Little Theatre Group Leaves Longtime Venue in Escazú

The Little Theatre Group (LTG) will be moving to a new venue at the end of the month after a dispute over a medical bill with a group member.

In May, Blanche Brown broke her hip at the theater, which is also her home, in the western San José suburb of Escazú. Years ago, Brown had refurbished part of her house and turned it into the stage the theater group used for nine years, said LTG president Mary White.

With a hefty medical bill,White said, Brown charged LTG, holding it responsible for the prop she tripped over.

“I fell over something that shouldn’t have been where it was,” Brown said.

When the group couldn’t pay her bill, Brown said, she asked them to leave.

“They didn’t pay rent,” Brown said. “I felt they owed me something. I felt that I had given them enough for nine years.”

After a National Insurance Institute (INS) inspector cleared LTG of any wrongdoing and it became known that the insurance policy could not cover Brown’s expenses, the group decided to leave,White said.

Both parties said there is no animosity between them.

“The theater is so grateful to (Brown) for lending us her house,”White said. “We couldn’t have done it without her.”

LTG opens “84, Charing Cross Road” Sept. 28 at the Laurence Olivier Theater in San José (see separate story).