A mellow, artsy story out of California's Motherlode

The inimitable Hailey Branson-Potts, who today celebrates a decade with the Los Angeles Times, reports from Volcano, California, about the re-opening of the community theatre, shuttered first by COVID-19 and then disrupted by nearby wildfires, including the Caldor Fire in neighboring El Dorado County.  

Here's a short excerpt: 

The Volcano Theatre Company has long been the cultural heart of this Amador County hamlet, drawing thousands of people each year to its few restaurants, hotels and businesses.

The town, population about 100, sits in a bowl-shaped valley, which Gold Rush miners thought might be the crater of a dormant volcano. It once was a boomtown, with thousands of residents, a private law school, an astronomical observatory, and — in deference to the sacred and profane — lots of churches and saloons.

Now, it’s one of those tiny places peppering California that seem primed to be blotted out by some calamity, human- or nature-made.

* * * 

The all-volunteer theater began in 1974. Shows take place in the outdoor amphitheater and, across the street, the Cobblestone Theatre built in 1856. With just 35 chairs, it is reputedly the smallest fixed-seat theater in California.

“We’re such a small county, and we don’t have a massive amount of art,” said Savannah Mulderrig, a 32-year-old actress. “It’s just important for people to experience live theater. If you don’t go here, you’re going to Sacramento.”

One of my favorite things about this story:  seeing the photographer, Myung Chun, who accompanied Branson-Potts to photograph this story, tweet this acknowledgement of his own lack of familiarity with rural California and gems like Volcano.