It’s been 111 years since the first Mountain Play was staged at the 2,000-foot level on Mount Tamalpais. “The very first one, in 1913, was a 15th-century drama titled Abraham and Isaac,” says Eileen Grady, executive director of the Mountain Play Association, the year-round, San Rafael-based nonprofit that stages the long-running summertime productions (note accompanying poster promoting 1913’s Isaac and Abraham). “Back then, the audience just sat on the grassy hillside as there were no seats,” adds Grady. According to her, to reach the site in those early days playgoers either hiked eight miles up from downtown Mill Valley or rode the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railroad, aka “the World’s Crookedest Railroad,” to its terminus then walked down to the amphitheater.
By the 1930s, cars had replaced the railroad and the Civilian Conservation Corps had set more than 5,000 serpentine boulders, some weighing up to 2,500 lbs, into 40 rows of seats resembling a classic Greek open air theater with a capacity of 4,000. At that time, the Mount Tam treasure was named the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater honoring a Scenic Railroad executive who was highly supportive of the annual event.
Plays were suspended during World War II as well as during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Even worse, Mountain Plays nearly died due to lack of interest in the 1970s. That’s when the play’s board of directors replaced heavy dramas with popular musicals such as My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, Hair and Grease. Adhering to that policy, this year’s selection is Kinky Boots, a Broadway musical based on a Harvey Fierstein book about the travails of a family-owned shoe factory and featuring a Tony- and Grammy-award winning score by Cyndi Lauper.
All performances start at 2 p.m. on June 2, 8, 9 and 16 — tickets are available at mountainplay.org.
