Six Years of Summer Stock Theatre(1968-1973)

Though my personal Summer Stock years began in 1968, the story actually begins in the summer of 1965, my Junior year at Ellet H. S.

My oldest brother Dan and his wife, Joanne, were at Cleveland Ohio's "MusiCarnival", a large, theatre-in-the-round, outdoor, summer theatre as part of the acting/singing chorus. This was their second season there.

Two of my High School best friends were Garry WYCKOFF and Lenore DiFIORE. They were also spending the summer there as an Apprentices.

I spent part of the summer with Dan & Joanne, living with them in their 35 ft. House Trailer on the theatre's lot.

One of the shows they would be doing was "110 in the Shade". Dan & Joanne had given me the score to "110" for my 17th birthday, that Spring. I loved the music from the show very much and one day, I was sitting at the rehearsal piano on the rehearsal stage in back of the "Big Top" practicing on the score to another show, when this guy burst onto the rehearsal stage, saw the score to "110" on top of the piano, thinking it was theatre property, grabbed it, saying: "I need this for the Ballet light cues" and immediately whirled away before I could stop him and tell him it was MY score! I asked Dan to get it back for me... which he did that night. The ballet section was covered with hastily written lighting cues...I thought, "Oh well, it would be a neat memento of my summer there"...The guy who "borrowed" my score was the company's Assistant Lighting Technician: I noticed his name in the programs: Lance Crocker. He was always hanging lights, so I had no other contact with him for the rest of the summer. Subsequently, whenever I played through the "110..." score and saw those lighting cues, I remembered MusiCarnival and Lance.

I had missed the first show: "Sound Of Music", but saw the rest of the shows:"Show Boat", "110", The Music Man", "South Pacific", "Sing Out Sweet Land" (A musical, historical review with music arranged by MusiCarnival's Musical Director, Wally Harper (a fellow Akronite!...a Central High School, graduate) & "My Fair Lady". I missed the last show: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". What a wonderful, enlightening summer. I learned a LOT about Summer Stock that summer, saw how much WORK was put into it by EVERYONE, including the Tech. Crews ! AND met a lot of VERY talented actor/singers. Among them was John SCHUCK: TV's future, "MacMillan & Wife" co-star!

The last show I saw was "My Fair Lady". Since I was going to be "Alfred P. Doolittle" in Ellet High School's production of "My Fair Lady" in the spring, Dan arranged for me to speak to the actor that was doing the "Doolittle" part. He gave me his "Doolittle" side (Samuel FRENCH's show texts appeared as booklets with only the part's lines with accompanying cue phrases...didn't care for them, but we couldn't be choosey...The actor was impressed with my English accent and gave me some pointers in characterization. It really helped me later when I performed the part.

Back to Akron, Spring 1968: Garry WYCKOFF called me from Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He was to be the Musical Director for a summer stock company, called 'The DownEast Players". He said that he didn't want to the the accompanist as well and would I be interested in coming up for the summer as their accompanist? My dad had just co-signed a loan for me to get a car, a 1965 Rambler. I had also gotten a job with Permatone Tile Company on Manchester Road...about a 20 minute drive from my parent's & "my" home. I had to tell Garry, "O God! Do I WISH Icould come up but..." and explained my predicament. I had to, sadly, say, "Thanks, but no thanks".

Since I was, again, an Assistant Manager Trainee, I got to the point of being left alone at the shop with the secretary, assistant managing and making out the paychecks for both of us. I was officially the Assistant Manager...BUT, I SO wanted to be a professional musician.

I COULDN'T STAND MY JOB ANY MORE !...The Boss was more and more, NOT there...which was the reason for my training...BUT: he was having an affair and spending more time with "Her" than with his wife, who was always calling the store...putting me in an embarrassing situation in which I had NO wish to be put! I was constantly thinking about the theatre job I turned down...A plan was taking shape in my mind...ie. I called Garry and asked him if the position was still open...(I HOPE, I HOPE, I HOPE!).

