A HISTORY OP THE KANAWHA PLAYERS OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA FROM 1922 TO 1972
Virginia Pomroy Gray
A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
December 1973
Approved by Doctoral Committee 564269
IJÉS VU/YV v\ © 1974 VIRGINIA POMROY GRAY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT The threefold purpose of this research was: (1) to provide a documented history of The Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia; (2) to find an answer to the question ’’Why did this organization survive much longer than most community theatres across the country?*’; and (3) to see how the organization can survive its present difficulties* The two local dally newspapers, a theatre collection, and local members of The Kanawha Players provided the sources to form a complete list of dramatic activities performed by the Players over the fifty years as well as the reaction of the local critics. Tables were developed showing the Presidents, professional directors, physical facilities, chronological listing of plays produced, the play types, plays repeated by the Players, plays produced within one year of the Broadway opening, and the identification of playwrights with three or more plays selected by the group. Illustrations found in the study include: the first news paper article about the organization, a picture of the Playhouse, the Incorporation papers, the State Proclamation, the first Playbill, a special edition of the Charleston Gazette about the Players, and the fifty-year Commemorative Seal for the organization's birthday celebration. An examination of the data showed that the organization had survived fifty years with very little reason for continuity except for serving the artistic and social needs in the industrial community. Only nine officers had served more than one term as President and five professional directors had remained for no more than two years. For only nine years has the group had a theatre and workshop under one roof and the only property owned by the Players is the present workshop and rehearsal space. No financial records or secretaries' reports had been saved. During the fifty years The Kanawha Players produced 317 plays and one-act bills. The types of plays selected showed that 186 were modern comedies, eighty-eight were serious drama, fifteen were classics, four were musicals and twenty-four productions were programs of one-acts, burlesque comedies and melodramas. The number of productions given each season has declined over the past few years and the community services have ceased. The organization needs to be unique in its play selection, cut costs and waste, become more community minded, provide social activities for the active membership and utilize the talents available in the area rather than a selected few. These suggestions might save the fifty-year old organization. lit ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful for this opportunity to express appreciation to the following individuals for their aid in the development and completion of this study: Dr. Harold Obee, Head of The Theatre area of the Department of Speech at Bowling Green State University, who served as advisor and directed the study. Dr. F. Lee Miesle, Dr. Lorrene Ort, Dr. Allen White, and Dr. Briant Lee who served on the reading committee. Mr. Nichalos Winowich, director, and other people at the Kanawha County Public Library for their help, under standing and friendliness while the research and writing was in progress. Mrs. Betsy Stuart, historian of The Kanawha Players, who gave freely of her knowledge, memorabillla and time during the research and writing of this dissertation. Dr. Estella R. Pomroy, the author’s sister, who helped in so many ways that it is impossible to list. Dr. Edgar L. Gray, the author’s husband, and Mrs. Ruth Pomroy, the author’s mother for the encouragement through out the study, without which this dissertation could not have materialized. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page I. INTRODUCTION...... I Statement of Purpose...... « ...... 1 Importance of the Problem ...... 2 Primary Sources ...... 3 Review of the Literature. • ...... 5 Methodology...... • •...... 5 General History of the Kanawha Valley Region ...... , ...... 9 11. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE KANAWHAP LAYERS...... 16 Organization...... 16 Incorporation ...... 20 State Theatre Proclamation. .«•••..«. 26 Community Services...... 29 Membership ...... 36 Administration...... 37 Directors 40 Physical Facilities ...... 51 Economics and Finances. 59 III. PLAY PRODUCTION ACTIVITIESOF THE KANAWHA PLAYERS...... 62 Plays selected for Production by the Kanawha Players...... 62 1922-1927...... 62 1927-1932...... 72 1932-1937...... 75 V 1937-1942 ...... 78 1942-1947 ...... 82 1947-1952 ...... 85 1952-1957 ...... 89 1957-1962 ...... 92 1962-1967 ...... 96 1967-1972 ...... 98 Types of Plays Preferred ...... 102 Noteworthy Plays Selected ...... 108 Plays Selected for Repeated Productions ... 110 Plays with Prior Broadway Productions of One Year or Less...... 113 Playwrights Represented in Kanawha Players Productions ...... 113 IV. REACTION OP LOCAL CRITICS...... 117 The Critics...... 118 The Critical Reviews ...... 120 V. SUMMARY ...... 126 Conclusions .... 130 Recommendations ...... 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 141 APPENDIX A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OP PLAYS...... 148 APPENDIX B ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PLAYS...... 173 APPENDIX C MOST RECENT BY-LAWS...... 187 Vi list of tables Table Page I. Elected Presidents of The Kanawha Players and the length of service in that office. . . 39 II. Salaried directors of The Kanawha Players, showing length of service, academic training and number and type of plays produced ... 41 III. The Location where The Kanawha Players presented plays and the number of presentations at each site from 1922 to 1972 ...... 52 IV. a through Plays produced by The Kanawha ~ Players (by five-year periods), showing Playwright, year of opening production in New York and in Charleston, West Virginia, Broadway performance record, recognition and awards. a. 1922-1927...... 62 b. 1927-1932...... 73-74 c. 1932-1937...... 76-77 d. 1937-1942...... 79-80 e. 1942-1947...... 83-84 f. 1947-1952...... 86-87 g. 1952-1957...... 90-91 h. 1957-1962...... 93-94 i. 1962-1967...... 97-98 j. 1967-1972...... 100-101 V. Types of plays by five-year periods showing totals and percentages of each of the play types ... 104 VI. Plays selected by The Kanawha Players for repeated production...... 112 VII. chronological list of plays produced which had Broadway openings one year or less prior to Che Kanawha Players* production. . .114 VIII. Descending order of frequency of playwrights with three or more appearances in plays selected by The Kanawha Players from 1922 to 1972 ...... 115 vii List of Illustrations Figure Page 1. A copy of the first newspaper article concerning The Kanawha Players. Charleston Gazette» August 20» 1922» page 4...... 7 2» 3, 4 and 5. Reprints of the Incorporation papers of The Kanawha Players •••••... 22-25 6. A reprint of page 7 of the Charleston Gazette September 21» 1941 which"carried the proclamation that The Kanawha Players was designated the State Theater of West Virginia ...... 28 7. Photograph of the first theatre facility of The Kanawha Players...... * . . . 54 8» 9, 10» 11» 12. Reproductions of front cover and four information pages of the program of the first play production of The Kanawha Players. 66-70 13. Front page of the Charleston Gazette advertising The Kanawha Players'' proiduciion o£ Night of January 16 ...... 126 14. Front Cover of the fifty-year commemorative publication. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Kanawha Players, a community theatre association, was organized in Charleston, West Virginia in 1922 and cele brated fifty years of continuous activity in September, 1972. The organization contributed to the cultural interests of many people in the community by producing over three hundred stage plays. Their selections included plays that were con temporary with successful New York productions and provided the audiences with opportunities for theatre experiences which they would otherwise have been denied. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The purpose of this research is threefold: First, to provide a documented history of The Kanawha Players. The information will combine private collections of memorabilia, information from two daily newspapers, uncatalogued informa tion found in the Kanawha County Public Library's Theatre Collection, Playbills, personal interviews with members and past directors of the organization and information found in the publications of the Drama League of America. Second. An attempt will be made to answer the question: "Why did this organization survive much longer than most community theatres across the country?" The Kanawha Players continued their activities when every other Drama League of America Center failed in the state of West Virginia, as well as in most of the other centers across the United States. 2 Third. An attempt will be made to see how the organiza tion can survive its present difficulties. After fifty years of ambitious theatre. The Kanawha Players finds itself in financial trouble; even its patronage has fallen off. These problems have been solved in the past, and those solutions may be helpful today. The weaknesses must be corrected, or the history of the organization will end with the fifty-year study• IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM Charleston is the state capital of West Virginia and provides the focal point of the region known as the Greater Kanawha River Valley. The population had increased over two and one-half times to a quarter million during the fifty years existence of The Kanawha Players. As an organized community theatre group, and part of the "Little Theatre Movement," The Kanawha Players appears unique in several respects. The association never ceased in activity during a fifty-year period which included World War II and the economic depression of the 1930'3. The physical facilities rented by The Kanawha Players were burned down twice, in 1936 and again in 1944. The group began as an extension of the Charleston Symphony Society and was organized as a center for the Drama League of America. The Kanawha Players continued its affiliation with the national organization until 1931 when the Drama League of America passed out of existence. The Kanawha Players was active for fifty years without acquiring a permanent and adequate building facility. Its 3 plays were presented in school auditoriums, churches, lodge halls, the courthouse, old motion picture theatres, and only occasionally in a facility designed expressly for state pro ductions. Despite the lack of a permanent theatre, the group successfully produced many extraordinarily ambitious plays. Professional, salaried and unsalaried, directors were obtained by The Kanawha Players from the beginning, but only three of them remained for any appreciable length of time. Over the fifty-year period there were nearly twenty-five different directors. Active elected officers also changed frequently, and there appeared to be a lack of continuity on all levels of leadership. Despite the lack of an appropriate physical facility, the seeming absence of strong continuous leadership, and national economic and political problems of catastrophic proportions, The Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia, survived and continued to provide the community with a satis fying leisure-time creative activity. The history of this organization is one which reflects a commitment to the dra matic arts by the members and by the community, as evidenced by its longevity, its affiliation with a national organiza tion (The Drama League of America) and its place in the Little Theatre Movement in America. Such an organization merits study as an historically important community theatre. PRIMARY SOURCES Excellent primary resources are available for a study of the history of The Kanawha Players from 1922 to 1972. 4 The interest and cooperation of those persons responsible for large public and private collections of records and memorabilia provided a rich source of information. Standard library re search methods were employed to search out and organize date relevant to an historical study. The first source that was investigated to assemble a history of The Kanawha Players was in The Theatre Collection at the Kanawha County Public Library. Mr. Nichalos Winowich, director, was helpful and had the file moved to a seminar room on the fifth floor of the library. A typewriter and a micro film reader were added to the room, and the staff of the library were informed that research was in progress. The efforts of the library personnel to provide service was out standing. The Theatre Collection had been the work of Mrs. Charles Stuart, the Kanawha Players Historian, who had spent much time collecting memorabilia. Her husband, Mr. Charles F. (Stud) Stuart, spoke the first line in the first play. Glory Xn the Morning, that Kanawha Players ever produced. His collection of programs and Mrs. Stuart's unpublished manu script of the first thirty-five seasons were invaluable. No information had been found concerning the formation of the players. Mrs. Stuart recalled that an elderly lady had said the weather was very warm when the meetings were held. The Charleston Gazette and The charleston Daily Mail were searched for the months of June, July and August of 1922. The first article was found in The Charleston Gazette, 5 August 20, 1922, page four of the society section and a reprint of that article is shown in Figure 1. No minutes of these meetings were available, but after that date several articles appeared in both local newspapers. Playbills from the Theatre Collection and Mr. Stuart’s private collection were used to begin a list of the plays pre sented. Appendix A was assembled with a complete search of the two daily newspapers from November 1922 to April 21, 1972. The reaction of the local critics to the plays produced by The Kanawha Players was accumulated. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The Kanawha Players had been organized as a center for the Drama League of America. Information of that organization was found in The Drama Magazine and Little Theatre Monthly which was published by the national organization until May 1931. A nearly complete set was found in the Bowling Green State University Library. A dissertation, "The Drama League of America: A History and Critical Analysis of Its Activities," by Morris Ray Bogard from the University of Illinois, 1962, proved very helpful in understanding that group’s function in helping new Little Theatre organizations. METHODOLOGY The names and qualifications of the professional direc tors hired by The Kanawha Players were investigated. The types of plays produced and contributions made during their stay in Charleston were compiled into a table. Two of the past directors were Interviewed during the Fiftieth Birthday 6 Figure 1. A copy of the first newspaper article concerning The Kanawha Flayers. The Charleston Gazette, August 20, 1922, page 4. 7 Charleston Symphony Society to Organize “The Kanawha Players” As Local Center of the “Drama League of America;” Employ Director A. Fortier, tl Mi>- ■eapoife, WMo Bn Stoiied Vader Natioas’ Leadiag Di iwctsrg, Will Com Here Scp- teatber 4 tar the purpose of cotahllshtag to ^Bharfesto. aad nearby town a bo» k-esnataat ueof the drama to an Mtoaas at aortal life; the sefaool, the ^.church, the dob ant the eemmutty. arieotou Symphony Society _ a eeater at the Oman e< Aasertea, to he called The to Playeta." The project to aa artbtie aad re- aattoaal oae. Its worker, an to- «--tonatod safety to eeaaaMnUy eerrlee ' Mtrragh drama. It will afford an op- pertamBy to loose the creative eo- «glM of the people .tbeetsetrea, and Jha opportunity to footer la aad aot ooeb a lone time, either—a V‘;loeal draw ta rarloaa sections of t state which will mate the theatre ■ tom vital to the Urea of those see- * naaa than 1t has ever been before. A- It will create a demand for good r ffcTi or the profeesloaal stage and -tto toembers wQl work with the amaager to stinudate the greatest ...possible Interest In the performance. %Sk The Charteotoa Symphony Society orgaateed some years ago for ” educational imposes only. Its work «p to tiie present time has been con fined to presenting rnoslc of the high- tot type to the people at « mlnlmnm •„' Priefti Its venture into dramatic art Figure 1 8 Celebration. Although several attempts were made to contact directors of the first fourteen years, this was found to be unfruitful* The plays presented by The Kanawha Players were researched in the Bums Mantle Series of Best Plays from 1899 to 1971. The type of play, the opening on Broadway, the length of run and awards received were placed in a table. This type of in formation provided a picture of the kind of plays enjoyed by the Charleston audience and the preference of the Players themselves so that it could be observed if any change of taste in dramatic offerings had occurred. Where The Kanawha Players performed and worked was im portant to the overall history. The difficulties and the cooperation of the community might reflect the acceptance of the Players. The effort of the Players might reflect the interest of the membership in areas other than acting. The community services performed by the Players were noted in order to determine if the efforts of the group to use its talents to aid charitable organizations might prove a reason for the long existence of the Players. This type of work was; not always printed in the two dally newspapers but some "Thank you" letters were saved in the Theatre Collection. There was an extensive investigation into books, doc toral dissertations and masters' theses written about com munity theatres. All sources referred to in this section are listed in the bibliography. The Kanawha Players was 9 mentioned only twice in these works, but the general informa tion gave some idea of lasting activities. An investigation of the Greater Kanawha Valley and the city of Charleston was made in order to reflect the community setting for the de velopment and continuation of this little theatre organiza tion. GENERAL HISTORY OF THE KANAWHA VALLEY REGION The nucleus of the city of Charleston, West Virginia, and the area that is known as the Greater Kanawha Valley was formed in 1788 when Colonel Clendenin and thirty-one rangers arrived to erect Fort Lee beside the Kanawha River at the mouth of the Elk River. The fort was completed in May of 1788 and named for General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. At that time there were five other settlements in the valley with about ten persons living at each place. The settlement was first known as Charles Town, but the name was later changed to Charleston because another settle ment by the same name had been established in 1786 in Jeffer son County. The town was named for Colonel Clendenin's father who was the first person to die and be buried within the walls 2 of Fort Lee. The land was sold to Colonel Clendenin for less than five dollars in 1788 and today the land, 1,030 —------John G. Morgan, "Charleston, 175," (Charleston: The Charleston Gazette, 1970), p. 6. Ibid. p. 8* 10 3 acres, has a value of over $140,000,000. Many of the families who settled in the area and took land grants remained for several generations. Streets and buildings bear the names of the earlier residents, Ruffner, Quarrier, Matthews, Slack, Venable, and Morris. Their de scendents still live in the valley. Daniel Boone was not a land owner, but he lived near the fort for a few years and was a representative of Kanawha County to the Virginia 4 Assembly of 1791* George Washington had surveyed the region in hopes of establishing an east-west turnpike or water way 5 and owned 19,704 acres of the valley. In 1797 Elisha Brooks lit a flame to the first salt furnace and began the chemical industry for the area. The salt industry peaked in 1848, with the production of 3,224,786 bushels at the Kanawha Salines. Barge construction and barrel manufacturing were also major industries so the salt could be shipped down the Kanawha, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to wait ing markets.6 Kanawha County's two delegates voted against Virginia's secession from the Union in 1861 and joined in a series of protest meetings at Wheeling. West Virginia became the * 4 - "Charleston, West Virginia," Prepared by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, 1970, p. 4. 4 "Charleston, 175", p. 8. ^Ibid. p. 15. 6Ibid. p. 39. 11 thirty-fifth state and remained with the Union. Northern troops were stationed in Charleston, but on September 13, 1862, the Confederate Army captured the town. The Union Army recaptured the area on October 29, 1862, and kept it until the end of the war. Fort Scammon was completed in 1863 and held 7,000 Union soldiers with sixteen large guns which were never fired except during a lively celebration on July 4, 1863.7 In 1873 the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad completed a line between Richmond, Virginia, and Huntington, West Virginia. The line passed through the Kanawha Valley and 8 opened the eastern market to the area. Oil, natural gas and coal had been discovered in the area, and as the need for salt decreased other minerals took its place in the economy. Today the Kanawha Valley represents one of the industry's large base chemical complexes, and it also hosts one of the industry's major concentrations of research scientists and engineers. The industrial base is bolstered by companies such as; Union Carbide Corporation, FMC Corporation, Monsanto Company, E. I. du Point de Nemours and Company, and Allied Chemical Corporation. A few other important industries found in the area are: Kelly Works of True Temper Corporation, Trojan Steel, West Virginia Steel, Republic Steel, Union ...... -. - - , "Charleston, 175", p. 64. 