A Classic Theatre takes pride in producing a wide range of offerings that fit its mission of producing Classic, Historic and/or Original works. Its working board of directors has a grand total of four women…each of whom has a strong individual background in theater. ACT is known for presenting works that would not ordinarily be seen in our fair City. In May of 2005, ACT made its debut on the arts
scene with a staged reading of "Marat/Sade" followed the next year by "Working" by Studs Turkel, and "Gross Indecency, the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" and "The Va**na Monologues", which was produced in cooperation with Jacksonville University in 2009. These three productions were directed by founder Jean Rahner. Original plays have found a friendly welcome and have made their premieres with A Classic Theatre. These include "Darwin’s Babies" by local arts reporter Bob Feldheim; "The Women Rebel" by Dee Lovell; "Henry Flagler Remembers" by Thomas Rahner; "The Imperative" by Roger Rueff; "My Friend Zelma: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Trial" by Dr. Michael Gannon; and "Cross Roads: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Norton S. Baskin in Unguarded Moments" by Deborah B. Dickey. Full productions of large and small cast plays have also found an outlet with ACT: from the fully staged production of "Inherit the Wind" on the mainstage of Limelight Theatre to the one-person shows of Jason Woods in his adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" at the Pioneer Barn, and Joan Didion’s one-woman play, "The Year of Magical Thinking" performed by Anne Kraft at the Koger-Gamache Theater at Flagler College. ACT even reached into the world of radio by producing a live broadcast in front of an audience of "It’s a Wonderful Life" and the classic "War of the Worlds," which was recorded and has been re-broadcast annually on WFCF.FM at Halloween. Though considered a nomadic Theatre since it's inception in 2005, A Classic Theatre has found performance spaces all over in St. Augustine including the Pioneer Barn, Flagler College, The St. Augustine Art Association, and the Lincolnville Musuem and cultural center. As of 2022 we are no longer a roving theatre, having found a home at the historical St. Augustine Waterworks. Operating revenues come from ticket sales and donations; any profit made on one production goes into putting on the next show. It may not be the best “Business Model,” but it IS a “Model for Love of the Arts.”
