Theater

More Publick woes

by Carolyn Clay

The Publick Theatre has had more to contend with this season than the usual thunderstorms, mosquitoes, and critics. In late July, between runs of Macbeth and Gypsy, the venerable outdoor theater on the Charles was badly vandalized. Then, last Sunday morning, someone set the place on fire. The Boston Fire Department's arson squad is investigating the blaze, which seriously damaged the trailer used by the troupe as both dressing room and office. Given that the theater in Christian A. Herter Park has been in business for 30 years and suffered no more than minor break-ins and graffiti, it's hard not to be -- in fire-fighting parlance -- alarmed. Says outgoing artistic director Spiro Veloudos, "I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but something is going on. If it's someone who has something against me, why wait until I'm leaving? And who could have something against the theater?"

Veloudos, who will be replaced at the Publick helm by Boston actor and director Diego Arciniegas next season, did not learn of the fire -- which was reported at 6:24 a.m. -- until he arrived for a Sunday matinee at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, his new home base. The good news is that, because the summer season had concluded, there wasn't much stored in the trailer. "But," says Veloudos, "that trailer is gone."

Making matters worse, the theater is without fire insurance. As Veloudos explains, the al fresco theater has been unable to procure theft or fire insurance at a reasonable rate because of its "exposure." He estimates that the damage done by the fire is in the neighborhood of $10,000. And that's on top of the damage done to the Publick by the vandals who attacked its outdoor stage in July, smashing apart, among other things, two permanent walls that, as Veloudos asserts, "have survived two hurricanes." This, he says, was not "kid-like damage." On the other hand, Veloudos says of the fire, "This was a statement, not the work of someone trying to destroy the theater. If they wanted to do that, why [didn't they] light up the stage?"

Though the Publick's finances have been precarious of late, Veloudos is sure the theater will persevere. "That trailer was given to us 12 years ago," he says. "We can always go back to renting one." Or, he adds hopefully, "maybe a local trailer company will step up and say, `That's terrible. Here's a new trailer.'

"But if I were still running the theater, we would open next season. Maybe not for three shows. And maybe we'd have to raise our ticket prices and restructure our agreement with [Actors'] Equity [the professional actors' and stage managers' union]. But we would open."

Incoming artistic director Arciniegas is even more positive. "In my mind," he says, "it isn't even a question of whether the Publick will have a 31st season. It's just a question of where my actors will change their clothes."