The play's the thing. (snapshots).(actress Gretchen Corbett founds The Haven Project)(disadvantaged children create original plays)

On any given night, you can catch Gretchen Corbett in reruns of The Rockford Files, where she co-stars as James Garner's charmingly able attorney/girlfriend Beth Davenport.

But to catch Corbett, 55, live these days, you have to travel to Portland, Oregon, where the slender blonde has cast herself in a decidedly different role as founder and director of The Haven Project, a nonprofit organization that teams disadvantaged children with professional actors to create original plays. Among the professionals lending a hand is Corbett's 23-year-old daughter, Winslow.

homecoming

In 1994, Corbett turned her back on Hollywood to allow Winslow, then 16, the opportunity to experience the place her family had called home for 150 years.

But the move also raised questions for Corbett about her own life--namely, what to do next. "I'm from a family of people who care about their community," Corbett says. This love of her surroundings led Corbett to found The Haven Project in 1995. The program started small--in the back of a local church--but now in its eighth season, the Project annually serves some 700 children who learn to write, direct and perform plays; create stage sets; and collaborate with professional composers.

While Corbett is clearly a woman contributing to her community, she insists it often feels quite the opposite. "The young people we work with teach me, so I don't feel that I'm giving back. I feel like they're giving to me."

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