Our History and Season Galleries
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 Vagina 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.
The “gypsies” of the theater scene in St. Augustine, all this has been achieved without the benefit of a theater home of their own! Productions have been produced in every conceivable venue: from the outdoor courtyard of the historic Ximinez-Fatio house accompanied by sound of the clip-clop of the horse carriages passing by, to the elegant protection of the Flagler Room in Flagler College.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.”
2013-2014 Season
October 2014 || Cross Roads: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Norton S. Baskin in Unguarded Moments. A Classic Theatre, Inc. celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the publication of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Yearling” with two performances. READ MORE
May 2014 || Alice in Wonderland. Directed by Jean Rahner. Performed at the Gamache-Koger Theater in the Ringhaver Student Center on the Flagler College Campus, downtown St. Augustine. Part of the Romanza Festivale celebration of the arts and culture of St. Augustine. READ MORE
December 2013 || Holiday double feature! Two one-acts in a celebratory evening of theater! A fundraiser for ACT, we invite you to join us in celebrating this Holiday Season and supporting our theater productions. READ MORE
2012-2013 Season
March 2013 || Cross Roads: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings & Norton S. Baskin in Unguarded Moments. Letters adapted for the stage by Deborah B. Dickey. Share an intimate look at their fascinating and unique relations … built through long separations and drawn from their own correspondence. READ MORE
February 2013 || The Year of Magical Thinking. A play by Joan Didion featuring Anne Kraft. “Life Changes in the instant…” Anne Kraft brings back Joan Didion’s journey to inspire ‘living in the now.’ READ MORE
December 2012 || Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Adapted and staged by Jason Woods. Dickens’ classic as you’ve never see it! A tour de force performance by Jason Woods with original score composed by the actor himself. Not to be missed!
2011-2012 Season
A Classic Theatre performed three productions in the 2011-2011 Season. In addition, Jean Rahner, president and founder of A Classic Theatre (ACT), has been honored by the Board of the Florida Theatre Conference by being selected as the 2011 recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Community Theatre Award. The Florida Theatre Conference is dedicated to providing quality educational and artistic programs. Rahner was chosen by her theatrical peers in recognition of her “dedication to the theatrical arts and outstanding level of experience that [she] brought to the stage.”
May 2012 || Cross Roads: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and READ MORE
Norton S. Baskin In Unguarded Moments
March 2012 || Is Life Worth Living? READ MORE
September 2011 || The Year of Magical Thinking READ MORE