8Ibid. p. 74. 12 Carbide Metals, Evans Lead Company, McJunkin Corporation, Peerless Block, Kanawha Block Company, and several fine glass companies. Industry found manpower, available land, trans portation, natural resources, and utilities well provided in a the Kanawha Valley. Charleston was made the permanent capital for the state of West Virginia in 1877, and that government is housed in the Italian Renaissance State Capitol building and surround ing modern office buildings in the eastern section of the city. The Kanawha County officials and the city of Charleston government resides in two less impressive buildings in the downtown area. The Kanawha County School System serves a student en rollment of more than 56,000 and ranks as the forty-ninth largest system in the United States. The system includes one hundred twenty-nine elementary schools, twenty-two junior high schools and twelve senior high schools. Several career techni cal schools, three colleges, a university and a center for graduate study are all within commuting distance of Charleston. More than half of the graduating high school seniors pursue 10 some form of higher education. There are more people living and working in the Valley who have earned doctorate degrees 11 than can be found in most college or university towns. --- a------"Charleston, West Virginia" p. 80. Charleston, West Virginia" p. 69. UIbid. p. 80. 13 The 1970 census lists the Greater Kanawha Valley with a 12 population of 229,515 and the city of Charleston with 71,505. In 1968 the Metropolitan Charleston area showed that 32.9 13 percent of the population earned $10,000 and over. The growth and prosperity of local Industry has assured local residents an even and sound economy. The area has never 14 faced serious unemployment even during the 1930*3. The citizens of the area currently enjoy many cultural, educational and recreational opportunities. Music and drama programs are provided by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Community Music Association, Charleston Chamber Music Society, Kanawha Players, Charleston Light Opera Guild, Morris Harvey College's Blackfriars, West Virginia State College Players, and West Virginia Technical College Players. The Charleston Civic Chorus helped form the West Virginia Opera Theatre a few years ago. For the very young citizens there are four special organizations: Children's Theatre, Kanawha Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, Kanawha County Public Library Puppet Show and Sunrise Puppet Shows. At least five pro fessional legitimate play productions are booked to perform in the Municipal Auditorium each winter; on June 2, 1971, a Dinner-Theatre was opened at Winfield, West Virginia, promising ^Hammond Contemporary World Atlas, New Census Edition. (New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc.)p. 249. ^"Charleston, West Virginia" p. 6. 14Ibid. p. 80. 14 twenty-four shows each year. There are nine movie theatres and several drive-in movies. In addition the Charleston Ballet Company gives two performances each year. Sports and recreation facilities are extensive. Private and public swimming pools, golf courses, tennis clubs, coun try clubs, eleven city-owned recreation centers, a municipal auditorium and a multimillion-dollar civic center which con tains a little theatre and an ice skating rink are a part of the city's overall assets. The Charleston Charlies, a AAA baseball team, is home based at Watt Powell Park. The religious needs of the area are served by 155 churches representing all major denominations. Protestant, Catholic and Jewish houses of worship are easily reached in all parts of the area. The Catholic Sacred Heart Elementary and High Schools are in the downtown Charleston area. Many other churches offer Kindergarten and Day Care Centers. There are two daily newspapers published six days each week, The Charleston Gazette is the morning paper and the Charleston Daily Mail is printed for the evening edition. Both of these papers have been in existence since the late nineteenth century. The Gazette-Mail is the Sunday paper which is a morning edition printed jointly by the companies. Three commercial television stations serve the area: WSAZ- TV, Channel 3, NBC,- WCHS-TV, Channel 8, CBS: and WHTN-TV Channel 13, ABC. Additionally there is one educational tele vision station, WMOL-TV, which transmits on Channel 33 and 15 eleven radio stations giving a variety of news and music day and night. Five major airlines use the Kanawha County Airport. The Amtrek railroad line stops in Charleston and Greyhound and Trailways Bus Systems have a terminal in the downtown area. Interstates 64, 77, and 79 will meet in Charleston by 1975. Charleston and the Greater Kanawha Valley are old in years (dating from 1788), but its growth and development have kept it young and vigorous. The population has enjoyed city advantages without losing the mountaineer spirit. The metropolitan area of Charleston, West Virginia and the surrounding communities abounds in commercial, industrial and cultural development. An influx of people from other parts of the country contributes to the continuing renewal of interest in leisure time activities such as community theatre participation and helps to sustain such organizations 16 CHAPTER II GENERAL HISTORY OF THE KANAWHA PLAYERS ORGANIZATION The names of the people who worked through the summer of 1922 to organize The Kanawha Players have been lost. No rec ord of these meetings can be found, and the local newspapers did not report the progress until it was time to begin work on the first production. The name of Mrs. Hugh G. Nickholson is remembered. She was a member of the Charleston Symphony Society and served as president of The Kanawha Players for the first three seasons. Her efforts were noted by the Drama League of America in information about their centers. Of equal Interest is the new center just bril liantly launched in Charleston, West Virginia. This point represents the first center in that state. Due largely to the efforts of one leader, Mrs. Nickholson, who has long been an enthusi astic League member and student of drama move ments, the new group has launched an ambitious campaign. They are starting out at once with a formal little theatre organization, with an experienced, salaried director, and a well-regu lated plan for the winter’s work.15 The Charleston Symphony Society had been in existence for several years in the city, and their purpose was to pre sent musical programs for interested people. They broadened their activities to include the drama and established "The Kanawha Players." Through Mrs. Nickholson the Society worked 15Mrs. A. Starr Best, "Propaganda and Organization Depart ment." The Drama, Voi. 13, no. 3 (December 1922) p. 114. 17 with the Drama League of America. The first article to ap pear In the local newspaper is found in Figure 1, p. 7. The Players were organized to function under the manage ment of the Charleston Symphony Society with a season which was to last forty weeks. Plans were made to present a play or group of one-act plays every four weeks. Membership was divided into two classes: active members who were the play ers, and associate members who were interested in the pro duction of good dramas.I** Once the organization was completed The Kanawha Players were to become a center for the Drama League of America. This was the first such attempt at organizing a center in the state of West Virginia.1^ The Drama League was attempting to es tablish centers all over the country where it was thought good drama was becoming rare. The Drama League informed its centers of the drama activities of other centers, provided lists of recommended plays to present, published the latest information about directors seeking non-professional employ ment and furnished encouragement to new and old little theatre organizations having trouble with finances or audiences. The Drama League was involved with church drama, children's theatre, educational training in the colleges and universities and the upgrading of the drama produced in the United States ^Charleston Gazette, September 10, 1922, Society Section, p. 2. 17 Charleston Dally Mail, September 11, 1922, p. 2. 18 and some foreign countries. The Drama League of America 18 ended its activities officially on July 1, 1931. A meeting of all active members was called for eight o’clock, Thursday, September 14, 1922, at the High School, 19 corner of Morris and Quarrier Streets. An invitation was extended to everyone who wished to become a member of The Kanawha Players and take part in productions during the first season. It was planned that several different companies would be formed to avoid overworking any one group of actors 20 and production workers. The number of people who attended this meeting is un known, but Rose A. Fortier, the first director of The Kanawha Players, discussed the first performance. A program of one- act plays was to be presented November 2, 3, 1922. The monthly programs for the rest of the season were not discussed. They did plan a Christmas pageant to be presented the afternoon 21 of Christinas Eve in the new Kearse Theater. There was no record of the number of people who attended the six regular plays produced during the first season. The *L®Morris R. Bogard, "The Drama League of Americas A History and Critical Analysis of Its Activities and Achievements" (unpublished dissertation, University of Illinois, 1962), p. 136 19 Charleston Gazette, September 13, 1922, p. 9, 20 Charleston Gazette, September 14, 1922, p. 3. 21 Charleston Gazette, September 15, 1922, p. 3. 19 reception of the Christmas program was mentioned in a report to the Drama League of America. This center's (Charleston, West Virginia) out standing accomplishment thus far is its Christinas pageant which became a genuine community affair. The local theatre presented its auditorium for Christinas Eve and so great was the enthusiasm that over five hundred people were turned away. The rector and the choir of the Episcopal Church in vestments assisted and even the professional elec tricians, stage hands and others volunteered their services.22 The first season ended with a feeling that an organiza tion had been formed that would meet the needs of the com munity for years to come* The yearly report to the Drama League of America was enthusiastic and glowing. Charleston, West Virginia, for those who don't know it, is a beautifully situated city on the banks of the Kanawha. It is made up of many of the older, established families of the South and therefore breathes of culture and refinement and yet does not rest content merely with its past. Here, too, are the beginnings of future history couched in the history of the past, for already within a year has a community theatre, The Kanawha Players, been established as a financial and ar tistic success. And the support for the movement comes from all parts of the city—it is truly a community activityI23 After the final production of the season, Prunella, Rose Fortier resigned as the director. She had directed six different productions during the season and decided . 24 to return to her home in Little Falls, Minnesota. She 22Mrs. A. Starr" Best •Propaganda and Organisation Depart- ment," The Drama, Voi. 13, no. 6 (March 1923), p. 232. 23Mrs. A. Starr Best, "Propaganda and Organization Depart- ment," The Drama, Voi. 13, no. 7 (April 1923), p. 272. ^Charleston Daily Mail, June 11, 1923, p. 9. 20 was credited with much of the success of The Kanawha Players The Kanawha Players bring their year to a close. To them go the thanks of a community which was treated to a number of dramatic moments during the past season. The serious, the ridiculous and the sublime received their consideration by the Players and whenever they entertained, they did it with a most genuine worthwhileness. To Rose Fortier, director of the various plays, a large hand must be given. Untiring in labor of arduous sorts, Miss Fortier kneaded into shape a lot of potential dramatic dough and was responsible for a lot of happy productions.25 INCORPORATION The Kanawha Players applied for and was granted a Cer tificate of Incorporation on November 19, 1925. This docu ment was given before George W. Sharp, Secretary of State of West Virginia and was signed by the 1925-26 Player’s Presi dent, John E. Staehlin, and four members of the Board of Directors. This document was also registered in Kanawha County Court Clerk's Office June 8, 1926. In the fall of 1925 The Kanawha Players signed a lease for the old abandoned Methodist Episcopal Church South. This action gave the organization a permanent home rather than rented facilities for each performance. The need for legal signatures may have necessitated the incorporation. This document is found in entirety in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 with both recorded dates printed. It forms a corpora tion by the name of The Kanawha Players which would be ^charleston Daily Mail, June 10, 1923, p. 14. 21 Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are a reprint of the incorporation papers of The Kanawha Players. 22 I. The undersigned agree to become a corporation by the name of ______KANAWHA pt.avcts . II. The principal place of business of said corporation shall be located in the city of Charleston, in the County of Kanawha, and State of West Virginia. III. The object and purposes for which this corporation is formed are as follows: To erect, establish, equip, rent, lease, operate, maintain, manage, and control public halls, opera houses, theaters and places of amuaeaent, and to produce, exhibit, preserve and exploit therein or elsewhere attrae* tions of various kinds and natures, including dramatic, operatic, musioal, instructive, and intellectual performances, vaudeville and moving piotnree and to cater to public entertainment, diversion and amusement by and through theatrical exhibition or other amusement device; to provide a protective and social organization for all persons, firms or corporations intereotoA Figure 2 23 in the above purposes that may desire to become members of this organization; to acquire club houses, club rooms, and offices anu. to maintain and. operate the same for the use of members anu guests; to edit and publish magazines, periodicals, etc., for the use and benefit of its members and .to conduct sue/, affairs :,nu activities as would naturally come v.-iiuin ice scope • r; uj.*za>, *,.u, ... own, lease, buy, purchase, sell, convey or otherwise acquire or dis pose of such real estate and personal property as may be necessary, proper or desirable in the carrying out of any of tne purposes herein set out; to make and execute such contracts or evidences of indebtedness as may be necessary or proper for t:.e carrying out of the foregoing purposes; and to do any and ail other tilings necessary, proper or efficacious in the carry inf; out of the foregoing provisions, or which will in general further the interests of tae members hereof. IV. The names and post office addresses of the incorpor ators are as follows: NAMES ?. 0. ADDRESS John E. Staehlin Charleston, W. Va. •Howard Baer Chariest an, 'ii. Va. Charlotte TZ. Sterret Charles i.on, ’< • Z Figure 3 24 Unless and. until otherwise provided, by the by-laws, voting shall be by the members, eaoh member to be entitled to one vote. The officers and Directors of this organization need not be members of the organization unless so provided by the by-laws. Given under our hands this 18th day of November, 1925. John E. Staehlin Howard F. Baer Charlotte W. Sterret W. R. Milford Harriet B. Stubbs _ . JUN 8 l»26 County Court Clerk't fìffìM - , ______*»» proamtotf to nto *» my offioo. ottth tho Cortifìoato Hereto on ■>«* Figure 1+ 25 es's/ssyss/s/j ss ss//ss//s/s //ss' ,ss/s/ C/p/r/' s/ts/s/ss/ss/ss»//e /ss ss ■J/ysses/ ///S' /ss//ss- ss/ss/ //s// ,ssees, J0/V srs/ss/ sr.j/sp/s/, ss//' Zse/s'/s/ s/ss/ss/ss/ /s /s- fs/sss //ss, s/oZZ K9&/x///x' PERPETUALLY , Te/ojfrjfj/s ss e e/' /y //se /sess/t e ss/sst//ss //se/ssss/s s/e, /e//e/’// ss-t .ìssss/ stp/ee//se/s / ss/ss/e/r /sss/ /ss/ss/ ss/ss/ /// /j/essf/ess/s^z/eJss/f///tifo; ss/ //se ^//y ^^err^^/e/s^ ///) NINETEENTH f/sS' NOVEMBER^ NINETEEN TWENTY-FIVE. - Jsr/r/n/ì/ f/fJUr/f. Figure 5 26 located in the city of Charleston, Kanawha County, West Vir ginia. The corporation was to continue perpetually and be non-profit without stock. It allows the corporation officers elected by the membership the right to conduct such affairs and activities put forth in section three of the Incorpora tion Certificate. At this time The Kanawha Players became a separate organization with legal status. The officers and board of directors had the ability to conduct business without the sanction of the Charleston Symphony Society. The responsi bility of the organization and its problems was given to the officers and the members interested in theatrical entertainment. STATE THEATRE PROCLAMATION The Kanawha Players opened its twentieth season as the Official State Theatre of West Virginia. The Honorable Matthew M. Neeley, Governor of West Virginia issued the Proclamation desired by the director, Richard North Gage, and other members of the Players. The Governors of West Virginia can issue personal proclamations to organizations and worthy groups, but these records are the personal property and leave with the Governor at the end of his term of office. No copy of the original proclamation is avail able, and the exact date of the issue is forgotten, but the full-page ad shown in Figure 6 was printed September 11, 1941. The words Official State Theatre has appeared on every 27 Figure 6. A reprint of page 7 of the Charleston Gazette, September 21, 1941 which carried the proclamation that The Kanawha Players was designated the State Theatre of West Virginia. 28 THB CHARLESTON DAILY HAIL, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 31. 19« KANAWHA PLAYERS GROWS UP THE LARGEST AND OLDEST COMMUNITY THEATER IN WEST VIRGINIA STARTS ITS 20th SEASON DESIGNATED AS THE OFFICIAL STATE THEATRE By THE HONORABLE M. M. NEELY, GOVERNOR OF WEST VIRGINIA Kanawha Players hep« fo make the 1941-42 Mason the largest and finest community theater in the Middle West and South. Let's make it your drive. You join new and also get that neighbor of yours. It is your community theater. 2000 Members is tho Gool REASONS THAT YOU WANT TO JOIN: Six shews of fine enter- tainment by buying a Mason ticket for $5.18, or only 86c a shew— Associate Board Board of Directors you save $2.50. Kanawha Players feel that they are doing their bit if we can make Miu Sue Cunningham Mr*. Jackson Altiier you forget with laughter, drama, comedy and farce for three hours Mist Ann Fergutson the world end its troubles, we have dene a good job. Re». Wallace M. Alston Mbs Keith Whittaker Mrs. Hyman Cohan All tho work is done by our own citizons: Acting, pointing, build Mr. Wood rum Lewis Mrs. Alfred W. Down#* ing, scenery, props, furniture (from your own home, w« hope). Mr. Nila Olin SHOWS THAT YOU WILL SEE: Opening play: "The Man Who Mr. Charles Gilmeur Mr*. W. McD. Morris Camo to Dinner"—funnier than "You Can't Take It With You." Mr. Pater Keenan With tips play and five of the following: Mrs. T. A. Wilkor Mr. Dewey E. S. Kuhns Miu Mary V. Flalding (1) "George Washington Slept Here"—last year's Kauf Mrs. Ctrl MacAndrews Mr. Tad Eiland man & Hart laugh hit about tho trials and tribulations of Mrs. J. C. Marts Mrs. Allan Graanspon doing over thet one of many houMs George Washington Mrs. Luis Midsncs slept in. A farce with plenty of loughs. Mn. John B. Morrison Mrs. Harry H. Miller Mrs. Jack Maurice (2) "Mr. and Mrs. North"—that wacky mystery of last Mr. J. Pell Miller year with bodies falling out of closets, and a Dumb Dora Mr. Earl Jennings Mr. John C. Morrison, Jr. wife, by doing all of the wrong things end Hying the Mr. John B. Morrison Mrs. Silas W. Pickering, III wrong things, solves the mystery. Thrills, laughs and Mr. Lovell Surbor Mr. R. A. Robertson screams. Mr*. W. A. Mahan Mr. Joe W. Savage (3) "Pride and Prejudice"—that gay, exciting comedy Mist Frances Jenkins from tho famous Jane Austen book. Mr. John A. Field 14) "Claudia" — that gay, pleasant drama from tho Claudia stories. (5) "Anna Christi«"—by Eugono O'NgUL plough» exciting, melodrama and * Pulitzer PriHBaiqiBB <6) "Out of the Frying Pen"—e look bURMSHlB^SoiMM' of how a group of ambitious actors and actresses try to JOIN NOW get into tho theatre and how they succeed. A farce that JOIN NOW ran six months last year. Mail This Coupon to Box 971, City A $5.18-Seo«on A $5.16 Seaton Tick«» (tax paid) Men In Uniform Admitted Free Ticket (ton poid) Holder Receive»— Holder Receives— R. N. Gage, Director Lorry Witmer, Asst. Director Name ...... 1. Six $2.25 Re Ticket Office—Phono 39-711 Work Shop—Phono 33-149 1. Six $2.25 Re served seat admit- Address ...... served toot admis Address ...... »¡ant (Volue $9.50) sions (Value $9.50) thot con be used >n thet can be used In OFFICERS City ...... any desired combi City...... any desired combi-, nation for six shews. Mr. E. J. McDonough, Preaidont notion for fix shows. Phone ...... Phone ...... 