Fortune was with me at that moment: Garry said "Come on up...BUT...the budget is already set and you'll have to split a paycheck with me. That would mean you get only $30.00 a week..."...not much...infinitely LESS than what I received at the tile company...but room and board with no rent to pay... Atlantic Ocean...theatre work I LOVED...I could just make the car payments... I said "YES! YES! YES!..I'll be there in a few days!".

Now...the problem would be arranging to leave. That Friday I wrote a letter to the boss, telling him that I was leaving his employ...left it in his office where he would find it, bonded our (Secretary's & My) paychecks and went home to pack.

I knew Mom & Dad would disapprove heartliy, so being young and impulsive, I didn't tell them I was going. So, while Mom was doing the laundry downstairs, I sneaked (snuck?) my suitcases, stereo and a few of my favorite records out to my car in the garage, knowing full well, that I was doing something that would get me into to hot water with my parents, I told Mom I was going for a ride and drove off toward Maine in my Light Blue Rambler. I had to carry a couple gallons of water, because the engine would heat up due to the high speeds on the expressway and I'd have to stop every now and then to let the engine cool off and add water.


I didn't call Mom & Dad until I was at my brother Dan's apartment in New York City. Dad was not happy to hear of what I had done and refused to talk to me (I don't blame him...but I didnt know what else to do about my situation). Mom was not happy either, but sympathetic with my needs and dreams...Mom eventually calmed Dad down.

My next stop was Ram Island Farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I got there between 1 and 2 o'clock. The sun was shining everywhere...not a cloud in the intense blue sky, IT WAS HEAVEN !!!

The winding route eventually led me south, out of Portland. I got lost, but eventually found the entrance to the farm Entrance road to Ram Island Farm, which was very picturesque and also a Private estate: The road winds along for a few minutes and suddenly, I saw a large, crescent shaped beach and the infinite ocean beyond. What a sight for a person who grew up in Akron, Ohio ! It was incredible!... alternating pebble and sand beaches...a town on the southernmost edge where the land juts out into the sea, the smell of salt water permeating the air...and the constant sound & sight of seagulls! I thought I had died and gone to heaven ! My excitement heightens considerably ! A few more turns in the road, past a few quaint houses, I passed a long straight driveway leading to a two story grey-shingled house whose back yard was a tangle of shrubbery, a very short distance from the ocean !!! I was in love with the place immediately! I passed two more houses before I got to the entrance, proper, to the Farm...Two square brick pedestals flanked the road into the Farm, each supporting a statue of a charging ram ! Imposing ! Just past the rams, the driveway split right and left...? Which one to choose?...I took the road to the left which led to a large white, two-story farmhouse with two medium-sized greenhouses behind it. I got out of the car, walked up to the door and knocked. A teenage girl answered and called for her father (later I, was told that he was the caretaker, Mr. MacIntosh and the girl was one of his daughters, Laura). There was also a Mr. DUNHAM and his daughter, Marjorie...in my old notes, I have Mr. DUNHAM as the Caretaker...? Mr. MacIntosh gave me the phone number of the theatre's owner, Mille Monks. She gave me the theatre's number and Garry answered. He told me how to get to the theatre...follow the road past the caretaker's house, past the farm's equipment barns which would lead me to the main barn/theatre. Garry was standing at the foot of the stairway leading up to the theatre entrance on the second floor. Front View of Barn Theatre Side View of Barn. I got out of my car and greeted Garry, whom I hadn't seen since we graduated in June '66. He led me up the steps to the theatre entrance...through the double doors and I saw: a small stage (16' X 16' with a 2' wide ledge/step surrounding the square) on my left at one end of the room and a bare, black, wooden floor, filled with seating for the audiences. The chairs were Director's chairs with red fabric seats and backs. Directly opposite me, I saw a new BALDWIN organ and an old upright piano, ("My Orchestra"!!), in an alcove with a half-round window above a large window seat. My first impression was EXTREMELY favorable ! I WAS in Heaven !...and NOT AT ALL unhappy with my choice of leaving Akron, Ohio !!!

