Bristol Riverside theatre
by Diana Cercone
If you’ve enjoyed seeing a Broadway play, then it’s a good reason to see one at the Bristol Riverside Theatre (BRT). You won’t be disappointed. And if you’ve never seen a Broadway play, then it’s an even better reason to see one at BRT. The Bristol Riverside Theatre is a regional theatre, and it is here where it all begins—the passion, the talent and the love of the theatre. To see a live production on stage is to fall in love with the theatre. And the Bristol Riverside Theatre makes you fall in love again and again.
Not surprising, then, that BRT was founded on love, passion and talent. The year was 1986, and Susan D. Akinson, who grew up in New Britain, had returned to Bucks County a decade earlier to be with family and work in New York City. By ’86 she had 40 years experience with the theatre including directing, producing, developing new plays and teaching on both the East and West coasts.
Though she enjoyed working in New York, she felt the pull to produce in Bucks County even more. “I wanted to start The Repertory Theatre Company of Bucks County,” Susan says. This she tells me as we’re sitting in BRT’s comfortable lobby, its large, picture windows overlooking the Bristol Waterfront Park and the Delaware River.
With her connections to New York theatre and to local talent, she started producing and directing plays wherever she could find free space in Bucks—in New Hope restaurants, The George School, The Solebury School. Venues changed so much, she says, she had to send maps to critics so they would know where to go. The nomad life for a serious theatre soon lost its luster and Susan wanted a home where she could build a repertory theatre—and where theatre-goers and critics could have a stable stage to come to.
Her chance came in 1983. She read in the local paper that the Grundy Foundation had purchased the shuttered adult movie house on Radcliffe Street. She envisioned turning it into a legitimate theatre and approached the Foundation.
It took some persuading on Susan’s part—and the better part of three years, but The Foundation recognized a good thing for the community. And recognized that not only was Susan serious but she had the credentials to back her up. While at the American Conservatory Theatre, she was an assistant to such luminary directors as William Ball, Gower Champion, George Abbott and Ed Sherrin. From there she went on to be guest director at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre Company and the Marin Shakespeare Festival and has directed numerous plays, including world and area premieres. In New York, Susan had a widely respected reputation not only as a director but also as a play doctor (more on that later).
The Grundy Foundation, she says, did a magnificent job in renovating the rundown building and eyesore into a high quality professional theatre. The Bristol Riverside Theatre opened its doors in 1986. And by its 1987-1988 season offered five Mainstage plays, beginning with the award winning play The Good Earth, no doubt a homage to Pearl. S. Buck and her roots here in Bucks County.
To finish reading about the Bristol Riverside Theatre, turn to page 82 in the Fall 2015 issue of Bucks County Magazine.