2- A Notice of eoch 2- A Notice of each show by mail. Mr. Howard L Chemoff, Vice President she* by moil. No of Ticket* No of Tickets 3. Two days in which Mr. L. T. Bengtson, Vice President 3. Two days in which te moke reservations to make reservations Desired...... Mrs. J. M. Payne, III, Secretary Desired...... before Mie of seats before sole of seots is opened to the pub Mr. Henry V. Diefenbach, Treasurer Is opened to the pub- lic. Mrs. Henry V. Diefenbach, Assistent Treasurer The Cooperation of the Following F irms and Individuals Moke This Announcement Possible: E. J. McDonough W. E. Spalding S. Grover Smith, Jr. Mayor Boone Dawson Silos W. Pickering A Friend Superior Laundry and Dry C. Bernard Gates Cleaning John Woodrum Dewey S. Kuhns M. J. Carmack "On the Boulevard" W. H. Heermans A. S. Spilmon, Jr. Jomes S. Conley Black and White Cabs A Friend Richard N. Gage, Director of Daniel Boone Hotel Konowha Players Omrlie Foutche O. S. Sayre, Gen. Agent M.-D. Sverett John C. Morrison Jarrett Printing Company Lincoln Life Ins. Co. William Ziebold Park-Pontiac Company Charles Gilmore Major C. R. Morgan, Insurance 222 Dickinson Street United Carbon Company Mrs. H. D. Rummell Dr. Leonard Riggleman West Virginia Water Service Mn. W. O. Abney Dr. Claude B. Smith United Fuel Gas Company Company Figure 6 29 program cover since The Man Who Came To Dinner, November 4, 5, 6, 1941. The reason for the proclamation was discussed with Richard North Gage in a personal interview. He said he had worked for The Kanawha Players to obtain their own theatre, and had hoped the Governor's Proclamation would arouse enough interest to get state legislative assistance. They might then have become a second Barter Theatre and been state sup ported. The Players seemed satisfied with the name and were unwilling to spend the time and effort needed to contact the legislators to expand their advantage, so Mr. Gage gave up the idea. COMMUNITY SERVICE The Kanawha Players have always been willing to serve the Greater Kanawha Valley in any way possible. Their facilities, energies, time and talents have been utilized for service throughout their history. These activities include touring their own shows, sponsoring professional talent in the area, helping in fund raising drives, perform ing educational skits for organizations, performing works of local playwrights, combining talent and facilities to encourage experimentation in local high schools and colleges and presenting religious plays for the community's celebra tions . Interview with Richard North Gage, Director of The Kanawha Players 1935-1942, 1943-1945, 1951-1952, September 19, 1971. 30 The first toured show, The Neighbors, was presented at the Kanawha County 4-H Fair on October 8, 1924, and the following October they presented The Mayor and the Manicure for the same group. The play Paris Bound was presented in Huntington, West Virginia, on April 13, 1931, and in Mont gomery, West Virginia, on April 14, 1931. Eight different productions were transported to Ashford General Hospital at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, between January 1943 and October 1945. This was a hospital established at the famous Greenbrier Hotel for wounded service men returning from World War II. The eight plays presented at Ashford General Hospital were Arsenic and Old Lace, Love Rides the Rails, Junior Miss, My Sister Eileen, Three Men on a Horse, 27 Pursuit of Happiness, and Kiss and Tell. Several other shows were presented outside the city of Charleston, but they were performed for the organization's own fund raising and not community service. The first professional artist sponsored by The Kanawha 28 Players was a recital by Lawrence Tibbett on May 6, 1932. While Richard North Gage was director, seven different guest stars came to Charleston to act with the local talent, and two of these stars returned to play a second role. The or- 2?Betsy Stuart, “History of The Kanawha Players' First 35 Years“ (unpublished notes). 28 Playbill "Kanawha Players Present Lawrence Tibbitt," May 6, 1932. 31 ganization sponsored the Olvera Street Puppetters in 1935, the Theatre Guild’s production Call It a Day on December 4, 1936, and a production of Brother Rat on December 10, 11, 1937. The last two plays proved such financial disasters 29 that the Players did not attempt this type of venture again. The Charleston Lion's Club has sponsored one evening of several Kanawha Players productions. This money was to help with their eye care program, city playgrounds and help local 30 high school bands. On March 3, 1933 the Players presented 31 Private Lives for the benefit of the Kiwanis Club. The play Janie was presented in Beckley, West Virginia, on April 6, 1945, to help the Elks Club with their shoe and stocking fund. During World War II appeals were made in the program several times for people to deposit at the workshop any clothing they wanted to give for Bundles for Britain. During this same period of time membership drive contest prizes were United States War Bonds. Mr. Charles Stuart wrote and directed a skit to help the Charleston Community Chest in November, 1955. A skit entitled Get Set was pre- 32 sented for the United Fund in October 1956. The Biggest Thief in Town was presented March 17, 18, and 19, 1958, and 2^Betsy Stuart, "History." 30Ibld. 31 Charleston Gazette, March 3, 1933, p. 3. 32Stuart, o£. clt. 32 19, 1958, and was a combined effort of The Kanawha Players and the Charleston Light Opera Guild to benefit the South 33 Charleston Civitan Club's charities. Between 1957 and 1967 The Kanawha Players presented thirteen skits for several local agencies. These programs were acted, directed and sometimes written by members of the Players. Each skit was presented many times for different interested groups. Accidental Poisoning was video taped by WSAZ-TV for the State Health Department and the dramatic sequences were provided by the Players. An organization called Family Service-Traveler’s Aid used The Kanawha Players for several programs and two of the skits were entitled The Broken Circle and Eye of the Hurricane. Vista, National Council on Alcoholism and the Mental Health Department were . 34 aided by the Players. A few local playwrights have viewed their plays on the stage of the Players* Workshop. The first listed original play was a one-act play Fathomless by John Suter and was the winner of a play contest sponsored by The Kanawha Players, 35 during the fourteenth season, 1935-1936. A major production of an original script was entitled Parade and presented on May 26, 27, 28, 29, 1954. It was called a world premier in 1 ^'^Playbill'" Tl^" Big^s^t'"'^niief in Town, March 17, 18, 19, 1958. 34Betsy Stuart, "History." 35Ibid. 33 the Playbill. The playwright, Marianne Brown Waters, was a friend of Wade Williams, the director, and not a Charles- 36 tonian. Between 1960 and 1966 eight original plays were presented by the group. These scripts were short and pre sented at the workshop as experimental productions with the younger members of The Kanawha Players doing the writing, directing, acting, and production. This was considered a project of the Junior Board of Directors. Marshall College (now called Marshall University) toured their production of Berkeley Square and performed in the Play- 37 house on February 15, 1932. The National Thespian Honor Dramatic Society's Sixth Annual One-Act Play Contest for West Virginia High Schools was held by the Players in the 38 spring of 1936. Morris Harvey College students and The Kanawha Players combined their efforts and presented To Shakespeare With Love on February 13, 14, 1960, & reader's theatre performance of The Wasteland on October 28, 29, 1961, and an experimental production of U. S* A. on April 13, 14, 15, 1962.39 The Kanawha Players presented a reader's theatre production of John Brown's Body at West Virginia State College 40 on March 12, 1963. The last recorded collaboration was with ^Playbill, Parade, May"*26, 27, 28, 29, 1954. 37 Playbill, Berkeley Square, February 15, 1932. 38 .•« Betsy Stuart, "History." 39 Mimeographed programs found in the Morris Harvey College Blackfriars Scrapbook XX, 1959-65. ^Playbill, John Brown's Body, March 12, 1963 34 Concord College when they presented The Medium at the Play- 41 ers’ Workshop on April 21, 1965. The first public performance of a Christmas play, not including the first season’s Christmas Pageant, was Holy Night presented December 16, 17, 1934. The group gave A Christmas Carol on December 14, 15, 16, 1954, at Belle, West Virginia, for the DuPont employees and their families. Lent was recognized April 7, 1935, with a production of Everyman. Palm Sunday was celebrated with Hope of Heaven and an Easter Sunday Sunrise Service was given one year, but the dates have been forgotten. One other church drama was given and that was The Crystal Chandelier presented on February 9, 1968, at the Presbyterian Village Chapel in Kanawha City, 43 West Virginia. Some other contributions made by The Kanawha Players to the community need to be recorded. Several of their members became interested in Children’s Theatre in 1931 and began using the facilities of the Playhouse to produce plays given by children for children. The Children’s Theatre is now a separate and active organization with its own facili- , 44 ties. ^Playbill, The Medium,~April 21, 1965. 42Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stuart, Historians of The Kanawha Players, April 12, 1970. 43Charleston Gazette, February 9, 1968, p. 17. 44 Betsy Stuart, "History." 35 The Charleston Civic Center project was of great inter est to the Players because it was to house a little theatre. The members served on the planning committees and worked hard for the passage of the bond levy which financed the building of the facility. At the opening the Players presented an entertainment called Cast On Stage and the production of A Witness for the Prosecution was the first play to be pre- 45 sented in the Little Theatre. When the State of West Virginia celebrated its cen tennial, The Kanawha Players helped by producing The Anvil 46 May 3, 4, 5, 1963, as a centennial Bonus Production. The Players were also involved with the Showboat Rhododendron touring production of East Lynn the outdoor drama The Thirty- Fifth Star which opened June 20, 1963, at Laidley Field in 47 Charleston, West Virginia. The Kanawha Players also pre sented The Rivals on the Showboat Rhododendron, September 6 through 15, 1963, when the boat returned to Charleston after 48 touring the state. 45 Playbill, A Witness for the Prosecution, February 13, 14, 20, 21, 1959. 46 Playbill, The Anvil, May 3, 4, 5, 1963. 47 Charleston Gazette, June 27, 1963, p. 21. 48Playbill, The Rivals, September 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19637 36 MEMBERSHIP The person who is considered a member of The Kanawha Players is stated in Article III, Section I of the revised 1967 By-Laws found in Appendix C. There is no discrimination designated either in the By-Laws or the Certificate of In corporation. Section VI of the Incorporation certificate states that restrictions can be imposed by the By-Laws. The earliest set of By-Laws availably is a revised 1962 printing. I If there were any discrimination,clauses prior to the fall of 1954 when this state began desegregation it is unknown. One black youth, Ned Robinson, appeared in To The Ladies April 26, 27, 28, 1926, and became a steady worker for sever- 49 al seasons. The present method of membership subscription was started 50 by The Kanawha Players' second director, P. F. Reniers. When a season ticket is purchased, then that person has a vote in the general business meeting. In the sixth season the membership was divided and termed sustaining and active 51 } members. The eighth season sawithe membership divided into four types: patrons, sustaining, season ticket holders, and active members.2 ^9Betsy Stuart, "History." 50Charleston Daily Mall, September 9, 1923, p. 18. 51Playbill, The Whole Town’s Talking, November 17, 18, 19, 1926. j 52 52Playbill, Loose Ankles, October 1, 2, 3, 4, 1929. ——— ■'.. ' ( i I I I 37 The number of season ticket holders or members has changed each season. The names appearing in the lists change rapidly too. The active members who work seem to exhibit en thusiasm for a season of two and then appear no more. The only exception to this rule was Mr. Charles F. Stuart who spoke the first line in the first play, Glory of the Morning. He was a local high school student and played Red Wing, a young Indian boy. He remained active with the Players by acting, directing, serving as president and on the board of directors. After his marriage his wife became the historian for the organization. Mr. Stuart's last show was the last revival of Our Town (October 14, 15, 16, 1971) when he played S3 the Stage Manager. This was the play that marked the fiftieth birthday of The Kanawha Players. He died June 14, 54 1972. ADMINISTRATION The By-Laws state the officers will be elected from the Board of Directors after the twelve members are elected. These Board Members are nominated by a committee appointed by the President and any open nominations from the general assembly at the spring meeting. Tie twelve are elected by popular vote of the membership present at that announced meeting. They are usually people who are active in some 53 Betsy Stuart, "History." 54Charleston Daily Mail, June 14, 1972, p. 8B 38 form of The Kanawha Players' productions. Mr. Chris Ringharo Jr., The Kanawha Players' director from September 1955 to June 1963 stated in a personal inter view that the Board of Directors and the Officers should not be actors but business people who could make wise decisions. Since the Officers and the Board of Directors are in control of all affairs, funds, and property of the organization there should be sound business decisions made. They needed to take risks and work for the betterment of the organization rather than think of the next production or season. He found the Board unwilling to take a gamble on major decisions because 55 they lacked knowledge. As shown in Table I many people have devoted their time and effort to keeping The Kanawha Players' in existence for fifty years. Mrs. Hugh G. Nickholson was the organizer and served as the President for the first three years. Three men also served three terms as President: Mr. Dewey E. S. Kuhns 1938-39, 1939-40, 1944-45,* Mr. E. J. McDonough 1941- 42, 1942-43, 1943-44; and Mr. Richard Glaser 1956-57, 1957- 58, 1960-61. Five people served two terms as President and twenty-three served one term. Eight of the Presidents have been women. ^interview with Chris Ringham Jr., Director of The Kanawha Players 1955-1963, September 19, 1971. 39 TABLE I Elected Presidents of The Kanawha Players and the length of service in that office. Name Years of Service Mrs. Hugh G. Nickholson 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25 Mr. John E. staehlin 1925-26, 1926-27 Mrs. Phil Conley 1927- 28 Mr. Robert Siders 1928- 29 Miss Laura Haughwout 1929- 30 Mr. Abney Payne 1930- 31 Mr. Prank L. Tyree 1931- 32 Mr. R. L. Dodge 1932- 33 Mrs. Herrold Sterrett* Mr. L. T. Bengston* 1933- 34 Mr. E. R. Habicht* Mr. Douglas T. Fuller 1934- 35, 1935-36 Mr. Joe W. Savage 1936- 37 Mr. Robert S. Spilman, Jr. 1937- 38 Mr. Dewey E. S. Kuhns 1938- 39, 1939-40, 1944-45 Mr. Howard Chernoff 1940- 41 Mr. E. J. McDonough 1941- 42, 1942-43, 1943-44 Mr. Henry V. Diefenbach 1945- 46 Mr. Quin Morton 1946- 47 Mrs. A. W. Downes 1947- 48 Mr. John Hudkins 1948- 49 Mr. Phil Vogel 1949- 50 Mr. Jack Gelder 1950- 51 Mr. William G. Snyder 1951- 52 Mr. Morton S. Cohn 1952- 53 Mr. Henry D. Tallman 1953- 54, 1954-55 Dr. John Marquis 1955- 56 Mr. Richard Glaser 1956- 57, 1957-58, 1960-61 Mr. Richard M. Beer 1958-59, 1959-60 Rev. Walter Mycoff 1961- 62 Mr. Joe F. Smith 1962- 63, 1963-64 Mr. Mark Schaul 1964- 65 Miss Louise Brumberg 1965- 66 Mr. John Mayer 1966- 67 Mrs. Margery Meyer 1967- 68 Mr. L. F. Theiling 1968- 69 Mr. Joe Richter 1969- 70 Mrs. Richard Foutche 1970- 71 Mr. Evan Buck 1971- 72 *Three people were elected and given the title of Board of Governors. There were three Vice Board of Governors, Secre tary and Treasurer listed as officers. 40 DIRECTORS The Kanawha Players have tried to maintain salaried, experienced directors. Forty-two of the fifty seasons saw that idea realized with 278 of the 317 major productions di rected by professionals, seventeen men and two women. The remaining 39 productions were directed by various members of the group. How these people were found and hired is unknown. Available information about the paid directors has been summarized and appears in Table II. Miss Rose Fortier was the first director hired by the Charleston Symphony Society to work with The Kanawha Players. Her formal education had been supplemented with six months work at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. During her year in Charleston she was in charge of the Dramatic Art Department of the Mason School of Music as well Sfi as the full-time director of The Kanawha Players. After guiding the new organization through six productions she 57 resigned and returned to her home in Little Falls, Minnesota. Percival F. Reniers directed the Players during their second season (1923-24) when five plays were presented. Be sides his formal education he participated in the Harvard *47 Workshop. He had done production work in the New York theatre and was drama and motion picture critic for the New York ^charleston Gazette, August 20, 1922, Society Section, p. 4. 57 Charleston Daily Mail, June 11, 1923, p. 9. 41 TABLE II Salaried Directors of The Kanawha Players, showing length of service, academic training and number of plays produced. “Tears. Formal No. & Type of Play b. Name of Professional C M S M 0 Service Preparation R C D M U B A T Rose Fortier 1922-23 Northwestern 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 6 Percival Reniers 1923-24 Harvard 47 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 5 Maurice Drew May '26 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Percival Reniers Jan.*28 Harvard 47 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 William Harrison Spr.‘28 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 David Lindley 1928-29 Ohio Univ. 0 5 2 0 0 0 0 7 Ramon Savich 1929-33 Yale 4 21 6 1 0 0 0 32 Robert Riley Spr.*34 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 Edward Crowley 1934-35 Northwestern 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 6 Richard N. Gage 1935-42 Yale 0 26 15 1 1 0 1 44 William Dean Spr.*43 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 Richard N. Gage 1943-45 Yale 1 10 2 0 0 0 0 13 Sydney H. Spade 1945-46 Northwestern 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 6 Sherman K.Headley 1946-47 U. of Iowa 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 6 Charles G. Peters 1950 Columbia Uni. 1 10 1 0 0 0 0 12 Wade Williams 1951 Feagin Drama 0 6 1 0 0 0 0 7 Richard N. Gage 1951-52 Yale 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 Wade Williams 1952-54 Feagin Drama 0 5 4 1 0 1 0 11 Mary Brady 1954-55 Abbey Theatre 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 5 Chris Ringham 1955-63 U. of Minn. 5 26 13 1 2 3 1 51 Stan Fedyszyn 1963-65 Baylor Univ. 0 7 5 0 0 0 0 12 James Schroom 1965-69 Wisc.St. Col. 0 12 10 0 1 0 0 23 Barry Steinman 1969-72 Un. of Minn. 1 8 7 0 1 0 0 17 Totals 15 163 82 TTT 4 4 T7ÏÏ a. The amount of formal professional preparation is unknown in most instances. Therefore, only the name of the insti tution is given. b. Abbreviations of play types are as follows: CR - Classic Revival MC - Modern Comedy SD - Serious Drama M - Melodrama MU - Musical B - Burlesque OA - Program of One Act Plays T - Total 42 58 Evening Post. Mr. Reniers departed at the end of the second season but returned for a visit and directed Love 'Em and Leave 'Em during the 1927-28 season. Maurice Drew, a retired actor, directed one show for the Players. He was a visitor to the city and was hired to direct Peg O' My Heart which was the final show of the fourth season. 59 He said he was a cousin of the famous John Drew. William J. Harrison arrived in Charleston to assume com mand of the Players in February, 1928. He came from the Cincinnati Community Players, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he had served as director, as well as art director and as stage 60 designer with the Cincinnati Art Theatre. Mr. Harrison directed the last three shows of the sixth season (1927-28). He began the seventh season by casting The Butter and Egg Man, but because of the illness of his mother he resigned and returned to Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. David Lindley replaced Mr. Harrison and finished directing The Butter and Egg Man. Mr. Lindley was born in Hamilton, Ohio, and received his formal education in that state. His experience was largely in the field of acting on the stage, in movies, and in vaudeville* He was, how ever, associated with the Little Theatre movement in New 5Charleston Gazette, September 5, 1923, p. 3. 5^Mary Neale, ’’Kanawha Players Oldest Community Theatre in U. S.," The New Charleston, July-August 1971, p. 10. 60 Charleston Gazette, February 26, 1928, p. 14. 43 York, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City. He also had experi- g 7 ence in stock and on the Chautauqua circuit. Mr. Lindley did not complete the season, and the final show was directed by Mrs. Phil Conley.