertory
beginning in 1966. From September, 1970 to June, 1972, he
served as Managing Director.
23Ibid.
237
the Artistic Directors believed that the company was now
capable of handling the logistic problems of repertory and
that the business areas of the theatre were clearly capable
of informing the public of the repertory schedule. As a
result, the company could return to the positive experience
of repertory and the theatre could improve its financial
position by being able to extend the run of a commercially
successful play while still maintaining its announced
schedule of plays. It also meant that plays of a more
experimental nature could be developed for short runs within
the major season.
Repertory grew in the first five years of the Third Step
Theatre. The theatre received the Los Angeles Drama Critics
Circle Award in 1970 for "consistent achievement in produc-
Advanced Drama Research, funded by the Rockefeller Founda
tion, to participate in a program to produce the work of new
American playwrights; the theatre also participated in 1972.
South Coast Repertory received a 1971-1972 grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts to assist a project designed
The over-all artistic reputation of South Coast
tion."
25
In 1971, the theatre was chosen by the Office for
24
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
238
to expand South Coast Repertory's business staff and to
26
support an experimental project in mime theatre.
By 1972, South Coast Repertory had, in many ways,
outgrown its early years of youth and search for artistic
identity. In seven years of production in Orange County,
as well as two years of preparatory planning and production
in Long Beach and on tour, South Coast Repertory became an
experienced and efficient producing organization. Its
reputation as a viable producing organization brought it
within reach of its Fourth Step Theatre, a permanent plant
in which South Coast Repertory could maintain a completely
professional resident theatre.
South Coast Repertory's future was created from the
theatre's efforts to emerge a workable artistic identity
from its aesthetic beliefs. And it was created as the the
atre confronted the realities of attempting to create a
professional theatre that subscribed to the aesthetic tenets
of the resident theatre movement. The following units of
this chapter will discuss the principal elements of South
Coast Repertory's work.
^Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
239
The Aesthetic Position
As South Coast Repertory prepared to open its Third
Step Theatre, it continued to embrace the aesthetic objec
tives of its 1965 manifesto. According to Martin Benson,
even if the company's work in the Second Step Theatre had
not realized the theatre's artistic goals, at least the
value and viability of these goals had been established.
In the company's plans, the Third Step Theatre would be the
context in which South Coast Repertory's goals would be
attained.2^
With the exception of a modification of the com
pany's position regarding experimental works, feedback from
the audience did not affect the theatre's commitment to its
objectives. Yet, in two complete seasons of operation, the
theatre received little support from season subscriptions,
totals of 109 for 1965-1966 and 171 for 1966-1967. Also,
the 75-seat Second Step Theatre played to only 70 per cent
capacity in the year before South Coast Repertory moved to
28
the Third Step Theatre. However, these facts were not
interpreted as indications that the artistic objectives of
27Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
28Financial Records, 1965-1967, South Coast Reper
tory, inc.
240
the theatre were not viable.
The failure of South Coast Repertory to attract more
audience support was mainly attributed to the smallness of
the Second Step operation. It is the view of the company
leaders that this smallness manifested itself negatively in
two ways. One, the physical smallness of the plant re
stricted the theatre's artistic choices when it came to
considering plays of physical mass of multi-sets, and con
sequently this restricted the theatre's ability to explore
and artistically develop new facets of theatre that would
add further audience appeal to South Coast Repertory.
Second, the smallness of the Second Step Theatre also con
tributed to a small institutional image for South Coast
Repertory. How could the greater community accept and sup
port the idea of a professional resident company for Orange
County when it was housed in a rustic hole-in-the^wall the
atre adjacent to fish canneries? In the view of company
leaders, the Second Step Theatre projected a "little the
atre" image and was therefore detrimental to the objective
of projecting a professional resident theatre image for
29
South Coast Repertory.
2Q
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
241
The Third Step Theatre was seen as the context in
which South Coast Repertory could develop its artistic ob
jectives and also receive greater audience support. For one
thing, the larger 190-seat open-stage theatre was more sup
portive of a resident theatre image. Also, it possessed the
artistic flexibility to produce any work the theatre deemed
fit for production. Finally, with the greater financial
base the Third Step Theatre provided, South Coast Repertory
would be able (through a greater capacity to pay royalties
and options) to secure better plays and attract better
artists to the theatre. This combination of greater artis
tic depth and substance would result, consequently, in
greater audience appeal.
A brief look at the works presented in the 1967-
1968 season (see Appendix A) supports the view that objec
tives of the 1965 manifesto were being pursued. In the
combined season of the Second Step Theatre and the Third
Step Theatre, South Coast Repertory presented 12 major pro
ductions, all of which were consonant with the theatre's
general objective of pursuing theatre as an art. With
regard to its commitment to produce the work of new
30
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
242
contemporary playwrights, South Coast Repertory presented
four West Coast premieres— Big Soft Nellie. Entertaining Mr.
Sloane. Hail. Scrawdvke. and America Hurrah! Its commitment
to new, original plays was met with its productions of
Pictures from the Walls of Pompeii and Adventures in a Paper
Bag. Macbeth was the first classical production South Coast
Repertory had presented since October of 1965. The remain
der of the plays represent an admirable list of modern
playwrights including Shaw, Saroyan, Jellicoe, and Williams.
The season was, then, supportive of the theatre's basic
manifesto.
That the theatre's basic aesthetic position remained
unchanged as it entered its period of operating the Third
Step Theatre can also be documented by its applications for
grants. In its 1968 application for a grant from the Irvine
Foundation, South Coast Repertory defined its objective:
"Like government, whose end is to provide service to the
community, so the art of professional regional theatre
serves its community by acting as a watershed for the ideas
31
and emotions of man."
In 1970, South Coast Repertory applied for a
31
Irvine Foundation Application, September 30, 1968,
p. 1. South Coast Repertory, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------2331
Community Service Award presented annually by Disneyland.
The theatre's description of its basic purpose also affirms
the basic objectives of its basic manifesto. The theatre
states that its purpose is:
to create for the residents of Orange County a pro
fessional resident repertory theatre committed to
presenting the most significant classic, contemporary
and original plays in a continuing context of enter
tainment, cultural awareness and artistic growth.^
South Coast Repertory began its first season in its
Third Step Theatre committed to the specific objectives of
its 1965 manifesto and its over-all belief in the profes
sional resident theatre movement. In the course of five
/ears of operation and greater awareness of its operation
and community, the theatre found that its artistic views
underwent considerable modification and change. The follow
ing units of this chapter will discuss the principal con
tributing elements that influenced this change.
The Physical Theatre
The South Coast Repertory Third Step Theatre was
built in a commercial building situated at 1827 Newport
^Disneyland Community Service Award Application,
December 22, 1970, p. 4. South Coast Repertory, Inc.
244
Boulevard in Costa Mesa. The building, formerly a dime
store, possessed 5,000 square feet of space, 4,600 square
feet of which was contained in a large open space which
measured 48 feet in width, 16 feet in height, and 98 feet
in length; the remaining 400 square feet were contained in
33
a rest room area which adjoined the rear of the building.
Like the Second Step Theatre before it, the Third
Step Theatre was designed by John Arthur Davis. After dis
cussing several stage possibilities, including arena and
two-sided arrangements, the Artistic Directors decided upon
34
an open-stage theatre. Several factors led to this deci
sion. One, the Artistic Directors had met and corresponded
with Frederic McConnell, the famed director of the Cleveland
Playhouse, who was living in retirement in Orange County;
he strongly advocated the open-stage arrangement for its
staging flexibility within a single focus of audience vi-
35
sion. Two, the leaders felt that after two and a half
years of work in the Second Step Theatre, the company had
become skilled in frontal playing and that an abrupt staging
36
change would weaken the theatre's performance strength.
33Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. 35 lb id.
^®Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
245-
Final ly, the leaders concluded that both a traditional
proscenium stage and arena stage would restrict the devel
opment of the company's interest in productions which uti-
37
lized all the theatrical resources of theatre. Conse
quently, an open-stage design was chosen.
Preliminary construction on the theatre conversion
began in late August of 1967. By September, the full re
sources of the theatre were applied to the creation of the
Third Step Theatre. All electrical and plumbing work was
done by contractors. The lobby, office, house seating sec
tions, stage, and dressing room were constructed by members
of the theatre. Construction proceeded on a well-organized
schedule, unlike the Second Step Theatre conversion, and by
the end of September, South Coast Repertory had completed
its basic 190-seat theatre (depending on the utilization of
portable seating sections, the theatre could seat from 175
38
to 200 patrons).
Upon entering the theatre (see Figure 3) from one of
two main doors, one enters a large lobby which measures 18
feet in depth. To the right is a door to the business
office, and to the left, near the side wall, is a
37Ibid. ®®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
b
-
---
£3 S E C O N D A R Y L E V E L S J S 1 M E ■ 0RESSM6 R O O M
B S T O R A G E
1 P OFFICE
R i COSTUME S TO RA G E 4UGHT S O O T H
B W K T E R C L O S E T
«i
2 nefrcm ent bar
^ 9 BOX OFFICE
••T O O L STORAGE
FLOOR PLAN: 3RB STEP
- " V w '- i'- o 'l -----------------
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um cun umrav mini.
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247
refreshment counter.
Standing in the center of the lobby, one faces an
18-foot display wall that backs up the rear of the audience
section. On either side of the wall, to the left and right,
are stairs which lead to the rear of the audience section.
The audience section is composed of seven rows of
seats which fan out from the front of the audience section
(near the stage) to the back; the front rows contain 20
seats and the rear rows contain 24 seats. There is one row
that rests on the floor of the building. The six other rows
rise to the back of the house in seven-inch increments to a
height of 42 inches.
The stage area of the Third Step Theatre is almost
twice the size of the Second Step Theatre. The basic stage
platform measures 40 feet in width and had a usable staging
depth of 32 feet. The stage is constructed of a 2 x 4
wooden substructure which is covered by 3/4-inch plywood.
The stage is covered with rug padding over which heavy
39
muslin is laid.
The Third Step Theatre has an efficient lighting
system which was designed by Davis and Norman Godfrey, an
39
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
248
40
electrical engineer who was a member of the company. The
theatre has 65 lighting circuits vfcich lead to four octago
nal light pipes which encircle the stage from overhead in
increasing diameters .4^
The dimming system utilizes a four-scene preset,
nine dimmer, silicon control rectifier control board. This
board was designed and built by Norman Godfrey and was used
for a few months at the Second Step Theatre before the com
pany moved to the larger theatre.42
The light booth is located backstage at upstage
right and was built on top of the dressing room. It was
originally intended to be located at the rear of the audi
ence but financial limitations required it to be put back-
43
stage near the electrical power source. Unfortunately,
this means that the light operator cannot see the stage, a
fact which has complicated the company's ability to achieve
44
special lighting effects.
Ar\
^uBenson, interview of April 29, 1972.
41
’■^Clements, interview of May 4, 1972. Clements
served as resident light designer from 1965 to 1968.
42Ibid.
42Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
A A
^Clements, interview of May 4, 1972.
249
The Third Step Theatre possesses little offstage or
storage area because of its large open stage. The main
offstage area is located in the extreme up-left area and
measures 8 x 20 feet. This area is constantly used to store
the scenery and props of repertory productions; sometimes,
when South Coast Repertory has had three productions playing
in a given week, the theatre has had to store two complete
45
productions offstage. in short, all offstage areas of the
theatre are used to store productions which are in the
active repertory, and thus there is no room for permanent
storage.
The lack of permanent storage areas has often hurt
the theatre artistically and financially. Scrap lumber,
set props, and hand props are frequently discarded because
there is no place to store them, and the theatre has not
been able to afford the rental of an additional facility.
Frequently, items that must be discarded at the beginning
of the season— to make room for items of an upcoming pro
duction— are often required by a production at the end of
the season. The theatre has no recourse but to obtain the
items again, often at financial expense. This duplication
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
250
of expense, then, restricts the buying potential of the
theatre's production budget.*® If the theatre had more
storage it could accumulate more items, add to them with
the budget of each production, and consequently create a
greater artistic resource for the design area of the the
atre. Robinson Royce, a company designer, believes that a
weakness in the over-all design of the Third Step Theatre
47
is its lack of offstage and permanent storage space.
Perhaps one contributing element to the storage
problem is the location of the dressing room. It occupies
the major portion of the up-right area of the building.
However, as Davis points out, the space limitations of the
building dictated its placement there. The dressing room
is designed to accommodate 10 actors at makeup counters;
48
larger casts must work in shifts.
The theatre is also limited in construction area.
Set pieces are most often constructed in an alley at the
back of the building. Work requiring more precision is
*®Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
'Statement by Robinson Royce, personal interview,
May 26, 1972. All subsequent statements by Royce quoted in
this dissertation will be from this interview.
48Ibid.
251
49
built in the theatre.
It is clear, then, examining the features of the
plant, that the Third Step Theatre is considerably different
from the Second Step Theatre. Its size and space became a
new experience for the South Coast Repertory resident com
pany. It not only affected the acting style of the company,
but also reinforced and amplified South Coast Repertory's
aesthetic interest in the more overtly theatrical or pres
entational type of theatre.
The Third Step Theatre resulted in a change in the
company's acting style. The intimate acting style that was
characteristic of the company in the Second Step Theatre
became, of necessity, larger and more projected in the
Third Step Theatre. This change, however, took many months
to complete, before a more amplified style was a comfortable
and natural part of the company's work. David Clements
recalls that as an actor during the first season in the
larger theatre, he felt "less comfortable" on stage and
that, in his opinion, the company's "ensemble projected
less." Mathias Reitz, a former Associate Artistic Director
of the company, observed that "in the Third Step Theatre
49Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
252
there was an initial tendency to 'jack-up' performances,"
that is, to unbelievably heighten performance in an attempt
to "project" the character. Martin Benson believes the
company did not become effectively adjusted to the theatre
until the late spring of 1968.50 Tom Titus, critic of the
Daily Pilot, said that it was not until its production of
Macbeth, which opened in April, that the company found the
right level of performance and fully utilized the resources
of the Third Step Theatre.^
It was, of course, quite natural that the company's
acting would become larger and more projected in the Third
Step Theatre. Sheila Goldes has observed that the "height
and thrust" of the theatre created an environment which
possessed considerable theatrical dynamics. David Hill
stated that while the Third Step Theatre had less intimacy
than the Second Step Theatre, "this was more than made up
for by the theatrical possibilities of the Third Step."
To sum up, while South Coast Repertory produced a
wide range of plays at the Second Step Theatre, the small
ness of the plant resulted in an intimate realistic acting
50Interview of April 29, 1972.
C 1
JXInterview of February 11, 1972.
253
style that was characteristic of the over-all work of the
company. On the other hand, a similar variety of plays has
been presented at the Third Step Theatre, but this plant,
with its thrusting open stage and its great spatial volume,
has resulted in a characteristic company acting style that
is more amplified in its realism. Martin Benson concludes
that the larger theatre "opened us up theatrically and led
52
us to projects we otherwise might not have done."
John Arthur Davis supports Benson's view, and main
tains that the company's strength in presentational theatre
— so evident in its first period of development, and some
what inhibited in the intimacy of the Second Step Theatre—
had renewed growth in the Third Step Theatre. He has ob
served that productions like Kopit's dream-like Indians.
the expansive rock opera Tommy, or the large-cast theatre-
of-fact Pueblo, would have been given little serious con
sideration for production in the Second Step Theatre, yet
were all successfully produced in the Third Step Theatre.
The Third Step Theatre, as will be discussed more
fully later, also affected the theatre's practice in scene
design. The Second Step Theatre contributed to an aesthetic
^Interview of April 29, 1972.
254
of design that was extremely realistic, occasionally, as in
the example of Juno and the Pavcock. bordering on a natura
listic concern for verisimilitude, in the Third Step The
atre this practice was changed. As Associate Artistic
Director James dePriest has observed, the company's first
attempts to mount realistic plays were done in the manner
of the Second Step Theatre, and they did not fit in well
with the theatrical environment of the larger theatre: "The
box-like sets just didn't look right on that big open
53
stage." By the 1971 production of The Ginger Man or the
1972 production of Uncle Vanya, both realistic works, South
Coast Repertory had evolved a scenic aesthetic that can be
termed extreme simplified realism or even impressionistic.
Designer Robinson Royce has stated that "the more one
accurately deals with the theatre, the more simple the
theatrical elements become."
It was, in many ways, this emerging aesthetic of
simplicity of design, not just for realistic works but for
all plays produced by the theatre, that gave South Coast
Repertory a logistical flexibility to return to its practice
53
Statement by James depriest, personal interview,
June 18, 1972. All subsequent statements by dePriest quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
254
potentialities of the Third Step Theatre. Benson aossrlMd
the position of the artistic leadership of the theatre
he stated: "The artistic preference of the coeyeny lies is
the more theatrical and presentational areas of theatre.
The Third Step very definitely expanded our growth in those
,.57
areas."
Also, and importantly, the Third Step Theatre, with
its greater staging space, nonetheless allowed for a sim
p l i c i t y of physical production. This allowed the theatre
to go back into repertory.
Productions
From October of 1967 to August of 1972, South Coast
Repertory produced 48 productions. Of these, five plays
were produced in the 1967-1968 season at the Second Step
Theatre before it was permanently closed. The rasslniag 4)
plays were produced in the Third Step Theatre and collec
tively provide an important insight into South Coast hsper-
tory's development. This unit of the chapter will coaaeet
briefly, in the interest of production history, on all the
productions, but will also investigate in greater detail
those plays that had special influence on Sooth Coast
57Ibid.
255
of alternating repertory. Martin Benson has said that even
though the Third Step Theatre did not possess adequate
storage areas, the avoidance of complete and burdensome sets
(the practice in the Second Step Theatre) allowed the the-
54
atre to resume repertory. Tom Titus, critic and long-time
observer of the theatre, has also commented that the use of
the Third Step Theatre "made repertory possible.
The Third Step Theatre, then, has had a contributing
effect on the evolving aesthetic of South Coast Repertory.
It has helped renew and extend the company's interest in a
more heightened and presentational style of acting. The
acting vitality of the company's early works, Tartuffe and
The Hostage. for example, were seen again, in Martin Ben
son's view, in such Third Step Theatre productions as We
Bombed in New Haven and Indians
Hal Landon, Jr. believes that the Third Step The
atre "functions best in presentational theatre," and be
lieves that artistic decisions to produce works like the
rock opera Tommy were indirectly influenced by the technical
54Interview of April 29, 1972.
55Interview of February 11, 1972.
56Interview of April 29, 1972.
256
potentialities of the Third Step Theatre. Benson summarized
the position of the artistic leadership of the theatre when
he stated: "The artistic preference of the company lies in
the more theatrical and presentational areas of theatre.
The Third Step very definitely expanded our growth in those
„57
areas."
Also, and importantly, the Third Step Theatre, with
its greater staging space, nonetheless allowed for a sim
plicity of physical production. This allowed the theatre
to go back into repertory.
Productions
From October of 1967 to August of 1972, South Coast
Repertory produced 48 productions. Of these, five plays
were produced in the 1967-1968 season at the Second Step
Theatre before it was permanently closed. The remaining 43
plays were produced in the Third Step Theatre and collec
tively provide an important insight into South Coast Reper
tory's development. This unit of the chapter will comment
briefly, in the interest of production history, on all the
productions, but will also investigate in greater detail
those plays that had special influence on South Coast
57Ibid.
257
Repertory's aesthetic position.
As discussed in the earlier unit of this chapter
(The Aesthetic Position), South Coast Repertory began its
operation of the Third Step Theatre firmly committed to
resident theatre and its own goal of presenting a wide and
varied repertoire of plays, from the classic to experimental
theatre. The course of five years of productions, however,
changed this position, gave it new definition, and for the
first time, perhaps, gave South Coast Repertory an aesthetic
less rooted in theory and speculation and more firmly seatec
in the reality of the company's makeup and the nature of its
audience.
The 1967-1968 season
The first production ever presented in the Third
Step Theatre, and the opening production of South Coast
Repertory's 1967-1968 season, was Big Soft Nellie by the
British playwright Henry Livings . The play is an absurd
comedy which traces the actions of an eccentric television
repairman as he chooses to withdraw from a society he finds
unrewarding. The play was chosen as a last-minute replace
ment for The Time of Your Life: with the demands of the
theatre conversion, it was decided that the company would
258
not have sufficient time to adequately prepare the Saroyan
play. Instead, the smaller cast Livings play was chosen,
even though the artistic leaders knew the work was a less
58
desirable play to open the season.
Big Soft Nellie opened on October 14, 1967, and
proved to be one of the least successful productions the
theatre ever produced. Former South Coast Repertory Board
member Ladislaw Reday found the play "obscure and difficult
to relate to." For one of the first times in its history
South Coast Repertory received uniformly poor reviews. Tom
Titus of the Daily Pilot termed the work "a mediocre little
59
farce." The South Coast News-Post observed that "it
should have been fairly obvious that this play, doomed to
the worst kind of mediocrity, surely would fail."60 Larry
Taylor of the Orange County Evening News found the work
uneven and stated that "it fails to mesh as a whole."61
The view of the artistic leaders of the company was
that Big Soft Nellie was a victim of the logistical process
RQ
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
^ Daily Pilot. October 16, 1967.
®®Herman Boodman, South Coast News-Post. October 23,
1967 .
610range County Evening News. October 17, 1967.
259
of building the Third Step Theatre and in other circum
stances would have proven to be a more effective opening
production for the new theatre. Benson, who directed the
production, believes that there was not sufficient time to
mold the bizarre action and absurd humor of the play into
62
a functional whole. From an aesthetic point of view, the
valid artistic goals of the production were undermined by
faulty technical organization.
In keeping with tlje announced policy of offering
new and experimental works in the Second Step Theatre, South
Coast Repertory opened Entertaining Mr. Sloane. a new Brit
ish play by Joe Orton, in October. Like Livings' work, the
63
production was a West Coast premiere.
In November of 1967, South Coast Repertory produced
Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw. It was the second
subscription production at the Third Step Theatre. It was
the first production in the theatre's Orange County history
that employed three complete sets, and the first to make use
of the larger theatre's technical flexibility.^
^ B e n s o n , interview of April 29, 1972 .
^McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
6*Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
260
In December, Hail Scrawdyke by David Halliwell,
another new British play, was presented in the Second Step
Theatre. The play investigates the student revolt movement
and the Nazi-like fanaticism that neurotic student leaders
can inspire in gullible followers. The opinion of the
artistic leaders was that this production had a considerable
degree of acting ensemble, and was especially important
because the cast was composed of regular South Coast Reper
tory company members and the newly assimilated actors from
6 5
the Actor's Circle Theatre. Ronald Boussom, who played
the leading role in the play, believes that the production
was an important step in synthesizing the new individuals
into the greater acting company.
In January, South Coast Repertory met its commitment
to new American playwrights by producing the third full-
length original work in its production history. The work
was Pictures from the walls of Pompeii by Tim Kelly. The
play consisted of two one-act plays that were unified by a
common investigation of the eroticism and fantasy with which
modern man must purge the banality of contemporary
^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
261
• _
existence.
In the view of the director, James dePriest, the
plays were effectively realized] the rehearsal process,
which included frequent interaction between dePriest and
the Los Angeles-based playwright, had been positive and re
warding. He observed, however, that the new work, like the
preceding plays in the Second Step Theatre season, were
poorly attended] this not only meant that the production
lost money but it also undermined the morale of the actors,
who had to play to a handful of audience members night after
night. Poor attendance and the consequent lack of revenue
became one of the two principal reasons for the closing of
the Second Step Theatre.
