THE TACOMA SUNDAY LEDGER-NEWS TRIBUNE, TACOMA, WASHINGTON, JUNE 4, 1961
Hidden In Beautiful Setting
By GLADYS SHAFER
MANY small virgin valleys lie folded among the hills and mountains of the Olympic Peninsula. This is the story of one such remote little valley over in Washington's forest wonderland that, every year in rhododendron time, becomes vastly important to a great many people. Hidden Valley, it is called, and it holds the Mountaineers' Forest Theatre, which has seen 34 seasons of creditable outdoor performances by the Mountaineer Players since 1923.
Its Mountaineering history dates back to the spring of 1909 when a party of 66 Mountaineers, hiking several miles west of Bremerton in search of blossoming rhododendrons, came upon a deep hidden valley in which stood a rustic cabin. The hikers were met and welcomed by its owner and, giving them permission to pause for lunch, he was so impressed by the tidiness of the picnic place they left that he invited them to come again. This was the beginning of a lasting friendship between the Mountaineers and the big-hearted rancher and his family, of Hidden Valley.
Edward Paschall, a Pennsylvania newspaper editor, his wife and two young daughters, Mary and Patience, had traveled west in search of "a stream of water, hills facing west, and deep woods." "Hidden Ranch," in Hidden Valley, was the end of the quest for this family whose move west had been inspired by Kipling's lines: Something hidden – go and find it! Go and look behind the ranges! Something lost behind the ranges, Lost and waiting for you. Go!
Beauty, Solitude
In the years to come generous hospitality awaited all Mountaineers who came that way, and there were many. For the very nature of Mountaineer outdoor interests drew them to this wilderness so accessible to their home towns where they could find beauty, solitude and hardships enough to challenge the most rugged. Weekends a small steamer brought them to the little floating dock port of Chico. From there, with heavy packs on their backs and a light-hearted spirit of anticipation within them they tramped the two miles to adventure in Hidden Valley.
By 1916, under the spell of this enchanted forest region the club had bought 74 acres of its hill land. With conservation a basic principle of Mountaineering, cherishing the natural beauty of the area was an important consideration, and their property became the Kitsap Rhododendron Preserve, dedicated to "preserving a stand of virgin timber and a native growth of rhododendron in their primitive state." Donations and further accessions have enlarged the preserve area to 160 acres.
The Forest Theatre play programs always request no smoking on trails or in theater and no flower picking, reminding visitors that "your cooperation will insure coming generations the beauty of this rhododendron preserve exactly as you have enjoyed it today." A visit to the preserve today attests the fidelity of this purpose.
Rhododendron in all stages of growth from tiny foot-high bushes to splendid high-branching 20-footers, in bloom or bud; centuries-old, mossy-trunked forest giants straight as match sticks, woods-green shrubs and mosses, appear to have never felt the ravaging hand or foot of man. All this is an achievement in studied naturalness, of course — intelligent grooming has been an essential part of the program.
With the acquiring of their property the Mountaineers inherited some old buildings including an ancient cabin which was the gathering place for their camping parties. The men slept in a nearby barn, the women up-stairs in the old house and in three chicken houses. The Paschalls kept their barn door latch-string out, too. Around the big campfires all sorts of dramatic stunts took shape – mock weddings, christenings, gold rushes, kangaroo courts – with costumes and settings contrived from any scanty resources available.
One moonlit Halloween night "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was pantomimed. Sheet-shrouded players cavorted on sticks with carved horses' heads. A football serving as the headless horse-man's head was, as a climax, tossed into the midst of the enthralled audience as it sat around the fire. Again, one day the forest below Hidden Ranch witnessed an impromptu reenactment of Robin Hood; a sword fern duel fought on a fallen log bridge was interrupted when on of the players fell into the creek. During this dramatization the audience followed the players from scene to scene (tree trunk to tree trunk). In 1917 and 1918 special skits were put on to get humorous snapshots to send to Mountaineer servicemen overseas.
Kitsap Cabin, the Mountaineers' clubhouse, was built on a level above Hidden Valley in 1918. Most of the men were involved in World War I but the women lugged stones, split shakes, nailed them on, and otherwise labored to complete the project.
First Play in 1923
Play acting, a natural expression of the high-spirited Mountaineers' liking for tough challenges, reached an organized level in the spring. of 1923 with their first planned, rehearsed dramatization of Robin Hood, ·a musical interpretation based on a poem by Alfred Noyes. That day an audience, 100 Mountaineers strong, grouped on the hilltop were led by a beckoning woods sprite to the woodland stage far below where fallen logs served as seats, marsh dampness oozed into their shoes, and lusty mosquito hums swelled the chorus. The play was a success. Encouraged, they engaged a professional director, Mrs. Robert F. Sandall, who "built of herself" into 19 succeeding, successful plays.
By 1926 an ideal theater site in the valley on Mountaineer property adjacent to Paschall's Hidden Ranch had been located and readied for that spring's play. It was a triumph in planning and cooperation by the Mountaineers, who had ploddingly pushed and pulled the Forest Theatre into being. Viewing Mountaineering enterprises objectively, one fact stands out above all else: nothing is impossible, or too much effort, anything worth while must be labored for and there is no accounting for what things are deemed worth working for.