®2 Ramon Savich was employed for the eighth season and stayed until the close of the eleventh season. He studied with Dr. George Pierce Baker at the Harvard *47 Workshop, and worked with the American Players in Paris, France, and with a Shakespearean Company in Cologne, Germany. He came to Charleston after spending a very successful year as the 63 director of the Theatre Guild of Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Savich directed thirty-two plays during the four seasons he worked with the Players. He was the first direc tor to produce classic revivals and he was also the first to direct the group in Shakespearean plays. The four classic revivals were Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Mid summer Nights Dream, and School for Scandal. Robert Riley was hired to direct the last two shows of the twelfth season. No information about him is available. His first production was given good reviews in both news papers with just a mention of his name, but his second play was not reviewed by either newspaper. 61Playbill, The Butter and Egg Man, October 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 1928. 62Playbill, The Constant Wife, June 11, 12, 13, 14, 1929. g 3 Charleston Gazette. August 18, 1929, p. 5. 44 Edward J. Crowley was employed to direct the thirteenth season. Besides his formal professional preparation shown in Table II, he had spent six years as the director of the Chicago Little Theatre Guild, Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Crowley was on the editorial staff of the Little Theatre Monthly and was recognized as one of the leaders in the Drama League of Ameri ca.64 Mr. Crowley resigned after one season to take the di- 65 rectorship of the Little Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Richard North Gage began the fourteenth season and remained longer than any other director. He was drafted into the army during World War II after completing seven and a half seasons (1935-42) but was gone for less than a year then returned to Charleston to direct the thirtieth season (1951- 52). He was responsible for sixty-one productions for The Kanawha Players. His productions for The Kanawha Players included one classic revival, thirty-eight modern comedies, nineteen serious dramas, one musical, one melodrama and one night of one-act plays. Mr. Gage studied for two years at Yale University before coming to Charleston. His specialized training was in direct ing, acting, body technique and the technique of set design and construction. Before going to Yale, he had his own producing organization for five years, which presented both ii j.iii ...... ii 0^Charleston Gazette, September 2, 1934, sec. 2, p. 5. 66 66Charleston Daily Mail, August 2, 1935, p. 8. 66Charleston Gazette, August 3, 1935, p. 2. 45., musical productions and serious drama in Ohio and Michigan. During his two years at Yale he organized a group of his fellow students into the Connecticut Players and produced plays at summer theatres in Weguetonsig and Indian River, Michigan.*6 ? William Dean directed four shows while Richard Gage was in the army during the twenty-first season (Spring, 1943). Mr. Dean was a native of Liverpool, England, and received his academic training at the University of South Carolina and Ithaca College. He had professional experience in London 68 and New York summer stock at the Mohawk Drama Festival. Sydney H. Spade was the director for the twenty-fourth season (1945-46). He had been the director of the Kalamazoo Civic Players in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was born in South Dakota and attended Yankton College but received his Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern. After doing some acting and directing in Chicago, he returned to Yankton College as director of the drama department. After touring the Black Hills area with a company of college students, he was awarded a fellowship to the University of Iowa where he received his Master of Arts degree. He directed several motion pictures, was associated with the Cedar Rapids Community Theatre in Cedar Rapids, Michigan, and directed the Cain Park Theatre 67 Charleston Daily Mail, August 2, 1935, p. 2. 6 8 Playbill, Arsenic and Old Lace, January 26, 27, 28, 29, 1943. 46 69 Players of Cleveland, Ohio. Sherman K. Headley of St. Paul, Minnesota, was hired to direct the twenty-fifth season. He began his undergraduate work at Carleton College, Carleton, Minnesota, and continued his studies at the Universities of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. He served as technical director at the Belfrey Theatre, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and Youngstown Playhouse, Youngstown, Ohio* For two years he was an assistant techni cal director at the Cleveland Playhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a member of the production staff of the Chautauqua Repertory Theatre and the Chautauqua Opera Company in Chau tauqua, New York.®8 Sherman Headley resigned after one season and the Play ers were without funds or a place to perform. The next two seasons were devoted to radio drama and summer activities. All productions were directed by adult local talent and col lege students of the area. Charles G. Peters, Jr., was hired to help the Players back to regular season productions In January, 1950. He was a native of Charleston and studied play directing at Columbia University as shown in Table XX. He had worked at the Boyles- town Summer Theatre, Boylestown, Massachusetts, and with The 71 Kanawha Players Summer Theatre for one year as a director. ^^Charleston Gazette, July 29, 1945, p. 5. ^Charleston Gazette, September 1, 1946, p. 19. 71 Charleston Gazette, July 4, 1948, p. 15. 47 Wade Williams became the director of the group for the remainder of the thirty-first season (1951), after Richard Gage completed his second stint as director. He was not a stranger to Charleston or The Kanawha Players because he had acted with and directed the Summer Players in 1951. He was inspired to make a career of the theatre when he won the North Carolina Drama Festival Award which resulted in a scholarship to the Feagin Dramatic School in New York City. After a year at that school, he spent several months in the U. S. Army's special services producing plays for service men. Returning to civilian life he became a director at the Feagin School. He had been associated with the Ogunquit Theatre, Maine, and several theatres in and about New York.?2 He remained in Charleston for two seasons and then resigned. Miss Mary Brady became the director for the thirty-third season. She was born and reared in Dublin, Ireland. After four years playing bit parts and doing technical work with Dublin’s Abbey Theatre she moved across town to the Gate Theatre. Acting and directing with the Gate Theatre took her to England. She appeared at the Embassy Theatre in London's West End and a number of theatres in smaller cities. Miss Brady came to the United States on New Year's Day of 1953 to tour with the Dublin Players. Remaining in this country at the end of the tour, she came to Charleston as a result of 72Charleston Gazette, September 14 1952, p. 7m. 48 hearing of the job opening through a friend of Mr. and Mrs. 73 Charles A. Meyer in New York. She stayed just one season. Chris Ringham, Jr., came from Minneapolis, Minnesota to replace Mary Brady and remained eight years. A native of Albert Lea, Minnesota, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a major in speech and drama, he took graduate 74 work at both Iowa and Wisconsin. Re served as technical director of the Community Theatre in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as for a professional summer stock company. He had directed the Fargo-Moorehead Community Theatre and the Children's Theatre of Fargo, North Dakota. He served as manager and actor in touring companies that traveled through a broad section of the country between Wisconsin and Wyoming. He also served on the staff of the Studio Theatre on the University of Minnesota campus. Mr. Ringham resigned on June 30, 1963, but remained in Charleston for the summer as direc- 75 tor of the Centennial Showboat, Rhododendron. During the eight seasons Chris Ringham directed the Players in fifty-one productions, providing a greater variety in types of plays than had appeared under past leadership. However, modern comedies still dominated each season. Stan Fedyszyn was the seventeenth director hired by the 73Charleston Gazette, September 19, 1954, p. 22. 74Playbill, Death of A Salesman, April 3, 4, 10, 11, 1959. 75Charleston Daily Mall, April 29, 1963, p. 13. 49 Players. He was twenty-four and the youngest director in The 76 Kanawha Players history. He had spent the year prior to coining to Charleston in Poland studying and doing play and opera directing under a United States State Department grant and a scholarship provided by the Polish government. He was responsible for the founding of the Warsaw-American Players. This semi-professional group gave American plays in English 77 under the auspices of the American Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. He remained in Charleston for the two seasons. James H. Schroom was the director for the next four seasons. He studied at the Goodman Theatre School of Drama, Chicago, Illinois, Actor's Studio and the Columbia School of Radio and Television, New York City. He founded the Civic Theatre in Pond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1957 and was their di rector for eight seasons. He authored and directed the edu cational program known as "Rehabilitation Through Dramatic 78 Art" now offered at the Wisconsin women's Prison. He was the only Kanawha Players' director to do a show with a pre dominately negro cast, A Raisin In the Sun. Barry Steinman is the present director and has completed three seasons with the Players (1969-72). He is a native of Duluth, Minnesota, and his experience prior to coming to ^Charleston Daily Mail, July 17, 1963, p. 24. ^Charleston Gazette, June 22, 1963, p. 11. 70 Charleston Gazette-Mail, August 29, 1965, p. 8. 50 Charleston included summer stock with the Stagecoach Players of Minneapolis; Lake City Summer Repertory in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho; Summer Theatre, Inc., Clearwater, Florida and Colby Junior College for Women, New London, New Hampshire. He was a reader for the Office for Advanced Drama Research sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. He did some acting with the Theatre-In-The-Round in Minneapolis. The summer before assuming his duties as director of the Players he was box office and business manager for the University of Minnesota 79 Showboat. The Kanawha Players have been directed by professional people with exceptional training. Several of them have earned Master of Arts degrees, but records are incomplete as to the earned degrees of most. The educational training of three directors is not known but Maurice Drew was listed as a retired actor and William Harrison had worked with other little theatre groups. Robert Riley is the only director who is completely unknown. Richard North Gage was employed for ten and a half sea sons and Chris Ringham, Jr., remained eight years. Ramon Savich and James Schroom completed four seasons and Barry Steinman, began his fourth term with the 1972-73 season. All other directors stayed two seasons or less. 79Charleston Daily Mail, August 4, 1969, p. 17 51 PHYSICAL FACILITIES In Albert McCleery and Carl Glick’s book Curtains Going Up, the troubles of a community theatre finding a home are described. The Kanawha Players’ beginning was similar. Usually, in the beginning, most groups used the nearest available auditorium. And like wandering gypsies some groups have played hither, thither, and yon. Any old stage in any old place; troubles and hardships dogging their footsteps. No wonder then the cry, "Let’s have our own theatreI" Often it was the first available empty build ing—no matter what its past history. A stage was erected. Seats were put in, and a theatre was born.80 During the first three seasons of The Kanawha Players' history most of the plays were presented in the High School Auditorium. This school building now serves as Thomas Jefferson Junior High School. Thirty-one plays were pre sented in this auditorium because the Players returned to the facility between 1947 and 1957 to give eighteen plays. Table III presents the locations where The Kanawha Play ers have produced their plays. The number of plays at each site is also given, as well as the five-year period in which the location was used. The Playhouse pictured in Figure 7 was the Old South Methodist Church that had been abandoned after the new church was built on its present site. This structure stood on a lot at the corner of Washington and Dickinson Streets which is 80Albert McCleery and Carl Glick, Curtains Going Up, (New York: Pitman Publishing Company, 19l§T7-p7,’3TTr*"'^ 52 TABLE III The location where Kanawha Players presented plays and the number of presentations at each site from 1922 to 1972 22 2TT2.. 37""<2'..?7’ "52" 57”62“6TTo€aT Theatre Facility to to to to to to to to to to 27 32 37 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 Thomas Jefferson Jr.H.S. 13 19 8 31 The Playhouse 12 39 23 74 Billie Bryant Showboat 2 1 3 Court House 11 1 3 Shrine Mosque 5 28 27 60 Municipal Auditorium 2 2 Charleston High School 3 2 5 Morris Earvey College 17 1 9 St. Matthews Parish House 25 6 2 33 United Fuel Gas Auditorium 4 7 1 12 Charleston Women's Club 3 1 4 Edgewood Country Club 1 1 Civic Center 21 29 25 75 B'Nai Jacob Synagogue 1 1 Ashford General Hospital 1 1 Rhododendron Showboat 2 2 Little Creek Park 1 1 Total 26 39 31 30 31 39 30 32 '3227----- 3TZ 53 Figure 7, Photograph of the first theatre facility of The Kanawha Players. Figure 7 55 now the lawn of the Downtown Post Office. This building served the Players from the fall opening in 1927 until April 9, 1936 when it was damaged by fire. The fire was confined to the east section of the building that housed the workshop and property room. The loss was estimated at $1,000. The building was insured by the owner C. A. Cabell, but the 82 Players' equipment was not included in the policy. The group had enjoyed its own theatre for seventy-four produc tions before suffering their first fire. No information is available about the discussions and decisions of the Players after their disasterous fire in the old Playhouse, but an article containing possible suggestions, and information that meetings were being held, was published. The article indicated that there was some idea about repair- 83 ing the damage to the Playhouse. The Players never re turned to this facility^ this ended the only period in The Kanawha Players history when they had a theatre, workshop and storage under one roof. Captain Billie Bryant's Showboat had just arrived in town for six weeks when the Playhouse burned, so the Players rented the boat, reblocked the show Louder, Please and re- 81Julius de Gruyter, The Kanawha Spectator, Vol. I, (West Virginia: Jarrett Printing Company, 1953),p. 337. 82 Charleston Daily Mail, April 10, 1936, p. 1. 83 Charleston Gazette, April 13, 1936, p. 3. 56 84 built the scenery so they could open on the planned night. The group used Captain Bryant’s Showboat for two more produc tions. The County Court House served admirably for the produc tion of three court-room dramas. The Trial of Mary Dugan was given as the last play of the fourteenth season (1935-36) and The Night of January 16th was presented during the six teenth and the twenty-seventh seasons (1937-38 and 1948-49). The use of the Court House for the production during the twenty-seventh season made it possible for The Kanawha Play ers in 1972 to say they had fifty years of continuous annual performance seasons. The Shrine Mosque was rented to the Players at the be ginning of the fifteenth season for their first show, Personal Appearance directed by Richard North Gage. This facility was offered for a month or two but the Players stayed for eleven years and presented sixty plays in the Mosque. The Mosque seated about 850 people and had been a good home, so the ftp closing of the facility caused the Players real hardship. The Kanawha Players found most auditoriums very busy during the school year or too expensive to rent so they pre sented two years of radio drama and summer theatre. St. Matthews Parish House in South Hills proved highly successful 84McCleery and Glick, p. 109. 85 Playbill, Over Twenty One, April 24, 25, 26, 1947. 57 for the Players. All proceeds were given to the Players’ 8€ building fund. Thirty-three plays were presented during the summer months for several seasons. When The Kanawha Players returned to the regular season, they found themselves in their original home, Thomas Jeffer son Junior High School. From January 1950 to February 1959 they used any facility available. Morris Harvey College, Charleston High School, The United Fuel Gas Auditorium and the Charleston Woman’s Club building was used to relieve the strain on the Junior High School Auditorium and the Parish House. Table XIX shows tile number of plays presented in each of these facilities. The Charleston Civic Center was completed and The Kanawha Players presented Witness for the Prosecution on February 13, 14, 20, and 21, 1959, for their first play in the facility. Since that date seventy-five plays have been presented in the Civic Center’s Little Theatre. The Players pay rent for the theatre the same as any other group which needs a comfortable theatre seating about 750 people. Scenery and properties must still be constructed elsewhere, moved to the facility and after the final performance removed from the premises. The only time the Players were able to build their scenery and store properties on the same site as the theatre was during the stay in the Playhouse (The Old South Methodist '" "ftc". •.11 1 ■...... ■ ■■ ■... 1 Charleston Gazette, July 4, 1948, p. 15. 58 Church). An investigation of the remaining years shows the group maintaining a workshop and rehearsal space separate from a theatre which they rent. After the fire in 1936 the Players rented the third floor of the old Kanawha Valley Bank building for work space. Scenery had to be raised and lowered with block and tackle from a window to a truck then moved to the Shrine Mosque. This arrangement was continued until the winter of 1944 when the workshop burned* There was a total loss of equip ment, but the fire was confined to the one floor of the 87 building. The Players had insurance on their belongings this time; they were able to rent another upstairs workshop on Capitol Street.8® At the beginning of the twenty-fifth season the group built sets in a workshop in the eastern section of the city, rehearsed in a room down town and gave plays wherever they could rent a stage. By the end of the season they were not only deprived of the Shrine Mosque but the other facilities as well. During the twenty-ninth season land was purchased, and the Players began construction on their own workshop. This structure is in the Kanawha City area at 5315 McCorkle Avenue, S. W.. This building was constructed to give the 87 Charleston Gazette, December 7, 1944, p. 1. 88Betsy Stuart, "History." 59 group room to build scenery and to store properties, lighting equipment and costumes. This plant could also be used for rehearsals. This structure was enlarged 48 feet to incorpo rate space that could make a small theatre to seat about 140 89 people and double the workshop size. Finally, The Kanawha Players had a place to call home. ECONOMICS AND FINANCE It is impossible to trace accurately the management of funds of The Kanawha Players. The fires that have been a part of its history may have destroyed some of the records, but many of the years were just not recorded. Prices and membership changed without stating the information in the newspapers. Many of the early programs gave a financial statement from the previous show, but not all of the programs are available. From most of the records that are available the statement in a Playbill after one financial report seems quite truthful. These figures make it evident that The Kanawha Players is not a money-making organiza tion nor does it wish to be. Its aim is to bring to Charleston audiences good dramas, well presented, and the only pay wanted by the work ers who give so largely of their time and talent, is the success of the organization as g. con structive force in our community life.90 Ticket prices have been raised steadily since the first season when the cost of a single ticket was seventy-five * 98 QQ Charleston Dally Mail, August 8, 1963, p. 5. 98Playbill, The Constant Wife, June 11, 12, 13, 14, 1929. 60 cents. In the fiftieth year an adult season ticket was ten dollars for five shows. Student season tickets were five dollars. A person could have himself listed in the program as an "angel" for one hundred dollars, a "patron" for fifty dollars and a "sustainer" for twenty-five dollars. There were twenty "Industrial Contributors" listed, but what contri bution they made was not available. The Kanawha Players have never owned a theatre so rent has been a major cost to them. One Playbill in 1931 indicated that the average rent for each play given in the Playhouse was one hundred twenty dollars. Eight plays were presented that season which would make the rent nine hundred-sixty dollars. They rented the Playhouse from the fall of 1927 until April 1936 when it was damaged by an early morning fire. The Players then rented the Shrine Mosque to present their plays. They used this facility for eleven years, and one disbursement list in a Playbill lists the rent as $1,200.00 91 with a workshop rent of an added six hundred dollars. The rent paid for Morris Harvey College Auditorium or some of the high school facilities used is unknown. When the Players moved into the Civic Center Little Theatre the rent was fifty- dollars, but in 1966 there was a raise in the fee to seventy- Q2 five dollars. That price is still going up. The group now 91Playbill, Margin for Error, December 4, 5, 1940. 