In January, the fortunes of South Coast Repertory
took a turn upward with the production of The Time of Your
Life by William Saroyan, the third subscription production
at the Third Step Theatre. The play had been a long-time
favorite of Martin Benson, the director. In Benson's view,
the actors in the production comprised one of the strongest
large casts the theatre had ever assembled] he stated that
"even the smallest roles were filled by ^ capable actorS-
®®dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
262
this was one of the first benefits of the merger with the
67
Long Beach group." Previous large cast productions by
the theatre had to use actors in smaller roles who were not
ideally suited to the role either in talent or physical
68
type.
The Saroyan play was the first major success of the
Third Step Theatre. The Los Angeles Times praised the pro-
69
duction's positive energy and balance. The Daily Pilot
cited the production for giving the play "a strikingly
70
effective relevance." The production was also a great
financial success, and was the first play in the Third Step
Theatre to turn a profit.7^-
The Time of Your Life. the twenty-ninth production
of the theatre, was only the second major American play
produced by South Coast Repertory. The Glass Menagerie.
the sixth production of the theatre, had been produced over
two and a half years earlier in June of 1965. While South
Coast Repertory had produced three new plays by Americans
67Interview of April 29, 1972 . 68Ibid.
®9Ben Pleasants, Los Angeles Times. February 3,
1968.
70Tom Titus, Daily Pilot. January 23, 1968.
7^McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
263
and the seldom produced Moon for the Misbegotten, it had
not explored what could be considered the standard reper
toire of American theatre. The success of the Saroyan play
was interpreted by the theatre's artistic leaders as being
an indication that the South Coast Repertory audience de
sired and would support other important American plays;
consequently, they decided to produce more American plays
in the future.7^
The next three productions of South Coast Repertory,
however, saw a return to the British theatre. In March, the
Second Step Theatre presented The Knack by Ann Jellicoe, and
the Third Step Theatre presented A Taste of Honey by Shelagh
Delaney. According to Benson, the productions were both
competent but lacked any sense of energy or inspiration.
This was due, in part, to the quantity versus quality syn
drome; in the course of only six months, South Coast Reper
tory had produced eight major productions. The artistic
leaders found that they had more playing elates scheduled
than they had artistically exciting play projects to fill
them. Benson notes that the jellicoe and Delaney plays were
chosen more to fill two production slots and less to satisfy
72
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
264
73
any burning artistic need to produce them.
The demands of the production schedule were clearly
undermining the artistic vigor of the theatre, resulting in
productions that rose to a level of only craftsmanlike com
petence . To avoid this problem, the Second Step Theatre
offered a film series during the time Macbeth was being
produced at the Third Step Theatre. The film series failed
to make money and added to the tenuous financial situation
74
at the smaller theatre.
In April, South Coast Repertory presented Macbeth.
its second production of Shakespeare. Instead of the
smallness of environment in which Othello had been per
formed, the company had the challenge of "filling" the spa
ciousness of the Third Step Theatre. For Tom Titus of the
Daily Pilot, this task was accomplished:
. . . it must be noted that the Costa Mesa company
finally has realized its potential in its new Third
Step Theatre . . . SCR now has a production which
fully challenges its artistic and technical prowess.
Both challenges are met impressively in "Macbeth.
The interpretive emphasis of the production was on
^Interview of April 29, 1972 .
74dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
75Pailv Pilot. April 23, 1968.
265
the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. According to
Leslie Jones, who played Lady Macbeth, great stress was put
upon the sensual nature of the relationship, and to add to
this the production was set in a primitive medieval environ-
76
ment. Praising the vitality of the production, Ben
Pleasants discussed the production approach:
The set is black and primitive. A grim Druid
arch dominates. Holes, traps, and caves dispatch
the actors like beasts through the blackness. Bat
tles crash in the abstract, drums pound to the heart
beat, and a physical savagery burns through all the
language ,77
While the production received over-all critical
praise, the artistic leaders of South Coast Repertory found
several weaknesses in the project. For one thing, the pro
duction did not attract audiences, and according to James
dePriest, the production was able to meet its expenses only
through the support of local high schools who brought stu
dents to the play— the Orange County adult audience gave
the production little support. This fact brought South
Coast Repertory's commitment to the classics into serious
question. Producing the classics had appeared to be one of
^Statement by Leslie Jones, personal interview,
May 28, 1972.
77Los Angeles Times. May 4, 1968.
266
the fundamental characteristics of the resident theatre
movement and one for which other resident theatres received
audience support. Yet South Coast Repertory's critically
praised production had failed to receive substantial audi
ence support. In attempting to analyze this phenomenon,
the theatre examined its artistic resources.
The company leaders concluded that the success of
Macbeth rested more on the uniqueness of its sensual pro
duction approach and less on the craft and technique with
which the play was acted. With the exception of only a few
performers, the South Coast Repertory actors did not pos
sess sufficiently developed vocal or movement skills to
78
create a unified acting style. Phillip Michael Vine, who
did his Master's thesis on the early history of South Coast
Repertory, criticized the production of Macbeth for the
problems created by its untraditional approach:
Most unsettling of those problems was an almost
audible direction given to the actors : "Play it for
emotion and let the language fend for itself." Rely
ing on psychological virtuosity and a highly stylized
version, not to mention the clumsiness with which the
fabric of the language was handled, made for an un
satisfactory evening of theatre
7Q
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
^"The South Coast Repertory," p. 76.
267
While Vine's opinion could be challenged for not
fully considering the objective of the production, his views
on the technical proficiency of the actors were shared by
the company leaders. It was concluded that, on the whole,
actors in the resident company were lacking in the tech
niques of skilled voice and movement.
The combination of poor audience response and a
company weakness in advanced acting techniques resulted in
80
the decision to avoid production of the classics. The
only classical title on the theatre's production history
list for the four and a half years since Macbeth is The
Imaginary Invalid, and this play was produced in a more
81
casual Commedia dell'Arte style.
Following the results of Macbeth. South Coast Reper
tory returned to the American theatre hoping to create a
success similar to The Time of Your Life. Its production
of A Streetcar Named Desire received outstanding critical
notices, and Cherie Patch as the central character drew
82
special praise for her sensitive performance. Surpris
80
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
®*Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972.
82
° Landon, Jr., interview of January 24, 1972.
268
ingly, however, the production failed to draw audiences,
and the company leaders ' belief that they had identified an
audience preference for classic American plays was dis
proved. The artistic leaders were forced to conclude that
the success of The Time of Your Life was due not to the fact
that it was a classic American play, but rather to the fact
that Saroyan's play possessed a unique individual charm and
83
nostalgia of the 1930s .
The final two productions of the 1967-1968 season
proved to be important departures from what had been, up to
then, a rather conventional resident theatre season. In its
productions of Adventures in a Paper Bag and America Hur-
rahl. South Coast Repertory explored non-linear dramatic
events, multi-media, and contemporary performer-oriented
theatre.
Presented as the final production of the Second Stef
Theatre in June, Adventures in a Paper Bag was the title
given to an original evening of theatre created by John
Arthur Davis and Ron Thronson. Best defined as a theatre
event, the production combined sensory experience and multi-
media. Audience members were greeted at the door of the
83
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
269
theatre by an actor-host and then taken on a personally
guided tour of the upstairs and backyard of the theatre,
which had been set up as a series of sensory environments;
i
the audience members tasted, felt, heard, and looked their
way through this sensory maze. Entering through the back
door of the theatre, the individual came into the actor-
audience environment. The audience had the choice of sit
ting in the regular fixed seating or standing or sitting
anywhere else they felt comfortable. Once inside, they were
exposed to two projection screens onto which slides and
i
jmoving pictures were projected, and to speakers from which
i
I
abstract sound collages and non sequitur announcements and
pronouncements were transmitted. The interior environment
was composed of various objects, draperies, and set-pieces,
scattered about at random, which were chosen solely for
their visual interest and not for any specific design pur
pose. In the midst of all this, actors performed short
units of action excerpted from various plays of Michel de
84
Ghelderode. The experience of the evening had no linear
development or specific meaning to it. Rather, it served
to break down traditional theatrical conventions and to
QA
OTDavis, interview of May 27, 1972.
270
85
liberate both the audience and the performers.
James dePriest remembers the production as being,
in the best sense of the word, capricious, especially for
the innocent irreverencies with which it flouted traditional
theatrical expectations. Martin Benson believes that the
production served to introduce the creative possibilities
of a non-textual, performer-oriented theatre to South Coast
Repertory which, up to that time, had been almost completely
86
oriented to the playwright's text.
South Coast Repertory continued this exploration
with its next production. The theatre presented the West
Coast premiere of America Hurrah! by jean-Claude van Ital-
lie, a production that continued the use of media by em
ploying three slide projectors. In the words of Cecil Smith
of the Los Angeles Times. the play "is a searing, flesh-
crawling, brain numbing odyssey through the hell of modern
87
society." The playwright projects his societal concerns
through the use of three short plays that comprise the
over-all work. The first, Interview, utilizes a transfor
mational structure to project numerous images of a
85Ibid. 86Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
87Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1968.
271
fragmented social order. The second, T .V.. is written in a
counterpoint form which contrasts the dull lives of three
television rating service employees with the pedestrian
shows they must watch; fellow cast members act out the tele
vision episodes in back of the "real" characters. The final
play, Mote1. depicts the senseless destruction of the Amer
ican society as two huge and grotesque dummies systemati
cally destroy a motel room.
The production requires that each actor play numer
ous characters during the performance, often having to
change from one to another instantaneously. The actors have
to carry out precise patterns of movement, dances, and
rhythmic speech.
Under the direction of Mathias Reitz, the South
Coast Repertory production was enormously successful, and
is generally considered by the company to be one of its best
88
artistic accomplishments. Cecil Smith summarized best the
critical response to the production when he wrote:
It is not a play for the queasy nor the escapist;
it has already run afoul of the superpatriots. But
it is a theatrical experience of extraordinary dimen
sions, and I think is not to be missed.®®
®®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
®9Los Angeles Times. July 30, 1968.
272
For South Coast Repertory, the production proved
that not only could the company produce transformational
and per former-oriented theatre, but that the very form of
the theatre had artistic possibilities for the company.
The positive experience of America Hurrah 1 and the earlier
work in Adventures in a Paper Bag became the start of a new
trend in South Coast Repertory. And although the company
did not directly pursue transformational theatre, for exam
ple, it is the opinion of the artistic leaders that many of
the more overt audience-oriented and actor-dominant plays
which followed— works like The Incredible Reign of Good King
Ubu. Indians. or the rock opera Tommy— sprang from an artis
tic view that had its genesis in the two works that brought
90
the 1967-1968 season to a close.
The 1968-1969 season
In the second season of the Third Step Theatre,
South Coast Repertory continued to pursue its objective of
offering a balance of plays that were consonant with what
one would expect of a professional resident theatre. The
fact that South Coast Repertory did not significantly in
crease its audience during the 1967-1968 season was not
90
Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
273
blamed on the theatre's play selection but, rather, blamed
on the difficulties of a two-theatre operation that had
91
created a quantity versus quality conflict. The permanent
closing of the Second Step Theatre to allow concentrated
work in the Third Step Theatre was seen as the best means
of assuring the theatre's financial growth within its resi
dent theatre objectives.
The 1968-1969 season opened in October with a pro
duction of The Homecoming, the theatre's third offering of
a major play by Harold Pinter. According to the artistic
leaders, the play received a very sound production and
favorable reviews, but nonetheless failed to attract audi-
92
ences . The company was baffled as to why the production
did not succeed financially, especially since the produc
tions of The Birthday Party and The Caretaker were big box-
office successes. It was finally concluded that, unlike
the first two Pinters, The Homecoming had been performed in
Los Angeles in the previous season by a national touring
company and that this production had pretty much tapped the
93
Southern California audience for Pinter. The validity of
9^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
92Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
________ Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
274
this conclusion can be challenged, but what is important is
that South Coast Repertory began to be sensitive to the Los
Angeles theatre and its effect, commercially, on its own
work. As South Coast Repertory produced further seasons
this commercial factor, as will be seen, played an increas
ingly important role in the theatre's play selection.
In November, the theatre returned to its interest
in the Commedia dell'Arte with its production of The Three
Cuckolds. a play adapted from an authentic commedia scenario
by Leon Katz. The production was directly inspired by the
Commedia dell'Arte and employed theatrical masks, direct
actor-audience confrontation, and improvisational units.
The actors sat beside the stage, in view of the audience,
making comments or noises until their turn to appear on
94
stage. The reaction to the production was quite favor
able, from both an audience and critical viewpoint. Leonard
Pronko contributed a review to the American Educational
Theatre Journal in which he praised the "gutsy bawdiness"
of South Coast Repertory's vital presentational style:
. . . a presentational style, with speeches and
asides directed at the audience, songs sung to them,
and lusty or shocked glances frozen into hilarious
poses . . . almost drew the spectator from his seat
275
and across the wide bridge which connected the house
with the stage.^
In January of 1969, South Coast Repertory attempted
to continue its work in multi-media and new contemporary
play forms . Its production of The Incredible Reign of Good
King Ubu by Ron Thronson, an Associate Artistic Director of
the theatre, was a loosely adapted version of Ubu Roi by
Alfred Jarry. Thronson's work more closely resembled the
capricious and non-linear mood of Adventures in a Paper Bag
as compared to the complex structure of America Hurrahl It
was for this reason that, in the opinion of the company
leaders, the production did not fully realize its artistic
96
intentions. Thronson attempted to use the Ubu story as a
modern allegory on the mindless corruption of political
leaders and events to draw parallels to the onstage action.
This intent lost focus and meaning when placed in a rather
formless world of the play which contained bluegrass music,
not always pertinent to the work, incongruous sight gags,
97
and numerous bits of non seguitur peripheral action.
95"The Three Cuckolds," American Educational The
atre Journal. XXI, No. 1 (March, 1969), 115.
9®dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
^7Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
276
James dePriest observed that while the over-all effect
generated a degree of bizarre charm and interest, Thronson's
greater issue was obscured.
In the fourth production of the 1968-1969 season,
which opened in March, South Coast Repertory returned to the
Americans with its presentation of Death of a Salesman.
This production was presented as part of the theatre's
"Living Theatre Project," a program which was developed in
liaison with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
Anthony Zerbe, a respected actor in films and the resident
theatre, was instrumental in developing the program.
Through his efforts, and those of Don Ulander of the school
district, over 1,400 students from the five district high
schools were bused to the theatre to see daytime perform-
98
ances of the Miller play. The production and the project
proved to be successful and became the basis for an annual
high school program which was expanded to include other
99
school districts.
From Miller's classic of the modern American the
atre, South Coast Repertory ventured again into the radical,
"McFarland, interview of January 24, 1972.
"Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
277
new American theatre, and produced a work of the Off-Off-
Broadway movement. La Turista by Sam Shepard makes an alle-
gorial statement on the sickness of the American society by
tracing the exploits of an American tourist couple as they
battle dysentery and sleeping sickness. The play rejects
traditional form in favor of a more assoblational manner of
development; it includes the ritual execution of a live
chicken onstage as part of an exorcism rite to purge the
male hero of his psychic and physical illness.*^0
The play was produced for two weeks only as part of
an experimental investigation of the new American theatre .
The Artistic Directors had felt that it was important to
continue the exploration that had been started with America
Hurrah1. especially since the Off-Off-Broadway movement
seemed to be growing in critical importance.
La Turista received a strong production. Margaret
Harford of the Los Angeles Times noted that the production
102
"grasps the madness of the moment ..." But she added
later that the play "is not for aisle-sitters seeking
*°®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
lO^Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
102
Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1969.
278
entertainment
103
Audience reaction to La Turista ranged
from bafflement to outright rejection. Martin Benson
stated: "Our audience was tremendously negative to the
project— almost to the point of hostility. Had the audience
Broadway movement that South Coast Repertory produced.
Audience response was not the only reason for this. As
Warren Deacon has pointed out, South Coast Repertory has
always been identified as having a strong literary charac
ter, a concern for the literature and language of the the
atre. Benson observed that while much of the Off-Off-
Broadway theatre possessed great theatricality, it generally
lacked the textural substance that would trigger the in
terest of South Coast Repertory's aesthetic preference
Murray and Allan Boretz . The play was chosen as a challenge
in playing American farce comedy, especially in the area of
developing comic business. Ron Boussom, Associate Artistic
Director of the theatre, observes that Room Service was very
liked it more, we might have done similar productions."
104
La Turista was the last production from the Off-Off -
In April, the theatre produced Room Service by John
l®*Interview of April 29, 1972 105 Ibid.
279
much like a comedic extension of the company's commedia
work, and stated: "We attacked the play with a similar kinc
of energy and inventiveness— and it worked." The Los Ange
les Times observed that the actors were well versed "in the
106
art of deft slapstick." The Daily Pilot noted that the
"actors work together with admirable finesse, piling sight
• „ 107
gag upon sight gag."
In the summer of 1969, South Coast Repertory added
a new facet to its artistic makeup: it produced its first
work of musical theatre. The decision to produce musical
theatre was motivated more by financial necessity than
artistic interest. The 1968-1969 season had, up to then,
not enjoyed good box-office revenue. Benson remembers dis
cussions that noted the number of successful summer musicals
that were produced in Orange County, and the decision by the
108
company leaders to produce one for revenue.
After investigating works for dramatic as well as
musical merit, the theatre chose The Threepenny Opera by
Brecht and Weill. For almost five seasons, the artistic
106Frederic MiIstein, Los Angeles Times. April 29,
1969.
107Tom Titus, Daily Pilot. April 28, 1969.
*®®Interview of April 29, 1972.
280
leaders had rejected the idea of musical theatre for its
general lack of artistic meaning and relevance. The Three
penny Opera offered the theatre a chance to maintain artis
tic integrity and, at the same time, enjoy the financial
109
reward of musical theatre. For Martin Benson there was
no escaping the feeling that the decision was "a sell-out,
4. ..HO
in part."
The Threepenny Opera opened in June and received
qualified but generally favorable reviews . The Los Angeles
Times stated: "a certain verve that one expects from a
Brecht-Weill musical outcry was missing. Tom Titus of
the Daily Pilot wrote:
. . . the Brechtian morality play makes unusual de
mands on this heretofore non-lyrical company, and
the stretch is occasionally evident. However, with
some powerful voices in the lead singing roles, the
end result is a strong, well structured production.
The company's hoped-for financial success did not
come to pass. The increased costs of producing a musical,
including musicians that had to be brought in from outside
lO^dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
110Interview of April 29, 1972.
111Ray Loynd, Los Angeles Times. July 3, 1969.
112Pailv Pilot. June 30, 1969.
281
the company, gave the theatre its most expensive production
up to that time. In a prolonged nine-week run, the produc
tion lost money and placed the theatre in an even more pre
carious position financially than it was when it began the
« - 113
project.
Several reasons were offered by the company's lead
ers to explain the failure of the play. One reason was the
theatre's lack of experience in musical theatre. A second
reason was the complexity of the Brecht work itself, which
ideally should be produced by a company with considerable
114
musical experience. A final, more telling, reason was
offered by Benson, who noted that the company possessed
limited artistic resources and interest in musical the-
115
atre.
The disappointing experience in musical theatre was
quickly forgotten in the artistic and financial success of
the company's next production. In late summer, South Coast
Repertory secured the West Coast rights to We Bombed in New
Haven by Joseph Heller . Unknown to South Coast Repertory at
the time, this play would be the start of a new company
^•^dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
-H-4Ibid. 115Interview of April 29, 1972 .
282
trend in producing contemporary American plays, especially
plays of American novelists.
Critical and audience reaction to the production
was extremely favorable. Dan Sullivan, who at the time had
just become the new drama critic for the Los Angeles Times.
wrote:
Heller's fantasia on the war games people play is
a dangerous evening for actors and audience alike, as
bristling with corkscrew turns, metaphysically speak
ing, as the bobsled run at Lake Placid. The SCR team
not only held tight, they had fun.H®
Sullivan's comments extended beyond the production
to the resident company. After discussing individual per
formances , he wrote:
But more impressive than any individual perform
ance was the easiness of the entire company with their
material, with their craft and with each other.
Martin Benson's frisky direction was partly re
sponsible, but beyond that you sensed a spirit and a
company style missing in many better-paid companies. ^ 7
Sullivan's comments on the ease and spirit with
which the company worked are reinforced by Benson's views
on why the play struck South Coast Repertory's artistic
interest. He notes first and foremost the company's intense
interest in the literature of Joseph Heller, specifically
1J~ 6Los Angeles Times. September 8, 1969. 117Ibid.
283
his novel Catch-22 . While the play captured a similar kind
of absurd humor, it was a contemporary and relevant probing
of the American milieu, especially with regard to the in
tensity of the Vietnam war in 1969. Benson notes that the
play struck a common chord within the cast and they dis
cussed their own military experiences as well as the United
States involvement in Asia. He adds that not only was the
play especially relevant to the American experience, it alsc
possessed an overt theatrical quality which appealed to the
118
company. In short, the relevance and literary strength
of this contemporary American play gave the theatre not just
financial success, but a new area of artistic interest and
direction.
The 1969-1970 season
As South Coast Repertory prepared to enter its third
year of operation in its larger theatre and its sixth full
year as a producing organization in Orange County, it was
confronted with two challenging problems. The first problen
was financial; in pursuing its resident theatre objectives
in Orange County, the theatre had not experienced the kind
of financial growth that would bring it closer to a
l*®Interview of April 29, 1972.
284
professional status. In the area of box-office revenue,
for example, the 1968-1969 season in the Third Step Theatre
brought in less money than the season before— $19,710.80 as
119
compared to $23,241.00.
A second major problem, related to the financial
condition, dealt with artistic attrition. The theatre began
to experience difficulty in retaining its actors and other
key creative people. For many, five years of time-consuming
work and personal sacrifice had not resulted in any degree
of financial security, and they found it necessary to seek
120
more rewarding positions elsewhere. The theatre was
faced with the possible erosion of its company, and little
prospect of attracting replacements of comparable ability.
Accordingly, the 1969-1970 season marked the begin
ning of a greater sensitivity to the Orange County audience
and the seeking of a means to match financial reward with
artistic purpose. Martin Benson stated: "I think we
started looking for some kind of formula to make the theatre
121
succeed in Orange County."
119Financial Records, 1968-1969, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
120Davis, interview of May 27, 1972.
12interview of April 29, 1972.
285
The 1969-1970 season can be seen as a series of
experiments seeking this successful formula. The first
production of the season fit into this pattern. In October,
South Coast Repertory produced its first commercial musical
comedy.
The production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum was a concession to commercial theatre and an
attempt on the part of South Coast Repertory to bolster its
sagging financial fortunes. The feeling of the company
leaders was that this work would have far greater audience
122
appeal than the less commercial Threepenny Opera.
Ironically, South Coast Repertory's first real com-
12'
promise of its aesthetic beliefs was a financial failure.
In the opinion of the company leaders, the work received a
124
competent but unxnspired production. Martin Benson
observed later that while at the time the directors ration
alized the artistic merits of the work by talking about the
challenge of production style and the merits of the Roman
source of the piece, the production was "a sell-out, totally
122
dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
^^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
124depriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
286
non-organic to the artistic interests of the company. Not
125
surprisingly, it failed."
