Theatre History Commons^™

Teahouse Of The August Moon, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1960-1961 Season

In the aftermath of World War II, the island of Okinawa was occupied by the American military. Captain Fisby, a young army officer, is transferred to a tiny Okinawa island town called Tobiki by his commanding officer, Colonel Purdy. Fisby is tasked with the job of implementing "Plan B". The plan calls for teaching the natives all things American and the first step for Capt. Fisby is to establish a democratically elected mayor, chief of agriculture, chief of police, and president of the Ladies League for Democratic Action. Plan "B" also calls for the building of a schoolhouse (Pentagon shaped), …

Ten Nights In A Barroom, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1959-1960 Season

In the course of which play such alternate scenes of joy and misery, hope and despair, will be portrayed as cannot fail to rivet the attention of the spectator and excite the warmest sympathies of the suffering so patiently endured. The author has put his inventions to rack and every power of his imagination to full flight to embody such characters never yet essayed in any drama.

The fine and appropriate sceneries of beautiful hues and rich tints in one general and grand effect and bringing into request the complete machineries of this elaborately constructed stage and executed by eminent …

The York Nativity Plays

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1960 performance of The York Nativity Plays edited by J. S. Purvis.

The York Nativity Plays are selections taken from the larger, English mystery play cycle the York Mystery Plays. The original was comprised of 48 simple pageants telling the story of the Old and New Testaments from Creation to the Last Judgement. Each was performed by a different craft guild.

This performance featured eight of the 48 pageants, covering the events of the Nativity from the angel bringing the news to Mary to Herod’s slaughter of the children.

The Trojan Women

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1960 performance of The Trojan Women by Euripides.

The Trojan Women tells the story of the fates of four women after the fall of the city of Troy.

King Of Hearts, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1959-1960 Season

The play was originally conceived by Eleanor Brooke and was written as an exercise in the drama course at Catholic University in which she was a pupil of Walter Kerr, drama critic of the New York Herald Tribune. Her teacher encouraged her to rewrite the play, which she did several times, and she finally asked a fellow drama student Jean Kerr, wife of Mr. Kerr, to collaborate with her in the final revision.

The play opened on April 1, 1954, with Cloris Leachman, Jackie Cooper, and Donald Cook in starring roles, and closed on November 27 of the same year. …

1960-1961 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Ua68/17/2 Our Town, Wku Western Players

WKU Administration Documents

Program for WKU Western Players' production of Our Town.

The Diary Of Anne Frank, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1959-1960 Season

The Diary of Anne Frank, found by Anne's father after the young girl's death, was translated into English and published in a two-part condensation in the magazine, Commentary, and then in book form · in 1952. Its simplicity and candor moved it immediately to the best seller list. Producer Cheryl Crawford obtained the state rights to the book not long after it was published, and Meyer Levin was assigned to its adaptation. But then, quietly, Miss Crawford allowed her option on the rights to drop. Kermit Bloomgarden, veteran producer, immediately picked up the stage rights and elected the husband …

You Can't Take It With You

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1959 performance of You Can’t Take It with You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

You Can’t Take It with You follows the story of the only normal daughter in an eccentric family, and the chaos and mishaps which happen when she brings her fiancé home to meet her family.

The Taming Of The Shrew, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1959-1960 Season

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself. The nobleman then has the play performed for Sly's diversion. The Taming of the Shrew. (2017, May 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:53, May 31, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Taming_of_the_Shrew&oldid=782414607

Ah, Wilderness!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

Ah, Wilderness! is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theater on October 2, 1933. It varies from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a happy family in turn of the century America. It is O'Neill's only well-known comedy. Ah, Wilderness!. (2017, April 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:10, May 23, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ah,_Wilderness!&oldid=777914403

Squaring The Circle, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

A hilarious Comedy from Soviet Russia about two mismated couples who are obliged to live in a single room because of the acute housing shortage. Each of the girls turns her half of the room into a symbol of her own mind. On one side is the Spartan bareness of an earnest Communist; on the other, the comforts of the bourgeois. But the husbands do not feel at ease in their halves, each hankering for the woman and atmosphere on the other side. This basic story, with incidents that make it one continuous laugh, is not without its serious implications. …

1959-1960 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Ua68/17/2 Much Ado About Nothing, Wku Western Players

WKU Administration Documents

Program for WKU Western Players' production of Much Ado About Nothing.

One Acts, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

"The purpose of the Annual Freshman One-Acts is fourfold: first, these plays offer advanced members of Cap and Dagger an opportunity to gain valuable directing experience; secondly, the plays offer valuable acting experience and training to those Freshmen who are interested in dramatics; thirdly tonight's plays are the Cap and Dagger Dramatic Club annual Christmas gift to the students and faculty of Otterbein College, and the the village of Westerville; and lastly, to provide a greater variety of dramatic entertainment for our audience".

Ua68/17/2 Macbeth, Wku Western Players

WKU Administration Documents

Program for WKU Western Players' production of Macbeth.

A Christmas Carol

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1958 performance of A Christmas Carol, based on the story by Charles Dickens.

A Christmas Carol tells the story of elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Through the encounters Scrooge is transformed into a kinder man.

Anastasia

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1958 performance of Anastasia by Marcelle Maurette.

Anastasia is based on the legend of the sole-surviving daughter of Russia’s last Czar. In 1926 Berlin, young Anya, suicidal and suffering amnesia, is chosen to impersonate Anastasia in a scam to collect ten million pounds promised to the missing heiress.

Oklahoma!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The musical is set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box-office smash and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances. Oklahoma!. (2017, April 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:06, May 23, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oklahoma!&oldid=776919771

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. …

The Late Christopher Bean

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1958 performance of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard.

The Late Christopher Bean is the story of a not well-off family who discovered they have inherited the paintings from an artists whose work has become very valuable, and how their greed impacts their home.

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, …

1958-1959 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Ua68/17/2 Inherit The Wind, Wku Western Players

WKU Administration Documents

Program for WKU Western Players' production of Inherit the Wind.

The Robe

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 1957 performance of The Robe adapted by John McGreevey from Lloyd C. Douglas’s work of the same name.

The Robe tells the story of Marcellus, a young Roman officer who wins the robe of Jesus when he is crucified, and how Marcellus’s life is changed after that encounter.

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 …

The School For Scandal

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 1957 performance of The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The School for Scandal tells the story of a conniving gossiper Lady Sneerwell, and her plot with other unscrupulous persons to separate couples and redirect love interests through slander and gossip.

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.