Bennington's Oldcastle Theatre Looks For New Home
 |
The Bennington Center for the Arts announced on June 24 that after this summer, it will not rent space to Oldcastle, which is celebrating its 40th year in existence. Oldcastle has been in residence since the center's inception in 1994.
The Bennington Center for the Arts sent a letter to Oldcastle informing the company of the decision.
"The letter was addressed to Eric Peterson, [Oldcastle's producing artistic director] and the members of the board," Sally Sugarman, president of the board of trustees of Oldcastle Theatre Company said in a telephone interview. "But our copies were delayed and Eric was the first to receive it. He called and read the letter to me. We had not the least inkling that this was going to happen."
Elizabeth Small, curator and concert coordinator of the Bennington Center for the Arts, said in a recent telephone interview that the center had in mind several replacements for the space Oldcastle would vacate, but nothing is "firmed up."
"We want to do more with music," she added, "and do more lectures and children's events."
An Oldcastle Board of Trustees meeting on June 27, held for the sole purpose of discussing the direction they would take now that they need a new home, "was very positive and productive," said Sugarman.
"The spirit of the board has been fueled by people in the community. There has been an outpouring of support," she said. "We are very much seeing this as an opportunity to review our whole vision and to consider what we might do to expand our horizons."
Oldcastle would like input from the community about the necessary changes.
It is uncertain what size venue Oldcastle would require when fulfilling new goals. According to Sugarman, the board of trustees will look at all size spaces.
"We will first have to see what is available," she said. "There is a whole range of different options, and we are keeping our minds open. We want to act quickly but prudently so we can be in production next year."
Although the members of the Board of Trustees will explore all options, they are confident that Oldcastle will be staying in Bennington.
"We are looking for a location in downtown Bennington," Sugarman said.
Oldcastle has been paying approximately $20,000 a year in rent to the Bennington Center for the Arts, and budgetary plans will be considered in selecting a new site.
"Theater companies all over the world have faced challenges and have overcome them," said Sugarman, adding that she remembers Shakespeare & Company being "kicked out" of The Mount and going to a better place. It was about a decade ago that Shakespeare & Company moved from The Mount, the Berkshire County estate of famous American author Edith Wharton, to a 63-acre former private school campus in Lenox, Mass.
Also addressed at the board meeting, was the question of where to put the material and equipment that Oldcastle currently keeps in the Bennington Center for the Arts.
"Tasks will be assigned to board members and we will get other people to help tackle those issues," Sugarman said.
Not everything required for building sets, however, is kept at the Bennington Center for Arts. Oldcastle has some sets at Mount Anthony Union High School, and some costumes at other locations.
In the fall, Actor's Express, an educational component of Oldcastle, will "hopefully" resume putting on plays in schools, primarily in Vermont and Troy, N.Y. Sugarman explained that non-equity actors perform in those plays, which focus on subjects that are important to schoolchildren, such as bullying and bad imaging.
According to Sugarman, Oldcastle has been having a good season. The three plays scheduled for the rest of the season will go on at the Bennington Center for the Arts as scheduled: "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," July 15-31, and "The Last Days of Mickey and Jean," Aug. 19-Sept. 4. A fictionalized account of James "Whitey" Bulger, "The Last Days of Mickey and Jean" happens to have turned into a timely production now that the Boston mobster, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted List, has been captured and is being brought up on charges for the crimes he allegedly committed.
The last production for this season is "Night and Stars," which will run from Sept. 23-Oct. 9 when the Oldcastle Theatre Company will bid farewell to the Bennington Center for the Arts. It will not be the end for Oldcastle, but the beginning of the next chapter in their contribution to the magical world of theater.
