This article was previously published in Findhorn News Jan 1973.

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Of the many bridges that are being built between Findhorn and the world around us, perhaps the most immediate and concrete is our new theatre—immediate because of its close proximity to the community, being situated as it is on the caravan site but not within the community environs proper, and concrete not only because of the material of which it is made, but because it provides a stable and somewhat permanent vehicle for the direct transmission of energies between performing artists from within the community and our audience, which consists to a large extent, of people from outside the community. In the last issue of the Findhorn News, we described how the theatre building came into manifestation, but at the time we went to press the theatre had been open only for a week. In this article, I should like to present you with a picture of what transpired within the theatre during the intervening period.

In accordance with guidance received through Elixir [Eileen Caddy], it was determined that we should present only two live performances a week, on Thursday and Sunday nights, and that on the other five nights films would be shown. The films were chosen to suit family audiences and to appeal to the many summer visitors to the caravan site, ranging from Billy Budd to Camelot. The question of what sort of live show to present to audiences who were not yet acquainted with the Findhorn Community was one for which we had no precedent, and experimentation became the order of the day. The Findhorn Folk Singers (who have since become re-christened “The New Troubadours”) had had some experience already in performing for outside audiences at local ceilidhs, concerts and folk clubs, and had some fifty or more songs in their repertoire, both traditional and original, to draw upon. The challenge facing the actors, however, was much more complex. Most of the drama energies over the preceding year had gone into the preparation of Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, a play which is hardly appropriate for light family entertainment and the creation of Images, a set of short original plays, most of which were based on spiritual themes, and there was some question in our minds as to whether even these, though somewhat humourous in style of presentation, would appeal to the kind of audience we were seeking to reach. It was finally decided to open the theatre with a show composed of plenty of songs by the singing group and soloists, a couple of the Images with a more spiritual theme and two or three brief comic sketches which had been devised originally for community “fun nights”. After the opening week we would then be able to take stock of the situation and revise our programme accordingly.

The response of audiences during the first week of performances was decidedly favourable, and even the more spiritual plays seemed to get across, but it was apparent to us that before the summer was over plenty of new material would be needed in order to achieve better communication, and also to meet the demand of the more permanent members of our audience who were looking forward to attending the theatre frequently over the summer months, but who hoped to see something different at each performance. Thus it was that a sort of rotation formula came about, and in this way no two shows were exactly the same. Various members of the performing group took turns in assuming the combined role of ‘show focaliser’ and ‘master of ceremonies’. This individual would not only compere the show but would select and integrate the material to be presented. It became our aim at each performance to present something new in the way of a song, a dance, a sketch or a short play, and gradually in this way a repertoire was built up which, by the end of the summer, was extensive, varied and complex.

This challenge was especially stimulating because of the extreme limitations placed upon rehearsal time and space during this period. Almost without exception the performers held full-time jobs and positions of responsibility within the community during the day, and the theatre was not available for rehearsals at night because of the film shows. Thus it was that we were allotted a maximum of three hours rehearsal time during the week for each performance with an additional two hours on the day of the show for dress rehearsal. Many visitors to the community were amazed when they learned what a tight schedule we were working under, but the truly amazing thing is the realisation of what can be accomplished in a brief period of time when the energies are truly compressed and focalised within that ‘time capsule’. We learned the meaning and value of improvisation in the truest sense of the word—not in the sense of ‘making do with second-best’, but that kind of improvisation which we experience in each moment of life when we greet the new and unexpected in a positive, spontaneous and truly creative way.

Improvisation has always been a vital part of our drama workshop and theatre classes, but we had had little experience in improvising before a live audience, even though we had been entertaining the idea of introducing the improvisational element into live theatre for some time. “Should we improvise before audiences in the theatre over the summer?” was a question uppermost in our minds during that first week of performances and rehearsal when we were beginning to evolve our material. Obviously it was not by accident that, at that very time, we received a brief visit from Foy van Dolsen, a professional actor and director of improvisational theatre in California. Upon meeting him I recognized immediately that he had been sent to us in answer to this question and Foy literally set the ball rolling at the theatre on the evening of the very day that I met him by leading both performers and audience in one of the most delightful improvisational experiences I have ever taken part in.

Foy had to leave the next day, but from that point on improvisation became a vital and extremely popular part of each performance. Perhaps the highest compliment paid to our actors during the season came from a visitor who has worked all her life in the professional theatre; she refused to believe that the improvised section of the show had not been thoroughly rehearsed and left Findhorn with the firm conviction that the whole thing had been ‘rigged’. Scenes were improvised fresh each evening based on the audience’s own suggestions, sketches were evolved through improvisation in the rehearsal period and then presented in a semi-improvised fashion in performance, and new material was scripted and rehearsed in the traditional manner, thus providing a true balance in each presentation.

Even though when we first opened we thought that dance would be out of the question on our tiny stage, we were soon proved wrong through the ingenuity of Lark Batteau and Lisa Lurie. Lark and Lisa choreographed and performed together a number of folk dances as well as interpretive dances accompanied by colour slide presentations devised by Crispin Currant. Improvisation soon became a part of the dance programme as well, based on suggestions given by the audience on textures, colours and quotations.

All in all, the talents of over thirty people were displayed in the theatre over the summer, including those of several visitors to the community. In addition to Foy van Dolsen, we were treated to a performance by Hans Poulsen, Australian pop-singer who had been instrumental in getting our first group of recordings off the ground; Tim Currant who was with us once again this summer and whose comic and improvisational skills never fail to delight; June Marsh, a teacher of modern dance who brought new forms of dance expression into the theatre; and Renata Benedict, an actress from Paris who stayed with us long enough to take on the leading role in The ‘Now’ Interview, an original one-act play which was written especially for presentation in our revue-style programme.

It is interesting to note that even though motion pictures are supposed to be far more popular nowadays than live theatre, the reverse was true at Findhorn. Whereas the commercial films occasionally played to audiences of only four or five people, whenever a live performance was given we succeeded in filling all our 70 seats for nearly every performance and on numerous occasions people had to be turned away at the door. Word soon spread throughout the community, the caravan site and the local RAF Base about the show, and before long people were booking seats a week in advance.

The theatre was closed for two weeks in the middle of September at which time the acting company was treated by one of our staunchest supporters to a trip to the Edinburgh Festival where we saw seven shows. Upon returning to Findhorn, revitalized and freshly inspired, work began on preparation of material for the conference. Three shows were presented, two of these consisting of highlights from the summer season and the third being an evening of five original one-act plays, each embodying a spiritual concept, followed by a group discussion between actors and audience. Some of the visitors considered this to be the high point of the conference, although others stated that they would have preferred more of an opportunity to participate—an opportunity that we hope to be able to provide for the next conference in the way of some form of “theatre games” or group participation.

Even though we approached the summer theatre season with a certain amount of trepidation as to how we could possibly meet the challenge, it was with a somewhat empty feeling that we closed the theatre for the winter at the end of September. It was as though we were saying goodbye to a beloved friend. The feeling was not long-lasting, however, because work soon began on the formation of new workshops in the performing arts and fresh talent is now emerging all over the place in music, dance and drama, and rehearsals have already begun on a production of Tobias and the Angel by the Scottish playwright, James Bridie, which will be performed for the Christmas Festival. It involves song and dance as well as drama and should be one more of many bridges between Findhorn and its surrounding world.