Theatre History Commons^™

The Rainmaker, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

At the time of a paralyzing drought in the West we discover a girl whose father and two brothers are worried as much about her potential future as an old maid as they are about their dying cattle. For the truth is, she is indeed a plain girl. The brothers try every possible scheme to marry her off, without success. Nor is there any sign of relief from the dry heat, when suddenly, from out of nowhere, appears a picaresque, sweet-talking man with quite the sales pitch. Claiming to be a “rainmaker,” the man promises to bring rain, for $100. …

Barretts Of Wimpole Street, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The scene is Elizabeth Barrett's room. Here she lives with her father, sisters and brothers. Never too healthy, she has been kept prisoner by her domineering father, who rules his family with unbelievable severity. Her brothers and sisters are reconciled to their father's tyranny, but Elizabeth has in her a spark of rebellion. This is set off by the romantic young Robert Browning, who has known her through her poetry. He bursts upon the Barrett household and in the first scene with Elizabeth proclaims his deep love for her. When Elizabeth realizes that she is attracted to the young poet, …

Angel Street, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

A Broadway hit first produced on the West End under the title Gaslight and filmed twice,Angel Streettells the story of the Manninghams, who live on Angel Street in 19th century London. As the curtain rises, all appears to be the essence of Victorian tranquility. It is soon apparent, however, that Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife, Bella, to the brink of insanity with an insinuating kindness that masks more sinister motives. While he is out, Mrs. Manningham has an unexpected caller: amiable, paternal Inspector Rough from Scotland Yard. Rough is convinced …

Born Yesterday, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The vulgar, egotistic junkman Harry Brock has come to a swanky hotel in Washington to make crooked deals with government big-wigs. He has brought with him the charming but dumb ex-chorus girl Billie, whose lack of social graces embarrasses even Harry. Billie must be taught some of the amenities, and a few basic bits of information. The young, idealistic magazine reporter Paul Verrall, who has been investigating political skullduggery and is interested in Brock's activities, agrees for a salary, to educate Billie. He finds Billie has a natural honesty and a frank streak in her, and she begins to learn …

Brigadoon, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

When New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas get lost on a vacation in the Scottish Highlands, they stumble into Brigadoon. Brigadoon is a mythical village that, they learn, appears for a single day once every hundred years. At first, Tommy and Jeff are mystified by the villagers’ 18th century garb as they go to market, but they are soon charmed by romantic liaisons: Tommy, who is engaged back in New York, falls terribly in love with headstrong Fiona, while Jeff enjoys a harmless flirtation with Meg Brockie. It is only when Harry Beaton, the rejected suitor of Fiona’s sister, …

As You Like It, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

We celebrate the best of Shakespeare with laughter...music...dances...romance...comedy at all levels. The story of how the banished Duke, Rosalind, Orlando and others find happiness through love is one of the most delightful of all Shakespearean tales. The wit of the clown, Touchstone, the philosophy of "All the world's a stage...", the music of "It was a lover and his lass...", the earthy needs of the country people, the romantic honesty of young lovers in tune with nature...all can be found in As You Like It.

The Importance Of Being Earnest, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The Importance of Being Earnest, written in 1895, was originally a three-act drama. It has recently been condensed into the one-act version. Mr. Wilde, using subtle humor to near perfection, wrote the play as a satire on the English aristocracy. Today it is recognized as an outstanding melodrama of the modern theatre.

Time Out For Ginger, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

According to the Herald-Tribune: "[The story] starts us out with a fairly staid banker who needs some sort of creative release and finds it in lecturing to local high-school classes on the need for self-fulfillment…It quickly develops however, that one of [the banker's] daughters—the youngest of three—has been very much impressed by her father's exhortations. She has further decided that her own true fulfillment can best be realized by going out for the football team." Any number of complications result: The father's job is jeopardized because the bank president doesn't approve; the girl's elder sisters insist that their social life …

The Crucible, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie—and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. The farmer, instead of saving his wife, finds himself also accused of witchcraft and ultimately condemned with a host of others.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/61514/the-crucible-intl

The Lady's Not For Burning, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Thomas Mendip, a discharged soldier, weary of the world and eager to leave it, comes to a small town, announces he has committed murder and demands to be hanged. A philosophical humorist, Thomas is annoyed when the officials oppose his request, even believing he is not guilty of the crime he suggests. Shortly afterward, a young woman, Jennet, is brought before the Mayor for witchcraft, but for some strange reason she has no wish to be put to death! Thomas tries, in his own way, to prove to the official how absurd it would be to refuse to hang a …