With the next production, the theatre experimented
in a totally opposite direction. To fill a three-week pro
duction slot in December, the company offered An Evening of
Arrabal. three short plays by the avant garde playwright
Fernando Arrabal. The company leaders saw the production
as the beginning of a possible series of productions which
would feature the work of important playwrights of the
avant garde theatre; the theatre hoped such unified presen
tations would satisfy the company's interest in new forms
of theatre and, at the same time, create a growing trend of
audience interest and support.^®
Dan Sullivan of the Los Angeles Times praised the
theatre for presenting a coherent and authoritative produc
tion of the theatrically difficult plays of Arrabal, and
observed that the company "all showed the unselfconscious
127
selfhood that we call stage presence." But even with
this positive critical reception, the Arrabal plays failed
to attract sufficient audiences and the project lost money.
125Interview of April 29, 1972. 126Ibid.
127Los Angeles Times. December 17, 1969.
287
In January, South Coast Repertory left the dramatic
extremes of its first two productions of the season and
produced a play that was more consonant with the theatre's
established aesthetic interest. The play was Joe Egg by
Peter Nichols, a moving and humorous work about a marriage
marred by the calamity of a hopelessly retarded child.
Nichols is a British playwright, and the central male figure
in the play, Brian, is a witty and sensitive Englishman who
must be played by a skilled actor. For the first time in
its history, South Coast Repertory employed a guest artist
who had box-office appeal.
Peter Church, an Englishman living in Orange County,
had been a member of the company during its first season,
appearing as the central character, Stanley, in the highly
acclaimed production of The Birthday Party. Following the
production, Church had gone to Hollywood and enjoyed success
as an actor in theatre, television, and films. While he had
not gained a widespread reputation, he had established a
strong following in Orange County, especially in the Harbor
128
area. The theatre arranged with Actor's Equity to em-
129
ploy Church as a guest artist. This at once filled a
^®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
________^®dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.____________
288
difficult role in Joe Egg and provided the theatre with an
opportunity to experiment with a guest artist.
The production proved to be an artistic and finan
cial success. Sylvie Drake in the Los Angeles Times praised
the production for maintaining a creative balance between
the play's comedic elements and its underlying anguish, and
states that the performance was "basic, functional and
130
wholly effective." She also wrote: "Peter Church is
outstanding as Brian.
According to Sandra Banks, the theatre's Business
Director, Joe Egg was financially successful. It even re
couped the losses of the first two productions of the sea-
132
son.
In the wake of the production's success there was
a good deal of discussion among the company leaders regard
ing the future use of guest artists who would have box-
office appeal. Some thought was even given to using
Hollywood or television personalities. This idea was re
jected, however, as being undermining to the resident
130Los Angeles Times. January 13, 1970. *3*Ibid.
132Statement by Sandra Banks, personal interview,
June 22, 1972. All subsequent statements by Banks quoted
in this dissertation will be from this interview.
289
company concept. It was eventually concluded that the the
atre would use guest artists only when the company could
not adequately cast a special role and only when the actor,
133
like Church, possessed significant ability as an artist.
Following Joe Egg. South Coast Repertory produced
Spoon River Anthology, a readers' theatre work adapted from
the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters by Charles Aidman. This
simplified production ran in the evenings on the set of The
Glass Menagerie, which was performed during the day to high
school students as the second annual production of "The
134
Living Theatre Project." Both productions were distin
guished by a simplicity of design, and the logistical prob
lems of shifting the two productions on and off the stage
135
were not difficult to solve. This logistical ease was
one of the factors that prompted South Coast Repertory to
return to the alternating repertory of plays.
The resumption of full-scale alternating presenta
tions of fully-mounted productions began with One Flew Over
136
the Cuckoo's Nest and We Bombed in New Haven. By so
^•^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
134depriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
l-^Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
136
__________ Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.______
290
doing, South Coast Repertory was able to bring back the
financially successful Heller play and also to provide more
performing opportunities for the members of the resident
company. While the resumption was partly motivated by
financial considerations, the company leaders saw repertory
as a far greater artistic means of developing a stronger
sense of company identity and decreasing artist attri-
137
tion.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, adapted from Ken
Kesey's novel by Dale Wasserman, opened in April, 1970 as
the fourth subscription production of the season. It was
the second production within a year that had been inspired
by the work of a major American novelist. Like Heller's
play, it proved to be a resounding success, staying in the
138
theatre's repertory until summer. Tom Titus of the Daily
Pilot exemplified much of the critical opinion of the pro
duction in his description of the over-all effect of the
work: "Here is a show which throbs with life and meaning,
combining outrageously hilarious comedy with intense, moving
drama, a rare excursion into the world of total theatre and
1: *7Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
*®®Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
291
139
superior on all counts."
The production was directed by Martin Benson, who
also directed the Heller play. In his opinion, the Kesey
work bore a similarity to the experience of producing the
Heller play. The Kesey work had a definite American texture
and a pertinent thesis regarding human choice and freedom.
The cast strongly related to the play and consequently
developed a strong playing ensemble.
The production attracted a wide range of audience
141
members, from college students to the older subscribers.
It was apparent, then, that the theatre's interest in the
strong literary works of American writers not only satis
fied South Coast Repertory's aesthetic interests but also
was a means of financial success.
In May, the theatre produced Saved, a controversial
play by the British playwright Edward Bond. The work con
tains a notorious scene in which a baby is stoned to death.
The theatre was, at once, attracted to the theatrically
powerful writing of Bond and, at the same time, wary of
139Pailv Pilot. April 13, 1970.
^®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
^Ifianks, interview of June 22, 1972.
292
producing such an outspoken work for its Orange County audi
ence. But according to Benson, the theatre, in the after
glow of the Kesey success, felt confident of its ability to
stage exciting and interesting productions for its audi-
142
ence. Beginning with overconfidence, the play was sched
uled for a subscription production, and the alternative of
presenting it as an experimental repertory production was
• t j 143
rejected.
The production received reviews that ranged from
144
praise to damnation. The reviews depended on the re
viewer's attitude toward the validity of the violence in
making the play's statement about alienation caused by a
worn-out value system. Dan Sullivan in the Los Angeles
Times found the production to be wanting in viciousness and
stated that his chief objection to the "intelligent, trim
production, the first major one 'Saved' has received on the
West Coast, is that it doesn't quite want to acknowledge
145
this." Sullivan's opinion was also shared by the company
142Interview of April 29, 1972.
143
dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
144
* ’Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
145
Los Angeles Times. June 8, 1970.
293
leaders, who believe that the production ended up being too
cautious in its handling of the controversial subject matter
for fear of antagonizing the audience; the result was that
the play lost impact and emotional power.
Despite the caution with which the production was
presented, Saved created a great deal of audience dissatis-
147
faction and did poorly at the box-office. Buddy Ebsen,
who had been a strong supporter of the theatre, found the
production "tasteless" and permanently severed his relations
148
with the theatre.
Saved had been too controversial a play for the
South Coast Repertory audience. The company leaders vowed
that in the future such plays would be produced in repertory
slots and not be offered as part of a subscription
149
series.
In June, South Coast Repertory presented Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard as the sixth and
*4®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
147Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
148
Statement by Nancy Ebsen, personal interview,
September 1, 1972 . All subsequent statements by Ebsen
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
14 9
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
294
final production of the 1969-1970 season. For Benson, who
directed, the play received a competent production but
otherwise was an uninspired end to a season that had ranged
150
from artistic highs to financial lows. But as the the
atre approached a new season, after a year of experimenta
tion in pursuit of a successful aesthetic in Orange County,
it would find a clearer sense of artistic identity and a
clearer understanding of the producing realities of Orange
County.
The 1970-1971 season
In its seventh year of full-time operation in
Orange County, and its fourth year in the Third Step The
atre, South Coast Repertory would find another successful
direction into which it could direct its artistic energies
and, at the same time, enjoy financial support from the
Orange County audience. This direction would be a further
exploration into the newer works of American theatre; the
season included the West Coast premiere of Indians and two
original works by Americans. In all, six of the plays pre
sented in the 1970-1971 season were written by Americans,
and all were contemporary.
«0Ibid.
295
In September of 1970, South Coast Repertory opened
The Bovs in the Band by Mart Crowley. The production en
joyed a successful run prior to the opening of the first
subscription production in October. While the play deals
with the subject of homosexuality, it never flaunts the
issue, but rather is a moving character study of people who
must exist in two worlds: the straight and their own.
James depriest observes that it was this depth of character
that led to the strength of the company's acting ensemble.
The Los Angeles Times stated: "This is an engrossing pro
duction of a profoundly human play."^^
The season opened with the West Coast premiere of
Indians by Arthur Kopit. The play is a sprawling, episodic
work which hovers between dream and reality as Kopit makes
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show a microcosm of American in
justice to the Indians . The play was not without weak
nesses . Sylvie Drake in the Los Angeles Times stated: "Anc
the final scenes are given over to unenlightened, largely
untheatrical speechifying, which becomes extremely taxing
on actors and audience alike.
ISlsyivie Drake, Los Angeles Times. September 14,
1970.
152
Los Angeles Times. November 4, 1972.
296
The production proved to be one of the most chal
lenging works the company had ever mounted. A cast of 24
actors was swept around a large open set which resembled an
abstract corral or arena. Indians was also the most tech
nically complex production the theatre had mounted, espe
cially in the areas of lights and costumes,
i The overwhelming conclusion of the company leaders
was that with Indians South Coast Repertory had profession-
jally realized all the creative challenges of this complex
I
play. If, as Benson points out, previous productions of
|
'the theatre had loose ends or were not quite complete,
i
Indians was complete in every detail from the precision of
its sound cues to the accurate detail of the properties
i
The accomplishment of the production gave the theatre a
sense of organizational maturity and a feeling that it had
154
learned how to use its artistic resources.
The production received positive reviews. Tom Titus
155
praised the production for its "involving magnitude."
Sylvie Drake ended her review as follows:
"Indians" will have its lover and haters. But
the production at SCR will suscitate pure admiration
153Interview of April 29, 1972. 154Ibid.
133Pailv Pilot. November 3, 1972.
297
for a clean, uncompromising job, expertly rendered—
which come to think of it, appears to be, time and
again, what SCR is all about. ^6
The second subscription production of the season was
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter. The company hoped to
enjoy a success similar to the first 1965 production of the
play. The decision to produce the Pinter was another ex
periment in play selecting. Since the theatre was, in fact,
a repertory company, the company leaders were curious to see
how a new production of a previously produced play would
157
work. The theatre had not made this a practice. In the
summers of 1964 and 1965, it had produced The Hostage in an
essentially unchanged production. In 1970, it had mounted
a new production of The Glass Menagerie. but this was pri-
158
marily for the "Living Theatre Project."
The experience, on the whole, of the second produc
tion of The Birthday Party was disappointing. According to
Benson, despite a strong cast and a willing director, the
process of remounting the play had a quality of anticlimax—
the theatre did not have the same excitement as it did for
156los Angeles Times. November 4, 1972.
157depriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
158Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
298
159
the first production. Elaine Bankston, a company actress
who was involved as a new cast member with the remounting of
both the Williams and the Pinter works, believes that South
Coast Repertory never really equalled in its revivals the
quality of its original works. She stated that, in her
opinion, the revivals "lose the brilliance of spontanei-
4. i , 160
ty."
What seems clear from the Pinter revival is that as
a theatre, South Coast Repertory is much more artistically
interested in a new, untried production challenge than it
is in preserving its past successes. This interest was
revealed in its next production, a new work by two members
of the company.
When Mother Earth by Ron Thronson and Toni Shearer
opened in January of 1971, few members of the theatre could
have predicted that it would be an instantaneous success.
The work had gone through a process of growth and change
within the theatre, and because many members of the company
had worked closely with the work during its formative
stages, there was a wide range of opinion regarding its
159Ibid.
160Statement by Elaine Bankston, personal interview,
May 27, 1972.
299
4.- *.• . . 161
artistic merits.
Mother Earth had its genesis the previous season
when Toni Shearer, a member of the cast of Spoon River
Anthology, had assisted the director, Ron Thronson, in add
ing music and song to the production. According to Thron
son, out of this positive experience the two of them decided
to team up and write a musical review.
A rough draft of a musical review was presented to
company leaders at the end of the 1970 season. In discus
sing the work, the leaders revealed that several of the
songs composed by Shearer and many of the comic sketches
162
written by Thronson seemed to be quite effective. In
further discussion it was decided that a further investiga
tion of an ecology issue, contained in the rough draft,
might be desirable.
By the fall of 1971, a rough form for a musical
revue on ecology had been realized, and although there was
not a complete script with which to begin rehearsals, the
leaders, trusting the South Coast Repertory working process
^®^dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
162Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
162Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
300
and the ability of Thronson and Shearer, decided to go ahead
with the project.16^ Thronson was assigned to direct, a
cast was chosen, and a creative rehearsal process, which
drew upon the resources of the entire company, was begun.
By the time the production was ready to open, there was
strong disagreement over the quality of the work. Two cast
members went to the company leaders and requested that major
165
revisions be made in the work before it opened. Accord
ing to Benson, the general feeling was that the musical side
of the work was exceptionally strong, but that many of the
comic sketches on ecology were ineffective and not particu-
166
larly humorous. During the production week of the work,
Thronson, after hearing reactions from the company leaders,
decided to edit some of the sketches and to modify others.
Mother Earth proved to be the greatest financial
success in the theatre's history. Its 60 performances con
stituted the longest run of any production presented by the
theatre. Over 8,000 people saw Mother Earth, and for many
of them, it was their first introduction to South Coast
Repertory, a fact that helped broaden the theatre's audience
164Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972 . 165Ibid.
166Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
301
. 167
base.
January also saw the production of Snowman in the
Empty Closet, a new play by Garry White. The production was
supported by the Office for Advanced Drama Research, a proj
ect funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to promote the work
of new American playwrights. White's work, a mixture of
realism and allegory, was a complex investigation of family
168
guilt, and parts of the work were not fully developed.
Dan Sullivan wrote: "You can't swallow the people or the
situation as given, nor do larger realities seem to rise
from them, although all kinds of metaphorical 'readings'
169
could be laboriously developed."
While the play received mixed reviews and drew a
limited audience in its run as a repertory production, the
company leaders were pleased to have been able to present a
new play of considerable merit.17^ Unlike previous produc
tions of new dramatic plays, the theatre's losses were sub
sidized by the Office for Advanced Drama Research, in
^67Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
168
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
ICQ
Los Angeles Times. January 28, 1971.
^ ■ 7®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
302
short, South Coast Repertory's aesthetic commitment to new
American playwrights had been renewed through its partici
pation in the Rockefeller Foundation project.
The rest of South Coast Repertory's 1970-1971 season
followed in the pattern of the first part of the season,
mixing comedies with contemporary dramas. These five pro
ductions were not innovative extensions of the theatre's
artistic interests, but tended to reinforce existing artis
tic interests.
In February, South Coast Repertory returned to its
presentational commedia style and presented a spirited ver-
sion of The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere. Margaret Har-
ford's review in the Los Angeles Times showed that the com
pany had maintained its skill in its unique production
style:
Director Ronald Boussom is absolutely shameless
in his search for laughs. But there is so much verve
and vigor in its knockabout fun that one goes along
with it. Classic Moli&re, it isn't, but you'll have
to be in a terrible temper not to have a good time.^^
Following the Moliere, the theatre presented two
productions which shared performances as a repertory offer
ing. One evening consisted of short plays by modern American
171
Los Angeles Times. February 24, 1972.
303
playwrights— Next by Terence McNally and The Indian wants
the Bronx by Israel Horowitz. Filling out the repertory run
was a production of Luv by Murray Schisgal. The first eve
ning provided the South Coast Repertory audience with a look
at two promising American playwrights, and the second eve-
jning provided three veteran company actors— Don Tuche,
I
j
Martha McFarland, and Arthur Koustik— with a challenge in
! 172
jplaying contemporary comedy.
[ In May, the theatre continued its pattern of pro-
I
jducing plays by American novelists with its production of
i The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy. The play, which deals
j
with the poetic indulgences of Dangerfield, an American
student trying to find himself in Ireland, had less appeal
to an American audience than the Heller or Kesey plays that
173
preceded it and was not a financial success. Nonethe
less, the production was of strong caliber and helped ad
vance the theatre's reputation. The reviewer for the Los
Angeles Times wrote:
| Directed with sensitivity by Martin Benson,
disallowing rage, maintaining the civilized surface
of agonized wit, the play features a well-tempered
172
' Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
173Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
j 304
| quartet from the SCR ensemble, accents, manners and
j emotions disciplined to a degree increasingly uncom
mon in local theatre.^7^
I In the summer of 1971, South Coast Repertory experi-
j
jmented with the practice of hiring a guest director from
j
i
another resident theatre in order to bring new ideas and
i
techniques to the company. Ronald Boussom, an Associate
f
{Director of the company, had spent a year in San Francisco
I
working with the American Conservatory Theatre. Through the
i
contacts he made, South Coast Repertory was able to secure
the services of Robert Bonaventura, a resident director in
175
William Ball's company.
i Bonaventura directed the summer production of
Charlev's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, a play which had been an
enormous success at the American Conservatory Theatre. Many
{of South Coast Repertory's regular actors were not available
during the summer, which left the young company actors to
j
fill out the cast. According to Martin Benson, Bonaventura
directed a strong production which possessed flair and style
and which proved to be popular with audiences.^76
174
John Mahoney, Los Angeles Times. June 1, 1971.
175Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972.
17®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
i The experiment with a guest director from a resident
i
theatre proved to be very successful. Bonaventura had
brought to the company new tools with which to address comic
jstyle which were much more refined than its commedia tech-
i 177
iniques . Equally important, the experience with Bona
ventura also put South Coast Repertory in direct contact i
with one of America's most successful professional resident
I
theatres. This was reflected in the American Conservatory
!
[Theatre's loaning of many costumes and props for the pro-
|
jduction of Charley’s Aunt. William Ball also visited the
theatre and met with South Coast Repertory's leaders. By
i
[the end of Charley's Aunt, the theatre had established a
i
(cooperative relationship with the American Conservatory
j
(Theatre and had gained acceptance for itself as a viable
j
jres ident theatre . ®
i
I
The 1971-1972 season
If the early years of South Coast Repertory can be
{described as a pursuit of a theoretical aesthetic of resi
dent theatre, and its middle years as a search for a suc
cessful aesthetic in the reality of Orange County, then the
177Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972.
^7®Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
304
quurtst from the SCR ensemble, accents, manners and
emotions disciplined to a degree increasingly uncom
mon in local theatre.174
In the sunsmr of 1971, South Coast Repertory experi
mented with the practice of hiring a guest director from
another resident theatre in order to bring new ideas and
techniques to the company. Ronald Boussom, an Associate
Director of the company, had spent a year in San Francisco
working with the American Conservatory Theatre. Through the
contacts he node, South Coast Repertory was able to secure
the services of Robert Bonaventura, a resident director in
William Ball's company.175
Bonaventura directed the summer production of
Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, a play which had been an
enormous success at the American Conservatory Theatre. Many
of South Coast Repertory's regular actors were not available
during the stmnmr, which left the young company actors to
fill out the cast. According to Martin Benson, Bonaventura
directed a strong production which possessed flair and style
and Wiich proved to be popular with audiences.176
174John Mahoney, Los Angeles Times. June l, 1971.
17SBouesom, interview of May 15, 1972.
17*Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
306
1971-1972 season can, in many ways, be seen as a time when
the theatre was able to combine artistic interest with
audience acceptance and support.
Prior to the opening of its subscription season, the
theatre produced Feiffer's People by Jules Feiffer to fill
in weeks from the end of summer to October. The satirical
revue-like work was easily mounted and allowed the theatre
to devote most of its energies to the upcoming rock
179
opera.
Tommy, the rock opera by The Who, proved to be both
an important artistic departure for South Coast Repertory
and an amplification of two artistic directions the theatre
had already established. The rock opera form and the move
ment and dance requirements of Tommy were new artistic
challenges to the theatre. Yet the challenges of mixed
media and music were areas in which the theatre had gained
experience. The musical trials and errors of Threepenny
Opera. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and
the musical success of Mother Earth gave the company leaders
180
confidence that the theatre could handle the music. This
179
'^Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
180dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
307
was also true in the area of visual projections. According
to Benson, the theatre had gained increasing expertise in
I
the effective use of projections in its productions of
Adventures in a Paper Bag. America HurrahI. Spoon River
Anthology, and Mother Earth. The projections for all of
{these productions had been created by Kenneth Shearer, a
181
gifted photographer, who was also available for Tommy.
The rock opera proved to be the most complex pro
duction South Coast Repertory ever mounted; the production
team consisted of seven directors and designers; there were
15 actor/dancers on stage; five musicians and two singers
on stage; and a crew of technicians to run lights, sound,
and projections. Tommy employed the largest set and the
most complex lighting plot ever used on the Third Step The-
182
atre stage.
The opinion of the company leaders is that Tommy
i
was one of the most significant creative accomplishments
South Coast Repertory had ever produced. There was no
script or staging directions with which to rehearse; the
i
sole source of the production was the music contained in the
181
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
182Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
308
two-record album of The Who, a collection of loosely related
songs which trace the rise of a traumatized boy into a pin
ball wizard, then a kind of youth messiah who gets tramped
on, but who finally is raised to personal glory. For Martin
Benson, Tommy was not only realized as a production but was
a progressive new direction for the theatre which revealed
183
the company's "courage in doing the innovative." Hal
Landon, Jr., Associate Director, believes that Tommy opened
i
up a new area of artistic investigation for the theatre, a
i
j
itrend "toward the completely non-realistic theatre— with
I
music, mime and media."
The production received strong reviews and was a
184
box-office success. Dan Sullivan, for example, stated
that the production "takes the measure of its myth, tells
you what it thinks it means and turns it into exciting the-
185
atre." Sullivan also saw the production as a form of
drama that might make theatre more relevant to the youth
audience:
The audience at Sunday night's show— younger than
SCR's usual crowd, ate it up. They perhaps were the
*®®Interview Qf April 29, 1972.
184Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
IOC
Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1971.
309
most exciting aspect of all, responding to a myth
they could believe in, rendered in stage terms nearly
as fantastic as those of Kabuki.1- 86
Tommy continued in repertory with the second produc
tion of the season. Our Town by Thornton Wilder was also
chosen to be a part of "The Living Theatre Project," a pro
gram which had been changed from daytime to evening per
formances for the high schools to better accommodate student
187
schedules. The rehearsing and mounting of this produc
tion was an example of the theatre's increased technical
organization. Not only did Our Town receive a strong pro
duction in the midst of the complex Tommy run, but the the
atre was capable of performing both productions on the same
evening. In early November the theatre learned that its
rights to Tommy would expire on December 1, 1971. In an
effort to meet audience demand and increase its profits,
the theatre performed an 11:00 P.M. performance of Tommy
after the evening weekend performances of Our Town. Benson
attributes this two-play evening to the theatre's ability
to plan technically compatible productions and to organize
personnel to accomplish a change-over in a limited amount
1 ft*7
AO/Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
310
, 188
of time.
In late December, almost a year after the original
production, South Coast Repertory mounted a new production
of Mother Earth. There were two reasons for bringing back
the production. One reason was to capitalize on the finan
cial success of the work. The other, according to James
dePriest, was an artistic interest in improving script weak
nesses discovered in the original production. According to
Benson, who remounted the work, new comic sketches were
written by Jerry Patch and William Black, members of the
company, and these were used to replace sketches which were
felt to be less effective. While the production ended up
with a stronger script than the original, it did not
achieve the level of musical performance of the original
cast. Several of the original cast members had joined a
commercial touring production of Mother Earth and they were
189
replaced with performers of less musical ability.
In January of 1972, South Coast Repertory brought in
another guest director from the resident theatre. Peter
Wyberg, whose background included work at the Repertory
Theatre of Lincoln Center and the San Diego Shakespeare
188Interview of April 29, 1972. 188Ibid.
311
Festival, was employed to direct Jules Feiffer's anti-war
satire, The White House Murder Case. The resident company
provided Nyberg with a strong cast and the production was
i
rehearsed and performed in a skilled and professional man-
190
ner. Benson stated that the company's ability to support
a guest director in such areas as casting and technical
organization had improved since the experience with Robert
3 .91
Bonaventura.
j
Following the successful run of the Feiffer play,
the theatre mounted The Innocents. a work based on a novel
by Henry James. The play was chosen to fill a three-week
production period before the theatre embarked on the major
192
production projects that would end the season. Benson
describes The Innocents project as "an example of artistic
193
lassitude." He explains that the play was chosen more
to fill a production period than it was for artistic inter
est, and as a result the efforts of the director, the cast,
194
and the theatre were compromised. While the production
190
Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972.
191lnterview of April 29, 1972.
192
Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
19^interview of April 29, 1972 . *94Ibid.
312
proved to be competent, the company leaders saw the project
as an artistic regression, and vowed that the abandonment of
artistic objectives to the convenience of expediency would
195
be avoided in the future.
Oli's Icecream Suit was the next play produced by
South Coast Repertory. This was an original play, written
by Richard Ploetz, that was produced in conjunction with
the Office for Advanced Drama Research. The playwright,
who lived in Connecticut, was in residence for the rehearsal
196
period working on the script. As with most of the the
atre's productions of original works, the play drew small
audiences, but Benson, who directed, believes that the pro
duction process was one of the most artistically fulfilling
197
projects with which he had ever worked.
In late March, the theatre produced its first pro
duction of Chekhov. Since the beginning, South Coast Reper
tory had wished to produce Chekhov, but had decided to wait
until the company developed greater experience and matur-
198
ity. In the 1971-1972 season, the company leaders
195
Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972 .
196Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
197Interview of April 29, 1972. 19®Ibid.
313
decided that there was sufficient, though not ideal,
strength with which to undertake Chekhov, and Uncle Vanya.
having the smallest cast requirements of Chekhov's four
199
ma^or plays, was chosen. Hal Landon, Jr. found the re
hearsal process to be extremely productive; he attributes
this to the fact that most members of the cast had worked
with each other in the company for over five years.
The production received favorable reviews vdiich,
nonetheless, cited the production for certain weaknesses.
Sylvie Drake in the Los Angeles Times stated that parts of
jthe production were brilliant but found that the character
of Vanya was not completely realized:
This is a substantial and satisfying "Uncle
Vanya," not fully regulated yet and unfortunately
weakest in its central spot, but in many ways a
master stroke for this notable company in which
integrated diversification of artistic effort ap
pears to be a dominant force.200
Tom Titus in the Daily Pilot found the play to have
less theatrical interest and relevance than South Coast
Repertory's productions of Kesey or Kopit, but stated that
the Chekhov production fulfilled the theatre's artistic
199depriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
200Los Angeles Times. April 5, 1972.
314
201
obligations as a resident theatre. He also praised the
company's ability to realize the internalized conflicts of
character:
j
. . . the SCR company exhibits this virtue glowingly
in “Uncle Vanya." Inner torment is projected with
practical skill and control, establishing a mood that
represents boredom and frustration without eliciting
those same traits in the audience.2®2
The theatre never expected that its Uncle Vanya
would be heralded as an exceptional production, especially
I
since it would be compared to other memorable productions of
the play. While the production did receive recognition that
added to South Coast Repertory's artistic reputation, the
company leaders were more encouraged by the fact that the
theatre had been capable of answering the creative and
technical challenges of such a complex work. The positive
experience of Uncle Vanva gave the theatre confidence that
203
it could produce other plays of comparable complexity.
The final subscription production of 1971-1972 sea
son was the West Coast premiere of Pueblo by Stanley R .
Greenberg. South Coast Repertory's production was only the
second time the work had ever been performed. Since its
2olPailv Pilot. April 3, 1972. 202Ibid.
203
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
first production at the Arena Theatre in Washington, D. C.,
the playwright had protectively controlled the play. Ac
cording to Warren Deacon, then the Managing Director of
South Coast Repertory, it was only after a personal meeting
between Greenberg and Martin Benson to discuss the play and
its possible production that Greenberg chose South Coast
Repertory— over other interested theatres— to produce Pueblo
204
on the West Coast.
Pueblo represented a continuance of two major aes
thetic trends in South Coast Repertory. One, it was a con
temporary American play that dealt with an issue which was
i
[timely and relevant to the American experience. Two, the
form of the play was presentational, a non-realistic com
bination of "theatre of fact" and a dramatized, episodic
flow of events which led to the capture and internment of
the U.S.S. Pueblo. It overt theatrical form and its con
temporary American relevance strongly appealed to the artis-
205
tic interests of South Coast Repertory.
For Martin Benson, the mounting of Pueblo revealed
how much the organizational capabilities of the theatre had
^®^Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
205Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972.
316
grown in eight years. It mounted a production which called
for a cast of over 25 people and costumed them in appropri
ate and authentic dress. It built a vast and multi-level
set and illuminated it with an elaborate and complex ar
rangement of lights. Finally, the over-all production drew
2 06
praise from the playwright, audience, and critics. In
short, the theatre had taken a difficult and demanding play
and given it a sound professional production.
Summary
The production history of the Third Step Theatre
j
jfrom October of 1967 to June of 1972 covers five years and
1
I
48 productions . It marks a time when South Coast Repertory
sought a means of financial growth within its aesthetic
commitment to theatre. Its aesthetic objectives were put
to the test of audience acceptance and support. From this
test emerged a producing theatre still fundamentally com
mitted to the pursuit of theatre as an art, but character
istically different in practice from what it initially
thought it would be in theory.
The first specific aesthetic commitment of the
theatre's manifesto was to the classic theatre. Yet because
206Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
317
of poor audience response and a feeling that the resident
company did not possess adequate technical acting skills,
South Coast Repertory produced only three classic plays
during the period. Of these, two were produced in a broad
and coarse commedia style. In short, less than 10 per cent
|of the theatre's plays were classic.
|
South Coast Repertory also, committed itself to the
production of new plays by Americans. Despite continual
producing losses, the theatre produced six new works, the
last two of which were subsidized by the Office for Advanced
Drama Research. In all, 12 per cent of the company's plays
during the period were new works.
In five years of production, South Coast Repertory
became overwhelmingly identified with the modern theatre.
It produced 22 plays which can be defined as contemporary
works, recently written plays that frequently received their
first West Coast production at South Coast Repertory; these
include plays like America Hurrah!. We Bombed in New Haven.
Saved. Indians. Tommy, and Pueblo. South Coast Repertory
produced another 17 productions that can be regarded as
modern, established works in the repertoire of theatre;
these include The Time of Your Life. Death of a Salesman.
The Glass Menagerie. Our Town, and Uncle Vanya. Taken
318
together, these contemporary and modern plays represent 80
per cent of the theatre's productions.
Interestingly, South Coast Repertory has enjoyed its
greatest artistic and financial success with contemporary
plays. Of these, the five-year period has seen a shift from
an emphasis on British to an emphasis on American theatre.
This shift can be partly explained by playwrighting trends
in international theatre, but it can also be seen as an
example of a genuine artistic response by South Coast Reper
tory to a theatre that meaningfully expressed the American
experience.
|
{ With the five-year period in mind, it seems appro-
|
priate to make two general points. One, in its five-year
history in the Third Step Theatre, South Coast Repertory
functioned more like an art theatre committed to contempo
rary drama and less like a theatre that embraced a broad
and varied repertoire of plays from all eras and genres .
Two, the five-year period also saw a strengthening of South
Coast Repertory in the more overtly theatrical forms of
theatre, the non-realistic and more presentational forms of
theatre, as seen in its productions of America Hurrah!.
Indians. and Tommy, for example. The fuller implications of
the five-year period are discussed at the end of this
319
chapter and concluding chapter of this study.
i
Design
During the five-year period of operating the Third
Step Theatre, the company grew away from the more realistic
aesthetic design of the Second Step Theatre, in its place
South Coast Repertory developed a design practice which
stressed a much more simplified and theatricalized approach
to scenery. The resumption of repertory and the physical
I
dynamics of the Third Step Theatre were the greatest influ
ences that contributed to the development of this approach.
When South Coast Repertory began the operation of
j
jthe Third Step Theatre, the realistic design practice was
carried over from the Second Step Theatre, and it was not
until the end of the 1967-1968 season that the company was
able to adjust scenically to its larger open-stage theatre.
As it was discussed in the earlier section of this chapter
(see pp. 254-255 above), the physical characteristics of
the Third Step Theatre do not successfully accommodate
realistic illusion. Yet the first four productions pre
sented in the theatre reflected the realism influence.
According to Martin Benson, realistic techniques used in the
Second Step Theatre failed to work in the large theatre.
32 0
In Arms and the Man real wallpaper was used in the third
act drawing room set, a frequent practice at the Second Step
Theatre, but in the larger theatre the wallpaper design did
not project. In A Streetcar Named Desire great pains were
taken to apply an asbestos paste to the walls of the set to
simulate plaster stucco, but this, too, failed to look like
anything more than regular scene paint.
Both A Taste of Honey and A Streetcar Named Desire
employed box sets . These were heavily constructed sets that
used 2 x 4 bracing and plywood walls, another realistic
practice of the Second Step Theatre. However, as James
dePriest pointed out, by the end of the season it had become
clear that the Third Step Theatre did not successfully
accommodate realistic box sets.
Two productions were responsible for starting a
scenic trend to more simplified and more overtly theatrical
sets. The first production was Macbeth. which was presented
as the fifth production of the 1967-1968 season. The epi
sodic, multi-scene nature of the play, of course, dictated
a more simplified scenic approach. Using a black background
and a series of four major platform areas, the design proved
321
208
the effectiveness of a simplified scenic approach. For
critic Tom Titus, Macbeth was the first production to ex-
209
plore the scenic capabilities of the Third Step Theatre.
America Hurrah1 not only continued the simplified
design practice but also proved the effectiveness of an
overtly theatrical design. Interestingly, the production
was designed by Michael Devine, who was responsible for
establishing the realistic scenic aesthetic of the Second
jstep Theatre. However, with America Hurrah! (see Plate IV),
i
jDevine established the beginnings of a design practice that
|
ifavored a more theatricalized use of scenery, a trend toward
I
more impressionistic scenery for plays of the realistic
genre, and a trend toward more theatrically abstract scenery
for non-realistic works
Devine's set was a striking example of theatrical
simplicity. He used the entire expanse of the Third Step
Theatre stage, 40 x 30 feet, which was painted black. The
onstage scenic units consisted of five tall and narrow metal
frames on wheels. Abstract forms of white styrofoam were
209Interview of February 11, 1972.
21°Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.
X
PLATE IV. AMERICA HURRAH 1
322
323
applied to the frames at various levels and angles. During
the production the frames were moved to different positions
on stage to suggest a range of psychological environ
ments
The scenic innovation of America Hurrah1 firmly
fixed a more theatricalized design trend for South Coast
Repertory. Evidence of this can be seen in each of the
following seasons. In the 1968-1969 season, the military
{environment of We Bombed in New Haven (see Plate V) was
i
visually supported by four small units made of corrugated
tin; with the exception of a few set pieces, the tin units
were the only scenic elements employed. In One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest, presented in the 1969-1970 season, the
entire environment of the mental hospital was suggested by
a complex matrix of utility pipes (made of cardboard tubing)
— no flats or doors were used. The 1970-1971 productions of
Bovs in the Band, a realistic play, and Indians. a presen
tational episodic work, both employed a minimal and im-
212
pressiomstxc approach to scenery.
By the 1971-1972 season, the theatre had developed
211
dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
212
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972.

325
its aesthetic of simplified scenery to the point where it
could mount the four-set Uncle Vanya and perform it in
repertory. The first act exterior setting consisted mainly
of a small wooden arbor and selected potted shrubs. The
three interior settings— dining room, drawing room, and
bedroom— employed three wall pieces vhich were used as basic
units in all three environments. With the exception of a
French door unit used briefly in the third act, doors were
not used; actors made entrances and exist through arches
which were backed by black masking units. Martin Benson
{observed that while the four sets of Uncle Vanva used less
scenic mass than the 1968 production of A Taste of Honey.
they were theatrically more effective in the environment of
213
the Third Step Theatre.
The spatial volume and the physical dynamics of the
Third Step Theatre, then, clearly influenced the development
of a simplified and essentially non-realistic approach to
scenic design. Another factor which strongly reinforced
this trend was the resumption of repertory in the spring of
1970. Repertory not only encouraged simple scenery, it also
encouraged the design of scenery which was carefully planned
213Ibid.
326
in terms of portability and durability. Repertory required
scenic units which were not heavy or bulky and which were
built to withstand frequent shifts from offstage to onstage.
Benson stated:
After a few back-breaking shifts of awkward and
heavy sets, we quickly started looking for easier
ways of playing in repertory. We simply started
eliminating units that were not absolutely essential
to the mounting of the p l a y 14
While the five-year period from 1967 to 1972 saw
the evolution of a scenic aesthetic which stressed theatri
cal simplicity, it should be observed that the theatre be
came increasingly capable of undertaking technically com
plex productions . John Arthur Davis has observed that the
complex lighting, scenic, and costume demands of the 1972
productions of the rock opera Tommy, the four-set Uncle
Vanya. and the episodic Pueblo, would not have been within
the company's technical grasp in 1967.
The fact that South Coast Repertory has produced
works of such complexity is evidence of the company's growth
in technical theatre. In an effort to increase technical
efficiency, the theatre hired Martin Benson in January of
1972 to supervise and organize the technical resources of
327
the theatre (in addition to his duties as an Artistic
215
Director) . Robinson Royce, a company designer, believes
that the theatre must grow further in its technical capa
bilities if it is to continue to progress and expand,
jstill, such growth has taken place. Hal Landon, Jr. ob
served that the growth in technical efficiency of the com
pany since 1967 has strengthened the artistic process, that
technical details are ready earlier in the mounting process,
which gives the actor greater time to relate to the produc
tion environment.
i
To summarize, the five years of producing theatre
saw the development of a design practice that was unique
for its simplicity and its stressing of a more theatrical,
less realistic approach to design. This was accompanied by
an increased technical skill in the company that allowed the
production of works that had greater technical scope. This
aesthetic of design and the skill to achieve it came less
from a predisposed attitude toward design and more from the
physical dynamics of the Third Step Theatre and the practi
cal influence of repertory. Of course, it should be noted
that the aesthetic nature of South Coast Repertory was
215
Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
disposed toward presentational and theatrically overt the
atre— from the 1964 commedia Tartuffe to the 1972 Pueblo.
Hence, the company's artistic inflination also found ex
pression in the physical context of the Third Step Theatre.
! The Company and Key Personnel
I
I
In the years from 1967 to 1972, the resident company
underwent many changes. The small company of the Second
Step Theatre, with its nucleus of San Francisco State Col
lege trained artists, became a larger, more diffused company
in the Third Step Theatre. This larger company faced prob
lems of attrition and of weakening artistic energy and en
semble. In an effort to strengthen weak areas, the company
leaders took new steps to revitalize the company. Their
efforts were reinforced by the emergence of key individuals
who brought new creative energies to the theatre. By 1972,
the makeup and organization of the company was very differ
ent from the group of individuals who entered the Third Step
Theatre for the first time in 1967.
One of the most important events in the history of
the resident company occurred in the summer of 1967 when
South Coast Repertory merged with and assimilated the Actors
Circle Theatre of Long Beach— the group headed by Ron
329
Thronson, a former member of the 1964 Theatre Workshop
(South Coast Repertory) . Along with his colleague, James
dePriest, Thronson brought 20 actors, directors, and tech-
216
nicians into the South Coast Repertory company.
As discussed earlier (see pp. 233-234 above), the
i
merger was a result of the South Coast Repertory Artistic
Director's decision to operate both the Second Step Theatre
and the Third Step Theatre. Warren Deacon has stated that
the merger was a necessary move if South Coast Repertory
expected to staff both theatres .
The merger proved to have both positive and negative
effects on the resident company. Martin Benson stated that
i"the company gained at least four actors who proved to be
217
the equal of our better actors." He noted that not only
were these people a valuable addition to the company1s
resources but that many of the remaining Actor's Circle
Theatre personnel were able to fill secondary support roles
218
in the company. Tom Titus of the Daily Pilot observed
that the merger had the positive effect of giving South
Coast Repertory a greater variety of acting personnel, a
216
dePriest, interview of June 18, 1972.
217Interview of April 29, 1972. 218Ibid.
330
fact that enhanced the enjoyment of audience members who
! 219
attended the theatre on a regular basis.
Ron Thronson noted, however, that approximately half
1
Jof the people who were involved with the merger did not
{possess the talent or commitment to succeed in South Coast
Repertory and they eventually dropped out of the company of
their own accord. More important than the loss of these
individuals was the impact of a larger number of theatre
personnel suddenly becoming part of the resident company.
Previous to the merger, South Coast Repertory had added to
its relatively small company on an individual basis, work
ing a new member into the ensemble over a period of many
220
months. There was no such opportunity afforded by the
mergerj the Actor's Circle Theatre personnel were immedi
ately cast in roles and put to work in both theatres.
The over-all effect of the merger of the smaller
acting company into South Coast Repertory was one of diffu
sion. Martha McFarland, who was a principal actress in the
theatre at the time, stated that the creative unity of the
acting company was diffused by the sudden influx of large
2 ^Interview of February 11, 1972.
220Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
331
numbers of people with different training and experience .
I
joavid Clements, one of the key actors in the theatre, stated
that he found that on the whole the new people had less
training and talent and it was difficult to establish a
working relationship with them on stage. Martin Benson also
stated that the merger caused a diffusion of energy within
the company. He correctly stated that, in many ways, such
a diffusion was inevitable because South Coast Repertory had
I
jto grow in size to operate the Third Step Theatre even if it
i
{had not decided to continue operating the Second Step The-
221
atre.
One of the chief artistic characteristics of the
South Coast Repertory acting company during its operation
of the Second Step Theatre was an energetic ensemble . This
ensemble was created by a nucleus of company members who
shared not only a feeling for resident theatre but a common
background of training, experience, and friendship in San
Francisco. The influx of a large number of new people of
different backgrounds affected this ensemble. David Clem
ents believes that the rapidly increased size of the com
pany resulted in a loss of ensemble. Martha MCFarland also
22^Interview of April 29, 1972.
335"
stated that she felt the ensemble was weakened. According
to Martin Benson, this belief was shared by the Artistic
Directors, who observed that the Long Beach actors had dif
ferent working habits and acting vocabularies that were not
immediately assimilated into South Coast Repertory. By the
production of America Hurrah 1 in the summer of 1968, how
ever, Benson stated that the Artistic Directors sensed that
the assimilation of the Long Beach actors had taken place.
America Hurrah1 revealed strong ensemble playing by a cast
222
that included five Long Beach actors . Benson noted that
these actors became principal artists in the larger acting
223
company.
Another factor that affected the company in the
first years of operating the Third Step Theatre was attri
tion, the loss of key personnel as a result of the rigorous
work schedule of the theatre. If the 1967-1968 season can
be described as a time of excitement in the company at run
ning its new theatre, then the 1968-1969 season can be seen
as a time of dampened spirits as the company faced the
reality of a poor financial position and the permanent
closing of the Second Step Theatre. South Coast Repertory,
222Ibid. 223Ibid.
333
burdened with construction debts, had not enjoyed a success
ful first season in its new theatre, and 1968-1969 proved to
be the financially worst season since the 1965-1966 sea-
224
son. In two years of operation, the Third Step Theatre
had not become the successful context for company growth to
a professional future. Rather, carrying debts and facing
poor audiences, the theatre still demanded sacrificing labor
from its acting members . Martin Benson described the morale
225
of the company during this time as extremely low. For
individuals like John Arthur Davis and David Clements the
theatre had been a five-year commitment of self-sacrifice
(and rigorous work. Both of them left the company by the
end of the 1968-1969 season. The primary reason for Clem
ents was economic; he felt he could no longer withhold from
himself and his family the rewards of a regular income. For
Davis, five years of almost constant work, with no new
artistic experience outside the confines of South Coast
Repertory, had "burnt" him out; he had to seek new experi
ences .
By the fall of 1969, the nature of the resident
224Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
225Interview of April 29, 1972.
334
company had changed considerably. It was no longer composed
of a creative nucleus of individuals from San Francisco—
many of them had left the theatre for personal reasons.
i
For Benson, the company was larger and less exclusive—
auditions were frequently held in the hopes of attracting
i
i 226
|new talent to replace people like Davis and Clements.
Martha McFarland stated that the company had less energy
and excitement than it did in its early years. In short,
South Coast Repertory maintained an artistic continuity
through its artistic leaders who directed almost all the
'productions, but the resident company had become more dif-
I
fused, less held together by a common spirit.
It was clear that the lack of a strong unified act-
227
ing company weakened the ensemble of the theatre. In the
spring of 1970, the Artistic Directors moved to strengthen
the acting company. They decided to return to the practice
of alternating repertory, performing two plays in a week.
There were two principal artistic reasons that motivated
the decision. One, repertory would allow more members of
the acting company to perform in a given week, some actors
227Reitz, interview of April 28, 1972.
335
appearing in both productions. Two, the leaders hoped that
repertory would bring strong actors to the company who would
be attracted by the active performance schedule. The re
sult, the leaders reasoned, would be a more active company
228
that had a greater sense of artistic identity. The
i
I
|assessment of the company leaders after two and a half sea
sons of repertory is that the plan has generally worked,
229
that repertory has increased company identity and spirit.
Another factor which strengthened the acting company
was economic. A steady financial growth in the company
which began in 1970 allowed the theatre to make payment to
230
its key artists for their services. The first step in
this direction came with the payment of stipends to artistic
personnel based on a percentage of net profits. For exam
ple, during the 1970-1971 season, the sum of $11,000 was
231
disbursed to artists. By the 1971-1972 season, principal
actors in the theatre were contracted for performance fees
232
which ranged from five to ten dollars a performance. in
228Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. 229Ibid.
230Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
23*Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
232Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
336
this same season, Ronald Boussom was hired as a resident
director and actor at a monthly wage, and Martin Benson
became a full-time employee of the theatre with artistic
233
and technical responsibilities . The payment of artists
in the theatre, including fees for designers and directors,
reinforced the viability of South Coast Repertory as a suc
cessful theatre. Its growing financial position gave assur
ance that it could continue to grow out of its semi-
professional situation into a fully professional opera-
234
tion. Ronald Boussom observed that the promising future
of the theatre generates enthusiasm and commitment from the
resident company.
Individuals within the company also made unique
contributions to the theatre. Of particular interest were
original creative projects that were developed by company
members.