Above us, in the rafters was the Director/Electrician/Set Designer/Lord High Everything Else, positioning some lights. Garry asked him to come down and meet me...As he descended the ladder, the second I saw his face, I remembered MusiCarnival and their Assistant Electrician, Lance CROCKER. I quickly searched through an armful of music, found my "110 in the Shade" score opened it to the Ballet section, shook Lance's hand and showed he and Garry the hastily written lighting cues THAT WERE IN LANCE'S OWN HANDWRITING!...Lance was incredulous ! He said, "Where did you GET this score?!?"...I then asked him if he remembered grabbing a score off of the rehearsal piano at MusiCarnival the summer of 1965...He thought for a moment and then said, "Now I remember ! That was Your score ?!...This is Incredible!...Dan told me that score belonged to his brother...". There was a strange feeling of interconnectedness that riveted us to our spots for a few moments...who would have known, in 1965...in Cleveland, Ohio, that the three of us would be working with each other in a summer stock theatre on a farm in Maine three years later???? A POWERFUL omen of things to come...

Lance returned to his work and Garry then took me to that two story grey-shingled house I passed on the way in. It was called "Spurwink House" and would be the company's lodging for the summer. Through the front door, was a medium sized kitchen where most of us would be eating our daily breakfasts. Next was a large, painted, bare-floored living room with a few sofas, chairs and a large picture window looking out over the dense bushes in the "back" yard and the Atlantic Ocean beyond...with a small path leading towards the ocean. A deer and her fawn lived in the dense bushes. What didn't show as we looked out of the window was a craggy 20 foot drop-off on the sea-side of the bushes...large striated cliffs and a large pebble beach. To the right of the living room was a hallway that led to two large bedrooms, one to be used by Lance, his wife Cathy. The other large room was to be used by Stephen and Diane Vega-Snow and their small daughter, Robin, whom, I had later learned, had the largest blue eyes with long lashes and dark curly hair. To the left of the living room was a stairway that led to the two upstairs bedrooms (one on the left for the guys, the one on the right for the girls of the acting company and a communal bathroom. I took my belongings upstairs and chose one of the many beds close to a window. My good friend from high school: Lenore DiFIORE had arrived with Garry, Lance & Cathy, [Lance's wife], earlier, but was in town with Cathy when I arrived.

Next, I was to meet the theatre's business manager, John DOBBINS as well as the stage manager, Van McLEOD and the Tech. Director, Tony PERRONE. Cathy CROCKER was company's Production Manager and Lenore, the Costume Mistress also a singer/actress. Van & Tony also acted & sang.

Later that day we positioned the organ and piano and I stayed there by myself to get the feel of the instruments.

I played the piano for several hours and then moved on to play the organ. I had never played an organ that large before, so it was a real treat! It had four octaves of bass pedals...I was used to one note shy of a full octave of pedals on that HAMMOND organ Dad bought me when he sold the piano to the PENNELLS. I played with all the controls and lost track of time. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I hadn't noticed that the sun was sinking. There was no wind, which seemed peculiar since the barn was only a couple of hundred feet from the ocean.

