Success in a Barn
Peter Tewksbury '45 and his wife Kit have successfully staked out an unusual claim in California, - namely, that "The Play's the Thing" - and have done so in the heart of the movie country.
In 1948, when Pete Tewksbury was working with an independent radio production firm, he had the idea that fulltime, year-round summer theater, with a nucleus of professional players, could be made to meet the requirements of community entertainment and also provide him with a living. After interesting a group of writers and theater people in his idea, and obtaining a modest degree of backing, he and his wife chose the southern San Joaquin Valley in California as the setting for their venture. A non-profit corporation, now five and a half years old, was formed in the city of Porterville, with members and officers enlisted locally.
The first trial summer season, in which four well-known Broadway-tested comedies were given, was successful, in spite of the fact that the theater was literally a barn, old and rickety, with the dressing rooms in horse stalls. The professional staff of actors stayed on for the winter season, training and working with more and more amateur actors from the community. Over 350 local actors have taken parts at the Barn since it was started. The Theater also started two schools of drama and radio. One is for children and the other is tied in with the state adult education program. With an eye to the future, a children's theater has been put on a regular three-time-a-year basis. In order to give the more experienced acting talent and the professional staff something unusual to work with, a series of classic dramas, called the Drawing Room Season, is offered. For two years a touring group, truckborne, took productions to other cities. This experiment lost money, but gained much in good will. At present a successful substitute has been to have two casts simultaneously trained in the same play, with one appearing in Porterville and the second in such places as San Francisco, El Centro, and Reno. At the end o£ three years, the Barn Theater had presented some forty mainstage productions.
There is no question but that the Tewksbury venture has brought fun, education, and entertainment of professional caliber to the San Joaquin Valley. After a four-year record of well-received plays, given in such structures as an old turkey warehouse and then a combination skating rink and meeting hall, a much-hoped-for event took place last September, when a fine new Barn Theater, built with funds raised by public generosity and gratitude, was officially opened. As Director Tewksbury wrote a classmate, "The Theater is now firmly rooted in the fertile soil of Porterville, in solid if impoverished magnificence." Other local theaters started by the Barn are also flourishing, in Tulare and neighboring towns.
In addition to temperament at the Barn, the Tewksburys have four lively actors at home, Kipton 6, Rodson 4, Cleyton 3, Aleene 11 months.