Ron Thronson and Toni Shearer developed the ecology
musical, Mother Earth, from within the resident company.
The work served to broaden South Coast Repertory's artistic
2 35
reputation as an innovative theatre.
233ibid.
234Benson, interview of April 29, 1972. 2 35I frjd ^
337
During the 1970-1971 season, Saundra Deacon devel
oped through improvisation and research into child psychol
ogy a children's theatre company within South Coast Reper
tory. The uniqueness of "Magic Theatre," its dealing with
[subjects and issues that directly relate to the child, re
sulted in its being nominated for an international chil-
i
jdren's theatre award and its inclusion as a regular offer
ing in Junior Programs, a Southern California organization
which makes quality children's theatre available to schools
. . . . ^. 236
and civic organizations.
Ronald Boussom, in addition to his duties as an
actor, was the creator and director of the Actor's Mime
[Theatre, a mime theatre composed of South Coast Repertory
members. In a unique program of mime, inspired by the work
of silent film comics, the mime players toured throughout
237
Southern California.
Benson noted that these original creative projects
are considered important artistic adjuncts to the main work
of the theatre and have been the sources of new ideas and
2 38
energy to the greater company. The theatre requested
236Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
237Boussom, interview of May 15, 1972 .
238Interview of April 29, 1972.
338
and was granted funds from the National Endowment for the
Arts to continue the development of both the children's
239
theatre and the mime theatre. Benson stated that as a
result of these projects, the product of individuals in the
theatre, South Coast Repertory is much more willing to ex
plore new ideas and original projects than it was in pre-
240
vious seasons .
Administration and Business
From 1967 to 1972, the artistic leadership of South
Coast Repertory went through a period of considerable fluc
tuation and change before it regained a singleness of direc
tion. The developments in the business or financial area
of the theatre at once allowed the company to explore new
artistic directions and, at the same time, influenced the
company's decision to curtail production of classic plays.
The most dramatic event regarding the artistic
leadership in the company resulted from the merger and
assimilation of the Actor's Circle Theatre into South Coast
Repertory. Under the details of the merger, Martin Benson,
John Arthur Davis, and David Emmes were to remain as the
239Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
240Interview of April 29, 1972.
339
Artistic Directors of the theatre. Ron Thronson, James
dePriest, and Paul Ford, of the Actor's Circle Theatre,
became Associate Artistic Directors of the theatre. All of
I
these men collectively served on the Artistic Staff, the
principal decision-making body of South Coast Repertory.
The Artistic Directors retained the power to choose direc
tors for plays and could by themselves veto any decision of
jthe Artistic Staff. The plan was designed to create a par-
i
ticipatory context for company leaders while still resting
241
ultimate control with the original founders.
! The over-all opinion of many people associated with
the company is that the plan worked poorly. John Arthur
1
I
Davis observed that the decision-making process became
lengthy and difficult and that many times ideas became dif
fused by excessive discussion. Mathias Reitz stated that
the merger hurt the theatre, that the new people on the
Artistic Staff did not effectively contribute added ideas
and energy to the theatre. Warren Deacon stated that new
leaders did not exert a strength of personality on the
theatre:
They did not have strong views which could have
created some positive sparks. If they were stronger,
241Ibid.
340
they might have changed the [artistic] direction
rather than be kind of dragged along by it.
Martin Benson stated that he felt that the artistic
direction of the theatre had been weakened by the collective
leadership; there was no unified force from which new ideas
or directions could emerge, and decisions seemed to flow
less from a continuum of artistic ideas and more from an
242
irregular pattern of group decisions.
i The group leadership of the theatre was given fur
ther strength at the end of the 1968-1969 season when John
Arthur Davis resigned from the theatre. Davis felt that he
needed new theatre ideas and experience and accepted a
position in San Francisco. The departure of Davis left an
artistic vacuum between Benson and Emmes that took almost
two seasons to fill. In a letter written in 1972 to Emmes,
W&rren Deacon discussed the effect of Davis' departure:
I think the change which developed when Jack
Davis left is probably generally detrimental. It's
a matter of balance primarily. It was my impression
(and always has been) that you provided the "balance"
between Jack's impulsive flare and Martin's basic
conservatism and practicality.243
Benson stated that, in general, he agreed with
242Ibid.
243Letter of July 10, 1972.
341
Deacon's statement that Davis provided a balance and a
cohesive effect on the original artistic leaders, and in
Davis' absence he and Emmes, at first, did not function
efficiently as Artistic Directors. However, he noted that
while the collective leadership of the Artistic Staff did
not provide a singleness of artistic direction, it was com
posed of dedicated and intelligent men who nonetheless pro
vided a sense of organizational stability and continuity.
He stated that, in many ways, he and Emmes found it easier
to abdicate the responsibilities of the Artistic Directors
to the collective group rather than fill the void left by
244
Davis.
By the 1970-1971 season two factors influenced the
re-emergence of forceful Artistic Directors. One factor
was the belief of Benson and Emmes that South Coast Reper
tory was at a point in time when it needed strong individ
ual leadership; the theatre had only recently returned to
repertory and its artistic and financial success with con
temporary plays, especially American works, had given the
company new enthusiasm. The Artistic Directors determined
that this new impetus and energy in the theatre should be
244
Benson, interview of April 29, 1972 .
342
245
carried forward by their assertive and overt leadership.
The second factor which facilitated the reassertion was a
change in the makeup of the Associate Artistic Directors of
the theatre. Ron Thronson left the theatre to work on a
commercial theatre production of Mother Earth and several
other members of the Artistic Staff had to reduce their
involvement in the theatre because of personal or business
246
reasons.
By the 1971-1972 season, Benson and Emmes had
strongly established themselves as the two principal leaders
of the company. The Artistic Staff functioned as a body to
247
give reactions and advice on artistic proposals. Ronald
Boussom stated that the emergence of a strong, unified
leadership in the theatre was one of the most important
artistic events in the company's history:
The company gained a more visible source of
leadership. This helped bring people together.
There was greater sense of energy in the theatre
and this really improved morale.
If changes in the artistic leadership of the company
246Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
247
"'Bjenson, interview of April 29, 1972.
343
helped strengthen the theatre's growth, so too did the com
pany's financial progress. The theatre's financial growth
from 1967 to 1972 helped to both extend and limit South
Coast Repertory's artistic choices. An examination of the
theatre's annual box-office revenue for these years— exclud
ing, for the sake of example, subscription and patronage
revenue— will demonstrate this point.
The box-office receipts for the 1967-1968 season in
!
the Third Step Theatre amounted to $23,241.00, an increase
of almost $5,000 over the previous year's receipts in the
[
Second Step Theatre. However, in the 1968-1969 season, the
revenue regressed to $19,710.00; this record helped motivate
the theatre's decision, discussed earlier in production
history, to experiment with its repertoire in the hopes of
attracting a greater audience. By the 1969-1970 season, a
time when the theatre established its trend in contemporary
works, the revenue had grown to $33,940.46. In 1970-1971,
box-office revenue was $54,561.83. By the 1971-1972 season,
248
this revenue amounted to $60,542.09.
The annual increase in revenue gave the theatre a
financial base to undertake creative projects it previously
248Pinancial Records, 1967-1972, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
344
could not consider. John Arthur Davis pointed out that in
1967, the theatre would never have attempted to mount a
costly production like the rock opera Tommy. Yet in 1971
South Coast Repertory was able to accept the heavy financial
249
responsibilities of the production. Interestingly, Tommy
was budgeted to meet its expenses at $19,000.00 in box-
office revenue, almost the same amount of receipts taken in
250
by the theatre in its entire 1968-1969 season. In short,
the new artistic direction that Tommy represented for the
theatre was made possible only by the theatre's financial
growth.
Box-office revenue was also a factor in curtailing
the production of the classics. Warren Deacon stated that
the consistently poor support that classics received from
audiences was one of the principal reasons that influenced
the theatre's decision to limit its aesthetic commitment to
classic theatre.
Audience and Area
From 1967 to 1972, South Coast Repertory became more
aware of its audience and more sensitive to its interests.
2^9Deacon, interview of April 29, 1972.
250
Banks, interview of June 22, 1972.
345
As it did so, the theatre grew. When South Coast Repertory
came to Orange County in 1964, it possessed a theoretical
commitment to resident theatre and an objective of finding
a way to make its audience accept its aesthetic of theatre.
After five years of work in the Third Step Theatre, the
theatre's objective can be best described as finding a way
to develop its aesthetic within the reality of Orange
County. South Coast Repertory's commitment to the art of
theatre has not changed, but the development of its aes
thetic is guided less by a philosophic concept of resident
theatre and more by the reality of its audience and area.
Warren Deacon stated that South Coast Repertory
"came to Orange County rather blindly. It did not appre
ciate the problems of finding and developing an audience for
its kind of theatre." David Clements observed that for "the
first three seasons we did what we wanted to do with no real
concern for the audience." Former Board member Ladislaw
Ready stated that South Coast Repertory's lack of sensitiv
ity to Orange County frequently resulted in the projection
of "an image that was cold and aloof, sometimes even arro
gant." Martin Benson summarized the theatre's early atti
tude as follows:
I 346
| I think that when we came to Orange County we
expected much more acceptance than we actually did.
We assumed that the area would quickly support any
thing we wanted to do. After all, we were going to
be Orange County's Actor's Workshop.
The first two disappointing seasons in the Third
Step Theatre resulted in a re-examination of this attitude.
As discussed in the unit on production history (see p. 284
above), 1969 and 1970 were years when the theatre experi
mented with different plays and play forms in an effort to
develop a larger audience. By 1971, South Coast Repertory
had developed its repertoire oriented to contemporary the-
I
jatre, especially newer, unseen American plays.
As the theatre enjoyed the financial growth of its
new production trend, it also developed an image that was
more responsive to Orange County. Nancy Ebsen, who had
criticized the theatre for its apparent disregard of its
audience during its early production years, stated that
South Coast Repertory is now more sensitive to the interests
of its audience. Ladislaw Reday also praised the theatre
for its increased awareness of audience and noted that the
company now offers a greater variety of plays.
David Clements, a former member of the company,
251Interview of April 29, 1972.
347
observed that the theatre's greater awareness of Orange
j
(county has resulted in the presentation "of a greater blend
!
!of plays." Arthur Koustik, a veteran member of the company,
noted that the theatre had modified its initial view toward
{play selection and "has become more flexible, and has
{broadened its scope." John Arthur Davis stated that he also
|
felt South Coast Repertory had become more sensitive to its
{audience, but was quick to observe that the theatre had not
!
Host its artistic integrity in doing so: "Our list of plays
{would look good anywhere . "
( Martin Benson's comments on the theatre's increased
i
awareness of the Orange County audience summarizes South
i
[Coast Repertory's position in 1972:
I think we realize now that in a list of five
or six plays that we might want to do, one or two
of the plays would clearly be more suitable for our
audience. Nowadays, we choose one of those.252
In the five years from 1967 to 1972, South Coast
Repertory developed a greater awareness of the nature and
interests of its audience. To the degree that it did, it
enjoyed financial as well as artistic growth.
252Ibid.
348
National and International Trends
As has been seen in previous units of this chapter,
South Coast Repertory's artistic character underwent changes
and modifications from 1967 to 1972 . It became less iden
tified with a theoretical aesthetic of resident theatre and
more identified with an artistic outlook that favored con
temporary theatre almost exclusively. Interestingly, resi
dent theatre itself was examined during this period and many
people concluded that it was not, in fact, the new, saving
wave of the future of American theatre. Others, however,
taking a different view, concluded that the resident thea
tres had made valuable cultural contributions to their
various communities and that in itself was enough to justify
their existence.
Richard Schechner, who in the early sixties pro
claimed a bright future for professional resident theatre,
concluded later that the movement had failed in its artistic
promise:
. . . rarely in our regional theatre have our cul
tural, social or political crises been reflected,
let alone probed. . . . In our day we have seen
demonstrated the thesis that the "classics" can be
as bourgeois, soporific, and mind-blunting as any
thing Neil Simon can dish out.^53
253pubijc Domain, p. 14.
349
Robert Brustein declared: "Our new enthusiasm for
repertory theatre has also been a spur to false seriousness,
254
not to mention false joy." He stated that few of the
regional companies were able to provide enjoyment without
255
compromising their artistic aims. However, it should be
noted that both Brustein and Schechner were speaking from
an artistic bias that favored a radical and more ritualistic
approach to theatre.
In a 1972 article in the New York Times. Arthur
Miller stated that the reason repertory theatre has not
fulfilled its promise is that it has not received sufficient
monetary support from boards of directors. While his argu-
i
I
ment is pointed specifically at the Board of the Repertory
Theatre of Lincoln Center, his ideas relate to resident
theatre in general and whether sufficient financial support
is available to it:
Repertory is certainly no panacea. It often
breeds bureaucracy, time-serving, lethargy. It al
ways stands or falls on far-seeing, talented and
selflessly ambitious artists at its helm, and these
are scarce anywhere. But these problems can wait.
Right now we don't even have a problem, because we
have nothing. So the first order of business now
is to get clear in our minds \rtiat such a theatre is,
254
The Third Theatre, p. 6.
350
what it can do, and what is financially needed to
do it.256
Edward Albee discussed the achievements of theatre
from 1960 to 1970 in Saturday Review. He stated that "dur
ing the 1960's the serious theatre found it no longer had
to attempt uncomfortable coexistence with . . . escapist
entertainments that are the staple of the commercial theatre
257
on Broadway." Rather, serious theatre found new arenas
and new audiences. He stated:
The 1960's also saw an eruption of repertory
theatres throughout the country, aided by private
foundations, as well as by the government, aware
that perhaps American theatre was beginning to come
of age .258
For Miller and Albee, resident theatre is an avenue,
assuming adequate financial support, to enjoyable and stim
ulating theatre. It is a means of transcending the shackles
of commercial theatre and of achieving serious dramatic ex
pression in America.
Critic Martin Gottfried stated that the artistic
objectives of resident theatre represented a significant
256"Arthur Miller vs. Lincoln Center," New York
Times. April 16, 1972.
257"The Decade of Engagement," Saturday Review.
January 24, 1972, p. 19.
258
___________Ibid.. p. 20.____________________________________
351
advancement over the commercial heritage of American the-
259
atre. He also rejected the idea that in order for the
atre to be artistically relevant it must be identified with
a particular political posture or artistic style. Instead,
he offered an opinion that reinforces the basic aims of
resident theatre: "A healthy theatre depends on endless
variety. There is no simple style that is to be desired,
260
no set of attitudes or purposes to be encouraged."
In the fall of 1968 issue of The Drama Review. Tunc
Yolman, Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Repertory The
atre, contributed his responses to questions regarding
iresident theatre. He took exception to what he felt was a
negative editorial bias of The Drama Review:
TDR seems to forget that regional theatres, just
like symphony orchestras, by their very nature, are
not formed and do not exist for the sake of artistic
innovations, but rather as a source (usually the only
source) for an entire community to get acquainted with
the great works of the past and the contemporary era;
the alternative is a touring company of commercial
drivel. Luckily for us, theatres differ from orches
tras in the sense that variations and innovations
are applicable to great drama in a much wider manner
than they are to great music. But don't make the mis
take of expecting regional theatres to display great
259A Theatre Divided (Boston: Little, Brown and
Co., 1967), p. 116.
260Ibid.. p. 312.
352
exhibitions of innovations a la Schechner. They
could hardly do that without denying their very
reasons for existence.26^ -
In A Possible Theatre Stuart Vaughn recounted his
experiences as an artistic director in the professional
resident theatre, including what was then his recent dis
missal as the artistic head of the Seattle Repertory The
atre. From the perspective of his varied background in
professional theatre, Vaughn stated his belief in the "non
profit professional theatre company, which will probably,
in a few years, be the only significant form of theatre
262
organization in the United States."
Craig Noel, Producing Director of the San Diego
National Shakespeare Festival, supports Vaughn's view by
noting what he considers to be the declining state of New
York theatre. In his opinion, the fact that musicals con
stitute the major portion of New York theatre has weakened
the influence that Broadway formerly had on American the
atre. Nowadays, he notes, theatre leaders look beyond
Broadway for production ideas and the over-all result has
been a broadening of artistic choices . The ultimate result
26Quoted in "TOR Comment, " The Drama Review. Fall,
1968, p. 23.
________ 262(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969), p. vii.
is that the audiences now expect a broader range of plays
and this fact strongly reinforces the basic nature of resi
dent theatre.26^
Reviewing the American theatre in 1970, U.S. News
and World Report noted the decline of the Broadway theatre,
escalating ticket prices, and actor unemployment. Yet the
American theatre was seen to maintain its vitality in resi
dent theatre:
Many directors have concluded that the American
theatre can no longer be considered the exclusive
property of Broadway, and that it will be shared
increasingly by such communities as Baltimore, Chi
cago and Los Angeles.264
What does seem clear is that in 1972 the profes
sional resident theatre movement no longer represents the
vanguard of American theatre. The Off-Off-Broadway move
ment, political and street theatre, and the pervasive in
fluence of Jerzy Grotowski have dominated much of the the
atre discussion in recent years . But at the same time a
more realistic view of the professional resident movement
has emerged, a view that recognizes the regional cultural
263Statement by Craig Noel, personal interview,
September 10, 1972 . All subsequent statements by Noel
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
264March 4, 1970, p. 80.
contributions these theatres make. Martin Gottfried has
also noted that resident theatres in recent years have con
tributed important new plays to Broadway, and cites such
examples as the Arena Theatre's productions of The Great
White Hope and Indians and the Mark Taper Forum's production
265
of In the Matter of J ♦ Robert Qppenheimer . This trend
has continued and represents, perhaps, the first viable
example of Edith Isaacs' hope that the "tributaries must
feed the mainstream.
Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director of the Mark Taper
Forum, believes that much of the innovative work of resident
theatres grew out of a reaction against the trend toward
performer-oriented theatre: "The Sixties was an era of non-
267
verbal theatre." He stated that when one is not pleased
with the quality of plays that are available, necessity
moves one toward new creation and encourages new projects .
In short, the trend toward more radical forms of theatre
resulted in a resident theatre counter-trend that sought
265"what Shall It Profit a Theater If . . .?" New
Fork Times. August 23, 1970.
"The Tributary Theatre Meeting the Mainstream,"
p. 62 0.
267
Statement by Gordon Davidson, personal interview,
August 29, 1972. All subsequent statements by Davidson
quoted in this dissertation will be from this interview.
theatrical expression through the more traditional forms of
play structure and language.
For South Coast Repertory, the five years of work in
the Third Step Theatre were not concerned with the changing
image of resident theatre, but rather were spent in trying
to establish its own artistic identity within the reality of
Orange County. The company cannot be identified with the
atre movements such as Off-Off-Broadway theatre or radical
political theatre. It did develop a trend of production
toward recent contemporary plays, a trend that resulted in
significant financial growth. But, in short, the main trend
that South Coast Repertory experienced from 1967 to 1972 was
a growing away from a theoretical commitment to resident
theatre toward a very real sense of its own artistic unique
ness as a resident theatre in Orange County, California.
Aesthetic Analysis
The five years in which the Third Step Theatre has
been operated by South Coast Repertory can be seen, in many
ways, to represent a bridge between the company's organiza
tional youth and its present maturity, between its theoreti
cal hopes and its practical achievements, between an essen
tially amateur organization and an essentially professional
356
organization. Lastly, the years represent a bridge between
the dream of creating a professional resident theatre and
the reality of having done so.
South Coast Repertory began its work in the Third
Step Theatre embracing the basic goals of its 1965 manifesto
— commitment to the classics, new American playwrights,
presentational theatre, and contemporary works. In short,
it proposed to present a wide and varied repertoire of plays
drawn from the major periods of theatre history. By 1972,
South Coast Repertory had succeeded in its goals of pre
senting relevant and important plays, of maintaining a resi
dent company ensemble, and producing in repertory. However,
it did not become identified as a repositurn for the world's
greatest plays, but, rather, as a theatre identified pri
marily with the most recent works of contemporary theatre.
Indeed, of the 10 plays produced in the 1971-1972 season,
seven fell into this category.
To gain a clearer insight into this shift in aes
thetic character it is necessary to review the findings of
the preceding units of this chapter. These findings will
gain additional value by comparing them to the experience
of Craig Noel and Gordon Davidson, two artistic leaders in
Southern California professional resident theatre. At the
357
same time, a discussion of the fuller implications of these
findings will be reserved for the final chapter of this
study which will draw conclusions from the perspective of
the nine years of work that represent South Coast Reper
tory ' s history.
The physical qualities and dynamics of the Third
Step Theatre had a definite influence on the company's
artistic character and operation. The spatial volume of the
theatre plant and the thrust of its open stage transformed
the company's intimate, realistic acting style of the Second
Step Theatre into a more overt and projected style of per
formance. The physical dynamics of the theatre also rein
forced the company's interest in presentational theatre.
The theatrical effectiveness of simplified scenery in the
Third Step Theatre made the resumption of repertory, even
with the theatre's limited storage facilities, logistically
feasible .
Interestingly, both Craig Noel and Gordon Davidson
have noted that their respective physical theatres have
affected their artistic decisions. Noel observed that his
Globe Theatre in San Diego, loosely modeled after Eliza
bethan designs, has very little stage depth or backstage
space. This makes the production of Shakespeare's history
358
plays very difficult, as they require sweep and scope. He
stated, for example, that because of this Henry V has never
been produced there. Gordon Davidson stated that the deep
thrust of the Mark Taper Forum's open-stage makes it "diffi
cult to do out-and-out farce because entrances and exits are
prolonged and a certain snappiness is missing." He also
stated that his theatre does not accommodate "certain types
of realistic, proscenium theatre." He observed that the
house-stage relationship of the Mark Taper Forum makes it
difficult for audience members in the first few rows to see
over the furniture that is often required by realistic
i
plays: "Furniture plays tend to be a real problem, so I shy
away from them." For Craig Noel, the makeup of his theatre
has resulted in the curtailment of plays that require large
physical productions. For Gordon Davidson, the makeup of
his theatre has resulted in his tendency to seek plays where
the sense of place is not as important as the theatrical
dynamics of a given work.
The 48 productions that South Coast Repertory pre
sented from October of 1967 through August of 1972 reveal
the evolution of the theatre's artistic character. The
first two seasons in the Third Step represent, in many ways,
the continuance of the production practice of the Second
359
Step Theatre period; the company pursued a balanced and
(varied repertoire of plays that included works by. Shaw,
i
Shakespeare, and Williams. These works, and plays by more
avant-garde playwrights (Joe Orton, David Halliwell, or Sam
Shepard, for example), failed to attract the kind of audi
ence support that was necessary for the theatre's financial
growth. Beginning with the 1969-1970 season, and just be
fore its production of The Threepenny Opera. South Coast
Repertory entered a two-year period of experimentation with
jits production practice that was aimed toward the objective
|of finding a way of increasing audience support without
undermining the theatre's artistic integrity. Out of this
period of work emerged a strong artistic trend oriented
toward the contemporary theatre, especially productions that
received their West Coast premieres at the theatre. With
the production of contemporary works came increased audi
ence support and the financial means for South Coast Reper
tory's growth, a growth that included salaried artists and
administrative personnel as well as larger production bud
gets .
Craig Noel observed that the newer contemporary
plays have succeeded in his theatre. He stated that only
half of his theatre's work was devoted to Shakespeare, and
360
during the winter months he presented a varied schedule of
plays . He noted that in recent years the work of new play
wrights was more immediately available for production and he
had observed a growing interest in his San Diego audience
for such works.