92 Charleston Gazette, September 15, 1966, p. 4. 61 owns its own workshop and rehearsal hall, but repairs are expensive. Although The Kanawha Players have had financial troubles and are still worried about the next fifty years, it has managed to hire professional directors for forty-two of the first fifty years. They are the best housed now that they have ever been since they lived in The Playhouse, and they have a devoted following even though it is smaller than past years. 62 CHAPTER III PLAY PRODUCTION ACTIVITY OF THE KANAWHA PLAYERS The theatre season for The Kanawha Players opens of ficially each fall and continues through the winter and early summer, paralleling the academic school year. A full sea son's activity was planned and executed from its inception in 1922 and throughout the fifty-year history of the group. Each season saw five to thirteen major productions presented and The Kanawha Players often undertook special activities such as childrens theatre, radio programs, evenings of one-act plays, and workshop productions. Many distinguished and note worthy plays were selected and community theatre goers often had the opportunity of seeing plays which were contemporary with New York theatre productions. Plays selected for production by The Kanawha Players are shown in Tables IV a through IV j. They are listed in chronological order with the name of the playwright. The year of the play’s New York opening and its New York perform ance record is also given along with any awards or special recognition which the play may have received. Only full- length productions are included in the listing. Plays Selected for Production by The Kanawha Players 1922 - 1927 The first production by The Kanawha Players was pre sented on November 2nd and 3rd, 1922, and consisted of three one-act plays. Both local newspapers acclaimed the success 63 TABLE IV a Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1922 to 1927, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Ÿ. Recog Open. Play- Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record Mr. Pirn Passes By A. Milne 1921 1923 72 A Successful Calam- C. Kummer 1917 1923 144 Enter Madam G. Varesi 1920 1923 350 BP & D. Byrne Prunella L. Housman 1913 1923 104 & G. Barker Rollo's Wild Oat C. Kummer 1920 1923 — The Pigeon J. Galsworthy 1912 1923 64 Her Husband’s Wife A. E. Thomas 1910 1924 48 The Dover Road A. Milne 1921 1924 324 BP Smi link Through A. Martin 1919 1924 175 PollyWith A Past G. Middleton <61917 1924 315 G. Bolton The Truth C. Pitch 1907 1925 34 Dulcy G. Kaufman & 1921 1925 246 BP M. Connelly You and I P. Barry 1923 1926 178 BP Grumpy H. Hodges 1913 1926 181 R.W. Percival To the Ladies G. Kaufman 1922 1926 128 M. Connelly Peg O'My Heart J. H. Manners 1912 1926 692 The Whole Town's J. Emerson 1923 1926 173 Talking A. Loos Seven Keys to G. M. Cohan 1913 1926 320 BP Baldpate Expressing Willie R. Crothers 1924 1927 69 Seventh Heaven A. Strong 1922 1927 704 The Show-Off G. Kelly 1924 1927 571 BP KindTTng---- C. Kenyon 1911 1927 39 ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS : BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 64 of the program with complimentary reviews. The front cover of the first printed program is shown in Figure 8 with Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 showing the four information pages of the program. Flays included for the first program were, Glory of the Morning, described as a life tragedy, followed by a comedy entitled The Neighbours. A satire. Overtones, completed the production. This was an ambitous undertaking which included an orchestra, made up of members of the Charleston Symphony, and a professional director. The lighting and special effects were noted as surprisingly well done, and no fault was found by either critic* One note of caution was injected by Herbert Pfahler, a local critic, as he suggested the ’’players*' guard against Pollyannaism. He continued by pointing out that the Charleston audience was too discriminating to be satisfied 94 with light, insignificant productions* On January 4 and 5, 1923, The Kanawha Players presented its first full-length production. As may be seen in Table IV a, its title was Mr* Pim Passes By, by A. A. Milne. The play had opened in New York two years before, and had a performance record of seventy-two. The choice of this play came in for some very mild criticism by Pfahler of the Charleston Gazette, but neither newspaper reported any sig- ^Charleston Daily MailT November 3, 1922, p. 16. ^Herbert Pfahler, "Local Players Please Many On Opening Night,” Charleston Gazette, November 3, 1922, p. 3. 65 Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Reproductions of the front cover and the four information pages of the program for the first production of The Kanawha Players. 66 The KANAWHA PLAYERS Present Three One-Act Plays DIRECTED BY ROSE A. FORTIER HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM November 2 and 3, 1922 8:30 o’clock MCCLURE BROS., PRINTERS, CHARLESTON. W. VA. Figure 8 67 KANAWHA PLAYERS Officers Mrs. Hugh G. Nickholson, President Mrs. Arthur B. Koontz, Vice-President Mrs. Fletcher Irwin, Secretary Mrs. Louis A. Seyffert, Treasurer Committee Chairmen Miss Ashton Fitzhugh Woodman, Art Mrs. J. C. Blair, Membership Mrs. Herrold Sterrett, Players Miss Helen Dana Smith, Dramaturgy Mrs. Ernest Milair, House Mrs. Hunter McClintic, Program Mr. Bertram Yarborough, Publicity Stage Management Stage Manager, Reed Jarrett Stage Electrician, John A. Thurston Assistant Stage Manager, Ferree Bedell Assistant Stage Manager, Harold Paxton Assistant Electrician, Hugh G. Nicholson, Jr. MUSIC Under the Direction of .______W. S. MASON______Notes of the Plays "Overtones” by Alice Grestenbeig was first produced by the Wash ington Square Players at the Bandbox theatre in New York City in No vember 1915. It was staged under the direction of Edward Goodman. > Later “Overtones” was played professionally in vaudeville, opening at the Palace theatre in Chicago with Helen Lackave as its star. “The Neighbors” by Zona Gale was first produced by the Wisconsin dramatic society, one of the leading community theatre groups in the northwestern part of the country. “The Neighbors” has proved to be a favorite play with the majority of community theatres. WBAABBWBT CHARLESTON BUICK CO. Quarrier & Dunbar Sts. Figure 9 68 “OVERTONES” is a satirical comedy on the dual nature of women. The circle lighting indicates change of mood in the primitive self- GLORY OF THE MORNING” A LIFE TRAGEDY IN ONE ACT By William Ellery Leonard The People of the Story Glory of the Morning, the Chevalier’s Winnebago squaw______Dorothy Higgins The Chevalier, called the Half Moon, a nobleman, now an adventurer in the French fur trade______Bertram Yarborough Their Children Red Wing, a boy______Charles Stuart Oak Leaf, a girl______Carolyn Dunfee Black Wolf, a visionary old medicine man_.. Steele Trotter SCENE—The Wisconsin, Backwoods TIME—Late afternoon long ago. Before rise of curtain: SONG ISABEL ROOD ‘In the Land of the Sky Blue Water’5-—Cadman (Please do not applaud) SPEAKING OF MOTOR Mil VALUES HUDSON SUPER-SIX ESSEX MOTOR CARS Speedster______$1525 Touring ___ ._____ $1045 7 Pass. Phaeton__ 1575 Coach------1625 Cabriolet______1145 Sedan------2295 Coach ______1245 Freight Tax Extra MIDELBURG GARAGE Charles A. Midelburg, Prop. State Distributor HUDSON SUPER-SIX ESSEX MOTOR CARS Figure 10 69 “THE NEIGHBOURS” A COMEDY IN ONE ACT by ZONA GALE Persons of the Play Grandma ;______Mrs. Lon Barringer Mis’ Diantha Abel .______Mrs. L. A. Seyffert Eza Williams ______John Henshaw Peter ______Emerson Elpers Inez ______;______Mary Louise Ohley Mis’ Elmira Moran ______Mrs. 0. B. Bobbitt Mis’ Trot______;______.____Mrs. Robert Jefferds Mis* Garry Ellsworth______Mrs. Cornelius Estill Scene In anybody’s kitchen in any town. Time Morning “OVERTONES” ” A SATIRE IN ONE ACT by ALICE GERSTENBERG Characters Harriet, a cultured woman__ ._ Ashton Fitzhugh Woodman Hetty, her primitive self ______.______Katie Belle Abney Margaret, a cultured woman ______Mabie Funk Maggie, her primitive self___,______Geraldine Green 215 CAPITOL STREET Figure 11 70 The Kanawha Players is a com munity non-commercial drama organi AFTER zation and residents of the community who are interested in acting and stag THE PLAY ing plays are welcomed as active members, while those people who can not devote their time to the work of the Players, but who are interest After the play complete ed in furthering the drama movement the evening’s pleasure in the community are welcome to with a visit to our become associate members. fountain. Kloster- The Kanawha Players are mem bers of the Drama League of Amer meyer’s is on your way ica, a national (organization which down town—and you’ll has succeeded in turning the think like our drinks and ing part of the country to drama as a great cultural force, both in the ices. theatre and in all forms of social life. Prescriptions A Specialty The Drama League has establish Drugs and Sundries. ed circuits for worthy plays in (he smaller cities where good drama is becoming rare, and has aided sig nificantly in organizing and support F. G. KLOSTERMEYER ing community theatres in many DRUGGIST cities No movement of this kind has 1032 Quarrier St. been successful before in starting in West Virginia, and Charleston should feel proud that it has the first com munity theatre in the state. The community theatre movement hasn’t as yet gained a firm foothold in the South, though ■ some fine work has HATEVER your re been done in some of the small quirements in books, North Carolina colleges and com W munities. Thd comfnunity theatre stationary, office furni and Drama League movement has ture and supplies, Kodakery, had a wide growth in the west and or things to beautify the home northwest and is well established in the east. It is said by authorities for yourself or others—we that the mjiddle and northwestern are here to serve you! part of the country are practically independent of professional players and road companies which are not s. always of the best class. The com munities in those sections of the country have learned to amuse and SPENCER educate themselves through the drama. West Virginia and Charles ton, especially, are 'now going to MOORE have a chance to do the same thing with the Kanawha Players. Charleston has not had a legitimate stage for the CO. past few years, and the Kanawha Players wish to keep alive in Charles 118 Capitol Street ton the good drama which she may have lost through not having a legiti mate theatre. Figure 12 71 nifleant fault with the production.®5' 56 Xn all. The Kanawha Players presented six full-length productions during its first season, 1922-23. All of the plays selected had previously been presented on Broadway and included Enter Madam, by Gilda Veresi and Dolly Byrne, which had run for 350 Broadway performances and is listed in the 97 Ten Best Plays of 1920-21. Six full-length plays were produced by The Kanawha Play- 5 era during the 1923-24 season, and each succeeding season brought about the same number fcb the stage except for the year 1925. Table XV a shows only two full-length productions for the calendar year 1925. These Included Dulcy by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, which had run for 146 performances 98 in New York and is listed in the Ten Best Plays of 1921-22. The following two years saw a total of ten productions after the reduced activity of the previous season. They se lected plays by noted playwrights such as George S. Kaufman, George M. Cohan, and Anita Loos, whose reputations were im pressive in the Broadway theatres. Well known plays such as Seventh Heaven by Austin Strong and George Kelly's The Show- Off were chosen for the 1926 - 1927 season* These plays, as * 97 '(1C '■ ' ...... ‘...... I"“-J" T, "in ., ...... Herbert pfabler, "Mrs. Shadle Is Bright Star In Comedy 'Mr. Pim Passes By',n Charleston Gazette, January 5, 1923, p. 2. ^Charleston Dally Mail, January 5, 1923, p. 5. 970tis L. Guernsey, Jr., (ed.), The Best Plays of 1968-69, (New York: Dodd Mead and company, 1$69), p* 81. Ibid. 72 well as Peg O' My Heart by J. Hartley Manner, had enjoyed long Broadway records, each having well over 500 perform ances . 1927 - 1932 The Kanawha Players produced a total of thirty-nine full- length plays during the second five-year period of their existence. This was an increase of seventeen over their first five years. According to Table IV b, the calendar year 1928 reflects nine full-length play productions, or about one every six weeks. In 1929, the Players produced seven full-length plays, eight in 1930 and eight again in 1931. Five of the plays produced in the fall of 1932 are included in the period, as well as two of the 1927 productions. These plays represent almost continuous activity on the part of the organization over the five-year period. Many ambitious presentations appear to have fulfilled the hopes and expectations of the newspaper critics. William Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night were both presented; they were the only plays selected which had no record of Broadway performances. Most of the great playwrights of the first three decades of the twentieth century are represented in the plays se lected for production by The Kanawha Players during the first ten years. Such authors as Somerest Maugham, Edna Ferber, 73 TABLE IV b Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1927 to 1932, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record A Pair of Sixes E. Peple 1914 1927 207 Craig's Wile G. Kelly 1925 1927 360 BP,PP Love 'Em & Leave G. Abbott 1926 1928 152 'Em J. Weaver The Bad Man P. E. Browne 1920 1928 350 BP Captain Applejack W. Hackett 1921 1928 195 Merton of the Movies G. Kaufman 1922 1928 381 BP M. Connelly Gentlemen Prefer Anita Loos 1926 1928 199 Blondes J. Emerson The Butter & Egg Man G. Kaufman 1925 1928 243 BP The Last of Mrs. F. Lonsdale 1925 1928 385 BP Cheyney The First Year F. Craven 1920 1928 760 BP Charm J. Kirkpat- 1929 1928 4 rick Outward Bound S. Vane 1924 1929 144 BP The Silver Cord S. Howard 1926 1929 112 BP Pomeroy's Past C. Kummer 1926 1929 66 The Constant Wife S. Maugham 1926 1929 295 BP Loose Ankles S. Janney 1926 1929 168 The Royal Family G. Kaufman 1927 1929 345 BP E. Ferber The Witch H. W. Jenssen 1910 1929 The High Road F. Lonsdale 1912 1930 71 Children ofthe Moon M. Flavin 1923 1930 117 Dr. Knock J. Romain 1928 1930 23 Meet the Wife L. Sterling 1923 1930 232 Road to Rome R. Sherwood 1927 1930 393 BP Ladies of the Jury F. Ballard 1929 1930 88 In the Next Room E. Robson 1923 1930 159 H. Ford Merry Wives of W. Shake- 1930 Windsor speare Candida“ G. B. Shaw 1903 1931 133 ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 74 TABLE IV b (continued) N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open anceà Award* (year) Record Broadway P. Dunning 1926 1931 603 BP G. Abbott Paris Bound P. Barry 1927 1931 234 BP The Swan F. Molnar 1923 1931 255 BP Bird in Hand J. Drinkwater 1929 1931 500 What Every Woman J. M. Barrie 1908 1931 198 Knows The Good Hope H. Heijermans 1927 1931 49 Twelfth Night or W. Shakespeare 1931 What You Will” Once in a Lifetime G. Kaufman 1930 1932 406 BP Moss Hart The Play’s the F. Molnar 1926 1932 326 BP Thing The First Mrs. St. John 1929 1932 352 BP Fraser Ervine June Moon G. Kaufman 1929 1932 273 BP R. Lardner Trelawny of the Sir Arthur 1898 1932 131 BP "Wells" ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize George Bernard Shaw, George Abbott, Philip Barry, J. M. Barrie, and Ring Lardner were added during the first five years, to the growing list of distinguished playwrights. The second play of this period was Craig1s Wife by George Kelly who had won the Pulitzer Prize only two years before. Although comedy still dominated the type of play selected, several serious dramas were presented: The Swan 75 by Ferenc Molnar, The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard, and Sutton Vane’s Outward Bound. Three of the full-length plays produced by The Kanawha Players during the five-year period, 1927 to 1932, had records of over 500 performances on Broadway; Frank Craven’s The First Year, Broadway by Philip Dunning and George Abbott and Bird In Hand by John Drinkwater were successful contemporary plays at that time. The Kanawha Players produced no programs of one-act plays during the period of 1927 to 1932. This appears to be a sig nificant deletion from their annual plan of activity which had included an evening of one-act plays during each of the four previous seasons. By the close of its tenth season, in the spring of 1932, The Kanawha Players had become an established organization in the community, and the plays selected had become a reflection of the tastes of the Kanawha Valley residents as well as of the Players themselves. 1932 - 1937 The five-year period beginning with the fall of 1932 and ending with early summer in 1937, saw a reduction in the num ber of full-length plays produced. Only thirty-one produc tions were presented compared with thirty-nine produced during the previous five-year period. The preference for modern comedy was very evident, as may be seen in Table IV c. Even plays which are considered classics were chosen with comedy entertainment in mind. William 76 TABLE IV c Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1932 to 1937, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Ÿ. Kana. N. Y. Recog Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Re core1 Let Us Be Gay R. Crothers 1929 1932 353 BP The Gnost Train A. Ridley 1926 1932 61 Midsummer Night's W. Shake 1932 Dream speare Rebound D. Stewart 1930 1933 114 BP There's Always J. van Druten 1932 1933 108 Juliet Private Lives Noel Coward 1931 1933 150 The School for R. Sheridan 1933 Scandal Ten Nights in a Wm. Pratt 1932 1933 37 Bar-Room Hay Fever Noel Coward 1925 1933 49 As Husbands Go R. Crothers 1931 1933 148 BP The Spider F. Oursler 1927 1934 100 L. Brentano Merry-Go-Round A. Maltz 1908 1934 97 G. Sklar The Second Man S.N« Behrman 1927 1934 44 The Late Christopher Sidney Howard 1932 1934 224 BP Bean The Mad Hopes R. Brent 1932 1934 12 Mrs. Moonlight B. W. Levy 1930 1935 321 The Perfect Alibi A. A. Milne 1928 1935 250 Fashion---- A. Mowatt 1924 1935 152 The Distaff Side J. van Druten 1934 1935 177 BP Three CorneredMoon G. Tonkonogy 1933 1935 76 Candle-Light P. Wodehouse 1929 1935 273 The shining Hour K. Winter 1934 1936 121 BP Post Road N. Mitchell 1934 1936 212 W. Steele Louder, Please N. Krasna 1931 1936 68 The "Trial of Nary B. Veiller 1927 1936 437 Dugan Personal Appearance L. Riley 1934 1936 501 RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 77 TABLE IV c (continued) N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Kind Lady E. Chodorov 1935 1936 102 Milky Way L. Root 1934 1937 47 H. Clark Men Must Fight R. Lawrence 1932 1937 35 S. K. Lawren Belle, The Type- B. Moore 1937 writer Girl Pursuitof Happiness L.&A. Langner 1933 1937 252 ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns' Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama critics Award PP - Pulit2er Prize Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, The School for Scandal, by Richard Sheridan, and the comedy melodrama, Belle, The Typewriter Girl by Bernard Moore, were the only plays given which had no Broadway performance record. Two plays by Noel Coward, Private Lives and Hay Fever were produced in 1933. Six of the thirty-one plays were listed among the "Ten Best" in the Best Plays Series, but only one, Personal Appearance by Lawrence Riley, had a Broad- 99 way record of over five hundred performances. Four of the plays presented by The Kanawha Players during the period 1932 - 1937 had opened during the previous year in 99 Guernsey, The Best Plays of 1968-69, p. 469. 78 New York. Seven more plays were given only two or three years before then on Broadway. All together, one-third of the plays produced in Charleston during this post-depression era were relatively contemporary with the New York professional theatre. Plays included six serious dramas and once again, no one-acts. 1937 - 1942 The Kanawha Players produced their first musical during the five-year period 1937 - 1942. Xn May, 1940, they pre sented Meet My Sister by Harry W. Gribble with music by Ralph BeniIsky. Both local newspapers printed reviews which were less than enthusiastic.3,88' ^8^ Both critics agreed that a very weak first act made the show disappointing. It is sig nificant that even though The Kanawha Players had been or ganized by members of the Charleston Symphony, it was eighteen years before the group attempted a musical; to fall short of excellence then, according to their reviewers, was ironic. As may be seen in Table IV d, the five-year period 1937 to 1942 included three award-winning plays. Maxwell Anderson’s Winterset had won the Drama Critics Circle Award in 1935. George Kaufman and Moss Hart’s You Can't Take It With You, and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town had each won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936 and 1938 respectively. *°°Baynard F. Ennis, "Players Stage Musical Comedy" the Charleston Gazette, May 23, 1940, p. 2. ^81,Jack Maurice, "Players Stage Musical Comedy," Charleston Daily Mail, May 23, 1940, p. 10. 