Square One keeps theater alive and well

Written by Ann Kaiser
Thursday, 05 November 2009 08:58

One thing is constant as Stratford’s Square One Theatre prepares to open its 20th season: Veterans and newcomers sing the praises of Tom Holehan, co-founder and director.

After graduating from Buffalo State College with a theater major, Holehan started working at the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. There he met volunteer Barbara Cairney, with whom he would later found Square One.

In 1985, while working at the Stratford Library, Holehan organized a series of staged readings, and when the old movie theater on Main Street was renovated into a traditional stage space in 1990, he and Cairney saw an opportunity to start a theater in Stratford.

Square One found an early audience base with former patrons of the Shakespeare Theatre, and many Shakespeare volunteers adopted Square One as their new home.

Frank Smith, who has been performing with Square One since 1991, said it has helped keep theater alive in town.

“Square One has established now for 20 years a theatrical presence that really hasn’t existed since the demise of the American Shakespeare Theatre,” he said. “Tom has helped preserve a theatrical presence in Stratford.”

Each season has featured three productions, which Holehan casts and directs. Square One is known throughout the area for choosing a mix of well- and lesser-known plays, often giving less-familiar playwrights the chance to have their work on stage.

When choosing the line-up for a season, Holehan sees as many shows as possible, reads reviews, and more than anything else, reads a lot of scripts.

After 20-plus years directing at Square One and other local theaters, “I have a feeling when reading a review if it’s going to be right for us or not,” Holehan said.

“I’m always attracted to plays that haven’t been done to death in the area. We certainly do our share of familiar works — ‘Love Letters’ this year — but the other two plays have not been done in the area and are by relatively new playwrights.

“We look a lot to off-Broadway for our plays and have come up with some of our best successes that way. We were also the first theater in the area to produce ‘QED,’ ‘Rabbit Hole’ and ‘Doubt,’ among many others, ” he said.

More recently, Square One has started an educational program for both Stratford high schools, which allows Square One actors to perform condensed versions of plays for students. Afterward the students have an opportunity to ask the performers questions, and the response papers they write help to renew the funding for the program each year. In 2007, Square One also organized its teen theater, which gives young people in the area the opportunity to produce, write and direct productions during the summer.

Patrons of Square One may notice that shows feature many of the same performers each season.

“Ninety percent of your work is done if you’ve got the right cast,” said Holehan, who doesn’t apologize for having regulars. On Square One’s recently redesigned Web site, readers will find 14 actors in the “Hall of Fame,” who have been in five shows or more with the company.

Performers who have returned many times praise the working conditions, and make it clear they have a good time acting at Square One.

“There are no prima donnas,” said Davina Porter, a 10-time veteran of the Square One stage. “It’s just a very happy atmosphere.”

Holehan is clearly a big part of making rehearsals and shows enjoyable.

“His great gift is getting a group of compatible people,” Porter said.

She also speaks to Holehan’s bold directorial choices.

“He’s not afraid to take chances,” she said.

Porter, a native of England, will play an American in this season’s first show, “The Right Kind of People,” and will lose her British accent for the role.

“I’m not afraid to try, and Tom’s not afraid to let me,” she said.

“The Right Kind of People,” opening Nov. 6 at 8 p.m., will be Square One’s 58th production.

Smith, whom Holehan directed at other theaters a decade before he opened Square One, also enjoys his time on the Stratford stage.

“One of the greatest pleasures in my life is to be on stage, and Tom has given me that opportunity,” he said.

Smith’s first Square One performance was in “Changing Lives” opposite Diane Given, whom he later married.

A nonprofit, Square One relies on donations from corporations, area businesses, single ticket buyers and repeat subscriptions to keep afloat, but ticket prices have remained low to keep theater accessible to every patron of the arts.

“Tom has really made a remarkable contribution to the town of Stratford and the theatrical community in the area,” Smith said.