The Pacific Repertory Theatre is a non-profit California corporation, based in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

, that produces theatrical productions and events, including the annual Carmel Shakespeare Festival. It is one of eight major arts institutions in Monterey County, as designated by the Community Foundation of Monterey County, and is supported in part by grants from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Berkshire Foundation and the Monterey Peninsula Foundation.

History

The company was founded in 1982 as GroveMont Theatre by Carmel-by-the-Sea resident

Stephen Moorer Stephen Moorer (born September 29, 1961) is a stage actor, director, producer and non-profit administrator based on the Central California Coast. He founded the only year-round professional theatre in Monterey County, GroveMont Theatre in 1982, ...

, who served as its artistic director from 1983 to 2008, and its Executive Director since 2009. The organizational name changed to Pacific Repertory Theatre in 1994 when the company acquired the historic site of the

Golden Bough Playhouse The Golden Bough Playhouse is a historic two-story theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on Monte Verde St., between 8th and 9th Avenues. The playhouse occupies the site of the former Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, Carmel's first cultural center a ...

in downtown Carmel, and announced plans to establish a professional theatre for the region. In 2001, in order to facilitate an appearance by

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...

and

Louis Zorich Louis Zorich (February 12, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor. He played sporting good salesman Burt Buchman, Paul Buchman's father, on the NBC series ''Mad About You'' from 1993 to 1999. Early years Zorich was born in Chicago, I ...

in Chekhov's ''The Cherry Orchard'', the company entered into a seasonal agreement with

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

. It thereby became the only professional theatre in

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

. The company gained wider attention for its series of Shakespeare plays entitled ''Royal Blood: The Rise and Fall of Kings''. Over the course of several summers beginning in 2001, it presented all of

Shakespeare's histories In the First Folio, the plays of William Shakespeare were grouped into three categories: comedies, histories, and tragedies. The histories—along with those of contemporary Renaissance playwrights—help define the genre of history plays. Th ...

in chronological order. PacRep presents a year-round season of 10–12 plays and musicals in three historic Carmel theatres: The 300-seat

, the 120-seat Circle Theatre, and the 540-seat outdoor

Forest Theater The Forest Theater is an historic amphitheater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest outdoor theaters west of the Rockies. Actor/director Herbert Heron is generally cited as the founder and driving force, an ...

. The company presents over 175 performances each year.

Forest Theater

In 1984, Pacific Repertory Theatre joined the Forest Theater community. At the request of the Carmel Cultural Commission, the company began producing shows at the historic outdoor facility, staging Robinson Jeffers’ ''Medea'', starring local actress Rosamond Goodrich Zanides. In 1990, the company reactivated the old Carmel Shake-speare Festival of the 1940s, playing in repertory at the Forest, Golden Bough, and Circle theatres, and adding the hyphen in "Shake-speare" to denote interest and support research into the growing

Shakespeare Authorship Question Image:ShakespeareCandidates1.jpg, alt=Portraits of Shakespeare and four proposed alternative authors, Oxford, Bacon, Derby, and Marlowe (clockwise from top left, Shakespeare centre) have each been proposed as the true author. poly 1 1 105 1 1 ...

. Since that time, the company has continued to stage productions at the Forest Theater every September and October, expanding into August in 2000, when it became the only professional theater company in residence at the Forest Theater. In 2011, following the closure of the 50-year-old Children's Experimental Theater, the City of Carmel awarded the year-round lease of the indoor Forest Theater to PacRep for its educational SoDA program.

Leadership change

In 2008, the PacRep Board of Directors named Kenneth Kelleher as Artistic Director, and founder Stephen Moorer was named Executive Director after serving as Artistic Director since 1982. Kelleher has been a theatre director in the San Francisco Bay area for many years, including at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and Shakespeare at Stinson. The 2009 season marked the first full season under Kelleher's artistic leadership. The season included a 14-member adaptation of ''Man of La Mancha'', and the controversial

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

play, ''The Blue Room'', a frank look at sexual encounters based on ''

La Ronde La Ronde may refer to: Geography * La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France * La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica *La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada *A La Ronde, an ...

''. Both productions were directed by Kelleher, who also assumed directorial duties for the season productions of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' and ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

''.

Outreach

Annual outreach programs include PacRep's ''School of Dramatic Arts'' (SoDA) and the ''Tix4Kids'' program that distributes subsidized theatre tickets to underserved youth. In addition, the company regularly participates in numerous community activities including regional parade, festivals and holiday events.

References

Notes

External links

* {{Coord, 36, 33, 6.5, N, 121, 55, 28.5, W, region:US-CA, display=title Regional theatre in the United States California Historical Landmarks Performing arts centers in California Theatres in California Theatre companies in California Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 1983 establishments in California Tourist attractions in Monterey County, California Buildings and structures in Monterey County, California Theatres completed in 1952 Shakespeare festivals in the United States Shakespeare authorship question