79 TABLE IV d Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1937 to 1942, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana-N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Boy Meets Girl B • & S • 1935 1937 669 BP Spewack Celling Zero Frank Wead 1935 1937 104 Elizabeth the Queen M. Anderson 1930 1938 147 BP George & Margaret G. Savory 1937 1938 86 Night o? January 161 ¡A. Rand 1935 1938 235 Yes, My Darling ‘Mark Reed 1937 1938 405 BP Daughter First Lady G. Kaufman 1935 1938 246 BP K. Dayton Winterset M. Anderson 1935 1938 195 BP,DCC Tonight' at 8:30 Noel Coward 1939 Night Must Fall E. Williams 1936 1939 64 Stage Door G. Kaufman 1936 1939 169 BP Edna Ferber Our Town T. Wilder 1938 1939 336 BP,PP Ah’, Wilderness E. O'Neill 1933 1939 289 BP Susan and God R. Crothers 1937 1939 288 BP Outward Bound S. Vane 1924 1940 144 BP You Can't Take It G. Kaufman 1936 1940 837 BP,PP With You Moss Hart Blind Alley J. Warwick 1935 1940 119 Meet My Sister H. Gribble 1930 1940 167 Three Men on a J. Holm 1935 1940 835 Horse ~ G. Abbott Marginfpr Error C. Boothe 1939 1940 264 BP The Guardsman F. Molnar 1924 1941 248 Charley's Aunt B. Thomas 1940 1941 223 Ladies in Retirement E . Percy 19 40 1941 151 R • Denham The Male Animal J . Thurber 1940 1941 243 BP E . Nugent The Man Who Came G. Kaufman 1939 1941 739 BP to~Dinner Moss Hart ^RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 80 TABLE IV d (continued) N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record Out of the Frying F. Swann 1941 1941 104 Pan Pride & Prejudice H. Jerome 1935 1942 219 BP Rope's End P. Hamilton 1929 1942 100 George Washington G. Kaufman 1940 1942 173 BP Slept Here Moss Hart Mr. & Mrs. North Owen Davis 1941 1942 163 BP *RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: ' BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30 was the only production which had no record of Broadway performances by 1942. Most of the other plays selected for presentation during this period had enjoyed impressive runs in New York, with four having well over five hundred performances. A total of thirty plays were presented by The Kanawha Players from 1937 to 1942; eighteen of these are listed among the "Ten Best" by Buras-Mantle Best Plays. The popularity and universal acceptance of the play wright, George S. Kaufman, is reflected in the fact that four of his plays were selected during this period. Play selections again were very contemporary with those being pre sented on the professional New York stage. Of the thirty full-length plays presented from 1937 to 1942, eight had 81 opened in New York only the year before, and seven others no more than three years prior to being presented in Charleston. Overall, one-half of the plays produced by the Players during this period may be considered current with professional New York productions. Of the plays selected during the period, over half were modern comedies. No classic revivals were produced during the period, but the Players did present an evening of one-act plays. Although the total number of play productions dropped to thirty for this period, 1937 to 1942, the number of serious dramas was increased from six to ten, or about one-third. This change was a significant departure from the plays preferred during the previous fifteen years. The year 1940 also saw the first repeat production by The Kanawha Players. Sutton Vane’s Outward Bound was se lected for a revival? it had first been produced by the Players in 1929. Both newspapers gave the production high praise in their reviews. * Russell Stewart of the Charleston Daily Mall recalled the first production, but made no attempt to compare the two. He did, however, state that it had been revived in New York during the previous year and had proven successful for both the professional theatre and the local players. l°2Baynard F. Ennis, "Kanawha Players Give All-Star Per formance," the Charleston Gazette, February 1, 1940, p. 2. 183Russell Stewart, "’Outward Bound' Draws Wide Acclaim from Capacity Crowd," Charleston Daily Mail, February 1, 1940, pp. 1 and 2. 82 1942 - 1947 According to Table IV e, The Kanawha Players presented thirty-one full-length plays during the five seasons from 1942 to 1947. There was no reduction of activity even though these years include World War II, when the interests of the community were concentrated on the national emergency. Nine of their productions had professional theatre records of over five hundred performances on Broadway. Two of the play se lections had won the Pulitzer Prize? Zoe Akins’ The Old Maid, and Thornton Wilder's Our Town had been chosen to receive this distinction in 1935 and 1938 respectively. In 1941 Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit had won the Drama Critics Circle Award, four years before The Kanawha Players production in 1945. Nineteen of the plays produced during this period were modern comedies and nine were serious dramas. One classic revival was presented, Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmund Rostand, during the 1945 - 1946 season. Three times during the five-year period 1942 to 1947, The Kanawha Players selected plays which had previously been presented by the group. In 1943, The Pursuit of Happiness, by Lawrence and Armlna Langner was revived, having been pro duced in 1937 for the first time. It seemed to be a popular choice and received excellent reviews in both of the local 104, 105 newspapers. r ^04Baynard F. Ennis, "Kanawha Players Offer Fine Play," the Charleston Gazette, October 27, 1943, p. 2. 105Sol Padlibsky, "Refugee Actor Pleases Crowd at Players Show" Charleston Daily Mail, October 27, 1943, p. 14. 83 TABLE IV e Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1942 to 1947, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Heaven Can Wait H. Segall 1942 Claudia R. Franken 1941 1942 722 BP Arsenic & Old Lace Kesselring 1941 1943 1444 BP Good-Bye Again A. Scott 1932 1943 216 G. Haight Nine Pine Street J. Colton 1933 1943 28 C. Miles Love Rides the Rails M. Cary 1943 Pursuit of Happiness L. and A. 1933 1943 252 Langner Papa Is All P. Greene 1942 1943 63 The Land Is Bright G. Kaufman 1941 1944 79 E. Ferber My Sister Eileen J. Fields 1940 1944 864 BP J. Chodorov The Philadelphia P. Barry 1939 1944 417 BP otuiy Junior Miss J. Fields 1941 1944 710 BP J. Chodorov Three Men on a J• C• Holm 1935 1944 835 Horse G. Abbott Dark Eyes E. Miramova 1943 1944 230 E. Leontovich Uncle Harry T. Job 1942 1944 430 BP The Old Maid Zoe Akins 1935 1945 305 BP,PP Janie J. Bentham 1942 1945 642 H. Williams Three’s a Family P. & Henry 1943 1945 497 Ephron The Drunkard or the Wm. H. Smith 1945 Fallen Saved Kiss and Tell F. H. Herbert 1943 1945 956 BP Blithe Spirit N. Coward 1941 1945 657 BP,DCC Cyrano de Bergerac E. Rostand 1899 1946 28 Murder Without Crime J.L. Thompson 1943 1946 37 rr--- ...... BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize QT.V OWL GREEN U : A '•’SVERSITY LIBRARY 84 TABLE IV e (continued) e Y • « N. Y, Recog- Open# Play- Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record On Borrowed Time P. Osborn 1938 1946 321 BP Room Service J. Murray 1937 1946 500 A. Boretz Snafu L. Solomon 1944 1946 158 H. Buchman Our Town T. Wilder 1938 1946 336 BP,PP Ten Little Indians A. Christie 1944 1947 426 Laura V. Caspary 1947 1947 44 G. Sklar Over Twenty-One R. Gordon 1944 1947 221 BP The Hasty Heart J. Patrick 1945 1947 207 BP *RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns -Mantle Best Plays DCC** Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize Another revival occurred in 1944 when the Players se lected Three Men On a Horse, by John C. Holms and George Abbott. It had previously been presented in Charleston in 1940. No newspaper reviews appear to have been published at that time. In 1946, Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, was presented for the second time by The Kanawha Players, eight years after their first production in 1938. One newspaper reviewed the play, noting that the role of the "stage manager" who narrates the show was played by the same person who created the role "Narrator Gives Warmth and Life to Famed Play," the Charleston Dally Mall, December 3, 1946, p. 7. 85 Ten of the thirty-one plays produced during the period had opened on Broadway less than three years prior to The Kanawha Players production. Four of them had opened less than one year before being presented in Charleston. Twelve of the selected plays appeared in Burns Mantle Best Plays among the "top ten." 1947 - 1952 Plays selected by The Kanawha Players during the five- year period beginning with the fall of 1947 and ending with early summer 1952 are shown in Table IV f. Thirty-nine plays were given which indicates almost continuous activity on the part of the Players* Fourteen full-length plays crowded the calendar during 1950, and eleven during 1951. The other years were less strenuous. During this five-year period, the Players found them selves without a theatre, and in 1949 they were able to pre sent only one play. Night of January 16, by Ayn Band. The production was given in the Kanawha County Court House and required no set or special effects because the plot of the play is a courtroom trial. This was a revival, as the Play ers had presented the play fourteen years before in 1935. Both newspapers reviewed the play favorably, but neither mentioned that it was a revival, nor that a play of this type was appropriate due to a lack of theatre facilities.107' 108 “•“T3"Y"...... Bayard F. Ennis, "Jury Acquits Pretty Secretary Charged with Murdering Boss," the Charleston Gazette, May 24, 1949, p.7. 108“Players Score in Courtroom Drama," Charleston Daily Mail, May 24, 1949, p« 11. 86 TABLE IV f Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1947 to 1952, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Ÿ. Kana. -mf; Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open anee Award* (year) Record John Loves Mary N. Krasna 1947 1948 423 BP My Sister Eileen J. Fields 1940 1948 864 BP J. Chodorov The Importance of Oscar Wilde 1948 ~l3eIngtSInest Personal Appearance L. Riley 1934 1948 501 But Not Goodbye G. Seaton 1944 1948 23 The Would-Be Moliere 1948 Öentleman Petticoat Fever Mark Reed 1935 1948 137 Dear Ruth N. Krasna 1944 1948 683 BP Night of January 16thA. Rand 1935 1949 235 Two Blind Mice S. Spewack 1949 1950 157 BP The Voice of the J. van Druten 1943 1950 1557 BP Turtle. Angel Street P. Hamilton 1941 1950 1295 BP Life with Mother H. Lindsay 1948 1950 265 BP R. Crouse Born Yesterday G. Kanin 1946 1950 1642 BP Dream Girl Elmer Rice 1945 1950 348 BP Boy Meets Girl B. & S. 1935 1950 669 BP Spewack Heaven Can Wait H. Segall 1950 Pygmalion G. B. Shaw 1950 The Vinegar Tree P. Osborn 1930 1950 229 They Knew What S. Howard 1924 1950 414 BP,PP They Wanted LigEt uFtKe“Sky Moss Hart 1948 1950 216 BP See How They Run P. King 1950 The Torch-Bearers G. Kelly 1922 1950 135 The Petrified Forest R. Sherwood 1935 1951 197 BP Ladies in Retirement E. Percy 1940 1951 151 R. Denham For Love or Money F. Herbert 1947 1951 265 Stated tEe“OHIon H. Lindsay 1945 1951 765 BP,PP R. Crouse ?------’--- —------RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 87 TABLE IV f (continued) N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers forra- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Blithe Spirit N. Coward 1941 1951 657 BP,DCC Yes My Darling Mark Reed 1937 1951 405 BP Daughter Born Yesterday G. Kanin 1946 1951 1642 BP The Heiress R. & A. Goetz 1947 1951 410 BP omr Of thè'Frying F. Swann 1941 1951 104 Pan Accent on Youth S, Raphaelson 1934 1951 229 BP Goodbye, My Fancy F. Kanin 1948 1951 446 BP The Glass Menagerie T. Williams 1945 1952 561 BP,DCC I Remember Mama J. van Druten 1944 1952 714 BP Command Decision Wm. Haines 1947 1952 408 BP Bertha, The C. George 1952 Beautiful Type- writer Girl ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award pp - Pulitzer Prize Even though no theatre stage was available to The Kanawha Players for over a year, the group was very active through radio productions. According to Mrs. Betsy Stuart, the group was indebted to the radio station WGKV, Charleston, for "teaching, producing, encouraging and rejoicing with the group." 109 In addition to the 1949 revival, eight other plays were repeated during this five-year period. Garson Kanin's Born —WBetsy Stuart, "History." 88 Yesterday was selected for summer productions In 1950 and 1951« The revival of Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall occurred in 1950, eight years after its initial performance by the Players in 1942. All but three of the revivals, however, were staged ten to thirteen years after their first Players pro duction. During the period 1947 to 1952, when The Kanawha Players presented a total of thirty-nine plays, four award-winning scripts were selected. They Knew What They Wanted, by Sidney Howard and State of the Union, by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse had been selected for the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 and 1945 respectively. The Drama Critics Circle Award was given in 1941 to Noel Coward for Blithe Spirit and in 1945 to Tennessee Williams for The Glass Menagerie. Twenty-three of the thirty-nine plays were listed among the "Ten Best" plays by Bums Mantle, and twelve had New York performance records of over five hundred. Only four of the Players productions during the period were contemporary with recent professional 110 stage productions in New York. During the period, two classic revivals were presented. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Would- Be Gentlemen, by Moliere, both in 1948. A burlesque comedy, Bertha, the Beautiful Typewriter Girl, was produced in 1952. Except for these three plays, all selections by The Kanawha Players were well-known, popular, and assured successes. ^^Guernsey, The Best Plays of 1968-69, pp. 74-79. 89 1952 - 1957 The five seasons beginning with fall of 1952 and ending with the summer of 1957 saw a decline in the number of plays produced by The Kanawha Players. According to Table IV g, twenty-nine full-length plays were produced, a reduction of about twenty-five per cent over the previous five-year period. About one-half of the plays selected were classified as modern comedies and nearly one-third of the plays may be considered serious drama. Five revivals were scheduled. Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky came in 1953, only three years after its first Charleston presentation. The other four revivals appeared from seven to fifteen years after their first production by The Kanawha Players. Only two of the plays selected were contemporary with professional New York stage productions, however, a total of twelve of the plays selected had opened on Broadway less than three years prior to the production in Charleston by the Players. The last season of this period, 1957, saw the production of the distinguished play, The Time of Your Life, by William Saroyan. The play had won the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Circle Award in 1939. Thornton Wilder’s Skin of Our Teeth, and The Teahouse of the August Moon, by John Patrick were also staged that season and were Pulitzer Prize winners in 1942 and 1953 respectively. Another Pulitzer Prize winning 90 TABLE IV g Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1952 to 1957, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Twentieth Century B• Hecht 1932 1952 152 C. MacArthur Glad Tidings E. Mabley 1951 1952 100 The Madwoman of J. Giraudoux 1948 1953 368 BP,DCC Chai Hot Bell, Book & Candle J. vanDruten 1950 1953 233 BP Mister Roberts T. Heggen 1948 1953 1157 BP J. Logan The Curse of an H. Swayne 1953 AchingHeart Light Up the Sky Moss Hart 1948 1953 216 BP Stalag 17”— D. Beran 1951 1953 472 E. Trzcinski Night Must Pall E. Williams 1936 1954 64 Harvey Mary Chase 1944 1954 1775 BP,PP Parade M. Waters 1954 bertha, The C. George 1954 Beautiful Type- writer Girl The Male Animal J. Thurber 1940 1954 243 BP E. Nugent My Three Angels S. and B. 1953 1954 344 BP Spewack The Importance of 0. Wilde 1955 Being Earnest An Inspector Calls J. Priestley 1947 1955 95 BP The Remarkable L. O'Brien 1953 1955 221 Mr. Pennypacker Ten Mights in a Wm. Pratt 1932 1955 37 Bar-Room Dial "M1' for Murder P. Knott 1952 1955 552 BP Skin of Our Teeth T. Wilder 1942 1955 359 BP,PP King of Hearts J. Kerr 1954 1956 279 E. Brooke ‘RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 91 TABLE IV g (continued) N. Y. Kana* N. Y. Recog- Open Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Taming of the Shrew W. Shake- 1956 speare The Solid Gold G. Kaufman & 1953 1956 526 Cadillac H. Teichmann Under the Gaslight A. Daly 1929 1956 23 Oh,MenI Oh, Women1 E. Chodorov 1953 1956 382 The Time of Your William 1939 1956 185 BP,PP, Life ' Saroyan DCC The Desperate Hours J. Hayes 1955 1957 212 BP The Tea House of J. Patrick 1953 1957 1027 BP,PP, the August Moon DCC The Orphans D. D’Emery 1957 E. Cormon ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize play, Harvey, by Mary Chase, high-lighted the 1954 season, just ten years after winning the prize. In 1948, The Madwoman of Chaillot, by Jean Girardoux had earned the Drama Critics Circle Award: five years later in 1953 it was presented in Charleston by the Players. Two classic revivals were presented during this period: Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, in 1956, the first Shakesperian play to be presented by the Players since 1931, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, pro duced in 1955 by the Players for the second time. Their first presentation of that play had been seven years before in 1948 92 As may be seen in Table XV g, five of the selected plays had been performed over five hundred times on Broadway. How ever, six of the twenty-nine plays presented had no perform ance record on the professional stage in New York. Thirteen of the selected plays were listed among the ’’Ten Best" by Ill Burns Mantle. 1957 - 1962 As may be seen in Table IV h, The Kanawha Players pre sented thirty-three full-length plays in Charleston during the five seasons from fall of 1957 to summer of 1962. Two of them were contemporary with professional New York theatre productions, Visit to a Small Planet, by Gore Vidal, and Say, Darling, by Richard and Marian Bissell and Abe Burrows. Twelve other selections during this period had successful Broadway records of five hundred or more performances. Two of the selected plays were recipients of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Circle Award. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, had won both awards in 1949, and Look Homeward, Angel, by Kitti Prings, won both in 1957. Of Thee £ Sing, by George S. Kaufman, et al, and Robert Sher wood’s Abe Lincoln in Illinois, were Pulitzer Prize winners. Drama Critic Circle Awards had been given to Emlyn Williams for The Corn Is Green, and to Agatha Christie for A Witness for the Prosecution. ------—-- --- !--- Guernsey, The Best Plays of 1968-69, pp. 78-84. 93 TABLE IV h Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1957 to 1962, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Front Page Ben Hecht 1928 1957 276 BP C. MacArthur Bernardine Mary Chase 1952 1957 157 BP The Corn is Green E. Williams 1940 1958 477 BP,DCC Janus C. Green 1955 1958 251 Desk Set W. Marchant 1955 1958 296 Lechery in Left T. Murphy 1958 Hana Janus C. Green 1955 1958 251 Visit to a Small G. Vidal 1957 1958 388 BP Planet “* Papa Is"All P. Greene 1942 1958 63 Arms and the Man G. B. Shaw 1958 Witness for the A. Christie 1954 1959 645 BP,DCC Prosecution Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 1959 742 BP,PP, DCC No Time for Ira Levin 1955 1959 796 BP Sergeants Under the Gaslights A. Daly 1929 1959 23 Say, Darling R.&M. Bissell 1959 1959 16 A. Burrows Speaking of Murder A. & W. Roos 1956 1959 37 Peter Pah J. M. Barrie 1959 Inherit the Wind J. Lawrence 1955 1960 806 BP R. E. Lee The Fifth Season S. Regan 1953 1960 654 Auntie Mame J. Lawrence 1956 1960 639 R. E. Lee Of Thee I Sing G. Kaufman 1931 1960 441 BP,PP et. al. Two for the Seesaw Wm. Gibson 1958 1961 750 Detective Story S. Kingsley 1949 1961 581 BP The Women C. Boothe 1936 1961 657 BP *RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 94 TABLE IV h (continued) N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open- Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record Look Homeward, Ketti Frings 1957 1961 564 BP,PP Angel Ukra1 Operation Mad Ball A. Carter 1961 Secret Service W. Gillette 1896 1961 176 BP Born Yesterday G. Kanin 1946 1961 1642 BP Summer andSmoke T. Williams 1940 1961 100 Abe Lincoln in R. Sherwood 1938 1962 472 BP,PP Illinois The Marriage-Go- L. Stevens 1958 1962 431 Round Dark of the Moon H. Richardson 1945 1962 320 W. Berney Life with Father H. Lindsay 1939 1962 3224 BP R. Crouse ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize Three plays were repeated by the Players during this time. One of these, Janus, by Carolyn Green was given twice in 1958, once in winter and again in the summer. Another revival in 1958 was Paul Greene's Papa Is All, which was staged for the first time in 1942 by the Players. In 1959, Under the Gaslights, by Augustin Daly was presented, thirty years after its first Players production in 1929. Two classic revivals were attempted by The Kanawha Players during this period. George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, and Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie were produced in 1958 and 1959 respectively. 