Skip to main content
There’s a running joke at Twilight Theater Company: When managing director Alicia Turvin is on vacation, don’t contact her unless the building catches on fire.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, while Turvin and her husband were in Bermuda, that’s exactly what happened.
Around 2:30 am Wednesday, Nov. 22, a car crashed into the North Portland building that Twilight calls home, resulting in damages delaying the theater’s production of Christmas in Christmasville by one week.
“The car crashed through the side of the building and caught fire—and then the building caught fire,” Dorinda Toner, Twilight’s producing artistic director, tells WW. “And then there was significant damage to the suite under Twilight.”
All three of the passengers in the car are expected to recover, but Twilight’s vintage door was smashed when the fire bureau entered the building and the electrical system must be repaired before Christmasville opens.
“Since the day before Thanksgiving, there’s been no electricity and no heat,” Toner says. “So there really hasn’t been a lot we can do as far as cleanup or abatement because we had no lights, no power and no heat. Not only did we lose rehearsal before Thanksgiving, but then this [past] weekend would have been our tech rehearsal.”
Thanks to repair efforts, Christmasville, a mischievous riff on Christmas movies written and directed by Chris Byrne, is currently on track to make its new opening date, Friday, Dec. 8.
“Her cast met last night and [Chris] said morale was super high,” Toner said. “Everybody had taken the time off and refocussed.” She adds that Twilight staff will be able to return to the building tonight or tomorrow.
A scrappy company known for clever and provocative plays, Twilight has long proved resilient in an increasingly difficult time for theater.
“Obviously, it was a shock,” Toner says. “Obviously, our first impulse was concern. But on the other hand, I trust and believe that our community supports us. And they’ve really shown that.”