The five years in the Third Step Theatre also saw a
change in South Coast Repertory's approach to scenic design.
The realistic, sometimes even naturalistic, design practice
of the Second Step Theatre gave way to a more simple and
i
overtly theatrical design practice in the Third Step The-
jatre . There were two primary factors which influenced this
trend. One was the theatrically dynamic nature of the open-
stage which proved in practice not to accommodate realistic
illusion effectively. The second more practical factor was
the resumption of repertory that demanded simple and easily
transported scenery. The over-all effect of this design
practice on the theatre's aesthetic was to reinforce the
selection of plays that were non-realistic and more openly
theatrical— plays like Indians. Tommy, or Pueblo.
Both the Globe Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum can
be described as open-stage theatres. Craig Noel stated that
attempts to create realistic illusion in the Globe Theatre
have not been wholly satisfying. Gordon Davidson stated
361
that any attempt to create a proscenium-type illusion in
the Mark Taper Forum would be doomed to failure. Not sur
prisingly, both theatres function best in a more theatrical
and non-realistic design aesthetic.
The operation of the Third Step Theatre also re
sulted in a change in the nature of the resident company of
South Coast Repertory. The merger with the Actor's Circle
Theatre of Long Beach increased the size of the company in
one quick move. The immediate effect of the merger was an
erosion of the San Francisco State College acting ensemble
and a diffusion of energy as the two groups strove to become
one creative whole. Consequently, the strength of the act
ing ensemble was weakened and did not regain its vitality
until the company assimilation was completed. The early
years in the Third Step Theatre were also marked by artistic
attrition; the company lost key people like John Arthur
Davis and David Clements, who, after five years of constant
worlc with practically no compensation, were unable to main
tain their commitment to theatre. However, a combination
of financial growth and the resumption of repertory allowed
South Coast Repertory to maintain a strong company and in
crease its ensemble abilities. The spirit of the company
was also reinforced by the development of two creative
362
projects— the "Magic Theatre" and the "Actor's Mime The
atre ." These projects, led by Saundra Mathews-Deacon and
Ronald Boussom, brought new creative energy to the company.
While neither Craig Noel nor Gordon Davidson main-
I
tain permanent resident companies, both men recognize con
tributions made to their theatre by individual artists.
Craig Noel recognizes the contributions of William Ball,
who advocated and then assisted in the transformation of
the San Diego Shakespeare Festival from an amateur to a
professional operation. Noel also praises Allen Fletcher,
who introduced fresh and new production approaches to
Shakespeare and helped instill new vitality in the San Diegc
operation. Gordon Davidson believes that Paul Sills made a
significant contribution to the Mark Taper Forum with his
innovative productions of Story Theatre and Metamorphoses.
Davidson stated that a direct outgrowth of Sills' work was
the establishment of an improvisational theatre project
within the Mark Taper Forum.
The artistic leadership of South Coast Repertory
also underwent changes in five years . The most dramatic
changes occurred with the creation of the Artistic Staff
and the departure of John Arthur Davis. At its best, the
Artistic Staff allowed responsible leaders within the
363
company to have a voice in the process of decision-making.
At its worst, the Artistic Staff functioned as an amorphous
decision-making committee. Functioning effectively, the
Artistic Staff was an important tool for the Artistic Direc
tors . However, when John Arthur Davis left the theatre, the
Artistic Staff filled the vacuum between Martin Benson and
David Emmes, and the resulting committee-like direction of
the theatre did not generate a sense of strong leadership.
By the 1970-1971 season, however, Benson and Emmes assumed
a more overt role in the leadership of the company, and by
1972 had assumed total responsibility for the artistic
decisions of the company.
I Five years in the Third Step Theatre also resulted
in South Coast Repertory's increased awareness of Orange
County and the acceptance of its audience as an important
factor in play selection. While the theatre maintained its
aesthetic commitment to relevant and theatrically challeng
ing theatre, it evolved, with the influence of the Orange
County audience, a different artistic character in practice
than it had originally intended in theory.
Both Craig Noel and Gordon Davidson state that they
are sensitive to their audience in play selection, but, like
South Coast Repertory, never let audience interest overshadow
---------------------------------------------------------------- 36?"
their artistic interest and judgment. Discussing play
selection, Craig Noel stated: "I have complete artistic
freedom from my board [of directors], but I don't like empty
houses either." He stated that plays by Harold Pinter or
/-•w
Jean Genet, for example, have never done well with San Diego
audiences, and as a result he has not seriously considered
further productions of other plays by these playwrights .
Gordon Davidson's comments paralleled Noel's: "I don't
choose a play so it will be a hit, but I also don't like an
empty theatre." Davidson stated that occasionally he must
reject a play that is worthy of production because he does
not feel that it would generate enough audience interest to
sustain a long run in the Mark Taper Forum. It is for this
reason that Davidson would not like to be in charge of a
large theatre like the Ahmanson in the Los Angeles Music
Center; he explains that in such a situation the relation
ship between artistic purpose and commercial necessity—
filling thousands of seats— becomes tenuous, and the danger
of artistic compromise increases. In short, both Noel and
Davidson seek to express their artistic concerns in ways
which will elicit the greatest amount of audience interest
and support.
It is also interesting to note that while South
365
Coast Repertory was undergoing changes and adjustments in
Orange County, the professional resident theatre movement
was being questioned on a national scale regarding its
achievements. It had become clear that resident theatre had
not become a pervasive national movement, and that the
thrust of much theatrical thinking had turned to areas like
radical theatre or ritual-influenced theatre. But, at the
same time, if resident theatres were not seen as the pana
cea for American theatre, they were recognized for making
valuable cultural contributions to the areas they served.
So it was for South Coast Repertory; five years of increas
ing sensitivity to its area had resulted in dramatic growth
for the theatre and its ability to serve Orange County.
South Coast Repertory in 1972 is a theatre that has
survived its artistic youth, a theatre that has taken an
initial aesthetic, based on theory, and evolved a success
ful producing practice. It is equally clear that many of
the theoretical objectives with which South Coast Repertory
was founded did not materialize to any significant degree
in practice.
This chapter has discussed the influences that
affected the artistic character of South Coast Repertory
during its operation of the Third Step Theatre. The next
366
and concluding chapter will discuss the aesthetic evolution
of the theatre from the nine-year overview of its producing
history.
CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
As presented in Chapter I, by 1965 South Coast Rep
ertory had evolved an artistic manifesto that embraced the
fundamental aesthetic tenets of the professional resident
theatre. South Coast Repertory announced its belief that
theatre should be an engaging and stimulating art and that
this objective could be met best by a decentralized and non
commercial development of the American theatre. Also, South
Coast Repertory stated that the concept of a resident com
pany of artists was the best means of developing depth and
substance in play production. The 1965 manifesto also
announced four areas of theatre into which South Coast Rep
ertory wished to commit its artistic energies. First, the
company wished to produce imaginative productions of the
classics that would have meaning to a contemporary audience.
Second, the company wanted to explore and develop the more
presentational or overtly theatrical forms of theatre.
367
368
Third, the company stated its intention of investigating
experimental and contemporary forms of theatre expression.
Fourth, the company advocated the production of new plays by
Americans in the hope of contributing to the development of
a stronger American theatre tradition.
Taken together, these points of South Coast Reper
tory's artistic manifesto reveal the aesthetic of the com
pany as it entered its major periods of production history,
and, at the same time, show South Coast Repertory's commit
ment to the basic tenets of professional resident theatre.
Using the format of the preceding units of this study, this
chapter will analyze to what degree South Coast Repertory's
theoretical objectives were influenced by the producing
realities of operating a resident theatre in Orange County,
California, and consequently to what degree the tenets of
resident theatre proved viable. Because the preceding
chapters contain a good deal of analysis because of their
self-contained format, this chapter will primarily review
the major findings of these units in order to discuss their
more important implications.
The Physical Theatre
It is quite clear that the physical theatres in
369
which South Coast Repertory has produced have affected the
development of the company's artistic character and helped
strengthen its ability in presentational theatre. In fact,
the four physical environments in which the theatre has
worked can be regarded as progressive steps that contributed
to the development and maturity of the company.
The Off-Broadway Theatre in Long Beach, even with
its many shortcomings as a functional plant, proved to be
an intimate and flexible plant to house the beginning work
of South Coast Repertory. Its amateurish design and make
shift equipment encouraged experimentation in the physical
presentation of productions. Indeed, for the 1964 produc
tions of The Hostage and The Alchemist, the young company
completely rearranged the theatre's masking and added a
small forestage. The result supported the technical re
quirements of the productions, but, more importantly, rein
forced their presentational emphasis. The smallness of the
theatre brought the actors and audience into close proxim
ity and the actors could relate directly to the audience in
a manner that was immediate and intimate. In short, the
emerging interest of the young company in an immediate
presentational theatre was reinforced by the physical ele
ments of the Off-Broadway Theatre.
370
South Coast Repertory continued to strengthen its
ability in more overt theatrical forms during its second
phase of operation as a touring company. As a result of the
influence of John Arthur Davis, the company adopted a pro
ducing aesthetic that stressed simplicity and adaptability.
Its Commedia dell'Arte touring production of Tartuffe em
ployed extremely simple and theatricalized design elements.
Above all, the production was planned to be able to perform
in any physical environment. The experience the company
I
had in performing Tartuffe in clubhouses, large rooms, and
a variety of theatres strengthened the company's skill in
presentational theatre.
If the Off-Broadway Theatre and the company's tour
ing phase can be seen to have strengthened the overtly the
atrical side of South Coast Repertory, then the Second Step
Theatre, the company's first permanent home, can be seen as
the environment that influenced the development of a sub
stantial realistic acting style in the company. The small
end-stage of the theatre and the close proximity of its 75
seats resulted in the development of an intimate acting
style within the company. The theatre did not, therefore,
encourage the production of works of a more epic scope and
this limited the range of plays the company could consider
371
for production. The fact that the theatre functioned best
with a realistic approach to scenic design meant that the
company had to deal with a great quantity of scenery. This
fact, together with the limited storage area of the the
atre, resulted in the company's decision to abandon its
practice of presenting plays in repertory. The Second Step
Theatre's influence on the development of an intimate acting
style did serve to strengthen the company's performance
ensemble. In productions like The Glass Menagerie. The
Birthday Party, or Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, the company
received praise for the uniformity and depth of its acting
ability, a fact company leaders attribute in part to the
influence of the Second Step Theatre.
After two and a half years in the Second Step The
atre, South Coast Repertory moved to the larger Third Step
Theatre. The sweeping open-stage and its dynamic thrust
toward the audience gave South Coast Repertory a much more
theatrically vital context in which to produce. The physi
cal dynamics of the Third Step Theatre served to reinforce
the company's aesthetic interest in the more theatrically
overt forms of theatre. Plays which would not have been
seriously considered in the Second Step Theatre were given
successful productions in the Third Step Theatre,
372
productions that utilized the company's artistic strength in
presentational theatre. In productions like America Hur
rah] . We Bombed in New Haven. Indians. Tommy, or Pueblo, the
theatre provided the vital theatrical context in which South
Coast Repertory advanced its artistic reputation as a pro
ducing organization. The theatre also influenced the acting
style of the company; the intimate acting style gave way to
a more overt and theatrically projected style which gave
strength to the expanded repertoire of the company. The
evolution of a simple design aesthetic in the large theatre
influenced the company's decision to resume repertory; this,
in turn, strengthened the artistic responsibilities and
morale of the resident company of artists.
The four physical environments, then, in which South
Coast Repertory has produced have contributed to the devel
opment of the company's ability to produce effective the
atre. This can be seen in the company's ability in ensemble
performance and its skill in performing vibrant presenta
tional works.
Productions
One of the strongest factors that influenced the
development of South Coast Repertory's aesthetic character,
373
as it sought to evolve an individual artistic identity from
its theoretical beliefs, was the artistic effect of par
ticular plays the theatre produced. Many of the 70 produc
tions discussed in this study served to point out new areas
of artistic inquiry for South Coast Repertory. Out of such
inquiry, the company gained a greater sense of its own
artistic identity.
Two productions, produced early in South Coast Rep
ertory's history, were influential in establishing the com
pany's strength and artistic interest in presentational
forms of theatre. The 1964 summer production of The Hos
tage . performed in a direct freewheeling style, received
strong praise for its immediacy and vitality. Importantly,
the company discovered its skill and enjoyment in performing
this type of theatre. The fall 1964 production of the
Commedia dell'Arte version of Tartuffe continued the devel
opment of the company's strength in presentational perform
ance . The production was widely praised for its uniqueness
and life and was singly responsible for introducing South
Coast Repertory to Orange County as a dynamic and vital
theatre organization. South Coast Repertory's success in
its more recent productions of theatrically overt works —
The imaginary Invalid or Tommy, for example— can be traced
374
in part to the company's early developmental work in presen
tational theatre.
The 1965 production of The Birthday Party by Harold
Pinter was instrumental in establishing the company's skill
in ensemble acting and also started a trend in the company
of producing works from the contemporary British theatre.
The Birthday Party proved to be one of the most fully real
ized productions the theatre ever presented and it was uni
formly praised by audience and critics for the depth and
substance of its ensemble acting. The success of the pro
duction encouraged South Coast Repertory, which up until
then had favored more theatrical and presentational works,
to produce further works which were dependent on a depth of
acting skill for success. Hence, later productions such as
The Caretaker. The Ginger Man. or Uncle Vanva evolved out of
the company's belief in its ability to produce works of
great acting challenge. Lastly, The Birthday Party started
a trend in which South Coast Repertory produced numerous
works from the contemporary British theatre. In the follow
ing two seasons, for example, the company successfully pro
duced The Caretaker. Serjeant Musarave's Dance. Entertaining
Mr. Sloane. and Hail Scrawdvke.
In the late spring and early summer of 1968, South
375
Coast Repertory presented two productions which in many
ways renewed the company's strength and interest in presen
tational theatre, an artistic direction that had been par
tially subdued in the more realistic atmosphere of the
Second Step Theatre. With its productions of Adventures in
j
a Paper Bag and America Hurrah!. the company also employed
contemporary play forms with which it revealed its presen
tational ability— mixed-media, environmental, and transfor
mational theatre. The company's renewed strength in per
forming overtly theatrical drama was seen later in its pro
ductions of contemporary works like The Incredible Reign of
Good King Ubu and We Bombed in New Haven; it was also re
vealed in its presentation of more traditional works like
Room Service and Charley's Aunt.
South Coast Repertory's 1969 production of We Bombed
in New Haven not only revealed the company's presentational
ability but it also marked the start of a new trend in the
theatre of producing the newer contemporary plays of Ameri
can playwrights. These works, many by noted American
novelists, attracted the company with their relevant treat
ment of American issues. The company's successful produc
tions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Indians. and
Pueblo were attributed to the fact that these were plays
376
which the company strongly identified with as artists and as
Americans.
Three other productions mounted since 1970 were
responsible for expanding South Coast Repertory's ability
to produce works of great technical and structural complex
ity. In 1970, the theatre successfully produced Indians by
Arthur Kopit; the multi-scene, episodic work with its great
technical and design requirements was given a production
that possessed vitality and finish. The 1971 production of
the rock opera Tommy was another artistic and technical
challenge that South Coast Repertory successfully overcame.
The 1972 production of Pueblo was an example of the com
pany's ability to produce a large cast work of more epic
proportions . All three productions extended South Coast
Repertory's interest in contemporary presentational forms
of theatre and, at the same time, proved that the company
possessed the skill and organization to produce even the
most demanding theatrical works in the repertoire of modern
theatre.
In addition to productions that seemed to amplify
or extend South Coast Repertory's aesthetic interests, there
were those that curtailed the development of artistic in
terests. This was true in the area of classical theatre
377
and musical theatre (the curtailment of more purely experi
mental theatre was the result of audience influence rather
than artistic influence). From productions like Macbeth.
South Coast Repertory concluded that it did not possess the
artistic skills to mount successful productions of the more
traditional works of classical theatre; in many ways, the
actors of the company lacked the necessary training and
experience. Out of such conclusions, the decision came to
curtail the production of the classics and, in essence, to
limit the development of one of the fundamental principles
iof the theatre's artistic manifesto. The theatre's limited
(investigation of musical theatre revealed that the company
!
jdid not possess any genuine artistic interest in such works
and consequently could bring little artistic substance to
them. Out of the experiences of The Threepenny Opera and
f t . Funny Thing Happened on the Wav to the Forum came the
decision to abandon any further exploration of full-scale
musical production. The company determined that its capa
bilities and interests extended, at most, to musical rever
ies or plays that contained musical elements. It was out
of this aesthetic position that the successful Mother Earth
emerged.
In summary, the productions that have most
378
influenced South Coast Repertory's artistic character have
been those that have, one, strengthened the company's abil
ity in producing the more presentational forms of theatre,
and, two, have strengthened the company's interest in the
newer contemporary plays. The company's production activity
did little to influence the development of its aesthetic
commitment to classical theatre, new plays, or experimental
theatre. Rather, the major effect of South Coast Repertory's
production activity was the reinforcement and development of
the company's artistic interest in contemporary theatre.
Des iqn
Seen from the perspective of nine years of produc
tion history, it is clear that South Coast Repertory's de
sign practice was not a strong influence on its evolving
artistic character. Rather, design practice appears to have
been dictated by the company's production choices and the
physical dynamics of the theatres in which the company pro
duced .
As noted earlier, the 1964 summer production of The
lostage was instrumental in establishing South Coast Reper-
bory's interest and skill in producing presentational the
atre . This production and The Alchemist which followed it
379
were produced in the accommodating environment of the Off-
Broadway Theatre . The presentational thrust of the produc
tions and the immediacy of the physical plant influenced the
simple and theatrical approach to design that characterized
these productions .
In South Coast Repertory's touring period during the
fall of 1964, design also evolved out of production objec
tives . Tartuffe was mounted out of a production concept
that sought the presentational spirit of the Commedia dell1
Arte. The production was designed to tour easily and to
adjust quickly to any physical environment. Out of these
objectives came the simple set of poles and drapes .
The uniquely intimate environment of the Second Step
Theatre resulted in South Coast Repertory's realistic design
aesthetic. As discussed earlier in this study (see pp. 149-
156 above), the Second Step Theatre encouraged not only an
intimate, realistic acting style but also a tendency to
choose one-set, small cast plays. These plays, too, were
often of a more intimate and realistic nature — Candida. The
Caretaker. and A Moon for the Misbegotten, for example.
Given the dynamics of the Second Step Theatre and its in
fluence on acting style and play selection, it was natural
that a realistic design aesthetic would emerge as a
I 380
consequence.
The Third Step Theatre allowed South Coast Repertory
to pursue its interest in presentational theatre more fully.
I
The resulting choice of plays that were of a more expansive
and presentational nature, combined with the physical dy
namics of the Third Step Theatre, gave rise to a design
aesthetic which was simpler and more overtly theatrical.
This trend was reinforced by the resumption of repertory.
In short, the physical theatres in which the company
worked influenced play selection. Also, the physical dy
namics of the theatres favored certain approaches to design
— a realistic approach at the Second Step Theatre as com
pared to a more theatrical approach at the Third Step The
atre. Thus, physical environment and play selection defined
the design approach.
The Company and Key Personnel
I
The development of South Coast Repertory’s artistic
character was affected in many ways by the nature of its
resident company and certain individuals who were part of
it. Prom the contributions of the company and individuals
emerged artistic traits and producing abilities that served
to give definition to the company's aesthetic position.
381
From its very beginning, the resident company of
South Coast Repertory was recognized for its tremendous
energy and enthusiasm. The performance vitality of the
company, its strong spirit, contributed to the success of
The Hostage and Tartuffe. This spirit and vitality in the
company found expression in the company's work in presenta
tional theatre and reinforced the company's future work in
the more overtly theatrical forms of drama.
The unique makeup of the early company contributed
to the development of a strong acting ensemble. The major
ity of the members of the company in 1965, for example,
I
jshared the common background of training at San Francisco
State College, a common theatre vocabulary, and, given the
example of the Actor’s Workshop of San Francisco, a common
commitment to resident theatre. This commonality of purpose
and spirit was manifested in strong ensemble playing and
created a strong creative environment into which new members
of the company were assimilated.
If the company's energy and common spirit reinforced
its artistic interest in presentational theatre and ensemble
performance, then its lack of sufficient skills in acting
technique did much to curtail work in the classics. The
artistic leaders concluded— after reviewing South Coast
382
Repertory's work in Othello and Macbeth— that the company
did not have the vocal and movement training needed to pre
sent a sound production of a classical play. As a result of
the company's weakness in this area, South Coast Repertory
lessened its commitment to classic theatre and those plays
j
that were produced were done in a more raucous commedia
style— The Imaginary Invalid, for example.
The existence of the resident company contributed
to the organizational continuity of South Coast Repertory
and to the development of a sense of permanence and stabil
ity. Thus individual artists contributed their energies not
just to a particular production, but also to a continuance
of work that extended from season to season. This, in turn,
provided an ongoing context for the maintenance of the
company's spirit and morale.
Throughout South Coast Repertory's production his
tory, the work of particular individuals has contributed to
the development of the theatre's artistic character. Many
of the organizational and artistic strengths of the company
can be traced to the dedication and energy of a specific
person who has worked in the theatre.
During the Second Step Theatre period there were
three individuals who helped extend the company's capabili-
383
ties and vision. Michael Devine introduced a strong aes
thetic of design to the company, an approach that sought an
organic expression of a play in visual terms. Sheila Gol-
des ' interest in and advocacy of new plays and her work with
new American playwrights cemented South Coast Repertory's
commitment to produce new theatre. Stephen Facey imposed
a strong organizational structure on the production and
business areas of the company which employed the company's
energies more efficiently and thereby improved its product.
The contributions of individuals also strengthened
the company during its operation of the Third Step Theatre.
Warren Deacon, as Managing Director, continued the develop
ment of the company's organizational structure and created
procedures for effective utilization of the company's re
sources; this work has been continued by Sandra Banks and
Ellen Ketchum, administrative directors of the theatre.
Ronald Boussom, an Associate Director of the company, de
veloped the "Actor's Mime Theatre," an important creative
project in the theatre. Saundra Mathews-Deacon developed
"Magic Theatre," a unique children's theatre project. Both
Boussom's and Mathews-Deacon's project have received a
National Endowment for the Arts grant to continue work.
In short, South Coast Repertory was fortunate in
384
being able to maintain a unique resident company of artists
and to enjoy the contributions of particular individuals who
advanced the theatre's abilities. As a result, South Coast
Repertory maintained organizational stability and a contin
uity of artistic growth.
Administration and Business
South Coast Repertory's artistic makeup has been
strengthened not only by its resident company, but also by
the continuity of its artistic leadership. Since their
initial determination in 1963 to start a theatre, Martin
Benson and David Emmes have served as the artistic directors
of South Coast Repertory. Benson contributed a strong sense
of practicality to the company and an ability to achieve
artistic ends within the confines and press vires of a devel
oping theatre; he helped develop an effective producing
process for the company. Emmes has been credited with
contributing a strong literary sense to the company. He
is, in part, responsible for the fact that South Coast Rep
ertory has produced work of a wide range of genres and
styles. From the summer of 1964 to the spring of 1969,
John Arthur Davis served as an artistic director; his con
tributions to the company include a strong interest in
385
presentational theatre, concern for the technical and
logistical organization of the artistic process, and a sen
sitivity to physical theatre and its effect on artistry.