95 The type of play being chosen appeared to change some what during the five-year period 1957 to 1962. While over half of the productions are considered modern comedy, ten are classified as serious drama. It had been twenty years since the Players had devoted so much of their effort to more serious dramatic activity. The Kanawha Players attempted Of Thee I Sing, their second musical in the thirty-eight years of their existence, and twenty years following their first attempt. Once again the newspaper reviewers were less than enthusiastic about 112 113 the production. * ' Both reviewers agreed that the presentation was excellent, but Ennis of the Charleston Gazette pointed out a lack of good voices. In 1961, Born Yesterday, by Garson Kanin, appeared for the third time in the history of The Kanawha Players. Earlier productions had occurred in 1950 and 1951. No attempt was made by either newspaper reviewer to compare the 1961 produc- tlon with those presented earlier. * The staff writer- drama critic of the Charleston Daily Mail did mention in a " no ' ' ... " ' ...... Bayard P. Ennis, "’Of Thee I Sing* Timely Offering," the Charleston Gazette, October 7, I960, p. 35. ^3Kitty Thompson, "Musical Play Kids Politics, Wins Laughs," Charleston Daily Mail, October 8, 1960, p. 5. T1 bayard F, Ennis, "’Players’ Show Satiric Offering," the Charleston Gazette, October 7, 1961, p* 11. ^5Sol Padlibsky, "Kanawha Players Shine Brilliantly; Sup porters Good," Charleston Daily Mail, October 7, 1961, p. 7. 96 sub-headline that the play deserved a bigger audience. This suggests a lack of appeal to the local audience. 1962 - 1967 During the 1962 to 1967 period, The Kanawha Players pre sented a total of thirty-one plays and, according to Table XV i, the number of serious dramas equaled the modern comedies. They also included two classic revivals and one melodrama. A trend toward serious, heavy, drama seems characteristic of this period. Nearly one-third of the productions were plays dis tinguished by having received either the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama critics Circle Award had been won by The visit, written by Friedrick Duerrenmott, Sidney Kingsley's Darkness at Noon, and The Madwoman of Chaillot, by Jean Giraudoux. High Tor, by Maxwell Anderson had also received the Drama Critics Cir cle Award in 1937. The Pulitzer Prize winning play, You Can't Take It With You, by George Kaufman and Moss Hart was also selected for production. Two of the plays presented were contemporary with Broad way productions and one-third of the plays had records of over five hundred professional theatre performances in New York. Over one-half of the productions were plays listed among the -Ten Best Plays."116 During this period, 1962 to 1967, four plays were se lected for revival, having been performed previously by the ------—------—------" Otis L. Guernsey, Jr. (ed.),. The Best Plays of 1970-71 (New York: Dodd Mead and Commppaannyy., 1'9971l)i,. dppo. 369::797Z 97 TABLE IV i Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1962 to 1967, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record Critic's Choice Ira Levin 1960 1962 189 Darkness at Noon S. Kingsley 1951 1962 186 BP The Visit F. Duerrenmattl958 1963 189 BP,DCC The Seven Year Itch G. Axelrod 1952 1963 1141 Come Blow Your Horn N. Simon 1961 1963 677 The Anvil J. Davis 1963 The Rivals R. Sheridan 1963 A Thurber Carnival J. Thurber 1960 1963 127 BP Picnic Wm. Inge 1953 1963 477 BP,PP, DCC The Girls in 509 H. Teichmann 1958 1964 117 The Lark J. Anouilh 1955 1964 229 BP The Diary of Anne F. Goodrich 1955 1964 717 BP,PP, Frank A. Hackett DCC Androcles & The Lion G. B. Shaw 1925 1964 68 High Tor M. Anderson 1937 1964 171 BP,DCC Desire Under the Elm E. O'Neill 1924 1964 208 BP Photo Finish P. Ustinov 1963 1965 150 Pygmalion G. B. Shaw 1965 The Madwoman of J. Geraudoux 1948 1965 368 BP,DCC ““chaniot. . .You Can’t Take It G. Kaufman 1936 1965 837 BP, PP With You Moss Hart The Caine Mutiny H. Wouk 1954 1965 415 BP Court-Martial Never Too Late S. A. Long 1962 1965 1007 Cat On a Hot Tin T. Williams 1955 1966 694 BP,PP, rooT “ DCC Bus Stop Wm. Inge 1955 1966 478 BP Anastasia G. Bolton 1954 1966 272 Arsenic & Old Lace J. Kesselring 1941 1966 1444 BP A Streetcar Named T. Williams 1947 1966 855 BP,PP, Desire DCC The Rainmaker R. Nash 1954 1966 125 ‘recognition AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize 98 TABLE IV i (continued) N. Y. Kana. Recog Open- Play Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record Any Wednesday M. Resnick 1964 1967 982 The Country Girl C. Odets 1950 1967 235 BP Take Her, She’s P.& H.Ephron 1967 404 Mine Mister Roberts T. Heggen 1948 1967 1157 BP J. Logan ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize Kanawha Players, Two of these were staged in 1965, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, first presented in 1953, and The Madwoman of Chai Hot, by Jean Giraudoux, with its first Charleston production in 1953. In 1967 the Players gave their second production of Mister Roberts, by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, fourteen years after the first presenta tion in 1953. Arsenic and Old Lace, by Joseph Kesselring, Wfts presented in 1966, having its first presentation by the Players in 1943. Two classic revivals were presented in 1963, The Anvil, by Julia Davis and Robert Sheridan's The Rivals. All but four of the plays selected during the five theatre seasons from 1962 - 1967 had Broadway performance records. 1967 - 1972 The final five-year period in the fifty-year history 99 of The Kanawha Players shows them producing twenty-seven full- length plays between the fall of 1967 and summer of 1972. Ac cording to Table XV j, the plays selected had an even balance between modern comedy and serious drama. The most significant departure from their established play preference patterns was the selection of two musicals. Little Mary Sunshine, by R. Besoyan, was produced in 1969, and 117 118 excellent reviews were published in both newspapers. ' In 1970 The Fantastlcs1, by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, was presented but both newspapers gave less than excellent ii- views.119' ¿20 Once again untrained voices seemed to be the difficulty with the instrumentalists drowning them out. Twelve of the selected plays had Impressive performance records on the professional stage in New York with well over five hundred performances. Only one of the plays had appeared on Broadway a short time before. Everything In the Garden, by Edward Albee had played eighty-four performances in New York in 1967 and was presented in 1969 by The Kanawha Players. Three of the plays selected had been recipients of the il7BayardF. Ennis, "Satire Brightens Players* Musical," the Charleston Gazette, February 1, 1969, p. 12. 138Jerry Kessel, "Mary Sunshine Musical Laugh-In," the Charleston Daily Mall, February 2, 1969, p. 4. 119 Michael Gerrard, "’The Fantastics’ Give Good Show," the Charleston Gazette, July 9, 1970, p. 19. 120 Jerry Kessel, "Play Floats Before Viewer with Ease," the Charleston Daily Mail, July 9, 1970, p. 22. 100 TABLE IV j Plays Produced by Kanawha Players from 1967 to 1972, Showing Playwright, Years of Opening Production in Performance Record, Recognition and Awards. N. Y. Kana. M. Ÿ. Recog- Open. Play- Per nition Name of Play Playwright (year, ers form and Open ance Award* (year) Record Mary, Mary Jean Kerr 1961 1967 1572 BP A Raisin in theSSun L. Hansberry 1959 1967 530 BP,DCC Barefoot IK the Park N• Simon 1963 1968 1530 BP wE^TATraTd“^ E. Albee 1962 1968 664 BP,DCC Virginia Woolf? A Thousand clowns H. Gardner 1962 1968 428 BP A Funny Thing Hap- B. Shevelove 1962 1968 964 penea on the Way S. Sondheim to the Forum L. Gilbart The Best Man G. Vidal 1960 1968 520 BP The Odd Couple N. Simon 1965 1968 964 BP LTttIe“Maryiuh- R. Besoyan 1969 1143 shine A View from the A, Miller 1955 1969 149 BP *“ Bridge The Pleasure of S. Taylor & 1958 1969 474 BP His Company C. 0. Skinner Hay Fever N. Coward 1925 1969 49 Everything in the E. Albee 1967 1969 84 Garden Don’t Drink the W. Allen 1966 1970 598 Water The Little Foxes L. Heilman 1939 1970 410 BP Harvey M. Chase 1944 1970 1775*** BP, PP Fantastics H. Schmidt 1960 1970 5026** T. Jones Cactus Flower A. Burrows 1965 1970 1234 BP The Lion in Winter J. Goldman 1966 1970 92 BP The Killing of-- F. Marcus 1966 1971 205 BP Sister George Marat/Sade P. Weiss 1965 1971 144 BP,DCC U. S. A. J. Dos Passos 1971 P. Shyre Our Town T. Wilder 1938 1971 336 BP, PP •RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize **Still Running, June 1, 1972 101 TABLE IV j (continued) N. Y. kana. N. Y. Recog- Open. Play- Per- nition Name of Play Playwright (year) ers form- and Open ance Award* (year) Record The Miracle Worker Win. Gibson 1959 1971 700 The School for R. Sheridan 1972 Scandal Owl and the Pussy- B. Mankoff 1964 1972 427 cat The Prime of Miss J. P. Allen 1968 1972 157 Jean BrodTe ♦RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: BP - Burns Mantle Best Plays DCC- Drama Critics Award PP - Pulitzer Prize **Still Running, June 1, 1972 Drama Critics Circle Award, A Raisin In the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, by Edward Albee, and Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade. Two Pulitzer Prize winners were included. They were Harvey, by Mary Chase, and Thornton Wilder's Our Town, having won the prize in 1944 and 1938, re spectively. The Players also selected four of their previous produc tions for revival during this period. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder was selected to celebrate The Kanawha Players' fiftieth anniversary in 1971. It was the third time this play had been presented, with 1938 and 1946 marking the years of the first and second productions. The nostalgia of the evening only partially compensated for the slight disappointment in the 102 121 122 play displayed by the two newspaper reviewers. * The other three revivals included Hay Fever, by Noel Coward, presented in 1969, thirty-three years after its first production. Mary Chase's Harvey, and Richard Sheridan’s The School for Scandal, were given as revivals after sixteen and thirty-nine years, respectively, Sheridan’s School for Scandal, constituted the only classic revival during this five-year period. The year beginning with fall 1971 and continuing through early summer 1972 completed fifty years of continuous activity on the part of The Kanawha Players. Tables IV a through IV j reflect the interests of the group, and to some extent, the dramatic tastes and preferences of the community as well. Types of Plays Preferred An examination of the types of plays presented over a period of time may be considered to reflect tastes and pref erences of theatre groups and audiences. Over a long period of time this might also appear to be successful anticipation of the audience’s theatre preferences by the community play ers. The residents of Charleston and the Greater Kanawha Valley in West Virginia have supported The Kanawha Players . "i2l ' Martha Smith, "Our Town Very Special," the Charleston Gazette, pctober 15, 1971, p. 15. 122 David McCorkle, "Players' Opening Show Successful," the Charleston Gazette, October 15, 1971, p. 13. 103 for a fifty-year period. This evidence seems to indicate that the Players understood their audience quite well and were able to satisfy the audience with a selection of plays which matched their preferences. Plays are classified many ways in an infinite variety of categories. For the purpose of summarising the plays se lected for production by The Kanawha Players, a composite list was made and used in Table V. The following definitions were compiled from the “Best Plays Series," script catalogues, and local reviewers articles and were used for cataloging each play as to types classic revivals are plays which were written prior to 1900? modern comedies Is a play classification which includes all comedies written during the twentieth century? serious drama Includes dramatic plays which treat serious con temporary Issues or problems ? and melodrama reflects tragedy or murder mystery type of plot? musicals are self-explanatory and burlesque refers to the method of the production regardless of plot. Program of One-acts Is also self-explanatory. The Kanawha Players presented a total of 317 plays during the first fifty years of their history. This was an average, of 6.34 plays for each year or 31.7 for each of the five-year periods. The composition of play types shows that 186 (or 58.7 per cent} of these were modern comedies. Serious drama was the second most frequently selected play type, totaling 88 (or 27.8 per cent) for the fifty-year period. Classic revivals were given 4.7 per cent of the time for a total of fifteen. Programs of one-act plays, burlesque comedy and 104 TABLE V Types of Plays by Five-Year Periods Showing Totals and Percentages of Each of the Play Types Classic Modern Serious Melo- Musi- Sur- One- Total Season Revivals Comedy Drama drama cals lesgue Acts Pre 20th Comedy No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % 1922-27 0 0 17 65.5 5 19.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 15.5 26 1927-32 2 5.2 29 74.4 7 17.9 0 0 0 0 1 2.5 0 0 39 1932-37 3 9.7 18 58.0 6 19.3 3 9.7 0 0 1 3.3 0 0 31 1937-42 0 0 17 56.8 10 33.3 1 3.3 1 3.3 0 0 1 3.3 30 1942-47 1 3.3 19 61.1 9 29.0 1 3.3 0 0 1 3.3 0 0 31 1947-52 2 5.2 28 71.9 7 17.9 0 0 0 01 2.5 1 2.5 39 1952-57 2 6.6 14 46.8 8 26.7 2 6.6 0 03 10.0 1 3.3 30 1957-62 2 6.0 18 54.7 10 30.3 1 3.0 X 3 • 0 $ 1 3 • 0 0 0 33 1962-67 2 6.3 14 45.2 14 45.2 1 3.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 1967-72 1 3.8 12 44.4 12 44.4 0 0 2 7.4 0 0 0 0 27 Grand Totals 15 4.7 186 58.7 88 27.8 9 2.9 4 1.2 8 2.5 7 2.2 317 & Per- centages 108 medodrama were each presented between two and three per cent of the time. Musicals were produced only four times during the entire period 1922 to 1972, 1,2 per cent of all the full- length plays produced. The preference for modern comedy was evident from the very first period, 1922 to 1927, when seventeen, or 65.5 per cent of the plays selected were of that type. Five serious dramas, no classic revivals or burlesque comedies, four pro grams of one-act plays and no musicals made up the total of twenty-six plays at that time* The second five-year period, 1927 to 1932, bears a striking similarity to the sixth five-year period, 1947 to 1952. Both periods saw a total of thirty-nine plays produced which was the highest number presented in any five-year period. Each of these periods included two classic revivals, seven serious dramas, and one burlesque comedy. No musicals or medodramas were in evidence and only one program of one-acts during the later period. Twenty-nine modern comedies (or 74.4 per cent), were selected during the earlier period, and this category was represented twenty-eight times, (or 71.9 per cent of the time) during the later five-year period. In the five-year period 1932 to 1937 was a sharp re duction in the number of modern comedies selected, totaling 18, (or only 58 per cent) of the plays. One burlesque comedy was produced and no musicals were attempted. During the third five-year period three classic revivals, six serious dramas 106 and three medodraraas were produced* Serious or heavy dramatic presentations were selected nearly 40 per cent of the time* This five-year period included more classic revivals than any other in the fifty-year history of The Kanawha Players* The fourth five-year period, 1937 to 1942 saw a further decline in the number and percentage of modern comedies se lected. Only 17, (or 56.8 per cent) of the plays fell into this category. There was an increase in the frequency of serious dramas to a total of ten (or 33.3 per cent). This period was significantly different since it included no classic revivals; however, the season offered the first musi cal in the history of the Players. During the fifth period, 1942 to 1947, the Players pre sented thirty-one plays or the same number as they did during the 1932 to 1937 period. No other similarities seem apparent. The number of modem comedies increased to 61*1 per cent (or nineteen) and serious drama plays made up nearly thirty per cent of the selections. The sixth period, 1947 to 1952, reflected a marked difference from the previous five-year period, 1942 to 1947. The Players increased the number of plays produced to a total of thirty-nine. Most of the increase was seen in the number of modern comedies presented which totaled twenty-eight or nearly 72 per cent of the total for the period. A sharp reduction in total number of plays presented may be seen in Table V for the five-year period 1952 to 1957. 107 Only one-half of the number of modern comedies were selected when compared to the previous five-year period which reduced the percentage to 46.8« Eight serious dramas, two classic revivals and two melodramas were presented which made up 39.9 per cent of all plays selected for the seventh five-year period. The Kanawha Players increased their play productions to thirty-three for the eighth period# 1957 to 1962. Once again, over 50 per cent of the selected plays were modern comedies, but 30 per cent of their selections were classified as serious dramas. They continued the practice of presenting two classic revivals with one melodrama and one burlesque comedy to pro vide their usual balance of selections. This period differs from most of the previous five-year periods by including a musical production, the second in the first forty years. In the ninth five-year period, 1962 to 1967, a new bal ance in the distribution of play types appears. For the first time, the number of modern comedies equals the number of serious dramas. Each of these two classifications are represented 45.2 per cent of the time, along with two classic revivals and one melodrama. A total of thirty-one plays were selected and presented during this period and over one-half of them were not modern comedies, musicals, burlesque comedies nor programs of one-act plays. Instead, the balance of plays leaned toward heavier dramatic presentations. According to Table V, the last five-year period, 1967 to 1972, shows a significant drop in the total number of plays 108 produced. Not since the first five years had The Kanawha Players presented less than thirty plays. They produced twenty-seven during their tenth five-year period. This period appears to show a continuation of the balance in the types of plays selected which first appeared in the previous period, 1962 to 1967. Forty-four per cent of the plays were modern comedies and an equal number were serious dramas. A significant departure from all previous periods may be ob served in the fact that two musicals were produced. Moreover, two musicals represents one-half of all their musicals during the entire fifty years. According to Table V, the number and frequency distri bution of play types produced by The Kanawha Players, in five- year intervals, appears rather evenly dispersed throughout the fifty years. By treating the date in five-year periods, how ever, the distribution of plays is somewhat distorted. For example, two classic revivals may have been given during one five-year interval. This does not imply that one was given every two and one-half years. In several instances both pro ductions were given during one of the seasons and none of this type was to be presented for one or more years. When examined by five-year periods, or intervals, the majority of plays selected remained fairly stable over the fifty years of the existence of The Kanawha Players. Noteworthy Plays Selected The Kanawha Players produced 317 full-length plays in 109 the fifty-year period from their beginning in 1922 up to 1972. Thirty-nine of the presentations were repeat productions or revivals of their own previous selections. In all, 278 plays have been selected for one or more productions by the Players. The vast majority of plays selected were noteworthy in at least one respect. Many had won prizes or awards. Others were distinguished by having impressive records for Broadway performances. Some were selected among the outstanding "Ten Best Plays." Still others may have been singled out to re- 123 ceive several of these forms of recognition. Only thirty-two of the selected plays, or ten per cent, had no previous record of professional theatre production in New York. Most of these, however, were recognized classics by distinguished authors such as William Shakespeare, Moliere, and George Bernard Shaw. Tables IV a through IV j present data reflecting the noteworthiness of plays selected for pro duction by the Players. There is a marked absence of premier productions or plays presented on stage for the first time. There were only two during the entire fifty-year period, Parade, by Marianne Waters in 1954 and Lechery In Left Hand, by Tom Murphy pre sented in 1958. The Pulitzer Prize had been won by eighteen of the se lected plays, and the Drama Critics Circle Award had been 123 Guernsey, The Best Plays of 1970-71, pp. 369-397. 