A love story that has legs

Ramona is the longest-running outdoor production in America

Be treated to a classic story of forbidden love and personal tragedy in the struggles between Mexican and American settlers and Indians staged in mid-1800s California.

What makes this production of Ramona truly unique is not the subject material or location but the staying power of the play, which has been produced every year by the locals for decades.

In fact, it has been running every season since 1923—an impressive 88 years.

"It’s a timeless story, it’s a story of early California, it’s a story of California before it was California," said Lynn Peterson, special events and volunteer co-ordinator for the Ramona Bowl Ampitheatre. “Even if you are an avid theatre-goer, you don’t ever see things like this.”

Community through theatre

Annual shows over the last eight decades have created a familial atmosphere within the tight-knit group of actors, volunteers and alumni.

Casting is by open call and requires 625 volunteers—including 400 actors and actresses, two-thirds of whom are children—to play characters that include ranchero hands, Spanish dancers and Indians.

Cowboys are also involved in the plot and can audition for parts, but must do so with their horses, as their equine companions will also have a role on stage.
Debuting in 1923 and based on the 1884 fiction novel of the same name by Helen Hunt Jackson, the first show was staged in a natural amphitheatre near Hemet.

The location provided good acoustics, which allowed the actors to do their scenes without the aid of microphones. But as crowds grew, a sound system was eventally installed.

The play will be staged in April and May for a total of five shows featuring the main event and a few smaller opening acts.