!
Taken together, the three men complemented each
other as artistic directors. Their work together estab
lished many of the basic ideas and practices that charac
terize South Coast Repertory. With Davis ' departure in
1969, an artistic vacuum was created between Benson and
Emmes. This gap was temporarily filled by the Associate
Directors of the theatre but at the cost of a diffused sense
of company leadership. However, in early 1970, Benson and
Emmes reasserted their individual leadership and in actions
like returning the company to repertory performances, they
gave the company a greater sense of individual artistic
direction.
The business and organizational areas of the the
atre proved to be an important indirect influence on South
Coast Repertory's emerging artistic identity. As the com
pany gained a greater sense of its identity in Orange
County, it received greater audience support. The increased
income that such support represents provided the theatre
with greater artistic choices— it could produce expensive
productions like Tommy and Pueblo. Also, as the company
386
increased its ability to organize its personnel and other
resources, it was able to bring greater depth and finish to
its productions, and overcame the logistical difficulties of
operating in repertory.
Audience and Area
One of the most important factors that influenced
the development of South Coast Repertory's artistic charac
ter was the audience of Orange County. It should be noted
that the audience did not directly dictate the artistic
choices of the company. Rather, audience response rein
forced and caused the further development of existing artis
tic interests in South Coast Repertory. However, it took
almost five seasons of operation before the company became
fully sensitive to audience response.
When it began full-time operation in 1965, South
Coast Repertory sought to provide Orange County with a fully
versatile resident theatre, a repositurn of the world's fin
est plays: important classics, new plays, modern works, and
experimental drama. Indeed, taking the productions pre
sented in its first two seasons as an example, South Coast
Repertory succeeded in achieving its goal, presenting plays
by Shakespeare, Moliere, Shaw, Pinter, Williams, and Brecht.
387
On the whole, the varied repertory of South Coast Repertory
did not receive uniform support. The company's artistic anc
financial advances were made primarily in contemporary the
atre. Productions of the classics were generally poorly
supported. South Coast Repertory's productions of plays by
Beckett and Brecht, more radical forms of theatre, received
considerable negative feedback from the audience and prac
tically no support.
The main audience influence during the Second Step
Theatre period was the curtailment of experimental produc
tions. But, on the whole, the company persisted in its
belief that Orange County would support a multifaceted
resident theatre. The fact that the audience had not yet
completely done so was attributed to the company's ineffec
tive promotional efforts and to the "small" image that the
Second Step Theatre projected.
South Coast Repertory began its operation of the
Third Step Theatre believing that it had attained a physical
plant that would more properly project a favorable resident
theatre image and that with a strengthened business organi
zation it could inform a waiting audience of the company's
theatrical offerings. With this confidence, South Coast
Repertory continued its effort to present its audience with
388
a varied and balanced repertoire of plays.
In its first two seasons of operating the Third Step
Theatre, the company presented a varied repertoire of plays
with results similar to the Second Step Theatre experience:
classic plays and the experimental projects were poorly
attended, modern plays received just adequate support, and
only the newer contemporary works advanced the company's
financial position.
In the seasons that followed, South Coast Repertory,
seeking the greater support that would result in organiza
tional growth, began to experiment more widely in its offer
ings . Experiments in musical theatre, modern American
classics, and special avant-garde offerings failed to elicit
strong audience support. However, the audience did strongly
support South Coast Repertory's offerings of new contempo
rary plays, especially those that received their West Coast
or Southern California premieres at the theatre. Produc
tions like America Hurrah 1 . We Bombed in New Haven. Indians.
Tommy. or Pueblo were significant financial as well as
artistic successes for the theatre.
The strong audience support for new plays of the
contemporary theatre reinforced a genuine artistic interest
that South Coast Repertory had in such works. The company
389
personally identified with the concerns of Indians or
Pueblo, for example; the acting challenges and the overt
theatrical structure of such works played to the artistic
interests and skills of the resident company.
A look at the offerings of the 1970-1971 and the
1971-1972 seasons shows that South Coast Repertory strongly
.
identified itself with contemporary theatre. Out of 19
productions, 12 were contemporary works, two were new plays,
three were modern works, and only two plays— The Imaginary
Invalid and Charlev1s Aunt— were period pieces.
What is clear is that South Coast Repertory's
growth— financially, organizationally, and artistically—
has not come about because it has successfully achieved its
initial goal of becoming a versatile professional resident
theatre. Rather, South Coast Repertory has grown and pros
pered in Orange County because its productions of contempo
rary works have been strongly supported by its audience.
In short, seven seasons in Orange County made South Coast
Repertory an art theatre identified almost exclusively with
new contemporary theatre.
National and International Trends
There can be no doubt that trends in the national
390
and world theatre affected South Coast Repertory's aesthetic
development. Certainly, the strongest influence was the
existence of an identifiable professional resident theatre
movement in America, a movement that in the early sixties
seemed to be the bright wave of the theatrical future.
It is interesting to note that the professional
resident theatre movement had its strongest influence on
South Coast Repertory before the company actually began
operation. The founders of South Coast Repertory modeled
their company after the practices and tenets of the resident
theatre as it existed in 1963 and 1964 . As a result of
their common background at San Francisco State College, they
had the inspiring example of the San Francisco Actor's Work
shop and also were able to converse directly with Jules
Irving and Herbert Blau about theatre. The opening of the
Guthrie Theatre in 1963 and the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln
Center in 1964 added further strength to the resident the
atre movement. The essential principles articulated in
South Coast Repertory's 1965 manifesto clearly reflect the
basic aesthetic tenets of the professional resident theatre
movement.
By the late sixties it was clear that the resident
theatre movement had not provided a total answer for the
391
supposed ills of American theatre. Resident theatres were
criticized by former advocates like Richard Schechner for
their lack of innovation. But they were also defended by
critics like Martin Gottfried for their cultural contribu
tions to the regions they served.
If the professional resident theatre movement under
went changes and fluctuations during the sixties, so, too,
did South Coast Repertory as it sought to create an artistic
character that would succeed in Orange County. As South
Coast Repertory began to enjoy success and organizational
advancement, it grew away from its theoretical commitment
to the principles of resident theatre; it began to develop
its own individual artistic identity as an art theatre
associated with newer contemporary works .
In seeking its own artistic identity, South Coast
Repertory investigated artistic trends in the world of the
atre. in its early years, the company successfully pre
sented contemporary plays of the British theatre— works by
Pinter, Arden, and Orton, for example. In later seasons,
the company explored the work of contemporary American
writers . Both the British and American works were distin
guished by their literary strength, theatrical dynamics,
and contemporary relevance. Out of such work emerged one
392
of the most prominent facets of South Coast Repertory's
artistic identity— its skill in producing successful pro
ductions of contemporary works.
Conclusion
In 1963, the founders of South Coast Repertory took
the initial steps toward the creation of a professional
resident theatre. By 1965, South Coast Repertory articu
lated its basic artistic objectives and in so doing revealed
its theoretical commitment to the basic tenets of the pro
fessional resident theatre movement. Now, after nine years
of work, it can be asked: how viable were these aesthetic
tenets in the producing realities of Orange County, Cali
fornia, and were there influences encountered in the day-
to-day practice of operating a theatre that affected or
altered South Coast Repertory's aesthetic outlook? In
short, was South Coast Repertory able to develop the kind
of theatre it wanted to create?
There can be no doubt that South Coast Repertory
succeeded in creating an artistic organization devoted to
the development of theatre as an art and that it has suc
cessfully maintained a resident conpany to pursue this end.
It is equally clear, however, that South Coast Repertory
393
has not been able to create the kind of theatre outlined in
its 1965 manifesto, a theatre that would serve as a cultural
repositum for the world's finest dramatic literature.
Examining the list of the 70 South Coast Repertory
productions discussed in this study (see Appendix A), it is
clear that the company, with rare exception, continually
addressed itself to the production of works that were artis
tically meaningful and relevant. Moreover, as has been seen
throughout this study, the company was able to maintain high
production standards. In short, South Coast Repertory suc
ceeded in its commitment to theatre as an art both in its
play selection and production quality.
South Coast Repertory was also committed to the
decentralization of the American theatre. Its growth and
survival in Orange County shows that the company succeeded
in this basic goal of resident theatre.
South Coast Repertory also succeeded in its comfnit-
ment to develop and maintain a resident company of theatre
artists. As mentioned, the artistic energy of the theatre
and its sense of stability and permanence can be attributed
to the resident company of South Coast Repertory.
South Coast Repertory only partially succeeded in
realizing the more specific objectives of its 1965
394
manifesto. Its desire to produce a balance of classical,
experimental, contemporary, and new plays was not fulfilled.
The company's commitment to produce the great works
of the past was curtailed by two producing realities. One,
the company leaders determined that the resident company
did not possess sufficient skill and training in advanced
techniques of voice and movement to produce productions that
would meet the company's standards. Two, the classical
productions that the company did produce consistently
failed to attract adequate audience support. In short, the
company determined that it was unable, artistically, to meet
the requirements of its own aesthetic goal. Moreover, and
perhaps more telling, there was the plain reality that the
South Coast Repertory audience simply did not wish to see
classic plays.
Audience response was also the eventual reason that
South Coast Repertory lessened its commitment to purely
experimental works and to new plays. Productions of such
works failed to produce sufficient revenue for the company
to meet its expenses. Also, it was found in practice that
many of the more experimental works— plays like Baal or La
Turista— elicited a negative response from the Orange County
audience. South Coast Repertory was able to renew its
395
commitment to new playwrights only through the assistance
of the Office for Advanced Drama Research, an organization
funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
South Coast Repertory's successful growth, then,
rests with its work in contemporary theatre, and especially
those contemporary works that played to the company's
strength in presentational performance— Tommy. Indians. and
Pueblo. for example. The company's greatest financial suc
cesses resulted from established contemporary plays that
received their West Coast or regional premiere at South
Coast Repertory. In other words, plays that had gained
strong recognition in New York or London, for example,
proved to have strong box-office or commercial appeal when
presented for the first time in Southern California.
South Coast Repertory in 1972 can be regarded as a
professional resident theatre recognized for its investiga
tion of contemporary theatre and for its strong performance
skill in works of a more overtly theatrical nature. Without
forsaking its commitment to theatre as an art, it is, in
many ways, an artistic-commercial theatre in that it seeks
to present regional premieres of plays that have a strong
box-office appeal; South Coast Repertory's organizational
advancement can be traced to the financial revenues it
396
derived from its regional premiere productions.
Nine years of work have shown that an organization
committed to theatre as an art can exist and grow in Orange
County, California. However, South Coast Repertory's more
specific theoretical goals of creating a versatile and well-
rounded resident theatre did not prove viable in the operat
ing realities of Orange County. Rather, South Coast Reper
tory grew away from several of the tenets of the resident
theatre movement and evolved its own individual artistic
identity. It became a mature theatre organization, aware
of its strengths and weaknesses, sensitive to its audience
and area, and because of this, able to develop and grow
without compromising its belief in theatre as an art. In
1972, South Coast Repertory has never been stronger, its
future never so bright.
I
APPENDIXES
397
APPENDIX A
PRODUCTION HISTORY
398
APPENDIX A
PRODUCTION HISTORY
1964-1965 Season
1. Tartuffe by Moli&re .
Opened November __, 1964.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by John Arthur
Davis, costumes by Pat Gordon.
With: John Arthur Davis, David Clements, Don Tuche,
Gerald Dugan, Martin Benson, Leslie Jones, Pat Gordon,
Lana Biggs, Sally Daley.
2. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.
Opened March 12, 1965.
Directed by Michael Devine.
With: John Arthur Davis, Don Tuche, Martin Benson,
David Clements, Ren^ L'hoir.
3. Volpone by Ben Jonson.
Opened April 2, 1965.
Directed by Don Tuche.
With: Richard Rekow, Gerald Dugan, Norman Godfrey,
Peter Church, Lee Cunningham, Ruthe Quinne, Francesca
L'hoir, Richard Doyle, jerry Hoffman, Lana Biggs.
4. **The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak by Mel Shapiro.
Opened May 13, 1965.
Directed by Gerald Dugan, decor by John Arthur Davis,
* *WorId premiere.
399
400
costvmtes by Patricia Gordon, lighting by David Clements.
With: Martin Benson, Genevieve Murray, Richard Rekow,
John Arthur Davis, Richard Doyle, Arthur Koustik,
Patricia Gordon, Denise Ulm, Leslie Jones, Jerry Hoff
man, Lee Cunningham.
5. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
Opened June 18, 1965.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Michael Devine,
lighting by David Clements.
With: Jerry Hoffman, Sheila Goldes, Denise Ulm, David
Clements.
6. The Hostage by Brendan Behan.
Opened July 29, 1965.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Michael Devine,
lighting by Robert Cohen.
With: Martin Benson, Martha McFarland, John Arthur
Davis, Lori Foster, Hope Alexander, Patricia Gordon,
Richard Rekow, Lee Cunningham, Gerald Dugan, Lana Neece,
Peter Church, Sally Daley, Arthur Koustik, Richard
Doyle.
7. Ring Around the Moon by Jean Anouilh, adapted by
Christopher Fry.
Opened August 19, 1965.
Directed by Gerald Dugan, production design by Michael
Devine, lighting by David Clements.
With: Norman Godfrey, David Emmes, Hope Alexander,
Jerry Hoffman, Francesca L'hoir, Martha McFarland,
Sheila Goldes, John Arthur Davis, Richard Doyle, Jeanne
Devine, Genevieve Murray, Lee Cunningham.
1965-1966 Season
3. Othello by william Shakespeare.
Opened October 7, 1965.
Directed by David Emmes, scenic design by Michael De-
vine, costumes by Trina Portillo, lighting by Robert
Cohen.
With: John Arthur Davis, Gerald Dugan, David Clements,
Richard Rekow, Don Tuche, Martin Benson, David Kettles,
401
James Moran, Norman Godfrey, Lee Cunningham, Richard
Doyle, Merle Janes, Jeanne Devine, Marlene Silverstein,
Lana Neece, Sally Daley, Leslie Tuche.
9. ♦The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.
Opened November 19, 1965.
Directed by Martin Benson, scenic design by Michael
Devine, costumes by Trina Portillo, lighting by David
Clements .
With: June Winslow, David Clements, Peter Church,
Martha McFarland, John Arthur Davis, Don Tuche.
10. Candida by George Bernard Shaw.
Opened January 6, 1966.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Michael Devine,
costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: Martin Benson, Sheila Goldes, Stephen Facey,
Arthur Koustik, Leslie Jones, Richard Doyle.
11. *Baal by Bertolt Brecht.
Opened February 17, 1966.
Staged by John Arthur Davis, sets and lighting by
Michael Devine, costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: David Clements, Don Tuche, Francesca L'hoir,
Richard Doyle, James Moran, Patricia Gordon, Martin
Benson, Martha McFarland, Lana Neece, Sally Daley,
Marcelle Corday, Denise Ulm, David Kettles, Lee Cun
ningham, Jack Murray, Jeanne Devine, Merle Janes,
Arthur Koustik, Iris Korn, Art Winslow, June Winslow.
12. **Chocolates by Ian Bernard.
Opened March 31, 1966.
Directed by Sheila Goldes, designed by Sam Cornell,
lighting by Michael Devine, costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: John Arthur Davis, David Clements, Don Tuche,
Denise Ulm, Lana Neece.
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
♦♦World premiere.
T02
13. Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey.
Opened May 19, 1966 .
Staged by Martin Benson, setting by Michael Devine,
lighting by David Clements, costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: Sally Daley, David Clements, Seila Goldes, Lee
Cunningham, John Arthur Davis, Richard Doyle, Don
Tuche, Ken Dahl-Hansen, Ronald Boussom, Martha McFar
land, Leslie Jones, Francesca L'hoir, David Kettles,
Norman Godfrey, Warren Deacon, James Moran.
14. The Mandragola by Nicolo Machiavelli.
Opened July 14, 1966.
Setting by Michael Devine, staged by John Arthur Davis,
costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: David Kettles, David Emmes, Don Tuche, Ronald
Boussom, Arthur Koustik, Leslie Jones, Sally Daley.
1966-1967 Season
15. *Let's Get a Divorce by Victorien Sardou and Emile de
Nejac.
Opened September 30, 1966.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Arthur Edwards,
costumes by Trina Portillo, music by Ian Bernard.
With: Martha McFarland, David Clements, John Haggard,
John Arthur Davis, Don Tuche, Denise Clements, Leslie
Jones, Martin Benson, Pat Eleanor Swindell, Warren
Deacon, Norman Godfrey, Stan Morken.
16 . The Caretaker by Harold Pinter.
Opened November 25, 1966.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by David Emmes,
costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: John Arthur Davis, Don Tuche, David Clements.
17. Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge.
Opened February 3, 1967.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
lighting by David Clements, costumes by Trina Portillo.
*West Coast or regional premiere.
403
With: Martha McFarland, Hal Landon, Jr., David Ket
tles, John Haggard, Peter Ostling, Ronald Boussom,
Leslie Jones, Helen Gregory, Janis Morrissette, Pat
Neal, Sally Hayton, Arthur Koustik, Stan Morken.
18. **Act without Words by Samuel Beckett.
Opened March 9, 1967.
Directed by John Arthur Davis.
With: Ronald Boussom, James McKie, Sheri Sharp.
♦*Last Day of the Year by Peter Renno.
Opened March 9, 1967.
Directed by Warren Deason.
With: Stuart Geddes, Sara Goodrich, David Kettles.
19. *A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill.
Opened March 24, 1967.
Directed by Mathias Reitz, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by Trina Portillo, lighting by Ann Reitz.
With: Leslie Jones, Peter Ostling, David Clements,
Hal Landon, Jr., Don Tuche.
20. *Serjeant Musqrave's Dance by John Arden.
Opened May 12, 1967.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by David Emmes,
costumes by Richard Triplett, lighting by Ann Reitz.
With: Ronald Boussom, David Clements, Hal Landon, Jr.,
John Arthur Davis, Mathias Reitz, Warren Deacon, Pat
Brown, Denise Clements, Peter Ostling, Don Tuche, David
Kettles, James McKie, Stuart Geddes, John Haggard, Star
Morken.
21. Red Magic by Michel de Ghelderode.
Opened June 19, 1967.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by Kerry Schuh, lighting by Ann Reitz.
With: David Sullivan, Karen Kondan, Mathias Reitz,
*West Coast or regional premiere.
**WOrld premiere.
404
David Clements, John Arthur Davis, Peter Ostling, James
McKie, Stan Morken.
22. The Miser by Molifere.
Opened July 7, 1967.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by John Arthur
Davis, costumes by Martha McFarland, lighting by James
McKie.
With: Don Tuche, Martha McFarland, Arthur Koustik,
Leslie Jones, Stuart Geddes, Helen Gregory, Ronald
Boussom, Hal Landon, Jr., James McKie, David Kettles,
Lexie Browne, janis Morrissette, Jeri Collins, Joseph
Matarazzo.
23. The Typists and the Tiger by Murray Schisgal.
Opened September 8, 1967.
Directed by Mathias Reitz, designed by James McKie.
With: Martha McFarland, Hal Landon, Jr.
1967-1968 Season
24. *Biq Soft Nellie by Henry Livings.
Opened October 20, 1967.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by Katrina MacNeiHedge.
With: Arthur Koustik, Ronald Boussom, Don Tuche, Paul
Ford, Toni Douglass, Pat Brown, Heath Park.
25. *Entertaininq Mr. Sloane by Joe Orton.
Opened October 27, 1967.
Directed by James depriest, costumes by Katrina Mac-
Neilledge, designed by David Emmes.
With: Sara Dewitt, Roger Parker, David Kettles, Stuart
Geddes.
26. Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw.
Opened November 29, 1967.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by April Thronson.
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
405
With: Bonnie Gallup, Hal Landon, Jr., Leslie Jones,
Denise Clements, Stephanie Scott, Jack Davis, Don
Tuche, Jeff MacNeilledge, Paul DeLucca, Bob Carpenter.
27. Hail Scravdvke by David Halliwell.
Opened December 1, 1967.
Directed by Ron Thronson, designed by Martin Benson,
costumes by Katrina MacNeilledge.
With: Ronald Boussom, Michael Douglass, James McKie,
Billy Miller, Karen Haas.
28. **Pictures from the Walls of Pompeii by Tim Kelly.
Opened January 12, 1968 .
Directed by James dePriest, designed by Martin Benson,
sound by James dePriest.
With: Paul Ford, Ellen Ketchum, Toni Douglass, Billy
Miller.
29. Time of Your Life by William Saroyan.
Opened January 19, 1968.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by Ann Donahue and Sarah DeWitt.
With: Don Tuche, Arthur Koustik, Stuart Ridgeway,
Denise Clements, Clem Davison, Ronald Boussom, Joe
Matarazzo, James McKie, Jeff Park, Bob Carpenter, James
dePriest, Sandy Marino, Hal Landon, Jr., Ron Thronson,
Cherie patch, Robert Giles, Jeff MacNeilledge, Marcelle
Corday, Paul DeLucca, Bonnie Gallup, Karen Haas, Pat
Brown, Heath Park, Kimberly Harling.
30. The Knack by Ann Jellicoe.
Opened February 23, 1968.
Directed by Paul Ford, designed by Paul Ford.
With: James Baxes, Mike Douglass, Billy Miller, Tami
Purse.
31. A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney.
Opened March 8, 1968.
Directed by Ron Thronson, designed by Martin Benson.
**World premiere.
406
With: Martha McFarland, Pat Brown, Ronald Boussom,
Jeff MacNeilledge, Andre White, Tim Monich, Jerry
Benson.
32. Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
Opened April 19, 1968.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Sergio O'Cadiz,
costumes by Katrina MacNeilledge.
With: John Arthur Davis, Leslie Jones, Clement David
son, James Baxes, Hal Landon, Jr., Jeff MacNeilledge,
Don Tuche, Michael Douglass, Cherie Patch, Arthur
Koustik, Heath Park, Jeff Park, Billy Miller, Ronald
Boussom, James dePriest, Dennis Lambert, Robert Giles,
Saundra Deacon, Martha McFarland, Toni Douglass, Karen
Haas.
33. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.
Opened June 7, 1968.
Directed and designed by Martin Benson, costumes by
Martha McFarland.
With: Cherie Patch, Hal Landon, Jr., Bonnie Gallup,
Don Tuche, Martha McFarland, James Baxes, Heath Park,
Elaine Bankston, Tim Monich, Pat Birkett, Mary Reed.
34. **Adventures in a Paper Bag— Theatre Event Organized
by John Arthur Davis and Ron Thronson.
Opened June 15, 1968.
Directed by John Arthur Davis and Ron Thronson, media
by Ken Shearer.
With: Michael Douglass, Toni Douglass, Walter Phelops,
Dennis Lambert, Saundra Deacon, Michelle Reday, James
McKie, Jean St. Pierre.
35. *America Hurrah1 by jean-Claude van Itallie .
Opened July 26, 1968.
Directed by Mathias Reitz, designed by Michael Devine,
media by Michael Devine and Ken Shearer.
With: Bonnie Gallup, Ronald Boussom, Toni Douglass,
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
♦♦World premiere.