At one point, as I was looking down at the keyboards, I caught the movement of three globes of light dancing in a corner of the barn. But when I looked up, they were gone. I thought that strange since there were no reflecting surfaces inside the barn. But I immediately forgot about it and continued playing the organ. It had built in drums patterns, as well !!! A few moments later, all of the doors, one at the end of the barn and the double doors SLAMMED shut!!! All at the same time !!! This made me VERY jittery and uneasy since there was NO wind blowing ANYWHERE! The window behind me was open and I surely would have heard the wind, had there been any !??? However, again, I forced myself to ignore the happenings. Again I caught a glimpse of a light...actually in the form of a small girl from the shoulders up...no features...just all "fuzzy" light. When I looked directly at "her", she DISAPPEARED !!!!!!????? This frightened me somewhat, but what really frightened me was this feeling of a strong presence of someone else. I felt this So Strongly that I grabbed my music and ran towards the double doors, flung them open and RACED down the steps to my car. I was TERRIFIED !??? Nothing had EVER frightened me so much! I got into my car, started it and raced down the road to Spurwink House. As I passed the ram statues at the farm entrance, I could feel two sets of eyes BORING into the back of my head ! This feeling stayed with me and until I turned into the Spurwink House driveway, the oppressing feeling vanished COMPLETELY !...???!!!??? I was duly shaken by that experience and went to tell Lenore about it. She didn't believe me, so I didn't mention it to anyone else. I thought: "maybe I'm going crazy?"...I kept that story to myself for quite some time.

We all helped to clean out the ground floor of the barn. A LOT of hay, in which we found several LARGE family paintings and a coach with two large running lights/lanterns on either side. I also found office things from the late 1800s. Some western union notes and cancelled checks. The family was into Shipping Coal and Oil, among other things. Mille converted the ground floor into an Art Gallery, eventually, to feature local artists during our show runs. Mille had electricians and plumbers working over time to finish the public bathrooms in the end of the gallery in time for the opening.

The Estate: Ram Island Farm : 3,000 acres of prime land, two islands: Ram Island: small, rocky island shaped like a ram's head, covered with seagulls and at the northern end of the property was a huge rocky breakwater leading to Richmond Island. When the tide was in, you could only see the tips of the highest rocks. The mainland property had long sandy beaches, several pebble beaches, sand dunes, pine forest, an orchard, a small pond surrounded by moss-covered trees, a small log cabin deep in the forest...deer and other wildlife all over the estate, all belonging to the Sprague family. I felt like I was on the set of DISNEY's "Snow White"!!!

DOWNEAST PLAYERS mailing address: 477 Congress St., Suite 1200, Portland, Maine 04111

Portland, ME. Evening Express 9 Jul 1968
BARNYARD THEATER?
RAM ISLAND FARM HAS A REAL ONE
By William LADD

A barnyard theater? That's what you'd think if you took a look at the location for the newly established DOWNEAST Theater in Cape Elizabeth (ME).

The theater itself is an authentic old barn at the SPRAGUE Corporation's Ram Island Farm overlooking the scenic Cape Elizabeth shoreline. The farm animals are an unplanned special effect.

The strictly nonprofit theater is the summer home of the newly organized DOWNEAST PLAYERS, a group of 12 professional actors, singers and dancers from Portland, ME and Plymouth, NH.

Aside from producing a schedule of top-notch summer plays, the group also conducts a series of workshops designed to educate interested people to the various aspects of theater art. Regularly scheduled workshops run Mondays through Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. Special workshops are run every Monday and Tuesday nights starting at 8 p.m.

Lance CROCKER, Deering High School graduate and president of the PLAYERS, traced the idea of the DOWNEAST PLAYERS back four years. "We wanted to initiate some kind of program (theater art) for the Portland area in general," he said.

The group's decision to incorporate the Ram Island Farm facilities into their plans was a result of the SPRAGUE's generous offer to allow the use of the barn while renting them a house to stay at.

CROCKER said that the group's primary goal is "education, not only for ourselves, but also for as many people as we can reach." They feel that Portland has good potential for becoming a major art and culture center.

The education CROCKER speaks of is free of charge; it is also professional. All of the PLAYERS conducting the daily workshops are professionals and most of them teach at public and art schools during the off-season.

Obviously, a group of stage players cannot perform without financial resources, whether their organization is profit or nonprofit.

Because the group performs and instructs in a residential area and cannot, therefore, charge admission to their performances, they are forced to rely on donations for their existence.

