For the essay mentioned below, I'm going to write about what I consider to be the most remarkable theater company in the history of Oregon theater, Peter Fornara's Actors Theatre Company in the old Centenary Wilbur Church over 25 years ago. Fornara managed to get a CETA grant to fund the company! He put many, many theater artists to work putting on plays in rep. Indeed, in one astounding week, four plays opened on four successive days: as I recall, they were Joe Egg, Cabaret, American Buffalo and Marat/Sade. Here was an argument for the wonderful consequences of government support of the arts, a theater company that didn't have to survive on box office (though it was popular), and therefore could be adventurous, ambitious and sometimes wonderfully reckless.
If anyone reading this wants to share memories of this remarkable theatrical adventure, please email me at cdeemer@yahoo.com.
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