Kelly Yeaton, educator and noted arena theatre authority, died at age 93 on Thursday, February 10 at Mt. Nittany Medical Center, State College, Pa. He was born Charles Kendall Yeaton on April 21, 1911 in Portland, Maine to Arthur and Ella Sylvester (Adams) Yeaton. He married Ruth Marie Lyne of Erie, Pa. on April 7, 1955. Ruth survives with their son Michael of Tyrone, their daughter Carol L. Hartman of Centennial, Co. and six grandchildren.
He received his BA degree from Tufts University and his MA from the University of Washington in Seattle. He served in the US Air Force during WWII as a radio operator and instructor. After the war, Kelly continued to work and study in theatre arts. It was while he worked with Glenn Hughes at the famed Penthouse Theatre in Seattle that he came in contact with arena or theatre-in-the-round staging. He continued his studies and work experience at the American Theatre Wing in New York City. While there, he studied with Lee Simonson, designer; Lee Strasburg, group theatre teacher and director; Lincoln Kirstein, American Ballet and Alan Schneider, director of The Playwrights Company and Arena Theatre, Washington, D.C.
Before joining the Penn State Theatre Arts Faculty, he was employed as drama instructor and dean of students at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research in New York City. During his tenure at the university, Kelly was acknowledged as a leading world authority on the development and production of arena theatres. He authored nearly half of the technical articles on arena theatre printed in the United States. His extended works on acting as well as arena techniques include “Memorization by Analysis”, “A Plan for Acting”, “The Most Human Art”, and “Arena Production” in John Gassner’s theatre reference book “Producing the Play”. He contributed technical and informative articles to many theatre publications such as the Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia della Specttacolo, Dramatics Magazine, Theatre Arts, Educational Theatre Journal and the Tulane Drama Review.
He originated and developed the Experimental Theatre at Penn State which allowed him to explore new performance structures and acting techniques. These experiments were used in some of the plays that he directed, such as: Moby Dick Rehearsed, The Knack, The Sport of My Mad Mother, Moon Children, Fitz and Jim Dandy. He also organized and directed an acting company consisting of four actors, a technical-designer and a makeup-costumer. Known as The Arts Company, it performed an assortment of dramatic scenes for various historical or cultural periods in the theatre. It became a “live” visual aid and thus an enhanced teaching tool or method as an introduction to all phases of theatrical expression. This company is still in use in the Theatre Arts department at PSU. While at Penn State he taught acting, directing and arena production. He not only introduced “theatre-in-the-round” to the community, but he was also first in the country to use “sound-in-the-round” in the arena theatres.
Some of his directing credits include: The Stowe Repertory Theatre, in Stowe, Vermont; Orangeburg Circle Theatre in Orangeburg, N.Y.; Standing Stone Playhouse in Standing Stone, Pa.; Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pa.; Mummers of St. Louis, Mo.; Little theatre of Lafayette, Ind., as well as many productions at PSU.
While at PSU, Yeaton assisted in establishing the Green Hills Playhouse in Reading, Pa.; the Boal Barn Playhouse at Boalsburg and the Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall, Pa. He not only introduced arena theatre to Penn State but was the driving force behind the founding of the Pavilion Theatre in the mid-60s.
Kelly’s dedication to the development of community theatres did not go unnoticed. He was elected to the board of directors of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) and served a three year term as regional representative to the ANTA Board. Former members who have served in this capacity are Brooks Atkinson, Helen Hayes, Richard Rogers, Raymond Massey, Sam Jaffee, Lee Simonson, Robert Edmond Jones and Robert Sherwood, among others.
In addition to his many notable contributions to the theatre, Kelly enjoyed camping, sailing, gardening (saved heirloom seeds), photography, airbrush painting and theatrical mask-making. After retirement with the rank of Professor Emeritus, he traveled, wrote food articles with his wife Ruth, for the Centre Daily Times, experimented with wine-making and inspired by his brother, a retired Marine officer, Kelly published a book about a special knife designed by his brother for guerrilla warfare and used by the United State Marines for training overseas. His interests in life never faltered, as there was always something to examine or explore.
The family would like to thank the nurses of Home Hospice of Clearfield and the staff of Greenhills Village Retirement and Assisted Living for their friendship and loving care for Kelly during his extended stay there.
There will be no public visitation at this time and in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the School of Theatre Arts Reading Room c/o Penn State University, University Park, Pa. 16802.
A memorial service and celebration of Kelly’s life will be held in the Pavilion Theatre at Penn State University on Saturday, April 16, at 3 p.m. Friends and former students are invited to attend and share special memories and happy times. He will be in our hearts forever.
A guest book can be signed or condolences sent to individual family members at www.heintzelmanfuneralhome.com. Click on obituaries.