CROCKER said that the group would continue productions and workshops at the Ram Island Farm next summer, regardless of this season's success. But they're hoping more people in the Portland area will become interested enough to venture out to the farm and take advantage of their summer program.

While you're out there, you may hear a rendition of "Talk To The Animals".

The special workshop schedule for July is as follows:

For additional information and the summer play schedule call 799-0043.

The Acting Company for the first half of the summer was to be:

Ram Island Farm residents made up the rest of the chorus: Mille's son & daughter: Bobby & Melinda MONKS; Mille's sister, Ellen HIGGINS & her daughters: Kate & Charlotte & the farm caretaker's daughter, Laura MacINTOSH. The kids were apprentices; the work was hard on them, but I think we all got along well. Marjorie DUNHAM helped wherever she could...cleaning up the dressing rooms and being present at all the rehearsals. She was fascinated with the theatre!

I had learned what an Electrician's and Theatre Apprentice's lives were like, by observing Lance & Garry and Lenore when they worked at MusiCarnival in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The apprentices were allowed to be chorus members, but they had to do all the "Grunt Work" around the theatre. Assisting Professional Department Heads and also learning from them, while they worked. It was a difficult, exciting and profitable summer job. They kept their weight down by the constqnt running around and learned a theatre craft or three in the process.

I heard that professional theatres charged their Apprentices a Fee for learning their craft. Might have had to do with joining the Actor's Union ("A.F.T.R.A.") later?


First day of rehearsals: Lance told us we were to play some "theatre games" to test how the ensemble worked together. The first game was called "CONCEPTS", which consisted of Lance choosing a concept...ie, the color "Red," and an "It" person: (Phyllis) was singled out to guess what concept the rest of us were trying to convey. I don't remember who did which:

We were all getting a bit tired expending a lot of energy with no positive results, so we relished the idea of loosening Phyllis up a bit. However, we didn't realize just how uncomforable she was. WHAT could we DO??? Our final attempt was to portray gang violence with Phyllis as the victim... operative word here is PORTRAY...Well...Phyllis Freaked Out! She thought we were actually going to beat her up !...So Lance quickly called a recess...We apologized to Phyllis for scaring her. But I don't think she trusted us for the rest of her stay that summer.

Later, another game : we'd lift a person into a horizontal position in the air above our outstretched arms and tried to make that person feel like they were riding an ocean wave...trying to get that person to relax enough to trust us. That one worked better and everyone was laughing after a short while. We were all feeling very good about the coming summer.


Everyone got one meal a day as part of their contract. Since I arrived after the budget was approved, I had to cook that meal for the rest of the company to pay for MY meal. So...as well as learn all the music for each show, I had to leave the afternoon rehearsal early in order to have dinner prepared on time. As a result, I learned to play the music VERY quickly!... I cooked (Thank you Mom, for showing me how !) the dinner in "The Picnic Basket", a large cement-floored building a few hundred yards from the theatre overlooking the ocean. It had a large wooden deck the entire length of the seaward side of the building, built over a very large, deep cliff/alcove, with a tall, metal safety fence to keep the many family members/ children from falling to their deaths...I mean it was a long way to fall! The seaward side of the P.B. was all glass so one could enjoy the view. The side facing the theatre was barely one story with several picture windows and a door. The kitchen end of the building had two large picture windows behind the sinks, overlooking a few pine trees and the vast ocean beyond, made washing dishes enjoyable!. The whole building was faced with large pieces of slate. It had a full kitchen, many picnic tables, sofas, chairs and a piano. When Lance needed the theatre for building sets or hanging lights or blocking scenes, the music rehearsals were held in the P.B.


