Lake Forest Park’s Goat Hill Theatre - A community-building theatre

By Donna Hawkey
Photos by Dave Farkas except as noted

Lake Forest Park’s Goat Hill Theatre is an enthusiastic and fun group of friends and neighbors who gather a few times a year to rehearse and then perform four 10-minute plays for themselves and guests.

Armand, Connie, and Dan in Richelieu Royale

Jean and Dave Farkas started the group in 2019. Dave had begun writing 10-minute plays, and the couple decided staging them would be a great way for friends to get together. Initially, they performed in the Farkas living room, with much of the furniture removed. During the worst of COVID, they held performances in backyards.

Dave and Jean introduce the play to the audience
at Kenmore's Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

In recent years, Goat Hill Theater has performed in the spacious Undercroft Room at Kenmore’s Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. Dave and Jean are introducing the plays to the audience.

Everything about Goat Hill is informal. There are no auditions. Many Goat Hill folks have little or no prior acting experience. Actors perform with a script in hand unless they choose to memorize their lines. There are no tickets or donations.

Over the years, many of the Goat Hill actors have written their own plays for the group or have signed on to direct. Says Dave, “Audiences especially like seeing plays that are written, acted, and directed by people they know.” The performances are filmed and posted on YouTube. You can find them by opening YouTube and searching for “Goat Hill Theater, Farkas.”

Tracy Furutani, playwright and LFP Deputy Mayor
Photo by Sally Yamasaki

Tracy Furutani, playwright and Deputy Mayor of Lake Forest Park, wrote and directed his first play this past June. Gary Hawkey videos and edits the plays for YouTube.

Jean, a retired technical editor, also enjoys writing plays and is the manager of the Goat Hill Theatre. Her duties include casting actors, scheduling rehearsals, and planning some simple refreshments for the talk-back that concludes each performance. Her favorite job is finding or making props. “It’s amazing,” says Jean, “how a few well-chosen props can suggest a play’s setting and convey essential concepts.”

Jean is the manager of Goat Hill Theatre

A special meeting

About a year ago, Jean and Dave visited Mamie Bolender, a longtime Lake Forest Park resident and environmental steward and advocate, who now lives at Mountlake Terrace Plaza Assisted Living. Anne Paine, the facility’s friendly and enthusiastic wellness director, proposed an ongoing relationship between Goat Hill and Mountlake Terrace Plaza (MTP). Goat Hill now performs at MTP and organizes theater activities for residents.

Goat Hill Theatre performs regularly at Mountlake Terrace Plaza

What are your theater interests?

Maybe you’re ready for a little do-it-yourself theater. Dave has taught playwriting and written a book, Writing the 10-Minute Play. He claims that anyone who reads the book straight through will come away with a play they like. 

If you want to learn more about Goat Hill Theatre, email Jean at jbfarkas1@gmail.com. If you’re interested in playwriting or would like help starting your own friends-and-neighbors theater group, email Dave at farkaswords@gmail.com.

Photo by Sally Yamasaki