The Grove Play is an annual theatrical production written, produced and performed by and for Bohemian Club members, and staged outdoors in California at the Bohemian Grove each summer.
In 1878, the Bohemian Club of San Francisco first took to the woods for a summer celebration that they called midsummer High Jinks. [1] Poems were recited, songs were sung, and dramatic readings were given. In 1881, the ceremony of the Cremation of Care was first conducted after the various individual performances. [2] Eventually, the readings and songs were woven into a theme or framework, such as in the solemn Orientalism-themed Buddha Jinks of 1892 and the Christianity-triumphs-over-paganism-themed Druid Jinks the next year. [3] In 1897, the Faust Jinks were constructed within the musical form of Charles Gounod's opera Faust. [4] Finally, in 1902, both the music and the libretto were composed by club members, setting the "Bohemian grove-play as a distinct genre of stage art." [4]
Each year a Sire and a musical Sire are selected by the club's Jinks Committee, part of the club's Board of Directors. [5] The Sire is responsible for producing the script and libretto of the Grove Play, and the musical Sire composes the music. The Sire may select others to write the dialog and song lyrics, but remains responsible for the overall theme and final form of the spectacle.
In the earliest productions of the Grove Play, several restrictions were imposed upon the Sire including that the stage setting be the natural forest backdrop and that the "malign character Care" be introduced in the plot, to wreak havoc with the characters and then be faced down and vanquished by the hero. [6] In these early productions, the Cremation of Care immediately followed, and lasted until midnight. [7] The end of the ceremony was signaled by a lively Jinks Band rendition of There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight , [8] and the club members sat down to a late dinner and revelry into the wee hours. [9]
From 1913, the Cremation of Care was disengaged from the Grove Play, and rescheduled for the first night of the summer encampment. The Grove Play was set for the final weekend. [10] A different Sire was appointed for the Cremation, and some concerns were raised in subsequent years that the Cremation of Care was growing into its own secondary Grove Play. Some Sires experimented with a satirical treatment, or topical themes such as a patriotic World War I treatment in 1918 and an unpopular Prohibition script in 1919. "Care" was not killed, let alone cremated, in the 1922 version. In response to member complaints about the unpredictable quality of the opening night fare, Charles K. Field was asked in 1923 to write the script for what became the basis for every subsequent Cremation of Care ceremony. [11]
From 1902 to 1923, a central theme of most Grove Plays was the mystique of the ancient Coast Redwood tree grove. [12] Jack London wrote The Acorn Planter: A California Forest Play for the High Jinks but it was never staged; it was described as too difficult to set to music. [13] Beginning around 1920 with the installation of a large Austin pipe organ, the productions became more professional in tone. [14] In 1922, a sophisticated lighting system was installed at the Main Stage, the venue for the Grove Play. [1] During the World War II years 1943–1945, no Grove Plays were staged.
Unusual performances include the 1906 production of The Owl and Care, which is listed in Grove's dictionary as "Not strictly a Grove-Play." [15] The Triumph of Bohemia was already planned, but the 1906 San Francisco earthquake changed the club's priorities in favor of a more elaborate cremation ceremony called The Owl and Care. [15] Two plays have been staged twice for the club members: St. Patrick at Tara in 1909 and 1934, and A Gest of Robin Hood in 1929 and 1954. 1912's The Atonement of Pan was performed once for club members and again two weeks later for members' wives and women friends. In 2008, the treatment of The Count of Monte Cristo was staged even though it had been published four years prior.
The cast for a Grove Play averages 75–100 actors, many appearing as so-called "spear carriers" in crowd scenes. [16] Roles for female characters are played by men, [17] since women are not allowed as members of the Bohemian Club. Including orchestra members, costumers, stage crew and carpenters, some 300 people are involved with the production each year. [18] The cost of each play was reported in the range of $20,000–30,000 in 1975, as much as $163,000 in current value. No salaries are given to club members who take part and no admission is charged the audience. [18] Rehearsals begin a year in advance. [18]
Observers have characterized the Grove Plays as massive, predictable and slow. Author John van der Zee has described the Grove Plays as "lumbering pageants." [19] Commenting on the plot, he said, "We know in advance that the hero will be a king or commander adored by his men, and that he will see his duty and do it." [19] Journalist Philip Weiss, writing in 1989 for Spy magazine, said that the high point of the two-week summer encampment was the "vigorously lowbrow" Low Jinks, a musical comedy staged during the middle weekend, not the "mannered and ponderous Grove Play." [20] Journalism professor Richard Reinhardt argued in 1980 that the showy bombast of Broadway theatre producer David Belasco helped form in the early Grove Plays a taste for majestic and astounding visual effects, and that this aesthetic sense has continued to the present in a form of "institutional inertia." [21]
Bohemian Grove is a restricted 2,700-acre campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, United States, belonging to a private San Francisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, Bohemian Grove hosts a more than two-week encampment of some of the most prominent men in the world.