I'd get up at 8 a.m. every morning, eat breakfast and head to the theatre for the first rehearsal of the day at 9:30 a.m. For each show, we'd use the first rehearsal to read through the script to see what we'd need to do for the characterization, sets, props, etc. We'd then take a 10 minute break and then Lance would take some of the actors and block the first scenes, while Garry & I would take whoever Lance didn't need to the P.B. and teach them the vocal numbers. We'd rehearse until noon and then break for lunch... sometimes I'd drive as many as could fit in my car to the local B. & W. Rootbeer stand and pig out on coney dogs and root beer. The rehearsals resumed at 1 p.m. I'd have to leave that rehearsal around 4 .m. to prepare the dinner. We'd eat around 5 p.m. and the rehearsals would again resume at 7 p.m. and last until 10:30 or 11 p.m.


Each performance would run for two week-ends, four performances...on Frinights and Saturnights. Sundays were our days off.


Don't ask me when I found time to practice...I don't remember...We rehearsed the first show for two weeks during the mornings...break for lunch ...give classes in Theatre Arts: Acting, Singing and Dancing, for area residents...adults, teenagers and kids...break for dinner, then rehearse until time to quit. We performed the first show on the second weekend. On Monday of the third week, we began rehearsing the next show...We also gave children's theatre performances...And so went our summer. Blissfully Overworked, we enjoyed the summer immensely. I took the dance workshop that the choreographer, Jon MIELE, taught. He was impressed with my dancing ability (Thanks to Akron's Goodyear Musical theatre's choreographer, Jean SHEPHERD!)


The FIRST MUSICAL:"RIVERWIND"

I discovered that the musical scores were handwritten...NOT the printed scores I was used to reading...chicken scratches! What FUN!...NOT!!!


What a delightful show!: Full of "Mom & Apple pie, down-homey sentiment" ...O.K., I know it was the late '60s, free-love, etc., but I grew up with the 50's outlook: Dad works, Mom takes care of the kids and the house, two week vacation every year, we did everything AS A FAMILY...church every Sunday... vacation Bible School...barbecues in the back yard...FAMILY reunions every few years...So "RIVERWIND" "struck familial chords" in me AND with the appreciative audiences !


"RIVERWIND Cast:

Phyllis gave an excellent performance as the young girl in love for the first time. Lenore was touching as the Mother as well as VERY funny in her drunk scene with Diane, the middle-aged woman trying to rekindle a spark in her marriage. Ronnie did a good job as her over-worked husband. Dallas was great as the awkward boy who was in love with "Jenny". Stephen and Richarda were hysterical in their roles. We also performed in a banquet room at the Sheriton-Eastland Hotel in Portland. We had great audiences at both venues! Our first HIT!


At first, the company members were only allowed on Spurwink House grounds ...the road TO the theatre...the area immediately surrounding the barn/theatre...the field between the theatre and the P.B. and the P.B. itself ...remember, this was THE Private Estate of one of Cape Elizabeth's oldest families and we were the first "outsiders" to enter the property !..."Don't trust THOSE Theatre PEOPLE!"...


SHOW #2: "CARNIVAL"

Double scores...! : "Double your pleasure, double your fun"....NOT!...NOT! More work for me!


Cast:

]

Again...if I DO say so...in my own "humble" opinion/imoho we did an excellent job! We were drawing more and more audience members to our theatre. "Carnival" was a another Hit. Dallas was dark and brooding, Diane was brassy, Stephen was gentle and touching, Phyllis was very good, J.Dennis was funny. [ He would do impressions of Groucho Marx and Professor Erwin Corey and keep us in stitches all summer! ]


Since I was/am a self taught pianist (except for three years of lessons in grade school) I wasn't familiar with EVERY musical term...and in the Ballet number, there were notes written at the top of each section...One said : "Dragon"...another said "Duck"...I wondered, "What can these terms MEAN???"...After we began blocking the Ballet...I discovered that there was supposed to be a Dragon and a Duck appear at certain strategic sections of the music...so much for musical terms...(Blush)...


