Feathering Their Nest
By ROBERT S. WALTERS World Entertainment Writer 3/18/00
Theater troupe opens new performance space
Years have passed since playwright-director-actor John Cruncleton and his merry band of theater aesthetes began staging his folksy fables in some of Tulsa's most unusual performance spaces.
The inexplicably musty confines of the old A.D.A.M.S. Theater, which has since been remodeled, re-envisioned and aerated to become the Delaware Playhouse and Studio, hosted some of Cruncleton and the Midwestern Theater Troupe's creations, as did the Center for the Physically Limited.
The last three plays in the Midwestern's production history have all been performed out of the Springdale Community Center.
Now, as the Midwestern marks the passing of its sixth year together, the troupe gives itself a much needed creative boost, with the opening of its own performance venue.
The Nightingale Theater, its very name evoking the same mysticism that has permeated Cruncleton's plays, is nestled in the concrete arms of an industrial park one block east of Peoria Avenue on Quincy Street.
Prior to the building acquisition, the Midwestern almost seemed as enigmatic as its work, fading in and out of the theater community over the course of seven productions.
"We've obviously had a low profile for a while," says Cruncleton, "We haven't done anything in about a year. We were just kinda hunkered down, working on details for a new place. We got the space in December and we've been working on it since then, doing all the work ourselves."
Surrounded by blank warehouses and broken sidewalks, it's not difficult to visualize the Nightingale's past incarnations; a glass manufacturing plant, an oil-field equipment storage facility and, most recently, a furniture store.
But walking through the single glass door under the sprawling script of the Nightingale Theater marquee, it becomes clear that this space, either through fate or invention, was made to be a black-box theater.
The venue, which Cruncleton, his cofounder Jeff Whitlatch and Cruncleton's wife, Sara, acquired through "private and personal funding" starts in a compact area in front of a ticket booth. A quick jaunt down the right corridor shows just how different the Midwestern is from other area groups. The theater houses an in-theater gallery of photographs and furniture belonging to Tulsa artists. There is a special workroom used for making the puppets that have become a prevalent role in the several of Midwestern's plays.
"This place is an extension of our individual personalities," said the soft-spoken Whitlatch. "It gives us the freedom to do what we want. This town hasn't seen a lot in terms of alternate performance."
Cruncleton says that while the community standard for theater leans toward traditional fare, his group tends to gravitate to the avant-garde.
"Around town, (groups) have always set plays in a very realis tic or naturalistic style, but . . . that's not for us," Cruncleton said. "We'd love to bring in dance, the puppet shows, children's theater, just anything that isn't cinema reproduced for the stage.
"We've got the space, so we can do anything," he said.
Although the space itself is not very deep or wide, the group's movable bleachers allow the production space to adapt its production dimensions. Two huge, segmented bay doors mark the back of the traditional playing area. Through the doors is a whole other wide-open space, which the troupe will use for its shop area.
Children's guitarist Mark Mead will host the Nightingale's first public performance with a concert the last week of March. "Mark Mead is amazing because he doesn't play traditional children's music. He doesn't condescend to them," said Sara Cruncleton.
The first theatrical production offered by the Midwestern Theater Troupe in the new space will be a play written by John Cruncleton called "Romalo the Great."
While the Midwestern Theater Troupe will be stationed out of the Nightingale, they are also opening their doors to misplaced independent artists and producers of theater.
"Any type of performance can fit there, but we don't want it to be a rock venue . . . but maybe for folk artists or a rock band that's more performance-based . . ." said Whitlatch.
The group also plans to be flexible in negotiating fees, dates and times to boost plans to offer an alternative cultural experience to Tulsans.
"Right now, we're just gonna take it on a show-by-show basis and see what ideas come up. We're just gonna try to leave the space open. That'll give us the artistic freedom to do as much or little as we want," Cruncleton said.
Robert S. Walters, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8334 or via e-mail at robert.walters@tulsaworld.com.