Feature in the East Bay Times, June 16, 2006
MARGARETTE Robinson retired twice: once from her job in education and once from her work as an actor.
Looks like only one of those retirements actually stuck.
Robinson, an Oakland native who now lives in Berkeley, has been a mainstay of Bay Area theater, having worked extensively with the Oakland Ensemble theater in its heyday, San Francisco’s pioneering Eureka Theatre and Mountain View’s TheatreWorks among many others.
All the while she was acting, Robinson was raising a family — two daughters and three stepsons — and working in special education, specifically with pre-schoolers with autism or severe language disorders in San Mateo County.
About seven years ago, after appearing the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s “The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta-Mae,” Robinson retired from the stage to help raise three of her grandchildren.
“I had no plans to go back into the theater,” Robinson says.
But then director Anthony J. Haney, whom Robinson calls “one of my favorite people in the world,” gave her a call and enticed her into the cast of the TheatreWorks’ musical “Crowns.”
That show turned into a roof-raising hit and eventually transferred to San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theatre.
For decades, Robinson has lived in the East Bay and worked primarily on the Peninsula and in San Francisco.
“I’ve crossed a lot of bridges in my time,” Robinson says with a laugh.
Last year, Robinson retired from the world of education — “I miss the children but not all the bureaucracy” — and now she’s working for a theater that doesn’t require a bridge crossing.
Robinson is in the Aurora Theatre Company’s “Permanent Collection,” which opens next week in Berkeley.
Thomas Gibbons’ play is based on the true story of Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation controversy and is about a rich man’s art collection that becomes the focus of a bitter battle involving race, politics and change.
Robinson plays Ella Franklin, a woman who appears in two scenes, once at the beginning and once at the end.
“I’m the bookends,” Robinson says. “I like this play because it addresses issues head on. There’s no skirting. This is provocative stuff. It’ll make people think.”
Robinson first became interested in theater when she was at Cal State Hayward and San Francisco State, and it remained a hobby.
“Theater was my therapy, something I was selfish about,” she says. “I loved the rehearsal process, loved being onstage. Then it became a passion, but I couldn’t go full throttle because I had a family.”
Somehow, Robinson managed to juggle family, career and theater, all successfully.
“I have no complaints,” she says. “I’m so thankful I’ve been able to do this. The Lord just keeps blessing me, and I’m open to the blessings.”
| Credit Type | Production | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Actor | Tis the Morning | 1988-89 Season |