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Masquers
Theater History
Bob
and Shirley Dunlop started the Masquers Theater in 1979. The Dunlops
moved to Soap Lake from California bringing with them their
experience and expertise in community theater. They gathered together a
small group of aspiring performing artists and rehearsed their first
plays in one of the downtown buildings. These early productions
included Come Blow Your Horn, The Warrior’s Husband, Gaslight,
and Blythe Spirit.
Audiences
were never large, but actors continued to respond to auditions for new
plays. Rehearsals led to opening nights as the theatre’s
repertoire grew. In 1983, the Dunlops moved back to California,
leaving behind a handful of diehards committed to keeping the theater
alive.
Beverly
Hasper became the Artistic Director in 1983. She had been with the
Dunlops from the beginning. Although she had taken playwriting and
acting classes at the University
of Washington,
most of her experience came while working under their tutelage. Up
until 1987, the theater offered plays whenever the group got together
and decided to do one. Beverly
admits, “We didn’t have a lot of experience, but we learned
as we went.” Beverly
points out that the Masquers Theater is a product of change and the
influence and contributions of people who have come along over the
years and made a difference.
Cal
Seeley had a profound influence on the Masquers group. He came to Soap Lake
in 1987 from Flint,
Michigan. Cal bought his
talents as a teacher of theater arts as well as his extensive
experience in community theater. Beverly remembers actors sitting
around for hours after rehearsals with Seeley, analyzing the play, the
characters, the roles, and the intent of the playwright. She commented
that, “These were great experiences and so instructive. They
added a whole new dimension to our performances.” Some of the
plays produced during this period were: The Mail Order Bride, Honestly
Now, The Road to Mecca,
and Crimes of the Heart. Cal moved to
Spokane
in 1989.
Although
it has never left Main
Street in Soap Lake,
the Masquers Theater stage location has changed four times in the last
twenty years. Perhaps their greatest testament to versatility is their
ability to pack up and move to new quarters, while maintaining a
rigorous schedule of rehearsals and productions. The Pied Piper was
performed in local schools and Driving Miss Daisy was presented as
dinner theatre at several restaurants.
John
Glassco, past president of the Masquers was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada. John encouraged a
series of productions written by Canadian playwrights. These plays,
referred to as the prairie intellectual series, were highly successful
for the Masquers and included The Mail Order Bride, Border Town
Café, and Artichoke. Looking back on this period, Beverly
commented, “These plays really spoke to local audiences. They
were about rural people and the kinds of issues people here can relate
to.”
In
1996, Don Wilkins came to Soap
Lake.
Don was from England
where he had received theater training at the Royal Academy
of the Performing Arts. Like those before him, Don helped the actors
achieve great performances. He directed Five Women Wearing the Same
Dress, one of the biggest hits in the history of Masquers. The author
of this play, Alan Ball, received an Academy Award for his screenplay,
American Beauty.
After
18 years as the Artistic Director, Beverly Hasper is a dedicated as
ever. In a recent interview, she stated, “We’d like to show
people in the Basin the value of performing arts. We’d like to
bring them theater experiences that will make people think. We want
them to be entertained, but also to go away with something to think
about. Part of our mission is to give people food for
though…something that will stick with them.”
Beverly has directed and acted in
many plays over the last twenty years. Directing is a passion for her.
She recently commented, “My vision is to find material that I
really like, then find actors to fill the roles. Once the actors are on
board, I give them a whole lot of freedom to express themselves. As a
director, I try and help them understand the role, but let them
interpret it in their own way. I’ve worked with actors who are
getting their first experience acting. It’s very rewarding to
watch them develop. Some people are shy, but when they come to the
stage they are able to do what they cannot do in real life. That is one
of the most beautiful things about acting. People can play a role and
realize that it gives them permission to sound off in ways that they
would like to in their life, but are afraid to. A role give someone
freedom to express themselves. Theater really is great therapy for
people.”
The
role of the artistic director is to establish the creative direction of
the group. Taking into consideration plays or performances that will
create the greatest impression on the audience is a vital part of that
role. It can also be the most difficult. As Beverly quickly points out, “We
have a rural culture here. There are people with many different tastes.
In theater, we are looking for ways to reach out to people through a
set of values that will allow them to reach back in anticipation of
something new or unknown. We want our plays to give them a glimpse of
something meaningful, provide them with an experience that is outside
of the ordinary in their lives. Finding plays that will do this is our
biggest challenge. The theater is a place people can come together and
feel life without actually living it. We want to bring our audiences a
sense of delight that will keep them coming back”.
One of
the biggest projects the theater has undertaken began seven years ago.
With the help of Hank Worden and the Columbia Basin Foundation, the
group started a building fund. Marina Romary donated a lot on Main Street
in Soap Lake, and the group began
construction of a new state-of-the-art theater in 2001. Local citizens
donated virtually all of the $200,000 raised for the first stage of
building construction. The largest donation of $100,000.00 came from
Jeanette Jolly.
The
Masquers Theater is one of the oldest rural community theaters in the
state of Washington.
Theater volunteers have consistently provided Basin residents with fine
comedy and dramatic performances. The efforts of this group are a
tribute to the spirit of goodwill that enables any volunteer
organization to prevail through years of change and an audience they
will never stop trying to please.
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