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, adventurers, or vagabonds. Bohemian is a 19th-century historical and literary topos that places the milieu of young metropolitan artists and intellectuals—particularly those of the Latin Quarter in Paris—in a context of poverty, hunger, appreciation of friendship, idealization of art and contempt for money. Based on this topos, the most diverse real-world subcultures are often referred to as "bohemian" in a figurative sense, especially if they show traits of a precariat.
The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journalists, artists, and musicians, it soon began to accept businessmen and entrepreneurs as permanent members, as well as offering temporary membership to university presidents and military commanders who were serving in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the club has a membership of many local and global leaders, ranging from artists and musicians to businessmen. Membership is restricted to men only.
The Cremation of Care is an annual ritual production written, produced, and performed by and for members of the Bohemian Club. It is staged at the Bohemian Grove near Monte Rio, California, in front of a 40-foot tall image of an owl, at a small artificial lake amid a private old-growth grove of Redwood trees.
Los Rancheros Visitadores or the "Visiting Ranchers" is a social club in the United States. The group meets on ranch land in Santa Barbara and embarks northward on a 60-mile (97 km) journey across the countryside after receiving a blessing at the Santa Ynez Mission. It attracts over 700 riders on its annual trek.
Haig Patigian, was an Armenian-American sculptor.
H. Morse Stephens was an historian and professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley who helped to purchase the Bancroft Library, and who worked to build archives of California history, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and World War I.
William W. Schwarzer was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Richard Bunger Evans, also known as Richard Bunger, is an American composer and pianist who worked with John Cage and subsequently wrote "the classic book on John Cage," The Well-Prepared Piano. Evans has composed and performed music for opera and musical theatre, piano, art songs, prepared piano, choral music, string orchestra and chamber music. He continues to compose and perform in these various genres, and is especially respected as a collaborator with singers. During his 17-year career as a music professor, Evans was named one of two statewide Outstanding Professors of 1981–1982 in the 23-campus California State University system.
Nino Marcelli was an Italian composer and conductor who revived the San Diego Symphony orchestra. Marcelli wrote compositions for musical theatre and oratorio including one for the Bohemian Club.
Wallace Arthur Sabin was a composer and organist, born in Culworth, Northamptonshire, England. He played organ from the age of 13 at various schools and churches in Oxford. He trained in music at Banbury and Oxford, and graduated from the Royal College of Organists in 1888. In 1890, he became a fellow of that college.
Peter R. Arnott is an American composer, theatre director and banjo player. Arnott is a member of the Bohemian Club and has been closely involved with a number of Grove Plays. Arnott is a founding member and banjo player for the Goodtime Washboard Three.
Daniel O'Connell (II) (1849 – 23 January 1899) was a poet, actor, writer and journalist in San Francisco, California, and a co-founder of the Bohemian Club. He was the grand-nephew of Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847), the famed Irish orator and politician.
Henry Edwards, known as "Harry", was an English stage actor, writer and entomologist who gained fame in Australia, San Francisco and New York City for his theatre work.
James F. Bowman was a journalist and poet in Northern California, and a co-founder of the Bohemian Club. Bowman served on several newspapers in Placerville, Sacramento and San Francisco during a 24-year career. Through his contacts among San Francisco journalists, Bowman befriended Mark Twain, artist William Keith, critic Ambrose Bierce and a great many others.
Herman George Scheffauer was a German-American poet, architect, writer, dramatist, journalist, and translator.
Porter Garnett was a playwright, critic, editor, librarian, teacher, and printer.
Charles Caldwell Dobie was a writer and historian in San Francisco. His novel The Blood Red Dawn was adapted into the movie The Inner Chamber in 1921. His stories were published in magazines and included in anthologies. He also received honors for his work. He wrote several novels. His work featured his hometown, San Francisco. The Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley has a collection of his papers.
Charles Peter Gabriel Moulin (1872–1945) was an American photographer. He took architectural photographs of building exteriors and interiors as well as views of San Francisco. He also took photographs of people and performances at the Bohemian Grove and was official photographer for the Bohemian Club. he photographed illustrator Harrison Fisher, sculptor Arthur Putnam, Edgar Stillman Kelley, James Thurber, and botanist Luther Burbank. His photographs are part of collections at The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley, the Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.