History:

The Barn had its roots in the inventive minds of a small group of people who loved the theater. The idea for establishing a theater here came from Peter Tewksbury, a World War II veteran who, along with his wife, Kit, came to Porterville after an unsuccessful attempt to establish a career in New York. After organizing and nurturing the Barn Theater through its first several seasons, Tewksbury went on to Hollywood, where he became a successful director in both television and motion pictures. Peter Tewskbury died February 20, 2003, at the age of 79. More on Tewksbury here.

When Tewksbury first began rallying support for a theater in Porterville, he sought the expertise of retired Metropolitan Opera singer, Douglas Beattie and his wife, Virginia, successful commercial citrus growers in Terra Bella; and Howard Baker, a retired Harvard drama professor and his wife Dorothy, a successful novelist, whose book “Young Man With a Horn” was turned into a movie starring Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall.