It all began with some choir robes.
Now, 70 years later, the Masquers Playhouse is well-established in its nook on Park Place in downtown Point Richmond.
It’s a quintessential community theater comfortably lodged between a coffee shop and a café, not too far from the West Side Branch of the Richmond Library.
Throughout the decades, Masquers has always been closely tied to the community, providing a place for actors to perform and local residents to gather.
“It’s more than a theater group. It’s a community,” said Suzan Lorraine, a longtime member of the troupe who now serves as its marketing and publicity manager.
If you go
What: “Into the Breeches”
WHEN: July 11-Aug. 3; showings on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond
Lorraine is one of 17 board members who oversee the theater group.
There is also an 11-person tech crew that handles production and, of course, the actors. They hail from all over the Bay Area, including San Francisco and Marin County. Almost all of them audition for parts. There are few pre-cast roles.
Masquers is a nonprofit so none of the board members, crew or cast gets paid. They are all volunteers.
The theater group has an annual operating budget of $180,000. The funds come from ticket sales, community grants and fundraisers such as the crab feed the organization held in March.
“We provide a creative outlet for amateur theatre people, exercise sound financial management, encourage audience participation and involvement, and seek to foster a strong community identity,” Masquers says on its website.
Masquers theater founded in 1955 at Hillside Community Church
Masquers has come a long way since its beginnings in 1955.
That’s when members of an El Cerrito church decided to raise money to buy new choir robes. They theorized that a play might bring in more money than the concerts they typically organized.
The church contacted a director named Josephine Camp, who agreed to help. The group quickly named themselves the Masquers and put on productions every spring for the next three years at Hillside Community Church.
The plays were so popular that the theater group decided to become more than just an annual fundraising operation.
In 1957, it moved to the El Cerrito Boys Club, which is now the site of the Contra Costa Civic Theater. They produced eight more plays there.
Masquers moved into its current Point Richmond home in 1960, where its first production was “The Happiest Millionaire,” based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle. (It eventually became a movie starring Fred MacMurray). The company later purchased the building.
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“It’s as much a part of the community as a coffee shop.“
— Marilyn Langbehn, director of “Into the Breeches”
Today, Masquers usually puts on five productions per year in its 88-seat theater. The shows run for five weeks with performances on Friday and Saturday nights plus the occasional Sunday matinee.
They began this year’s season with “Other Desert Cities,” the story of a woman who returns home to Palm Springs to tell her parents and siblings that she is going to publish an unflattering memoir about the family.
The troupe last week opened “Into the Breeches,” a comedy that centers on a woman’s attempt to produce an all-female version of Shakespeare’s “Henriad” because all of the male actors in town have been sent off to war.
Marilyn Langbehn, a San Leandro resident with 20 years of experience in Bay Area theater, is directing “Breeches.” This is her first time joining a Masquers’ crew, but she has attended shows there a number of times.
“I’ve always loved this theater,” said Langbehn, who currently is the managing director of BATS Improv. “I fell in love with the space and what they’re doing here. The ambiance of the community is also charming.”
Langbehn also admires the connection Masquers has with Point Richmond.
“It’s very approachable,” she said. “It’s as much a part of the community as a coffee shop. It’s a place where people can gather with friends and share an experience.”
Langbehn was excited about the opening of “Into the Breeches.” The actors and crew have been rehearsing four nights a week for the past five weeks.
In particular, Langbehn likes the fact that the play has many strong female roles.
“I’m excited for people to see it,” she said.
Mary Katherine Patterson and Helen Kim have roles in the play. This is the first time either of them has been part of a Masquers production.
Patterson, an Orinda resident who plays June in this current production, said she had “always heard good things about Masquers” and really liked the “Breeches” script, so she auditioned.
Kim, an El Cerrito resident who plays Grace, said she liked the play’s connection to Shakespeare and that encouraged her to audition.
They both love being part of a local production.
“It’s great that people can go to a theater right in their neighborhood,” Patterson said.
“This is a gathering place for theater lovers and people new to theater,” added Kim. “It’s great to be able to share our art with people who love theater.”