The Biggest Thief In Town, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

In a small town, the undertaker and the doctor plan to steal the body of the town's wealthiest citizen. That gentleman, a crook, has just passed out of the picture and the undertaker, who has led a quiet and honest life to date, sees no reason why he should not get a well paying job. So the undertaker and doctor enter the home of the deceased and proceed to take his body back to the shop. The undertaker and his friend picture a rosy future until the corpse comes to life and regains consciousness. The old gentleman is left on …

The Juggler Of Notre Dame, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Barnabe, a traveling circus performer, a juggler, was very happy in his work. However, misfortune befalls him, and he suffers from cold, and lack of food and shelter. A Monk befriends Barnabe, and takes him to the monastery. The climax of Barnabe's story in the monastery occured on a certain Christmas morning.

Knickerbocker Holiday, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

In 1647 New Amsterdam (now known as New York) a rebellious young man, Brom, falls in love with the Town Councillor’s daughter, Tina. The Town Councillor tries to have Brom hanged but Brom is saved by the arrival of Peter Stuyvesant, the new Governor. When Stuyvesant turns into a dictator, Brom protests and is sent back to jail. Stuyvesant then tries to bring the country into a war. However, he abandons his plan when it is pointed out that history looks more kindly upon peace-makers than war-mongers. Meanwhile, Brom escapes from jail and all ends well.

https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/2183/knickerbocker-holiday

The Shrike, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Jim Downs is brought to the psychiatric division of City Hospital after a suicide attempt. With the help of his estranged wife, who is with him night and day, he recovers. But this does not mean he is free to go home. His estranged wife conspires to keep Jim in the hospital until he renounces his girlfriend and agrees to go back with her. In the process, Jim is faced with well-meaning but inept institutional psychiatrists, who themselves have become victims of deadly routine. Through one test after another he is made to prove his sanity, until he almost loses …

The Circle, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Rich in humor, conflict and depth, The Circle follows Lady Kitty, who had given up a stuffy life with her titled husband to run away with a young adventurer, as she watches her niece, Elizabeth about to make the same mistake 20 years later.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/4687/the-circle

Mister Angel, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Stacy and Lydia Bolton, a husband-and-wife team of actor-producers, have everything except children. They are always on tour and children have to wait. They have just chosen a new play by their friend Daphne, with a magnificent role for Lydia. But Little Item, a girl angel, has been waiting for ten years to be born to Lydia, and if the Boltons haven't decided to have her yet they never will. So the angel Charles and his assistant, Gloria, are sent to Earth to bring Little Item back. But Item won't go. Charles, disobeying orders, decides to make another effort. Knowing …

Antigone, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Based on a Greek myth, Sophocles' Antigone embodies a timeless portrayal of the conflict between good and evil. The play portrays this struggle through a single incident but actually it represents all rebellion against oppression. Creon stands for inhuman forces--the reign of terror imposed by an dictatorship. Opposing him is Antigone, who rebels against the blasphemy of the unburied dead. By doing so, she cries out against Godlessness and indecency.

It is interesting to note that Anouihl's adaption of Antigone in 1943 symbolizes the German occupation of France--the new order with its promise of prosperity and happiness in exchange for …

The Heiress, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The background of the play is New York in the 1850s and the basic story tells of a shy and plain young girl, Catherine Sloper, who falls desperately in love with a delightful young fortune hunter. Catherine's lack of worldliness prevents her from realizing that the young man proposing to her is not entirely drawn to her by her charm. Catherine's father, a successful doctor, sees through the fortune hunter and forbids the marriage, but his daughter proposes an elopement that fails to materialize because the young man knows most of her expected fortune will go elsewhere if he marries …

The Student Prince, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The Student Prince sings its way serenly down the years as the show that epitomises pure romance. The Prince, Karl Franz, is sent to University at Heidelberg to finish his studies. There, among fruit blossom and fellow students, he meets and falls deliriously in love with the daughter of the innkeeper, Kathie.

https://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/student_prince.htm

The Bat, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

In this popular American mystery play, incident is piled on incident with skill and plausibility, and it is impossible to know who the real criminal is until the final curtain. This thriller revolves around Cornelia Van Gorder, a maiden lady of sixty, who rents the summer home of a banker reported killed in Colorado. She is warned that mysterious things are happening but she refuses to move. Then it is discovered that a large sum is missing from the dead man's bank and it is suspected that, far from being dead, he stole the money, hid it in a secret …

