GREENFIELD — The year was 1986 and the play was “The Gin Game.’ It was probably a hot summer day or maybe a stormy night. The crowd of a hundred or so packed into the Roundhouse and the show went on at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
By the end of the performance, it would be the 16th and final year for the Arena Civic Theatre group’s performance at the fairgrounds.
“We always used to talk about coming back here, like it was a pipe dream,” Alana Martineau, president of the theater group, said. “We didn’t think it would be possible.”
After more than three decades of bouncing around at different concert venues in the Pioneer Valley, the Arena Civic Theatre will return to the Roundhouse at the Franklin County Fairgrounds this summer for two shows — one July 18-20 and the other, Aug. 1-3 and 8-10.
“I feel like we’re coming home to our summer home,” said Jennifer Coliskey, vice president of the board of directors for the theater group.
Back in the ’80s, the fairgrounds wanted to use the Roundhouse for more. There were campers, dog shows, trade shows, The fairgrounds wanted to maximize the revenue it could generate in one of the landmark spaces on the grounds.
The memories of the days the Roundhouse remained a space for theater still resonates.
“There’s a certain ambiance,” Jerry Marcanio, who started with Arena Civic in 1982, said. “There’s a certain feeling you get on a beautiful summer night.”
Marcanio, who is Arena Civic’s official historian and has been on the board of directors since 1985, remembered the days when the stage came alive. A dog may come running into the Roundhouse, and effectively the stage, to which they would have to improvise as a part of the play.
The audience sat where the vegetables typically were shown during the fair. The display stands were moved out and risers moved in for the theater-goers. The play took place in front of them on the round stage.
“There’s an intimacy to the audience,” Marcanio said. “Not just the cast but the audience as well, they’re drawn into the theater experience more.”
Franklin County Agricultural Society President Fred Steiner recalled the theater group in the ’80s, prior to when he took over the fairgrounds. He could always see it bustling in the summers when mowing the lawn.
“My brother and his future wife always came over here,” Steiner said. “They always had a crowd.”
Since taking over the fairgrounds, Steiner said people come up to him and say, “Why don’t you have plays anymore?”
Except Steiner didn’t have much of an answer for awhile.
This past Franklin County Parade, Coliskey was marching as she always does with the Arena Civic Theatre group. When she arrived at the fairgrounds and walked into the Roundhouse, she got to reminiscing about the old days.
Since then the two sides have worked out the details of how to make it happen again. It had fallen to the business plans of the ’80s and now with the fairgrounds seeking other revenues, this plan worked — while Arena Civic Theatre was able to invest enough to make it happen again.
Next year in 2020 Arena Civic Theatre will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and it plans on coming back to the fairgrounds again, bringing back the annual tradition of going home for the summer.
“This was designed for the people of Franklin County,” Steiner said. “And I’m glad we can keep it going.”
You can reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264