September 3, 2017
I had the honor of spending an afternoon with a group of talented people yesterday, members and friends of The Company Theatre. My association started in 1971 or 1972. Having been introduced to The Company earlier by my dear friend, Ken Rugg was a blessing. Ken was an avant garde director/ professor at CSULong Beach where I did a couple of summers as an actor and later taught for a year.
I had the honor of spending an afternoon with a group of talented people yesterday, members and friends of The Company Theatre. My association started in 1971 or 1972. Having been introduced to The Company earlier by my dear friend, Ken Rugg was a blessing. Ken was an avant garde director/ professor at CSULong Beach where I did a couple of summers as an actor and later taught for a year.
The first show that I saw at The Company was a rock and roll odyssey that pointed up how quickly we may forget those who may have been our idols. It was called Children of the Kingdom. The tiny space on Robertson between Olympic and Pico had an artsy 'flavor.' The walls were lined with used redwood planks and stained with boiled linseed oil.
The dramatic climax of the play had Gar shot and seriously wounded. He was hustled out the FRONT of the theater where we then heard the revving of a car engine and the screech of tires laying serious rubber as an actual car roared off to the hospital. The stage is left empty except for the janitor, Donnie Opper. He puts down his broom and picks up the mic that Gar has dropped! He begins to sing! Fickle we are, taking up with a new star!
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Yesterday, at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, courtesy of Marilyn Fox, PRT's artistic director, fifty or more Company Theatre founders and members and friends gathered to see one another and share stories and remember. Dennis Redfield, an original founding member of The Company, his lovely wife, Deirdre, their kids: Julia and Michael and Paul Linke did the heavy lifting to get a reunion together. The event was very touching and filled with love and memories. It was pretty impressive to see that most of us really had not changed that much! (except for Michael Stefani, who seems to youthen every time I see him.) Fifty years.. (45 for me) since. Even though I am somewhat on the periphery of this wonderful group of people, the feelings that generate from being in the midst of what can only be described as 'magical' has influenced in a major way to define my life. I am forever grateful.
At the time I was invited to participate with The Company, The James Joyce Memorial Liquid Theatre was a major hit. It was a fantasmagorical melange: flooding the senses with more than just an intellectual evening at the theatre. This show and The Emergence stand out in memory as truly ground breaking theatre.
At the time, Sylvie Drake and the venerable Dan Sullivan were the Theatre Critics for the L.A. Times. Both Sylvie and Dan championed the young company's exciting approach to making theatre. Good ink! (except for Sylvie's take on Michael McClure's The Beard!)
A few years ago, the idea to do a documentary about the early origins of The Company was begun. Unfortunately, only one discussion was put on video. I was remiss on not sitting down with Steven Kent informally to hear stories. It's still a good idea. I would hope that having two or more founding members of the theatre just chat with one another to "remember when!?" might happen. What would Ken Burns do?
After the reunion on Saturday, there seems to be interest in preserving the history of The Company Theatre's unique experiment. One member wrote recently that it might be like Roshomon, the memories. All the better, sez me.
Below is Sylvie's take on the reunion. She has given me permission to share it. Her memories of the halcyon days of being in a darkened space and witnessing what I believe was nothing short of practical magic.
"Dear All of YOU,
Sylvie Drake"
At the time I was invited to participate with The Company, The James Joyce Memorial Liquid Theatre was a major hit. It was a fantasmagorical melange: flooding the senses with more than just an intellectual evening at the theatre. This show and The Emergence stand out in memory as truly ground breaking theatre.
At the time, Sylvie Drake and the venerable Dan Sullivan were the Theatre Critics for the L.A. Times. Both Sylvie and Dan championed the young company's exciting approach to making theatre. Good ink! (except for Sylvie's take on Michael McClure's The Beard!)
A few years ago, the idea to do a documentary about the early origins of The Company was begun. Unfortunately, only one discussion was put on video. I was remiss on not sitting down with Steven Kent informally to hear stories. It's still a good idea. I would hope that having two or more founding members of the theatre just chat with one another to "remember when!?" might happen. What would Ken Burns do?
After the reunion on Saturday, there seems to be interest in preserving the history of The Company Theatre's unique experiment. One member wrote recently that it might be like Roshomon, the memories. All the better, sez me.
Below is Sylvie's take on the reunion. She has given me permission to share it. Her memories of the halcyon days of being in a darkened space and witnessing what I believe was nothing short of practical magic.
"Dear All of YOU,
As
the lone outsider among you, I cannot thank you enough for inviting me
to yesterday’s event. I was and am extremely honored. I was a rookie
journalist when I first encountered the work of The Company Theatre and
having lived in what had been a virtual theatrical desert except for a
tiny handful of companies (The Player’s Ring, The Stage Society, of
which I had been a member), to come across the explosion of creativity,
inventiveness and sheer magic you all came up with was stunning and a
huge encouragement. It was and remains a theatrical milestone in LA
theatre history. Like all of you, I will never forget the joys of
experiencing the beautiful work you invented and, for me, the privilege
of writing about it.
You
deeply touched my heart by including me in yesterday’s festivities. The
framed program for THE EMERGENCE has hung over my desk at home ever
since I saw that show. I particularly love it because it includes so
many of your names.
Your
work in the day was nothing short of a theatrical epiphany — and that
awareness was alive in the space yesterday. Be SURE you develop the
website that was talked about. It’s important, emotionally but also
historically.
Thank you again for the past and the present. Here’s wishing every one of you, the very best.
You’ve earned it.
Sylvie Drake"
Dear Sylvie, You were never an 'outsider' because your enthusiasm and honest reviews brought The Company welcome attention and deserved praise. Thank you.
The deep emotions that rise with these memories is fundamentally unique and personal.
You just had to be there.
The deep emotions that rise with these memories is fundamentally unique and personal.
You just had to be there.
Michael Sheehan
September 3, 2017
P.S. If you were around during the second breath of The Company on La Cienega, we are trying to find Barbara Grover. Please, spread the word.
P.S. If you were around during the second breath of The Company on La Cienega, we are trying to find Barbara Grover. Please, spread the word.
Dear Michael, I feel the same way. I was a freshman at USC in 1967. I took a theater course and the Company Theater was invited to perform as part of the class "lab". To put it mildly, I had never seen anything like this before. My little 17 year old mind was blown. Suddenly I began to see the possibilities available if one just had the courage to grab on to them. I never forgot the Company Theater and several years after I graduated in 1971, I called and asked if I could volunteer. My life felt like it was in shambles: I had been hospitalized at Camarillo State Hospital and received ECT treatments. There is nothing I can say except Thank You Company Theater. You let me come and work and feel like I had a family until I could get back on my feet. Those days were painful, joyful, wildly creative, intense and so alive. From the bottom of my heart I feel blessed that I have been and am still a part of you.
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