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Show p Jfc & J4 l VJrs&V .'si BARTER FOR THfa v fed "431 V Virginia's unique .l IJYh &fSSil lilJ'J f, where produce J jA JW'JWjf HU ft' t ' rl I can be exchanged I - jsW T7 I JJ , fllfllli m ' tickets, plKs. V flfi' 1 IB HUM II chickens and oth- V ' 'WfT V-f J j BlrlwSv-'- 4t v; -ds- v nyJ kf M fl VV ' Ifci V ens, vegetables -ijk':2 (J efff itfX ;f 4 i the box mce- X F&lZjgz V MS --X5-vlil f P"duee received VNfTZ I tZjgr i3 uAi vldc mea,s 'or gp FOR 'BED AND BEANS' Unique Barter Theater Plays Significant Role in U.S. Drama WNU Features ABINGDON, Va. In these days of wholesale prosperity and bulging bank vaults it is difficult to recall that a mere dozen years or so ago bread lines reached far up the streets, smoke long since had ceased to billow from factory chimneys, chim-neys, banks clanged shut their doors and threw away the keys, people faced starvation in a land of plenty, farmers could not sell their produce and the American theater suffered suf-fered the worst season in history. It was in this depression setting that the Barter theater was born in 1933. Returning from a tour with Walter Hamp den in "Cyrano de Bergerac," Rob- 3 ert Porterfleld scanned the dismal Broadway scene. He found hordes of fellow actors out of work and hungry, with no prospects of casting calls. Recalls Ancient Trades. He thought of produce left In the fields and the problems of economics. econom-ics. He recalled that in farming communities considerable business is transreted by the ancient barter system. His family, he remembered, remem-bered, had purchased the old Virginia Vir-ginia home place from the Indians by barter around 1800. Reasoning that there was plenty of talent on Broadway but no money and plenty of food on farms but no money Porterfleld decided to bring the two together by founding the nation's na-tion's first "Barter" theater. As the site for his experimental theater, he decided on Abingdon, first English town west of the Al-leghanies Al-leghanies and only a few miles from the family homestead at Glad Spring. He arranged to use the buildings of the defunct Martha Washington college for a home. Near this spot Daniel Bonne's trail west crossed the old Wilderness road. When Porterfleld sounded out some of his stage friends, he was besieged be-sieged by candidates willing to forsake for-sake Broadway for three months of acting in exchange for bed, beans and salubrious Virginia mountain air. Selects 21 Actors. From the list of applicants Poitcr-field Poitcr-field selected 21 talented thcsplans, who were willing to double as stage hands, scene designers, seamstresses seam-stresses and general all-around theater people. By wheedling pieces of furniture, old fabrics, electrical equipment, decorations and other properties on a round of shops, stores and wholesalers, rorterflcld finally assembled a freight car of material. ' By the time Porterfleld got his 21 actors and carload of equipment to Abingdon, he had one lone dollar In his pocket A canvass of the community netted kitchen supplies, tableware and other necessities. Women of the town made curtains; Boy Scouts cleaned up the grounds. i On a sunny June day In 1933, the Barter theater, first theater to accept produce as well as cash at the box office, was officially of-ficially opened to a packed house and a full pantry. The theater Is located in the old Main street opera house, erected in 1830 asjd the second oldest In the nation. The theater. Incidentally, Is part of the town hall. It Is linked with the mayor's office and the local hoosegow Is In the rear, with the dressing rooms next to the cells. Pigs Are Prolific. First ticket to Barter theater was traded to a farmer for a baby pig, which became a pt of the Barter colony. At the end of the season sea-son Porterfleld proposed to serve the pig at a farewell banquet for the staff, but the actors rebelled. Porterfleld acquiesced and sent the pig to his father's farm, where it formed the foundation for an unending unend-ing supply of hams for the colony's dining tables. Sugar-cured hams from descendants of that little pig also went to playwrights in lieu of royalties, Porterfleld never having paid a cash royalty. Intrigued by the new theater, townsfolk and farmers flocked to the opening night performance. News that tickets could be secured "in trade" traveled fast. Soon the town barber arrived with an offer of haircuts and shaves for first row scats. Live chickens and other fowl, honey, potatoes, onions "enough to last for a century," lettuce, corn and chocolate cakes were included among the bartered items. Constant problem for Porter-field's Porter-field's chief dietitian la to evolve new recipes with which to nse the cottage cheese which two elderly eld-erly women present for their admissions ad-missions nightly. Once the two women brought more cheese than usual and asked for "ten cents change because we thought we would like to buy a soda after the show." In early years of the theater's existence, ex-istence, produce accounted for almost al-most 83 per cent of the total take, sometimes more. Porterfleld begged for money. Today, the reverse is true, about 90 per cent of the receipts re-ceipts being in cash. Taking cognizance cog-nizance of current shortages, Porterfleld Por-terfleld now begs for produce. Trace Group's History. History of the Barter theater is divided into two periods, the prewar barter period and the postwar professional pro-fessional period. The distinction, Porterfleld hastens to explain, doet not indicate that prewar companies were not composed largely of professionals. pro-fessionals. During that period, however, how-ever, the actors received no compensation com-pensation except bed and board. Since raising the first curtain or June 10, 1933, the Barter colony hat presented 154 plays in more thar 1,000 performances. In addition tc the regular Abingdon season, the players have trouped to nearby Virginia Vir-ginia towns of the "fog circuit," sc designated by Barterites because ol the ghostlike fog that is whisped each night through the mountains of southwest Virginia. Gets State Grant Now, after being closed during war years when the young founder-director founder-director entered the army ait forces, Barter theater, has resumed operations. Aided by a subsidy ol $10,000 from the commonwealth ol Virginia, Barter now ranks as the first "state theater" in history ol America. From this start, Porter-field Porter-field envisions an expansion of such theatrical enterprises throughout the nation until something resembling resem-bling the Old Vic theater of England Eng-land has been achieved. The state grant has enabled Barter Bar-ter to be set up on an annual basis with a permanent company. Although now on regular salary, however, the actors still double as stage hands, box office cashiers, ush ers and even as caretakers of ducks, pigs, chickens, goats and other barnyard barn-yard denizens, some of which are recent box office receipts while others oth-ers are descendants of the original barter animals. Dan Extended Tour. At close of the regular season In Abingdon this fall, the company launched an extensive statewide tour covering 70 Virginia cities In an attempt to provide every citizen an opportunity of viewing the best In drama as staged by the theatrical group which the state has underwritten. underwrit-ten. Performances In other southern south-ern states will follow, with two weeks In New York climaxing the trip. On the results of the tour hinges the feasibility of state subsidized drama throughout America, adherents ad-herents of the project agree. |