By now we had proven we COULD be trusted and they let us use a section of beach at the northern edge of the property next to Two Lights State Park and we were also allowed on the breakwater, there, leading out to Richmond Island ...so we went on a Sunday picnic to the island. When the tide was "OUT" we could walk on the sand next to the large boulders that formed the breakwater. ..BUT we had to make sure we left the island BEFORE the tide came back IN or we'd have to SWIM! Well, we had SO much fun exploring the island : w/ a large field of wheat, a pebble beach, a small freshwater lake-let and a caretaker's cabin at one end of the lake-let, plus some granite cliffs on one end. We landlubbers didn't quite judge the time correctly and indeed, we had to swim a bit AFTER we TRIED to walk ON the boulders/cement pieces with chairs, blankets, coolers...Diane was a "typical New Yorker" She had on large sunglasses, a large brimmed hat, and sandals that were NOT made for walking on sand or rocks!...WHAT a scene. I'm glad the "natives" weren't around to see us fall and scrape our knuckles & shins in slippery stones!...We spent many Sundays exploring Richmond Island AND were more aware of the tide schedules!

My second psychic happening was at a seance Lenore held later that summer. We were trying some ESP tests to see who was receptive. I was not very receptive, according to the tests. We began by trying to lift someone with only our fingertips. The choreographer, Ronnie ANAS, was the first testee. He was strangely handsome. Red hair and pointed eyebrows...sort of a stereotype image of a Warlock. We all sat in a circle around his prone body. Lenore calmed us all down, talking soothingly. Then as we began to lift him up, he sat up so swiftly it scared us all. I was holding his ankles, so when he sat up so forcefully, all that energy we had been building up, hit me and shoved me backwards !!! So Lenore calmed us all down again. we began to lift Ronnie again. This time, at the point of lifting him, he blacked out!!!??? It took ten minutes for him to be revived. He said that he kept receiving the sensation that he was astral projecting (Lenore had been repeating: "He's becoming very light over and over again") and because of a previous experience with astral projection frightening him, he couldn't be our subject. So we asked him to sit on a couch outside the circle while we tried someone else, one of the girls in the cast. At the point where we began to lift her, RONNIE BLACKED OUT AGAIN !!?? This time it took us longer to revive him. So Lenore said she'd try to call a spirit. We all sat in a circle again. Eventually Lenore had managed to "call" a spirit and was "in control" of it...but there was another cold spot in the room...and it was RIGHT BEHIND ME! The other kids were sensing the presence of another spirit and afraid of what was happening, so they asked Lenore to "get rid of it." She dispersed the first spirit, but had NO control of the second one, as she hadn't called it ! I gazed around the circle and I let Lenore know that I knew she was having difficulty and she didn't like that, but could do nothing about it. I again looked at the others and saw a smirk on Dallas' face. Everyone became frightened because Lenore couldn't get rid of the second spirit. Then, suddenly, the oppressive feeling vanished. Everyone could feel the change in the atmosphere and calmed down. I quietly confronted Dallas later and he told me was once part of a witch's coven and that he called the second spirit. So now, Lenore knew that I was sensitive to these things.

I also spent as much of my free time sitting on the rocks below the P.B. watching the tide fill the numerous tidal basins and studying the equally numerous basin inhabitants...or just lazily watching the hundreds of seagulls soaring in the sky...or watch, as a gull would land, pick up a crab, fly 20 or so feet in the air and drop the crab on the rocks, then quickly plummet down before another gull stole his meal...We all took many long walks on the sandy beaches, sometimes we'd walk to the State Park. It was all magical to me....


My third psychic experience: We were watching T.V. in the living room. The couch was facing the kitchen door. Again, a light, in the form of a person, passed outside the window. I said to Lance, "You didn't just see what I didn't just see, did you??? He told me that a spirit of an elderly woman roamed about the farm, but she couldn't enter the house...something about her committing suicide outside. No other psychic experience happened that summer, but when I eventually left the farm, it was with a with a new perspective on life and death.

