The Forest Theater is an historic amphitheater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest outdoor theaters west of the Rockies. Actor/director Herbert Heron is generally cited as the founder and driving force, and poet/novelist Mary Austin is often credited with suggesting the idea. As first envisioned, original works by California authors, children's theatre, and the plays of Shakespeare were the primary focus. Since its inception, a variety of artists and theatre groups have presented plays, pageants, musical offerings and other performances on the outdoor stage, and the facility's smaller indoor theatre and school.
History
Forest Theater Society
Herbert Heron came to Carmel in 1908. He had worked extensively on the stage in Los Angeles and came from a background of writers and dramatists. On a visit from Los Angeles, Heron fell in love with the village by the sea. He soon settled in Carmel, bringing with him his young bride Opal Heron, the daughter of a Polish Count.
In 1910, the Herons found a concave hillside looking out, surrounded by oaks and pines, and thought it would be an ideal space for an outdoor theater. Heron's idea was to stage plays by Carmel authors starring local residents – a true community theater. He approached James Franklin Devendorf, co-founder of the Carmel Development Company, and asked about purchasing the plot for such a purpose. Devendorf, wanting to attract artistic spirits and "brain workers" to the nascent village, i.e. teachers, librarians, etc., agreed and let Heron have the space rent-free. He assisted in the clearing the land and building the stage.
By February 1910, construction began on the theater. It was a simple plan: a wooden proscenium stage with a scrim of pines and plain wooden benches. Meanwhile, Heron was busying organizing the first production with the help of the newly minted Forest Theater Society.
The first theatrical production, David, a six-act biblical drama written by Constance Lindsay Skinner under the direction of Garnet Holme of Berkeley, inaugurated the Forest Theater on July 9, 1910. Reviewed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco it was reported that over 1,000 theatergoers attended the production. Heron produced and acted in the play as David. Helen MacGowan Cooke played the character Michal, Joseph W. Hand as Hushai, as well as a cast of other local carmelites.
There was no electricity at the theater. In 1910, Calcium floodlights were brought by covered wagon from Monterey to light the stage. Two bonfires were also lit in semi-circular stone firepits on opposite ends of the proscenium, a tradition which continues today. In 1912, the first electric lights were used.
In July 1911, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night opened the second season at the Forest Theater. Garnet Holme was the producer. The Forest Theater Society produced several other plays in the next few years. Of note was the 1911 production of the play The Land of Heart's Desire given by the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, and the 1912 ancient Egyptian production of The Toad, a play written by Bertha Newberry, the wife of Perry Newberry, an early Carmel leader. Also produced that year was the first children's play staged at the Forest Theater, Alice in Wonderland, adapted by Newberry and painter Arthur Honywood Vachell.
Western Drama Society & Carmel Arts & Crafts Club
There was so much enthusiasm for live theater, and varying ideas on how the Forest Theater should be run, that two additional theater groups began participating – The Western Drama Society (including Heron and other members of the Forest Theater Society), whose goal was to focus on California authors, and the already-established Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, which had been active in the town since 1905.