True to Name
The Forest Theatre, unique among outdoor theaters everywhere, is all its name implies. Fittingly, its foundation is of the earth, earthy; its architecture is of the forest. There have been enlargements and replacements but the stage of today is practically as it was built 35 years ago.
Cedar bark, covered with living moss, forms the wings, earth-covered logs, fern planted, are piled to form the background, forest humus carpets the floor, a row of sword· ferns serves as footlights. Giants firs, alders and dogwoods encircle the stage. Here and there a blooming rhododendron grows right on stage. The amphitheater style auditorium is simply a matter of logs placed on terraced levels that have been carved out of the hill-side – all man power construction.
The first pantomimes and plays were done solely for the amusement of the Mountaineers, but as outside interest grew and the cost of costuming and staging more ambitious productions mounted, admission fees helped pay expenses. A handful of Mountaineers and outsiders enjoyed the 1926 production of "Reinald and the Red Wolf" – 1960's production of "Sing Out, Sweet Land," attracted 2,200, some from distant places. Very few plays meet the unusual requirements – color, action, mass effects – of the Forest Theatre; great care goes into their selection. Mountaineers themselves have written or adapted a few. "The Green Pastures," produced in 1955, was memorable. "Setting, costuming, reverent acting, the singing all, we trust, converted those who had said, 'The Players should not attempt anything so big'."
Long List of Plays
There have been 34 plays since 1923 -"Snow White" "Alice in Wonderland," "Rip Van Winkle,""Sleeping Beauty," "The Connecticut Yankee," and other classic immortals have had their day at the Forest Theatre.
Many problems enter into production of a forest play. In earlier times even corralling boat or bus to get cast or audience to the right place at the right time caused many a headache. The cast, a large group of busy working people from many walks of life, coming to the theater for rehearsals several weekends preceding the play, must have meals and be "bedded down." Another headache is transporting awkward properties down the steep, winding theater trail (a piano, this spring).
For the 1956 play "Kismet" the icy spring water pumped into the canvas-plastic pool where the villain was drowned was heated to a pneumonia-proof 70 degrees by an old-fashioned bottled gas-burning side arm hot water heater.
Rain, ever a threat, actually held off for the first 12 years of plays. But in 1935, when "Toad of Toad Hall" was the play, it rained. During the first performance the Toad's mask softened in the dampness until the jaws, reducing to pulp, finally refused to work. The masks of the other players did likewise. But 700 courageous onlookers stayed through to the end.
The first showing of the 1956 play, "Kismet," was almost, but not quite, a washout. "We spent the morning huddling under the scanty shelter and digging ditches on the stage to allow the puddles to drain off," they said, "and the rain continued into the afternoon." After the carefully rehearsed and costumed play (ten scenes, 'seven sets), the cast applauded the audience for being good sports. Subsequent play days saw less rain.
Generally, however, the weather has been kind. The planners do not advocate postponements – often a threatening morning precedes a gorgeous afternoon, weather-wise. Anyone wondering why the plays are not scheduled for a more settled season are informed, of course, that the only time for a Forest Theatre production is rhododendron time.
This spring the Forest Theatre offers lively entertainment. The rollicking musical comedy, "Li'l Abner," featuring Evil Eye Fleagle, Stupefyin' Jones, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Moonbeam McSwine, Unwashable Scragg, Marryin' Sam, Daisy Mae, and, of course, Li'l Abner himself provides an interesting time. The cast includes over 65 actors, singers and dancers – teachers, librarians, electricians, secretaries, physicians, and such, turned Thespians. The scenery and costumes are of special "Dog-patch, USA." variety. "Be sure to bring your cameras," the players say.
A live animal character, Moon-beam McSwine's pig (purchased at six weeks of age) is on hand to take its cues and to add suspense to the performance.
Earl Kelly, Ballard High School drama coach, director, says, " 'Li'l Abner' tells no particular story, nor drives home any lesson, but will be presented purely for fun in true AI Capp comic strip style."
Play dates are June 4, 10 and 11, at 2 p.m.; the press agents practically guarantee that the rhododendrons will be out in full glory. On play days special buses run between the Bremerton ferry dock and the Theatre on the Bremerton-Seabeck highway. Parking is free; picnic lunches, hiking shoes and blankets are suggested; pop, hot dogs, coffee and ice cream are available.
The Mountaineers follow many outdoor activities climbing, skiing, hiking, camping but their Rhododendron Preserve and the Forest Theatre are a little special and dear to their hearts. The activities of the players are nothing if not unique they are also undeniably amazing.
In 1955 Patience Paschall and Mary Paschall Remy, the two little girls grown up who came to Hidden Valley in 1907, charter member Mountaineers, donated 40 acres to the reserve, to be permanently preserved as a wilderness area, and they said: "Down the years these forest ways have felt the feet of many lovers of wilderness, artists finding peace and strength of the big trees, botanists searching for fungi or orchids, the lone fisherman splashing softly through the unending loveliness of an April river. There are no words to capture values such as these.''