Several cast members were from Boston or Cambridge, Massachusetts, so, Sundays being our our days off, we'd pile into my car every now and then and I'd drive them to Boston for the day. Since my Rambler didn't like expressway driving, I'd have to carry a couple gallons of water, stop halfway there and let the engine cool off and add water so we could continue the trip. Same thing for the return trip to the Farm. We always had a blast on the road. Everyone had personal stories to tell.

Show #3: THE HOMECOMING
Portland, ME. Evening Express
"Ram Island Players Score In "THE HOMECOMING"
By Toby MUSMAN

CAPE ELIZABETH - The Ram Island Arts Center provides one of the most scenic settings imaginable for a summer theater and its accompanying poetry readings anmd art shows.

Located on the SPRAGUE Estate, the theater is in a marvelously refurbished barn and it seemed a real shame to see only a sparse audience in attendance last night for The DOWNEAST PLAYERS opening performance of Harold PINTER's "THE HOMECOMING."

The resident company, mostly Emerson College students or recent graduates, is a talented and lively group and may go down in history for their heroic effort in bringing PINTER to Maine. In mid-August the group will perform the similarly demanding task of presenting Peter WEISS' "MARAT/SADE."

The inscrutable PINTER is a giant among modern playwrights and the DOWNEAST group must be highly commended for taking on the project of dealing with him. In the hands of director Lance CROCKER, they showed a more than competent understanding of this difficult but exceptionally rewarding English "absurd" stylist.

They brought to life the penetrating comic effects of PINTER's biting, sardonic wit with a nicely self-assured ease and grace.

"THE HOMECOMING" is an old, brooding allegory on contemporary life. Its successful production depends on establishing a sure-footed feeling for PINTER's off-center rhythms of speech and being able to conjure his astonishingly enigmatic images. Happily, Lance CROCKER's crew is proving, especially as they unwind a couple of the kinks, capable of the demanding task.

The story is hard to describe without it sounding ridiculous, which was PINTER's intention. His extraordinary belief in the theater seems to be that is has to be seen to be believed.

A rather schizophrenic old man lives in a rambling house with his two ne'er-do-well sons and brother. He oscillates explosively between requesting and demanding their familial affection and berating them for not accomplishing anything of significance and not addressing him with proper respect.

Into this decaying, sterile male world comes Teddy, the apparently successful son, and his attractive wife. Teddy is a doctor of philosophy at an American university and while on a vacation to Europe they drop in unannounced after a six-year absence to visit the old man.

The revelation of the fact that she has perhaps come from a similarly corrupt background is only one element employed to bring about her submission to their low level. She never loses her composure or integrity throughout and via PINTER's vision the outrageous transition seems perfectly natural,

The alegory has much to do with the success syndrome of modern day life and the jealousy deriving from unprincipled competitive feats among individuals. It is couched in the particular reference to American material accomplishments versus the relative English privation.

PINTER's pregnant pauses of speech and intricate under-cuttings of normalcy provide the major thrust of the play. Like Groucho MARX's famous angular double exposures of everyday cliche phrases, in PINTER's hands a typical enough comment strikes peculiarly off-key note every time. He's a master of inverting a common phrase to give it an entirely new meaning.

The cast, with the best performance coming from Stephen SNOW as the old man, works well together to do a nice job of bringing off PINTER's static humor with a curious undercurrent of the absurd. SNOW makes an especially believable old man and deploys a number of stage tricks with engaging accuracy.

Cynthia WITHAM has a difficult role to play as the deadpan wife and is thoroughly in command of the situation.

Dallas MAYR as "Lenny", starts off a bit too fast for his own good, but by the second act he has contrived a perfectly convincing characterization. Robert VOGEL as Teddy, Van McLEOD as "Joey" and Dennis GREEN as "Sam" all do admirable portrayals.

The production is running through Saturday.

SHOW #4: "ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD"