Behind The Barn door

Have you ever wondered, as you drive by, what's going on past the curvy wall, just up the hill at the red barn in the Marin Art and Garden Center?

What you'll find is award-winning, year-round, sophisticated, and well-priced live theater. Wonderful plays, gifted actors, diligent directors, and talented techs too, are all right here in our own backyard.

They are the Ross Valley Players and the group just turned 80.    

Reputed to be the oldest community theater group west of the Rockies, Ross Valley Players presents six full-length productions a year, running for 30 weeks. The shows are typically a mix of drama, romance, comedy, and sometimes a musical.  

The 2010-11 season starting Sept. 17 with David Mamet's November includes the romance Pride and Prejudice, the comedy Table Manners, two dramas Doubt and Rabbit Hole, and the musical Quilters. Additionally, they have restarted RAW, readings providing exposure to alternative works by up-and-coming authors.

They also offer special events and short-term productions outside the regular season. The house has 150 seats, each with a good view of the stage. About 10,000 people come through the Barn each season.

Beth Lloyd and a small group of women founded the players in 1930 to provide an escape from the depths of the Depression. Throughout her life, Lloyd remained involved and created many of the costumes still used today. 

My parents were Ross Valley Players in the early 1950s. We found my father's name, Bradford Collins, listed in Scene 2 of a 1954 program. My mother was an exceptional seamstress so I suspect that, besides being on stage, she also worked on costumes with Beth. As a young girl, I spent many happy hours watching rehearsals at the Barn.

Getting to the Barn

The group first performed at the community room of St. John's Episcopal Church in Ross. Later, they moved to a large outdoor amphitheater built by William Kent for productions at his estate in Kent Woodlands. This venue was big enough for plays like Kismet with up to 100 people on stage. The group also used San Rafael High School for shows.

In 1939, the Kittle estate in Ross offered their iconic red barn to the Ross Valley Players. Located on the grounds of what is now the Marin Art and Garden Center, the barn had not been a working barn for some years and was one of the original buildings left standing on the estate when the main house burned down. The group jumped at the chance to have such a great building as their permanent home. The players themselves had to clean out the remaining hay lofts and other farming accoutrement, construct a stage, add lighting, build bathrooms and convert the main floor into an acceptable space for an audience. The first production at the Barn was in 1940, a staged reading of Life with Father.

Recently remodeled, the Barn now has wheelchair access, a renovated lobby, ADA compliant bathrooms, a new office and meeting rooms, plus a real ticket booth. The second floor runs the entire length and width of the Barn and is bursting with props, furnishings, and stage flats that are recycled and repainted each show.

Historian and Vice President Tinka Ross says she often drives up to the Barn to find neighbors have left boxes and bags full of marvelous treasures of décor and clothing. Though they have a great many costumes, the group can always use more vintage hats, so feel free to call or just drop them off at the Barn door!

Looking back on the start

On the Ross Valley Players' 80th anniversary, I sat down at the Barn with Tinka and her husband, Alex Ross, who is the Business Manager. Both are past presidents and I'm convinced they hold the key to all the Barn's secrets, including the ghost, but that's a story for another day.

From their scrapbooks, Tinka and Alex pulled out the original letter from March 20, 1930 — an invitation to form a committee to start a community theater group. The letter was sent to young families in Ross Valley and so the the theater group became the Ross Valley Players. 

The initial response garnered 25 members. The ladies persisted and sent out a second letter that brought in a more respectable 50 members. Only two short months later, Ross Valley Players put on their first production, two comedies, on May 16-17, 1930.

Tinka and Alex recounted that in the early days the group was very social, almost a club. You had to be invited by a member to join. Huge dances were held at the Meadow Club in Fairfax and members were even encouraged to write their own plays. They put on holiday performances called The Gaieties and, during the war years, light-hearted variety shows, Duffy's Taverns.

The show must go on

Throughout its long history Ross Valley Players has provided a nurturing environment for thousands of actors, directors, producers, designers, and theater technicians to expand their creative imaginations and to develop their skills. The group remains a place for gifted amateurs of all ages to spread their wings and seasoned professionals to grow. Several alums have gone on to careers in theater, movies, radio and television.  

