THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510200239
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Random Rambles
SOURCE: Tony Stein
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
While those of us who live in Chesapeake realize that we are at the very center of world civilization and culture - except for a political Pearl Harbor pulled on an unsuspecting city manager - we occasionally must venture beyond our boundaries to brighten the rest of the universe.
Or be brightened ourselves. Like at the Barter Theater. Maybe you read about the Barter's expansion in The Virginian-Pilot a while back. Or maybe you don't know about the Barter. It's in Abingdon at the other end of Virginia, which makes it a secret to a lot of people at this end.
The Barter Theater is a professional playhouse that has been around since the 1930s. Miz Phyllis and I have just returned from our sixth trip there. We're talking an 800-mile trek to get to Abingdon and back, but it's become a favorite excursion.
The Barter is called that because you could once trade for your ticket. In 1933, a guy named Bob Porterfield led a troupe of hungry New York actors to Abingdon on the premise that if they couldn't get paid, they could at least eat. Abingdon was farm country. Farmers had food. So Porterfield put the question: Our show for your food? Deal?
Deal. Folks flocked to the box office with all kinds of produce. At the end of the first season, the Barter had a cash profit of only $4.30, but the 30-member theater troupe had gained an average of 10 pounds a person.
First, though, they had to overcome a small town's mistrust of a bunch of - gasp, snicker, sneer - New York actors. How that happened is a wonderful Barter legend. First Sunday in town, Porterfield marched his people to church. During the service, one of the actors was seen singing all four verses of ``Rock of Ages'' without a hymn book. That convinced Abingdon that they were not faced with a visitation of painted hussies and low-life lechers. Actually, the actor had only learned the hymn for a part in a play, but the townsfolk never knew.
Meanwhile, the box office became an outpost of the Farmers' Market. Like the time an old guy led a cow to the door and milked a couple of quarts for his ticket. Then he told his wife to milk a couple more for her ticket. Another time, a man brought a pig as payment, but it broke loose. A porker posse chased it without success.
The Barter people had better luck the time a man brought a calf led by a rope. He was told he could keep the rope, and the untied calf galloped away. This time, a fleet-footed thespian captured the critter.
However, my favorite Barter barter story is about the time the theater did a play by George Bernard Shaw and sent him a royalty payment in hams. ``No thanks,'' said Shaw, ``I'm a vegetarian.'' No problem. The Barter sent him spinach.
Unfortunately, progress shot down the barter system after World War II. Now it's cash or credit card on the line, but reasonable. Tickets run from $13 to $17, depending on the show and the day. What you get is quality theater. All of the performances I've seen have been well-acted and well-staged.
The people involved are pros and, if you want evidence, Barter alumni include such familiar names as Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine, Patricia Neal and Hume Cronyn.
When you discover the Barter, you also discover that southwest Virginia is not the dreary landscape I had imagined before I went there. There are rolling hills and fields, actual terrain as opposed to flat-as-a-flapjack Tidewater. One way to go from here to Abingdon is to take Interstate 64 to Staunton and I-81 the rest of the way. That's the hustle-your-bustle route. But last time we went we took U.S. 460 to Burkeville and 360 west from there. That way, though there are a couple of slow stretches, the scenery mellows the mind.
Once you're in Abingdon, you might want to consider staying at the Martha Washington Inn. It ain't cheap, but it's classy. Antiques in the rooms, chocolates on the pillow at night and a long veranda on which to rock and contemplate your slice of the good life.
We plan to go back to the Barter once more before the year is out, and if you want to know more about it, call 1-800-368-3240. In the meantime, let us consider the wisdom of what Barter Theater directors tell the audiences before the curtain goes up.
The style of the audience is relaxed and informal, and they laugh with the director as he chats about the theater and the play. Then he closes with the Barter tagline first used by founder Bob Porterfield:
``If you like us, tell your friends. If you don't, keep your mouth shut.''
I don't usually do travelogues, but I think more people ought to know about the Barter. If you like this column, tell your friends. If you don't, I'll try again next Sunday. by CNB