Forest Theater, Carmel

In the summer of 1968 after graduating from high school I auditioned for the cast at Woodminster – an outdoor amphitheater in the Oakland hills. I was in two musicals – The Most Happy Fella and The King and I where I played one of the king’s many wives. It was a lot of fun, so when I read about the Forest Theater in Carmel I was keen to go see it as part of my HALS adventure.

The Forest Theater was built in 1910 and is the oldest outdoor theater west of the Rockies. It was started by actor/director Herbert Heron with poet Mary Austin. The land for the theater was given rent free by Carmel’s founder Frank Devendorf – the same person who gave the land for Devendorf Park that I wrote about of week. Plays, pageants, musicals, Shakespeare and outdoor films have been performed at the theater. There is a long-standing tradition of featuring original works of California authors including the work of Robinson Jeffers, Mary Austin, and Barbara Newberry who wrote The Toad and Junipero Serra, a historical pageant focusing on the life of Father Junipero Serra.

The privately owned theater was deeded to the city of Carmel in 1939 so it would be eligible for federal support when it became a WPA project. The theater closed during World War II in response to mandatory blackouts, but reopened after the war. Since then interest in the theater has waxed and waned but renewed community interest has kept it going for 100 years. According to Wikipedia, “in 2005, Pacific Repertory Theater presented the theater’s highest attended production, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, to a combined audience of over 10,000 ticket holders.”

The site of the 60-seat theater is a naturally occurring bowl-shaped area in an oak woodland, in a residential neighborhood of Carmel. Oaks were removed to construct the bleacher seating but the grove remains at the back and sides. Most of the understory has been cleared. The view back of stage is through Monterey pines and beyond to the Monterey Bay. The character of the site and planting is left a bit wild and natural.

The perimeter of the theater is defined by a four-five foot high grape-stake fence. There are two gates into the theater; one wide enough for vehicles and one pedestrian gateway that has a beam overhead with “Forest Theater” carved into it.

Materials are limited to wood and rough stone. The wood is either painted “state parks brown” or left unpainted. The bleacher seating is divided into two sections with concrete paths at either side and in the middle. There are 11 rows of seating, then a stone retaining wall about 30” high, and 6 additional rows of seating. Seats have backs and the space between rows is compacted earth.

Near the stage there are semi-circular stone fireplaces built at either side of the bleachers that provide warmth to those sitting near enough and ambiance for the rest of the audience.
The stage is wood and there are storage areas for props at either side. Additional storage, dressing rooms, and an indoor theater are below the main stage. There is also a wood deck (about 40’ x 80’) with a built in bench on the downhill side of the theater.

The form and layout of the theater all appear to be original as does the stone work and arrangement of the seating. In 1939 Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews undertook a major reconstruction. They built new benches, laid a concrete foundation for the stage, and replaced a barbed-wire fence with the grape-stake fence.

To stage left there is a square of stones and an upright carved boulder: “Here lies Pal the friend of all who knew and loved him. Carmel’s dog, born Aug 1929, died Dec. 1943.”

Devendorf Park

The urban plaza is one of the oldest city planning concepts. Plaza is defined as a public square that is usually centrally located, found especially in towns of the American Southwest of Spanish heritage. Similar is the “Piazza” – an open square or public place in a city or town, especially in Italy. These urban spaces are typically one square block located at the town center, and built as a place for the community to gather for civic functions and celebrations. My Dec. 6, 2009 post on Arcata Plaza features a very traditional plaza that has served as the heart of that community for over one hundred and fifty years.

A couple weeks ago I attended my granddaughter’s graduation from high school in Sonoma. Sonoma has one of the best plazas in the Bay Area. It’s one square block surrounded by thriving retail shops and restaurants. This is where the 4th of July festivities take place, art shows and family picnics. It’s a vibrant and dynamic urban space.

Devendorf Park is Carmel’s central gathering place. The land was given to the city by J. Frank Devendorf known as the Father of Carmel-By-the-Sea. He along with developer Frank Powers founded the town in 1900. Fund raising to build the park was started in 1929 by Mattie Hopper. The park occupies the block at Ocean and Junipero Avenues. The best part of the park is how it invites you in. There are entry points at each corner and a generously wide set of steps into the park from Ocean Avenue.

Second best are all the places to sit. At either side of the steps are twenty foot long stone benches, facing the street, that invite you to linger and people watch. There are stone benches at two of the four corner entries, another parallel to 6th Street, and both stone and modern wood benches within the park. Some stone benches have stone seats and others heavy wood timbers.

The center is an expanse of lawn with a narrow, curving path that connects diagonally across the open space. This path can be seen in a circa 1940 photograph but at that time it was a serpentine line of stepping stones. There are a number of war memorials - each a bronze plaque set in a granite stone – simple, dignified monuments that honor their community’s heroes.

In the original design stone was used to build the walls and for the paved areas. To make the park more accessible some of the paving stones have been lifted and re-set. In other places the original stone has been replace with concrete or exposed aggregate – less desirable but certainly better than introducing a totally different material like brick.

There is a simple, oval-shaped pond – also seen in the 1940 picture postcard. Today, a cast pedestal fountain has been added. And, drinking fountains – features often omitted from today’s parks, to avoid clogging problems. At Devendorf hand-crafted stone fountains – each unique, are located at three of the four corner entries.

This well-maintained urban oasis is shaded by several massive live oaks. Flowering perennials accent the entry at the corner of Ocean and Junipero, and there are several very old camellia japonica along the Ocean Avenue edge. That edge is defined by large, rounded cobbles set on edge and mortared in place to form a curb 12 inches high.

The entire time we spent here the park was being enjoyed by others. A family played a game on the lawn, another family sat on a group of benches, single men sat on the edge – one reading the other relaxing. Businessmen walked rapidly through the park and others walked around leisurely. This space offers a respite from the rigors of shops and galleries – a lasting gift from Frank Devendorf.