Descendant of Capt. Cook writes Mountain Play
by Laurie Thompson
The Mountain Play, one of Marin’s most beloved theatrical traditions, inaugurates its 2017 season this weekend. Over the years, the themes of the Mountain Play have ranged from the biblical (1913’s Abraham & Isaac) to beloved classics such as Alice in Wonderland.
1937’s Mountain Play was Thunder in Paradise by Cecil James Cook, a descendant of Captain Cook. It was the fifth Mountain Play written especially for the Mountain Theater. The May 21, 1937 Sausalito News writes:
Thunder in Paradise is a story of the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain James Cook. The time is 1778. One hundred players will take parts in the pageant costumed as natives of the period and as British seamen and officers.
Former Mountain Play director Dan Totheroh relates:
The thrilling climax of the pageant was the sacrifice of the heroine to the fiery blast of the volcano, Mauna Lea, and Pohili’s Rock, starkly overlooking the amphitheatre, effectively represented the volcano.
Totheroh also tells how weather played a role that year:
It is interesting to recall that the weather played another practical joke on the Mountain Play Association that year. From early morning and straight through the playing time, thick swirling fog obscured the stage and shifting curtains of mist gave the play an almost unearthly quality. It was also bitterly cold and the players, scantily clad in the costumes of ancient Hawaii, shivered.
The May 19, 1937 Oakland Tribune reported that five major Bay Area hiking clubs including the California Alpine Club, Sierra Club, Contra Costa Hills Club, Berkley Hiking Club and the Triangle Hiking Club, would be traveling together on the 8:15 a.m. San Francisco to Sausalito ferry for the following Sunday’s performance of Thunder in Paradise.
The Sausalito News emphasized that 1937’s Mountain Play marked “the last important event in Marin County before the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge” which would take place just a few days later on May 27, 1937.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