407
James McKie, Martha McFarland, James Baxes, Elaine
Bankston, Michael Douglass.
36. The Homecoming by Harold Pinter.
Opened September 27, 1968.
Directed and designed by David Emmes, lighting by Sandy
Parker.
With: Clement Davidson, John Arthur Davis, Michael
Douglass, James Baxes, Don Tuche, Bonnie Gallup.
37. The Three Cuckolds— Commedia dell'Arte scenario.
Opened November 15, 1968.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by John Arthur
Davis, music by Ron Thronson.
With: David Emmes, Billy Miller, Elaine Bankston,
George Barcos, Martha McFarland, Austin Kelly, Carol
Kretzer, James Baxes, Gary Cotter, Monika Borisch,
Francesca L'hoir.
38. **The Incredible Reign of Good King Ubu by Ron Thron
son .
Opened January 10, 1969.
Directed by Ron Thronson, designed by John Arthur
Davis, costumes by Maggi Stamm, lighting by Sandra
Parker.
With: Roger Parker, Carol Kretzer, James Baxes, Steve
de France, Austin Kelly, Burleigh Booker, Monika
Borisch, Michelle Reday, Francesca L'hoir, Sandy
Marino, George Barcos, Karen Haas, Robert Giles, Jerry
Patch, Paul Gersowitz, Brad Fitzgerald, Jerry Comey.
39. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.
Opened February 27, 1969.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by John Arthur
Davis and David Emmes, lighting by David Emmes and
Sandra Parker, costumes by Maggi Stamm.
With: John Arthur Davis, Marnie Oberbeck, Clement
Davidson, James Baxes, Ronald Boussom, Heath Park,
Sandy Marino, Robert Hartenbarger, Austin Kelly, Gary
♦♦World premiere.
408
Cotter, Paul Gersowitz, Michelle Reday, Monika Borisch,
Elaine Bankston, Susan Burns.
40. La Turista.
Opened March 28, 1969.
Directed by Russell Leslie, designed by Steve Goldman.
With: Squire Fridell, Susan Burns, Austin Kelly,
Dwight Allen.
41. Room Service by John Murray and Allan Boretz.
Opened April 25, 1969.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Steve Goldman,
lighting by Sandra Parker, costumes by Maggi Stamm.
With: Robert Hartenberger, Don Tuche, Michael Doug
lass, Martin Benson, Gary Cotter, Ann Pavaresh, Ronald
Boussom, Heath Park, Elaine Bankston, Austin Kelly,
Paul Gersowitz, Bill Miller, Jerry Comey.
42. The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt
Weill.
Opened June 27, 1969.
Directed by James dePriest, musical director William
Eads, designed by David Emmes, costumes by Maggi Stamm,
lighting by Sandra Parker.
With: Mark Ericson, Michael Douglass, James Baxes,
Carol Kretzer, Elaine Bankston, Peter Jason, Toni
Douglass, Heath Park, Sandy Marino, Brad Fitzgerald,
Gary Cotter, Sam Lewis, Mike Leininger, Paul Ford,
Larry Scott, Jim Waring, Robert Giles, Martha McFar
land, Karen Bertagna, Carol Arnone, Carolyn Ford.
43. *We Bombed in New Haven by Joseph Heller.
Opened September 5, 1969.
Directed by Martin Benson, set and lighting designed
by David Emmes, costumes by Maggi Stamm.
With: Heath Park, Don Tuche, Hal Landon, Jr., James
Baxes, Gary Cotter, Robert Strickland, George Barcos,
Jim Waring, Pat Brown, Les Ingledue, Bill Cochrane,
Bill Katt, Squire Fridell.
*West Coast or regional premiere.
409
1969-1970 Season
44. A Funny Thing Happened on the Wav to the Forum by Burt
Shevelove and Larry Gelbart; music and lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim.
Opened October 24, 1969.
Directed and designed by Ron Thronson, musical direc
tion by Toni Shearer.
With: Arthur Koustik, Michael Douglass, Les Ingle due,
Martha McFarland, Squire Fridell, Elaine Bankston,
Heath Park, Cameron Young, James Baxes, Mary Ann
Kluthe, Leslie Taylor, Sandy Marino, Katherine Hender
son, Karen Bertagna, Toni Douglass, Bill Miller, Larry
Scott, Jim Waring, Maxine Campbell.
45. Arrabal— An Evening of Spain's Most Controversial
Playwright.
Opened December 12, 1969.
"Guernica"— Directed by Milton Rogart.
With: Bill Brady, Ellen Ketchum, Lynn Morgan, Jeff
Park, Darrell Kitchell, Don Castle, Jim Waring.
"Picnic on a Battlefield."
With: Jim Waring, Bill Brady, Ellen Ketchum, Darrell
Kitchell, Steve Hunter, Don Castle.
"The Tricycle"— Directed by Hal Landon, Jr.
With: Harvey Kahn, James Baxes, Charles Hutchins,
Martha McFarland, Bob Strickling.
46. Joe Egg by Peter Nichols.
Opened January 9, 1970.
Directed and designed by David Emmes, lighting by
Sandra Parker.
With: Peter Church, Eileen Fishbach, Toni Douglass,
Deirdre Emmes, Michael Douglass, Pat Brown.
47. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
Opened February 20, 1970.
Directed by James dePriest, designed by Martin Benson,
lighting by Les Zellan.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Ann Siena, Elaine Bankston,
James Waring.
410
48. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters .
Opened March 7, 1970.
Directed by Ron Thronson, lighting by Sandra Parker,
visuals by Kenneth R. Shearer.
With: James Baxes, Martha McFarland, Arthur Koustik,
Toni Douglass, Larry Harbison, Toni Shearer.
49. *One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.
Opened April 10, 1970.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by David Emmes,
lighting by Sandra Parker.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Michael Douglass, Peter Bland,
Bill Miller, Harvey Kahn, Gary Cotter, Heath Park,
James Waring, Bill Brady, Steve Hunter, Kathleen Ro
gart, George Barcos, Leslie Taylor, Martha Baxes,
Victor Banks, L. D. Travis, Jerry Morgan, Elaine
Bankston, Sandy Marino.
50. *Saved by Edward Bond.
Opened June 5, 1970.
Directed and designed by David Emmes, lighting by
Sandra Parker, costumes by Becky DeRush.
With: Michael Douglass, Jessica Davis, Ann Siena,
Bill Brady, James Baxes, Squire Fridell, jerry Sy,
Larry Harbison, Billy Miller, Mimi Smith.
51. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard.
Opened July 3, 1970.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by George Barcos,
cost tones by Becky DeRush, lighting by Sandra Parker.
With: Michael Douglass, Don Tuche, Hal Landon, Jr.,
Jeff Park, Peter Bland, Bill Brady, James waring,
Stuart Geddes, Harvey Kahn, Russell Lund, Mimi Smith,
Toni Douglass.
1970-1971 Season
52. The Bovs in the Band by Mart Crowley.
Opened September 11, 1970.
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
411
Directed by J . B. Ferzacca, designed by James Wixon.
With: Michael Douglass, Bill Miller, Ron Christie,
James dePriest, Arthur Koustik, Richard Gordon, James
Baxes, Cameron Young, David Emmes.
5 3. *Indians by Arthur Kopit.
Opened October 30, 1970.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Martin Benson
and George Barcos, lighting by David Emmes, costumes
by Gail Viola.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Ronald Boussom, Heath Park,
James Baxes, James dePriest, Toni Shearer, Reginald
Rook, Sandy Marino, Jeff Mitchell, Steve Patterson,
Squire Fridell, Joanna Patrich, Mary Fleming, Joan
Vigman, Bobbie Leva, Tim Constant, william Verderber,
Gary Cotter, Victor Banks, Harvey Kahn.
54. The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter.
Opened December 2, 1970.
Directed by Warren Deacon, designed by Martin Benson,
lighting by Sandra Parker, costumes by Mary Fleming.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Elaine Bankston, Pat Brown,
James Baxes, William Brady.
55. **Mother Earth by Ron Thronson and Toni Shearer.
Opened January 8, 1971.
Directed by Ron Thronson, designed by George Barcos,
choreographed by Matti Lascoe, visuals by Ken Shearer,
lighting by Sandra Parker, costumes by Mary Fleming.
With: Elaine Bankston, Saundra Matthews-Deacon,
Michael Douglass, Bill Katt, Sandy Marino, Jeff Mit
chell, James dePriest, Toni Shearer, Mimi Smith, Cam
eron Young.
56. **Snowman in the Empty Closet by Gary Michael White.
Opened January 20, 1971.
Directed by Michael Fuller, designed by James dePriest,
lighting by Sandra Parker, costumes by Trina Portillo.
*West Coast or regional premiere.
**World premiere.
412
With: Hal Landon, Jr., James Baxes, Jessica Davis-
Stein, Pat Brown, Larry Harbison.
57. The imaginary Invalid by Molifere.
Opened February 19, 1971.
Directed by Ronald Boussom, designed by James dePriest,
lighting by Sandra Parker, costumes by Trina Portillo.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Elaine Bankston, Janis Morris-
sette, Saundra Matthews-Deacon, Reginald Rook, Cameron
Young, William Verderber, James McKie, Jeff Mitchell,
Phil Oertly, Ronald Boussom.
58. Next bv Terrence McNally.
Opened March 19, 1971.
Directed by Shasin Desai, designed by James dePriest,
lighting by Sandra Parker.
With: Heath Park, Toni Douglass.
The Indian Wants the Bronx by Israel Horovitz.
Opened March 19, 1971.
Directed by Shasin Desai, designed by James dePriest,
lighting by Sandra Parker.
With: James depriest, Richard Doyle, Shasin Desai.
59. Luv by Murray Schisgal.
Opened May 7, 1971.
Directed by Michael Fuller, designed by Robert Breen,
lighting by Reginald Rook.
With: Arthur Koustik, Don Tuche, Martha McFarland.
60. *The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy.
Opened May 22, 1971.
Directed by Martin Benson, designed by Robinson Royce,
lighting by Bruce McCloud.
With: David Emmes, Ronald Boussom, Toni Douglass,
Cherie Patch.
61. Charley's Aunt bv Brandon Thomas.
Opened June 25, 1971.
Directed by Robert Bonaventura, designed by Robert
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
413
Breen, lighting by Reginald Rook.
With: Ronald Boussom, Steve Patterson, Tim Monich,
Michael Fuller, Maeve Robinson, Mary Fleming, Don
Tuche, Cameron Young, Pat Brown, Janis Morrissette.
1971-1972 Season
62 . Feiffer's People by Jules Feiffer.
Opened August 20, 1971.
Directed by Warren Deacon, designed by Greg Bolton.
With: Mary Fleming, Sandy Marino, Toni Douglass,
Leslie Taylor, George Barcos, William Brady, Cameron
Young, Steve Patterson.
6 3. *Tommy by The Who.
Opened September 24, 1971.
Directed by David Emmes and Martin Benson, movement by
Linda Kostalik, designed by Robinson Royce, lighting
by William A. Hennigh, visuals by Kenneth Shearer,
musical director Edward Auswacks.
With: Reginald Rook, Maeve Robinson, Phil Oertly,
Steve DeNaut, Michael Leininger, Cameron Young, Saundra
Matthews-Deacon, William Brady, Steve Patterson, Joanna
Patrice Alsleben, Mary Fleming, Barbara Horne, Bobbi
Leva, Mimi Smith, Toni Douglass, Dave Pack, Joe Puerta,
Chris North, Burleigh Drummond, Cliff Woolery, Brook
Hall, Rill Hall.
64. Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
Opened November 5, 1971.
Directed by Warren Deacon, set and lighting designed
by Greg Bolton, costumes by David Scott.
With: Martin Benson, Theresa Carden, Cameron Young,
Don Tuche, Ann Siena, Heath Park, Ellen Ketchum, George
Barcos, John Welch, Dierdre Emmes, David Emmes, Jr.,
Morgan McKay, Michael Owens, Rochelle Savitt, Victor
Banks, Sue Flint, Cecilia Knudsen.
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
414
65. Mother Earth (new production) by Ron Thronson and Toni
Shearer.
Opened December 17, 1971.
Directed by Martin Benson and James dePriest, designed
by George Barcos, lighting by Reginald Rook.
With: Diane Myers, Ronald Boussom, Janis Jamison,
Carol Martin, Jerry Patch, Bill Black, Sandy Marino-
Banks, Mimi Smith, Squire Fridell, Saundra Matthews-
Deacon, James dePriest, Steve Patterson.
66. The White House Murder Case by Jules Feiffer.
Opened January 7, 1972.
Directed by Peter Nyberg, designed by Greg Bolton,
lighting by Reginald Rook, sound by Michael Owens,
costumes by David Scott.
With: James depriest, Richard Doyle, David Emmes, Don
Tuche, H. J. Parks, Ronald Boussom, Steve DeNaut, Pat
Brown, William Brady, Steve Patterson, John Charles
We lch.
67. The Innocents by William Archibald.
Opened February 18, 1972.
Directed by Jack Vaughn, designed by Jack Vaughn,
lighting by James Moody, children's songs composed by
C. Disney.
With: Sue Flint, Janet Kirker, Ann Siena, Charles
Curtis, Doug McEwan, Cecilia Knudsen.
68. *»01i's Icecream Suit bv Richard Ploetz.
Opened March 16, 1972.
Directed and designed by Martin Benson, lighting by
Reginald Rook, costumes by James dePriest.
With: Ronald Boussom, John peters.
69. Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov.
Opened March 31, 1972.
Directed by David Emmes, designed by Robinson Royce,
costumes by Beala Neal, lighting by Reginald Rook.
With: Hal Landon, Jr., Don Tuche, Cheri Patch, Leslie
**World premiere.
415
Jones, Pat Brown, Saundra Matthews-Deacon, Michael
Owens, Arthur Koustik, Reginald Rook.
70. ♦Pueblo by Stanley R. Greenberg.
Opened May 12, 1972.
Directed by Martin Benson, lighting by James Moody,
designed by Robinson Royce, sound by Michael Owens,
costumes by Beala Neal, movement by Ronald Boussom.
With: Don Tuche, Michael Owens, Ronald Boussom, Pat
Brumbaugh, George Barcos, Ernie Phillips, Alan Paul,
William Brady, Lance Paul, George Bell, Ellen Ketchum,
James Bailey, Mitchell Kaczmarek, Gary Cotter, Victor
Banks, Steve Patterson, Thomas Eastman, Steve Moore,
Scott Crane, John Ellington, Reginald Rook, Phil
Oertly, Steve DeNaut, Lance Danks, Laurence Kulp,
Harry C. Hill, John Peters, Paul Gracey, Monte Stone.
♦West Coast or regional premiere.
APPENDIX B
FINANCIAL HISTORY
416
APPENDIX B
FINANCIAL HISTORY
Production Number of Income
Performances
1964-1965 Season
1. Tartuffe 21 $ 1,005.10
2 . waiting for Godot 10 436.50
3. Volpone 13 624.50
4. The Trial of Gabriel Kapuniak 11
465.00
5. The Glass Menagerie 20 1,368.50
6. The Hostage 8 736 .50
7 . Ring Around the Moon 19 1.276.50
Total Box-Office $ 5,912.60
Subscriptions 2.206.00
$ 8,118.60
1965-1966 Season
8. Othello 23 $ 2,202.00
9. The Birthday Party 21
2,641.75
10. Candida 21
2,826.50
11. Baal 20 2,284.75
12. Chocolates 23 2,029.00
*
H
Production Number of Income
Per f ormances
13. Juno and the Paycock 26 $ 2,606.00
14. The Mandragola 25 3.560.75
Total Box-Office $18,150.75
Subscriptions 2.450.50
$20,601.25
1966-1967 Season
15. Let's Get a Divorce 26 $ 3,139.00
16. The Caretaker 28 3,840.25
17. Playboy of the western World 21
3,010.50
18. Act without Words/Last Day of the
Year 3
127.50
19. A Moon for the Misbeqotten 22
2,736.50
20. Serieant Musqrave's Dance 19 2,532.00
21. Red Maqic 9 1,200.00
22. The Miser 30 3,187.75
23. The Typists and the Tiger 22
2.486.00
Total Box-Office $22,259.50
Subscriptions 2.983.50
$25,243.00
1967-1968 Season
24. Biq Soft Nellie 14
$ 1,267.00
25. Entertaininq Mr. Sloane
13 657.00*
H
GO
Production Number of Income
Performances
26. Arms and the Man 21 $ 2,982.00
27. Hail Scrawdyke 14 590.75
28. Pictures from the Walls of Pompeii 9 326.25
29. Time of Your Life 24
-
4,578.25
30. The Knack 15 1,046.50
31. A Taste of Honey 18 2,034 .25
32 . Macbeth 23 3,552.50
33. A Streetcar Named Desire 21
2,040.00
34 . Adventures in a Paper Baq 15 1,058.00
35. America Hurrah! 24
6.089.75
Total Box-Office $26,222.25
Subscriptions 7.589.50
$33,811.75
1968-1969 Season
36. The Homecomincr 21 $ 2,724.25
37. The Three Cuckolds 17 2,547.75
38. The Incredible Reiqn of Good Kinq
Ubu 22 2,818.75
39. Death of a Salesman 28 7,678.25
40. La Turista 8 895.00
41. Room Service 22 2,483.50
42. The Threepenny Opera 36 5,526 .50
*
H*
VO
Production Number of Income
Performances
43. We Bombed in New Haven 22
$ 5.087.00
Total Box-Office $29,761.00
Subscriptions 4.177.25
$33,938.25
1969-1970 Season
44. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum 19 $ 3,540.34
45. An Evening of Arrabal 6 531.50
46. Joe Egg 21
5,356.50
47. Spoon River Antholoqy 29 3,752.25
48. The Glass Menagerie 6 730.00
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 27 8,269.80
50. Saved 10 1,091.75
51. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead 16 2.353.40
Total Box-Office $25,625.54
Subscriptions 4.674.00
$30,299.54
1970-1971 Season
52. The Boys in the Band 22
$ 5,882.35
53. Indians 23 3,381.75
54. The Birthday Party 9 1,047.50*
to
O
Production Number of Income
Performances
55. Mother Earth 54
26,583 .45
56. Snowman in the Empty Closet 10 600.75
57. The Imacrinarv Invalid 13 3,679.25
58. Next/The Indian Wants the Bronx 3 396.25
59. Luv
13 1,831.40
60. The Ginger Man 11 2,384.12
61. Charley's Aunt 30 6.384.19
Total Box-Office $52,171.01
Subscriptions 5.356.25
$57,527.26
1971-1972 Season
62. Feiffer's People 11 $ 2,390.84
63. Tommy 53 27,430.07
64. Our Town 20 4,857.95
65. Mother Earth (new production) 25 9,200.92
66. The White House Murder Case 15 4,369.63
67. The Innocents 9 1,669.70
68. Oli's Icecream Suit 7 600.00
69. Uncle Vanya
17 2,518.95
70. Pueblo 31 5.077.37
Total Box-Office $58,115 .43
Subscriptions 8.197.19
$66,312 .62
fo
1 —«
SELECTED B I B L I O GR AP HY
422
SEI£CTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
I
!
| Interviews
Banks, Sandra. Personal interview, June 22, 1972.
Bankston, Elaine. Personal interview, May 27, 1972.
Benson, Martin. Personal interviews, April 20 and April 29,
1972 .
Boussom, Ronald. Personal interview, May 15, 1972.
Brown, Pat. Personal interview, May 27, 1972.
Clements, David. Personal interview, May 4, 1972 .
Cohen, Robert. Personal interview, February 14, 1972.
Davidson, Gordon. Personal interview, August 29, 1972.
Davis, John Arthur. Personal interview, May 27, 1972.
Deacon, Warren. Personal interview, April 29, 1972.
dePriest, James. Personal interview, June 18, 1972.
Dunlap, Pamela. Personal interview, March 15, 1972.
Ebsen, Nancy. Personal interview, June 18, 1972.
Emmes, Alice. Personal interview, January 30, 1972.
423
33?
Emmes, Leslie. Personal interview, January 29, 1972 .
Goldes, Sheila. Personal interview, January 10, 1972.
Hill, David A. Personal interview, June 10, 1972.
Jones, Leslie. Personal interview, May 28, 1972.
Koustik, Arthur, personal interview, April 27, 1972.
Landon, Hal Jr. Personal interview, January 24, 1972.
I
McFarland, Martha, personal interview, January 24, 1972.
Noel, Craig. Personal interview, September 10, 1972.
Nyberg, Peter. Personal interview, February 5, 1972.
Reday, Ladislaw. Personal interview, May 22, 1972.
Reitz, Mathias. Personal interview, April 28, 1972.
Rowe, Douglas. Personal interview, February 1, 1972.
i
Royce, Robinson. Personal interview, May 26, 1972.
Thronson, Ron. Personal interview, May 27, 1972.
Titus, Tom. Personal interview, February 11, 1972.
Tuche, Don. Personal interview, April 27, 1972.
Tyrrell, Thomas. Personal interview, August 4, 1972.
Letters
Bankston, Douglass. Personal letter, August 24, 1966.
South Coast Repertory Production File 14.
Emmes, David. Personal letter to Jules Irving, September
15, 1963. Early History File, South Coast Reper
tory, Inc.
¥25
Garrison, Clayton. Personal letter, August 15, 1966. South
| Coast Repertory Production File 14.
McConnell, Frederic. Personal letter, January 1, 1967.
South Coast Repertory Production File 16.
McKenna, J. Fenton. Personal letter to David Emmes, August
15, 1972 .
Moat, John. Personal letter to South Coast Repertory, Octo
ber 19, 1965.
Nixon, Helen G. Personal letter to South Coast Repertory,
October 8, 1965.
Speegle, Harriet M. Personal letter, March 15, 1966. South
Coast Repertory Production File 11.
Swindell, Larry. Personal letters, October 11, 1965 and
December 17, 1966.
Theatre records
Business Records, 1964-1972, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
Corporate Records, 1965-1972, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
Correspondence Files, 1964-1972, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
Disneyland Community Service Award Application of South
Coast Repertory, Inc., December 22, 1970.
Early History File, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
[Emmes, David]. Brochure, "South Coast Repertory: Growth
and Development."
________. Brochure, "The Theatre Workshop."
?inaneial Records, 1965-1972, South Coast Repertory, inc.
Deneral Records, 1970, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
426
Irvine Foundation Application of South Coast Repertory, Inc.
September 30, 1968.
NEA Records, 1971, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
QADR Records, 1970-1972, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
Photographic Records, 1964-1972, South Coast Repertory, inc.
Production Records, 1964-1972, South Coast Repertory, Inc.
Program and Mailer Files, 1965-1972, South Coast Repertory,
Inc.
I Secondary Sources
I
Books
Baumol, William J., and Bowen, William G. Performing Arts:
The Economic Dilemma. New York: Twentieth Century
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Beards ley, Monroe C. Aesthetics: Problems in the Philoso-
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*
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|
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Asset Metadata

Creator Emmes, David Michael (author)

Core Title South Coast Repertory, 1963-1972: A Case Study

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Communication (Drama)

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Theater

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Butler, James H. (committee chair), O'Neill, William S. (committee member), Stahl, Herbert M. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-793316

Unique identifier UC11364111

Identifier 7314402.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-793316 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 7314402

Dmrecord 793316

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Emmes, David Michael

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Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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