It’s a Circus: Theater Troupe Must Move Play Out of Market, Into Tent

Santa Susana Repertory Company thought it had found a home, and theater, when a developer offered in March to lend them his abandoned Simi Valley supermarket.

But five weeks ago, as the troupe was busy converting the building from grocery store to theater, a city building inspector showed up with good news and bad news.

The good news was that, yes, the troupe could stage a play in the supermarket.

The bad news was that, because of fire-safety requirements, it couldn’t invite many people or let anyone sit down.

“They basically dropped the bomb on us,” said Victoria Morris, one of Simi Valley Repertory’s co-founders. “Here was this 30,000-square-foot building, and we couldn’t use it.”

The show, of course, must go on. Tonight, the company’s rendition of “Man of La Mancha” will debut . . . in a tent in the parking lot.

Opening night comes a week late, as company members had to scramble to secure a temporary city permit, rent a $7,500-a-month theatrical tent and move sets and seats from supermarket to parking lot.

“It’s really been a back-breaker,” Morris said. “It’s ludicrous.”

Morris said she was assured by the building’s owner months ago that the supermarket in the 5100 block of Los Angeles Avenue was up to snuff. In fact, it does meet codes as a supermarket but not as a playhouse.

“There’s a real difference between a theater and a grocery store,” said Jay Corey, Simi Valley deputy city manager. “When it comes to theaters and other assembly areas, you have people packed into a tight area, so the fire-protection requirements are much more stringent.”

About 300 seats were to be installed in the supermarket. The tent, which city officials deemed safe for assembly use, accommodates only 230. The supermarket was to include a plush lobby and indoor plumbing. The tent provides neither.

So Santa Susana Repertory finds itself, once again, in less than perfect surroundings. So far in this inaugural season, it has had to stage “A Christmas Carol” and “Of Mice and Men” at Simi Elementary School and Moorpark College auditoriums.

Nevertheless, the company counts a dozen experienced television and stage actors among its ranks and has given Simi Valley its first taste of professional theater. Most of the actors live in the bedroom community and simply wanted to work in live theater close to home.

Doerken Properties of Santa Monica, which owns the supermarket, will allow Santa Susana Repertory to use the building at least through July. The troupe could install floor-to-ceiling partitions and other safety precautions to bring the building up to code for theater use.

“We don’t really have a definite plan,” said Holley Swanner, the play’s producer. “We don’t really have the resources to fix the building. We’re thinking of just going to a summer festival and having three plays in the tent.”

“Man of La Mancha,” which runs through July 2, stars Lane Davies as Don Quixote. Davies regularly plays Mason Capwell on NBC’s soap opera “Santa Barbara.” Jerry Winsett will play Sancho Panza, Eileen Barnett will play Aldonza and David Ralphe, a veteran of the Mark Taper Forum and Orange County’s South Coast Repertory Theater, will direct.