The Chief

There used to be a little regional theatre in Washington DC called the Washington Theater Club. It made its reputation in a tiny one hundred and forty five seat venue at 16th and O Street. Davey Marlin Jones was hired as artistic director and he was determined to make the theatre a showcase for new plays. The founder was a little fireball of a woman named Hazel Wentworth and she eagerly embraced the new vision. The coveted Margo Jones award for the introduction of new plays was given to the theatre and it began to sell out every performance and have an enthusiastic group of subscribers and supporters in the Washington community. This was before the Kennedy Center was built and the shining star in Washington theatre was the Arena Stage, one of the most respected regional theatres in the country. And yet sticking to new plays or very obscure second time productions enabled the Theater Club to flourish.

But as inevitably happens with far too many artistic groups the Washington Theater Club decided that it's success meant that it must expand to larger facilities and thus serve a larger audience. It moved to a converted movie theatre at 23rd and L Street with three hundred and eighty nine seats, more than twice the number in its original home. "Build it and they will come" did not apply here and almost from the outset it struggled to fill the new seats. The little, small set, quirky plays upon which it's reputation was made were no longer enough. Many changes would be made to its artistic vision and this little story is about one of the more successful ones.

The decision was made to produce a wonderful play called "The Ectasy of Rita Joe" a Canadian play about the struggles of an Aboriginal woman in the city. The original leads Frances Hyland and Chief Dan George were hired to headline the production. Chief Dan George had an Academy Award nomination for his performance in "Little Big Man" and is often remembered for his wonderful comic turn with Clint Eastwood in "The Outlaw Josie Wales".

By the time he arrived in Washington he was eighty years old and a fine, fine actor noted for being quiet if not taciturn off stage. Rehearsals went well in the rehearsal space and finally it was time to move to the stage and begin refining the work. A multi level, many step set had been designed and as the Chief was crossing down stage he stumbled briefly on a step. Suddenly all action was stopped. The director came out of the seats and on to the stage, followed by the stage manager, the designer and someone was sent to summon the managing director to solve this mammoth problem. Theatre people are nothing if not caring and concerned. Despite the egos they can rally to help one another and particularly in a situation like this to protect the aging star. The conversation was heated and everyone had an opinion: re-design the set, take out the step, eliminate the cross he had to make. Everyone seemed to be talking at once.

Finally there was a brief break and Chief Dan George spoke: "Last year, hunt elk, shoot, wound, track for three days though the snow, finally kill... I make step"

Without another word from anyone places were taken, the rehearsal continued. The production opened to rave reviews, almost sold out and yes Chief Dan George never missed a step.

note: the reader will notice two different spellings for theatre. I never knew why the Washington Theater Club misspelled it's name if indeed it did, but I studied theatre with Bill Walton at Wake Forest and there was only ONE spelling of the word.