@dramatistsguild

I am in the mountains of Virginia and yesterday we made our way down many Main Streets along Route 11 in the Shenandoah Valley, including Strasburg where we passed the Strasburg Theatre. There is a “For Sale” sign and the marquee asks if anyone will save it. This got me thinking about old movie house theatres, you know the ones I mean: those Main Street palaces that held together communities during the depression, and WWII, through the homespun 1950s, turbulent 1960s, and into the following decades. Places like The Paramount in Rutland, VT; The Strand in Dorchester, MA; The Ohio in Columbus; The Majestic in Grand Rapids, MI and so many others that have been lost or saved, living in our memories and the footprints of our families and communities.

The Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT is my Main Street theatre. She opened August 19, 1931 with The Star Witness starring Walter Huston. In the 1940s my dad, Fred George, was an usher, wearing knickers and a beanie cap as his boss, Mr. Scanlon, checked behind the boys’ ears and under fingernails for cleanliness. Back in those days, every patron was individually walked to his or her seat. As a kid I remember the adventure of being dropped off with a few dollars to see a movie and get popcorn, always longing to sit in the mysterious, decaying closed-off balcony. Fast-forward to the 1978 and the disco craze (I can feel some of you cringing) saw me as a young teenager and already dating my husband. Saturday Night Fever premiered at The Warner and we wandered across the street to Marinelli’s Jewelers, two kids window-shopping engagement rings. In 1982 the theatre was slated for demolition but a group of citizen formed the Northwest Connecticut Association for the Arts that lead a grass roots campaign to save her. That is what Main Street theatres are about: families and communities with a shared connection.

And now, decades later, following a stunning restoration to its art deco brilliance, The Warner Theatre feeds a community of playwrights with The Warner International Playwrights Festival. Four years ago, in a meeting of minds, we started this festival with three tenants: one-act plays, the plays could be premieres or previously produced, and the selected plays would get production instead of reading. To date, the festival has produced 40 plays and will reach 50 with the 2015 festival that runs October 15-17.

In 2013, New York’s Lily Rusek’s play Winter Flowers was selected for the “Family will not be broken” night and the true spirit of community blossomed. Winter Flowers, a story of two elderly sisters, one with an intellectual disability, dealing with the impending death of the other - was one of hits of the festival. The Warner Stage Company went on to perform it at the Connecticut Community Theatre Association festival in September 2014, where it took top honors. WinterFlowers then went on to performance at the American Association of Community Theatres Festival (AACTFest) 2015 Region I, presented by the New England Theatre Conference. The play won Outstanding Overall Production, Best Actress tie for both Lea Dmytryck and Jane Coughlin, and Sharon Wilcox took the Best Director award. The Warner Stage Company then took Winter Flowers to the national AACTFest in Grand Rapids, Michigan performing it at the old Majestic that is now the new Civic Theatre.

Whether Connecticut or Michigan, Virginia or elsewhere, community and family are still held together by those old theatres. In Connecticut we have our share: Broad Brook Opera House, Manchester’s Cheney Hall, New London’s Garde Arts Center, Willimantic’s Capitol Theatre, Thomaston Opera House, and more. And the Strasburg Theatre? Perhaps some brave souls (anyone reading this?) will breathe new artistic passion into her because she is still on the market…of course I checked.

cdonaghy@dramatistsguild.com

The Elitch Theatre 

Winter Flowers