 In spring 1951, Partch moved to Oakland for health reasons, and prepared for a production of "King Oedipus" at Mills College, with the support of designer Arch Lauterer.Performances of "King Oedipus" in March were extensively reviewed, but a planned recording was blocked by the Yeats estate, which refused to grant permission to use Yeats's translation.In February 1953, Partch founded the studio Gate 5 in an abandoned shipyard in Sausalito, California, where he composed, built instruments and staged performances.