Today we’d like to introduce you to John Barrett.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Beatrice Herford (1868–1952) was an American actress and vaudeville performer born in England. The daughter of a minister, Herford spent her youth moving between England and the United States, following her father’s changing jobs. In 1895, she made her public debut at the Sallé Erard inLondon, performing her own monologues.
Two years later, she married Sidney Hayward, of Wayland, Massachusetts. She continued to deliver monologues both in public and private. Her monologues, generally comic in nature, lampooned popular figures and types. Herford’s monologues were well received on the New York and London stages, and she numbered among her friends the royalty of English-speaking theater. Herford died in 1952.
In 1904, Herford and her friends built a small theater on her husband’s property in Wayland, Massachusetts. She named it Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre, after English actress Rosina Vokes. For over 30 years, her tiny theatre was open only to her friends, leading lights of the New York and London stages, including Ellen Terry, George Arliss, Florence Arliss, Katharine Cornell; diva Geraldine Farrar, and actors Ethel Barrymore, John Drew, Norah Bayes, and others
In 1937, she gave use of the theater to a group of local actors who renamed themselves the Vokes Players. The group refurbished the theater and continues to perform in it. .
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with all organizations dependent on a largely volunteer workforce, the expanding work week makes staffing our greatest concern.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre – what should we know?
Although organized as a community theater, we strive to maintain professional standards in performance and production elements (a number of the core group have a background in professional theater). Our reputation bears this out. Both our performing company and our subscriber base are drawn from a large geographical area, ranging as far as Rhode Island and Southern New Hampshire.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
First and foremost, Beatrice Herford, who provided us with a stunning jewel box of a theatre in which to perform. The theater itself is our greatest selling point.
Beyond that, we rely on a dedicated core of volunteers who continue to maintain the high standards that Beatrice herself set in performance.
Pricing:
- Thursday Evening performances: Plays: $18 Musicals: $22
- Friday & Saturday Evening performances: Plays: $22 Musicals: $28
- Saturday Matinee performances: Plays: $19 Musicals: $22
Contact Info:
- Address: 97 State Rd (Rt 20), Wayland, MA
- Website: https://www.vokesplayers.org/
- Phone: Tickets 508-358-4034 Business line 508-358-2011
- Email: vokesplayers@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vokesplayers.org/
Sunday in the Park with George
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