About 90 actors audition for each play. While one play is being presented, the next is in rehearsals. The actors are extremely talented amateurs, most of whom hold day jobs and many of whom have appeared in plays all over the Bay Area.  

Alex says they do it "for the love of theater, they certainly don't do it for the money," receiving $100 for about three months work. Directors do get paid and technicians receive a small stipend.

Jim Dunn, well known to Bay Area audiences and currently Professor Emeritus of the Drama Department at College of Marin, got his start with the Ross Valley Players. In 1950, and just out of the Marines, Jim appeared as a young actor in Mr. Roberts.

As an actor, Alex Ross says he probably holds the record for the most performances at 28 plays. He considers acting therapy.

"Unlike in real life," Alex said, "the lines are written for you."

At least, the lines are usually written for you. Since there are no retakes in live theater, when a mishap occurs it is up to the other actors onstage to cover for the mistake. During a performance of Absurd Person Singular it was critical to the action of the play that Alex, as an actor, stand on a table to change a light bulb. Early on, however, he noticed that he wouldn't be able to reach it and was trying to figure out – while delivering his lines – how he would handle the problem. Thankfully the director had noticed too, because he ran upstairs to the costume area, changed into a maintenance outfit, strolled on stage with a ladder and broom, lowered the light bulb, walked off stage, and the show went on.   

Award-winning in our backyard

Since its inception, the group has done most of Neil Simon's plays. An audience favorite is Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Other well-known plays presented, often more than once, are Laura, The Seven Year Itch, and Picnic. These days Ross Valley Players tends toward more modern productions. They are currently doing a survey to find out what the audience would like to see in the future. Each season a selection committee reads between 50-60 plays and then presents a short list to the board.

The group has developed a reputation as one of the premier community theaters in the Bay Area, because of the consistent high quality of productions. The group has been honored by Dean Goodman. And The Bay Area Theater Critics Circle (BATCC) has annually nominated the productions, actors, directors and designers for best of the year awards. Recent honors include BATCC awards for directing and acting in the 2008 production of The Cocktail Hour.

Proud of their accomplishments, the Ross Valley Players see themselves as a vital part of the community. As a non-profit organization, they strive to deliver the best theater possible within the constraints of both their budget and the Barn theater building. About $70,000 of the $200,000 annual budget is used to operate and maintain the Barn and an average production costs around $20,000. Their biggest fundraiser is the beer and wine booth at the country fair during which they serve 5,000 patrons.

On a recent Saturday night, I enjoyed the romantic comedy The Middle Years by A.R. Gurney. The play begins in the 1940s and continues into the 1970s. Much like the world the Ross Valley Players has experienced over the years, the play touches on history and social issues including racism, anti-Semitism, the Korean War, the turbulent 1960s, the women's movement and free love. The Middle Ages runs through August 15.

Live theater at the Barn is a wonderful evening's entertainment. If you are tired of going to the movies where everything seems to be about car chases, deafening sound tracks, four letter words, and buildings blowing up, for about the same price you should check out Ross Valley Players. Just head on up to the Barn. You might even find that your local banker or contractor appears in a starring role. 

Happy Birthday Ross Valley Players! May you thrive and grow for another 80 years and then some!  

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General admission is $25, or $20 for seniors (62+) and for youth (18 and under). Thursday shows are $15 for everyone. Tickets for RAW productions are $15. There are also "Pay What You Will" previews. Season tickets offer six plays for the price of five, plus a cookie coupon.

Buzz at the Barn takes place on the first Saturday of each production and offers free wine and hors d'oeuvres in addition to the ticket.

Ross Valley Player donor and member levels start at $45 and go as high as $5,000. When you join, you also become a member of the Marin Art and Garden Center. If you volunteer for an evening, you get to see the performance for free.

For more information or tickets visit their website: www.rossvalleyplayers.com or call: 456-9555.