Winterset, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Mio, believing that his father was innocent of the crime for which he was executed, pursues his long search for proof of his innocence. Following new evidence, his path crosses that of Miriamne, a strange creature who lives with her family in the shadow of a towering bridge. The young people are drawn together through the tragedy of Mio's father, and the boy's bitterness prevents each from giving himself wholly to the other. Mio must first recover his self respect and the right to love. His problem is complicated when it is learned that Miriamne's brother, Garth, might have testified …

Blithe Spirit, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The smash comedy hit of the London and Broadway stages, this much-revived classic from the playwright of Private Lives offers up fussy, cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, re-married but haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira who is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” one Madame Arcati. As the (worldly and un-) personalities clash, Charles’ current wife, Ruth, is accidentally killed, “passes over,” joins Elvira, and the two “blithe spirits” haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/2823/blithe-spirit

Craig's Wife, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

A scathing and insightful work by one of the masters of American drama. Mrs. Harriet Craig, a woman of controlling will and vanity, succeeds in driving away her husband, friends, and anyone close to her, all for the sake of her pride. A tense and biting satire on the darker side of human nature from the celebrated author of The Silver Cord and They Knew What They Wanted.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/5485/craigs-wife

Two Blind Mice, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The Office of Medicinal Herbs of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, manages to persist because no one realizes that it was abolished years ago, but no official steps have been taken to close it. Two nice old ladies run this department, but never answer the phone for fear of discovery. The are really interested in helping people, and are too scrupulous to cash the salary checks which are automatically sent to them. They manage to exist by renting parts of their office to a pants presser and a dance teacher, and by collecting fees from a parking lot nearby. …

The Miser, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Satire and farce blend in the fast-moving plot, as when the miser's hoard is stolen. Asked by the police magistrate whom he suspects, Harpagon replies, “Everybody! I wish you to take into custody the whole town and suburbs” and indicates the theatre audience while doing so. The play also makes fun of certain theatrical conventions, such as the spoken aside addressed to the audience, hitherto ignored by the characters onstage. The characters of L'Avare, however, generally demand to know who exactly is being spoken to.

The Miser. (2017, July 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:08, September 26, …

Goodbye, My Fancy, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

A Broadway hit about a liberal Congresswoman who returns to her old school as an honorary visitor. Since her wartime experiences in Europe, she has devoted herself to the task of acquainting people with the horrors of war. That is why she has brought a documentary with her to be shown to the young graduates. The movie is considered harsh and improper by the trustees, so she has a fight on her hands. The conflict exposes the university president as a spineless and irresolute figure, instead of the upstanding and outspoken professor with whom Miss Reed thought she had been …

The Corn Is Green, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Miss Moffat settles in a remote Welsh mining village and starts a school for the local boys, one of whom, Morgan Evans, shows great promise. Miss Moffat determin's to do everything to help Morgan's application for a scholarship to Oxford. But Morgan rebels against help from a woman and falls prey to the flashy charms of Bessie Watty. His chances of success are almost destroyed but Miss Moffat's courageous wisdom and her affection for him win the day and Morgan wins the'scholarship.

https://www.samuelfrench.co.uk/p/10885/the-corn-is-green

John Loves Mary, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

John Lawrence, who has been overseas three years, is welcomed home by the charming Mary McKinley. These two are and have been in love with each other. John's life had been saved while he was overseas by his buddy Fred Taylor. Fred returned home a year before John, and John brings him what should be a pleasant surprise—news that he has married Lily, an English girl Fred had fallen in love with and who could not hope to get to America for years unless as the wife of a G.I. John therefore marries her and plans to deliver her to …

The Winslow Boy, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

The action of the play takes place in the Winslow family home in Kensington, London, in the years immediately before the First World War. The fourteen-year-old Ronnie Winslow has been expelled from naval college, accused of the theft of a postal order. The boy remains adamant that he is innocent. Enraged, his father Arthur engages a leading lawyer, Sir Robert Morton, to challenge the Admiralty to prove the charges in court. The play follows Arthur’s attempts to clear his son’s name, even in the face of public opposition and weakening resolve. Each member of the family suffers as the case …

Twelfth Night, Otterbein University

1907-1958 Productions

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centers on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion, with plot elements …