110 presented to the authors of twenty of the plays presented. Five of these plays had been honored by both of these dis tinguished awards. This represents fifteen per cent of all plays selected for production by The Kanawha Players. Nearly twenty-two per cent of the selected plays had professional New York theatre records of over five-hundred performances and fifteen of them had Broadway runs of over one thousand. Burns Mantle Best Plays have included one hundred thirty or over forty-six per cent of the selected plays. One hundred thirty-nine others were listed in that publication, but not among the "top ten." The total number of plays selected by The Kanawha Players which have appeared in the Burns Mantle Best Plays publication makes up sixty per cent of the total presentations of the Players. The Kanawha Players established a pattern of play selec tion very early in their existence. The main criterion for the selection of a play script was that it be famous or other wise noteworthy. The preferences of the audience, and the tastes of the Players, themselves, favor the play which is well known and which has won popular and critical approval in New York. Recent successes on the Broadway stage also held considerable appeal* George S. Kaufman in collaboration with others was by far the most popular playwright. Plays Selected for Repeated Production The Kanawha Players chose twenty-nine of their produced plays for repeating during the fifty-year period, and two of these were presented for a third time. These plays and the I 111 years of repeated productions are indicated in Table Vt. Thirteen of the play revivals were presented after a lapse of ten to twenty years. Two were presented after twenty years and two were revived after a thirty-year time lapse. Eleven of the selected plays were staged for the , second time after a lapse of one to eight years, and two of these were revived after less than four years. In 1950, Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin was presented •for the first time by The Kanawha Players, and it was repeated the following season in 1951. After a ten-year lapse it was revived for the third time in 1961* The other play selected - for three productions was Our Town by Thornton wilder. It saw its first presentation by The Kanawha Players in 1938 /followed eight years later by a revival in 1946. That play was selected twenty-five years later, in 1971, to mark the . fifty-year anniversary celebration of the little theatre group. The play production season 1950-51 saw the greatest num- ; ber of repeated performances with four revivals occurring in 1951 and two in 1950. One revival occurred In 1953, three in 1954, two in 1955, and two again in 1958. Over one-half of the plays selected for repeating were produced between 1948 and 1958. The years 1961 and 1965 saw two revivals each and the eleven remaining revivals were distributed singly in seasons spanning a thirty-year period between 1940 and 1972. 112 TABLE VI Plays with Repeated Productions by Kanawha Players Year of Year of Year of Name of Play First Second Third Production Production Production Arsenic and Old Lace 1943 1966 Bertha, The Beautiful 1952 1954 TypwriBer Girl BlitneSpirit 1945 1951 Born Yesterday 1950 1951 1961 ■ ■ B°y Meehs Girl. 1937 1950 Harvey 1954 1970 Hay Fever 1933 1969 Heaven Can Wait 1942 1950 Importance of Being Earnest 1948 1955 Janus 1958 1958 (Summer) ..Ladies in Retirement 1941 1951 Light Up the Sky 1950 1953 Madwoman oFcCTllot, The 1953 1965 Male Animal, The 1941 1954 Mister Roberts 1953 1967 My' 'Sister' Eileen 1944 1948 Night Must Fail 1939 1954 Night o£~January 16th 1938 1949 Our Town , . 1938 1946 1971 Out of the Frying Pan 1941 1951 Outward Bound 1929 1940 Papa Is All 1943 1958 -Personal Appearance 1936 1948 Pursuit of Happiness, The 1937 1943 Pygmalion 1950 1965 School for Scandal, The 1933 1972 .^en Nights In a Bar-Room 1933 1955 Three Men On a"~Horse 1940 1944 Under the Gaslights1 1956 1959 113 Plays With Prior Broadway Productions Of One Year or Less The Kanawha Players presented three-hundred-seventeen productions during their first fifty years, and over seventy* five per cent of these had records of Broadway productions« Two hundred forty-six of the selected plays had previously been produced on Broadway and twenty-four of these had ap peared on Broadway one year or less prior to The Kanawha Players production. The names of these twenty-four plays with the year of their openings in New York and Charleston, West Virginia appears in Table V1X. It is interesting to note that all twenty-four of the plays produced by The Kanawha Players, which had opened on Broadway less than a year before, were presented during an early thirty-year period. Between the years 1929 and 1959, current Broadway productions appeared to be popular with The Kanawha Players. Five of these plays were produced in Charleston during the same year of the Broadway production. After 1959 over sixty plays with Broadway production records were presented by The Kanawha Players, but none had opened in New York one year or less prior to the Charleston opening. Playwrights Represented In Kanawha Players Productions It appears that the playwright George S. Kaufman has been the, all-time favorite of The Kanawha Players, as shown in Table VIII. A total of sixteen plays by Kaufman, et al 114 TABLE VII Chronological List of Plays Produced Which Had Broadway Openings One Year or Less Prior to The Kanawha Players Production. Year of Year of First Name of Play Broadway Kanawha Players’ Opening Production Charm 1929 1929 Ladies of the Jury 1929 1930 There * s Alwayg~Juliet 1932 1933 Ten Nights In a Bar-Room 1932 1933 TKe Dlsia7f~glde------1934 1935 Kind Lady 1935 1936 George and Margaret 1937 1938 Yes, My Darling Daughter 1937 1938 Our Town 1938 1938 Charleyrs Aunt 1940 1941 Ladies In Retirement 1940 1941 The Male Animal 1940 1941 Out of the~~Frying Pan 1941 1941 Mr. and Mrs. North 1941 1942 Claudia 1941 1942 Papa Is All 1942 1943 Dark Eyes 1943 1944 Laura 1947 1947 John Loves Mary 1947 1948 Two Blind Mice 1949 1950 gTad“Ti3Tngs'~ 1951 1952 My Three Angels 1953 1954 Visit to a Small Planet 1957 1958 feay barling 1959 1959 115 TABLE VIII Descending Order of Frequency of Playwrights with Three or More Appearances in Plays Selected by The Kanawha Players from 1922 to 1972. Number Playwrights of Total Plays Kaufman, George S. 1 with Hart, Moss 5 with Connelly, Marc 3 with Ferber, Edna 3 with Lardner, Ring 1 with Dayton, Katherine 1 with Teichmann, Howard 1 with Ryskind, Morrie, Gershwin, Ira and George 1 16 Coward, Noel 6 6 Shaw, George B. 5 5 van Druten, John 5 5 Abbott, George 0 with Dunning, Philip 1 with Holms, John C. 2 with Weaver, John 1 4 Crothers, Rachel 4 4 Shakespeare, William 4 4 Spewack, Samuel 1 with Spewack, Bella 3 4 Wilder, Thornton 4 4 Williams, Tennessee 4 4 Andersen, Maxwell 3 3 Barry, Philip 3 3 Chase, Mary 3 3 Chodorov, Jerome 0 with Fields, Joseph 3 3 Crouse, Russell 0 with Lindsay, Howard 3 3 Howard, Sidney 3 3 Kanin, Garson 3 3 Kelly, George 3 3 Krasna, Norman 3 3 Kummer, Clare 3 3 mXXxiqf A« A* 3 3 Molnar, Ferenc 3 3 Reed, Mark 3 3 Sheridan, Richard B. 3 3 Sherwood, Robert E. 3 3 Simon, Neil 3 3 Thurber, James 1 with Nugent, Elliott 2 3 Williams, Emlyn 3 3 116 were selected for presentation in Charleston, West Virginia. The second most frequently selected playwright was Noel Coward, whose plays were produced six times. Represented with five plays each were George Bernard Shaw and John van Druten. George Abbott, et al, Rachel Crothers, William Shakespeare, Samuel and Bella Spewack, Thornton Wilder, and Tennessee Williams were each represented with four plays. Eighteen playwrights were selected three times each. Of the 317 plays produced by The Kanawha Players over a fifty-year period, twenty-seven playwrights authored over one-third of the selected scripts. The remaining 207 plays represent playwrights who made one or two contributions to the plays selected for production by The Kanawha Players. 117 CHAPTER IV REACTION OF LOCAL CRITICS Journalistic criticism of The Kanawha Players' efforts was usually the assignment or responsibility of staff writers for the two local newspapers, the Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Dally Mail. In general, these writers were limited to simple reporting or, at best, reviewing the play produc tions. The difference between reviewing and true criticism has been well defined by Wolseley who states: In the pure and literal sense, it is that the review is the result of objective reporting and the criticism the outcome of subjective report ing. The first reports what goes on outside the reviewer, and the other tells What goes on inside the critic.*24 He goes on to explain that the reporter might present pictures of things or events while the critic will explain, relate or analyze them*J“ftJ The newspaper coverage of plays produced by The Kanawha Players* was distinctly of a review or reporting nature. This is as it should be, according to Wolseley, because the amateur theatre cannot be criticized in the same way as a professional group. He mentions the fact that the reporter may wish to encourage home-town drama by commenting only in —...... Roland E. Wolseley, Critical Writing for the Journalist, (Philadelphia: Chilton Company, 1959), p. TÖ. 125Xbld. p. 131. 118 a constructive manner, and usually serves as an unpaid pub licity man.126 * 128 Xn yet another work, the influence of the drama critic is discussed. Smith questioned the Influence of criticism and Indicates that the opinions of the critic may be useful 127 to the reader. Xn the light of this idea, the newspapers of Charleston, West Virginia, appear to have helped influence the community in support of their little theatre group. The Critics Xn 1922 the earliest performances by The Kanawha Players were reviewed by Mr. Herbert Pfahler of the Charleston * Gazette and an unidentified staff writer of the Charleston Daily Mail who used the byline "The Gallery God." Mr. Pfahler continued as the Gazette1s drama reporter for two years, and then the responsibility fell to a series of staff writers who covered the play productions from 1923 to 1935. In all, twenty-one different writers reported on The Kanawha Players' work for the Charleston Gazette during that thirteen- 12 fi year period. The Charleston Daily Mall published its drama reviews under the pseudonym "The Gallery God" until 1929 when the byline was changed to "One On the Aisle." This continued in 126pjolseley, p. 113. 327Samuel S. Smith, The Craft of the Critic, (New Yorks Books for Libraries Press, 1931), pp. l-2$? 157-388. 128Charleston Gazette, 1922-35. 119 use through 1934, occasionally adding Initials of the writer at the end of the article.129 In October of 1934, Mr. Bayard F. Ennis joined the staff of the Charleston Gazette as a court reporter and drama critic. Mr. Ennis served as the drama critic or re viewer until his retirement in 1969, and after thirty-five years he was regarded as the "dean of West Virginia's music and drama critics."130 Mr. Ennis' faithful coverage of The Kanawha Players productions over the thirty-five-year period was exemplary in its encouraging and supportive nature. His articles re flect the interest and enjoyment of The Kanawha Players by the entire community, as well as its great pride in the Players' achievements. His review of The Kanawha Players production of Saroyan's, The Time of Your Life, on December 16, 1956, best illustrates his style and attitude: I have no reason to reverse myself on any thing previously said, but I do feel that the Players... may not have been given all the credit due for putting on a play of such vitality and originality. The purpose of this column... is to congratu late the community theatre. The organization as a whole... persons doing the acting, set de signing and work back stage are hereby vigorously applauded.131 l29The Charleston Dally Mail, 1922-1934. 130The Charleston Gazette, February 3, 1969, p.<3m. charleston Gazette, December 16, 1956, p. 11. 120 From 1969 to 1972 the Charleston Gazette has had no single reviewer hut once again resorted to the use of various staff writers. Drama critics or reviewers for the Charleston Daily Mall began using their own names for bylines in 1938 and continued to do so through 1972. Responsibility for the drama review appears to have been assigned to several different staff writers over this period of time, However, most of the period during which Bayard Ennis was drama critic for the Gazette, the Charleston Daily Mail had three principle writers who wrote reviews of The Kanawha Players productions. These three were Sol Padlibsky, Chuck McGhee, and Adrian Gwin. Bylines by Sol Padlibsky in the Charleston Daily Mall appeared from 1941 through 1944, and 1955 through 1961. Adrian Gwin reviewed the plays from 1945 through 1950 and resumed this assignment in 1955, continuing until 1961. Gwin also wrote the drama reviews during the 1967-68 season. Chuck McGhee served a five-year period as the drama critic from 1962 through 1967. During the fifty-year period from 1922 through 1972 only five articles appeared in the daily newspapers which were openly critical of The Kanawha Players production. This ap pears to illustrate the cooperation which the Players have always enjoyed from the entire community. The Critical Reviews A total of 578 newspaper reviews covered the play pro- 121 ductlon activity of The Kanawha Players from 1922 through 1972. Five plays were not reviewed by either paper and forty-six were reviewed in one paper only. During the fifty- year period, 317 plays were produced with 177 of them re ceiving "rave reviews" in both newspapers. An additional 105 productions resulted in "rave reviews" published by one paper or the other. The Players produced twenty-eight plays which received "lukewarm" or less than enthusiastic reviews in both news papers. Fifty-nine of their plays were given "rave reviews" by one writer while receiving an unfavorable review by the other. The dissenting review was never consistently found in one of the papers. The negative review was found about equally distributed between the two newspapers. Only twice, during the fifty-year period, did The Kanawha Players receive what might be remotely considered as unfavorable reviews in both local newspapers. In 1923 the production of Rollo * s Wild Qat by Clare Kuramer was presented as the opening play of their second season. Although Mr. Herbert Pfahler of the Charleston Gazette and "The Gallery God" of the Charleston Dally Mail indicated displeasure with the play, they modified the review with praise of selected aspects which they discovered. "The Gallery God" was the more critical, possibly due to his anonymity, as he wrotei 122 Rollo's Wild Oat... had a number of short comings . The play boasted only a few sparks of life and genuine feeling.... and almost never did move at its top speed. He ended his review, however, with the following remark: The Gallery God told the young lady on his left he liked the play ever so much, and she declared she did too, *a whole lot.”*32 In reviewing the same play, Mr. Herbert Pfahler of the Gazette observed: ...the thought that surges to the surface of ones mentality is that Caesar perished be cause he was an ambitious man... due to the fact that the cast as a whole was unequal to the play. He also tempered his remarks with praise for the direction, scenery, and lighting and concluded with: Contemplation.•• leaves nothing but a feeling of exaltation. Slowly but surely the little theatre movement is moving on ward •.. Ones emotions are those of happy introspection.*33 On May 13, 1961, Carter's Operation Mad Ball was given unfavorable reviews in both of the Charleston newspapers. That production ended the thirty-ninth season for The Kanawha Players. The distinction for writing the most uncomplimentary re view in the fifty-year period goes to Mr, Chuck McGhee of the *32The Gallery'"God,."Laidley Wins Honors In Opening Offering of Kanawha Players," the Charleston Daily Mail, October 9, •’ 1923, p. 4. ~ 133 133 Herbert Pfahler, "Ambitious Production Is Given by Kanawha Players In Season's Opening Play," the Charleston Gazette, October 19# 1923, p. 7. 123 Charleston Daily Mail, who wrote: A few more shows like the one of last night could go a lot further and end the Players.... It appeared lackadaisically rehearsed. Time and again members of the cast fumbled, stumbled and garbled their lines...» There are... fair moments, but most of them are badly over-played or undershot by a mile. The show is not up to the standard one expects of The Kanawha Players. Maybe they thought? To heck with it. This is the end of the season. Let's take it easy. They did.134 The review appearing in the Charleston Gazette, by Mr. Bayard Ennis, stated that: The trouble is that it is not mad enough. It should be more frenetic.... It is only near the end«.* that it is possible for one to become really interested in the outcome. Mr. Ennis softens his remarks, however, by observing that it was nicely staged and had a number of laugh provoking 13« moments. In general, the role of the critics in the history of The Kanawha Players has been as it should be, encouraging, supportive and publicizing. The interest and affection for the community theatre prompted the Charleston Gazette to de vote a front page of an extra edition to publicizing one of The Kanawha Players productions. On April 19, 1938, the Charleston Gazette featured the verdict of the audience, following presentation of The Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand.136 A copy of the Gazette story is shown in Figure 13 under the headline "Karen Andre Guilty." ^34Chuck McGhee/"Players Fizzle Badly With 'Ball'," Charleston Dally Mail, May 13, 1961, p. 11. 135Bayard F. Ennis, "Mad Ball Show Not Mad Enough," Charleston Gazette, May 13, 1961, p. 11. ^36Charleston Gazette, April 19, 1938, p. 1. 124 Figure 13. Front page of Charleston Gazette advertising Kanawha Players production of Night of January 16. 125 EXTRA The Charleston Gazette EXTRA Th« State Newspaper • Venther of The Assoeieted Preti Egtabliabed 1887 Qiarleatón, West Virginia. KarenAndre Guilty NewEuropean Jap Emperor COP Bombards Shows Concern Spending Plans Girl Convicted Pact to Insure In Wàr Crisis As Poll Priming Of Penthouse Premier Konoye Resiti* Hamilton and Vandenbnrg Peace Is Seen Efforts of Military Charge That Politics Slaying Jan. 16 Leaders Io Invoke Is Only interest Germany Expected to Be Mobilization Of New Deal Verdict CHm&xes Sensational Trial Lindy Buys French Drawn Into Acrord Hill Labels Charges L. S. Naval Program Of Pretty Secretary on Charge With Great Britain, Isle for Laboratory COP ‘Red Herring’ Erance, Italy Said Menace to Pacific Of Shoving Her Paramour, ST. BBKtlC. Frane*. April ' Paris Acts to Extend —<*•—Cat Chtrtes A. Lbdbergl Democrat Aeserts ‘Free’ Bjorn Faulkner, Noted 'hutl Ike Uttle pioe-ctad ftlan Nippon Forces Prepare Business Was Helpless London-Rome Treaty For Mighty Offensive Financier, From Roof da l*e porehaa Under Hoover Id Shantung cab Caeéet. win WASHINGTON. April ...- March on Vienna la Too With no outward show of emotion other than the TOKYO, aprii (QlSi-GOP. Chairman John biting of rouged lips. Karen Andre heard a criminal Recent for Immediate There were Indication« today Hamilton and Sen. Vandenberg court jury here tonight pronounce her guilty of the pent Overture to Hitler Iron Guard Fascist Try Two Burned • To Overthrow Carol ; FDRHearsPIea Leftists Stage . Farmer eeereSiey to tha O- la Smaahed ’n Plan* Blast.t: s' wtwrd. Mbs Andra tasti. •A FaecM plat ta nod' « Suchei ToIxrveTnwh CounterDrive tot and overthrew Kief Caroli fix Firemen Injured In Fighting Flamea President and First Lady Attacks Temporarily Stem Near Arsenal Attend Earier Rite* Spanish Rebel Pnsh In Washington - On Barcelona PHILADELPHIA. April Orrsli, Kat Tsrgvt see party leaden. •inf with Uftsamf spaed, WASHINGTON. April .-4 critically. am) sia ftramnt w raided hidden headquarters of tha illegal It •. Howard S. Wilkinson. -r Generally they saw it at it Magda Lupeteu. Caroti llvldually, nationally and tn- e admiralty officially Townsend Arrives Strike Ties Up To Serve Sentence -The peace et Europe mu Baya Figure 13 126 CHAPTER V SUMMARY In 1972 thè community theatre known as The Kanawha Play ers of Charleston, West Virginia, celebrated the anniversary of its fiftieth year of continuous activity. The group was organized under the auspices of the Charleston Symphony Society in the Pall of 1922, The Players became a Center for the Drama League of America and remained a member of that organization until it went out of existence in 1931, The community theatre received its official title of The Kanawha Players Incorporated on November 19, 1925, when a Certificate of Incorporation was issued to the officers and board of di rectors. The Playbill calls the Players the Official State Theatre of West Virginia because the Honorable Matthew M. Neeley, Governor of West Virginia, issued a personal procla mation in 1941 designating that name to the group. An abundance of primary resources was found in large public and private collections of memorabilia. Personal Interviews with active members and several directors of past seasons plus local newspaper files were helpful in developing an historical record of The Kanawha Players' development and play production activities over the fifty-year period. The Players presented 317 stage productions and rendered an im pressive amount of community services to the Greater Kanawha Valley as well as other parts of the state. The current voting membership of the organization is 127 composed of everyone who holds a season ticket or has worked during the past season. Each person has one vote. One general meeting is held each spring and is usually announced in the Playbill of the final show of eaoh season. At this general meeting the officers and board of directors are elected, committee reports given, and the next season's pro ductions are presented* All other business and the dis bursement of money is conducted by the officers and the board of directors. The Kanawha Players have employed salaried experienced directors for forty-two of the fifty seasons they have been active. Most of these directors have had exceptional train ing with several having earned Master of Arts degrees and outstanding experience in other community theatres• Of the twenty directors hired by the group, only four remained for more than four seasons while the other sixteen directors stayed two or less seasons. This community theatre group has never owned its own theatre but has rented seventeen different facilities to produce the 317 plays during the fifty seasons of operation. Three of these theatres housed 209 of the productions. During the 1950-51 season The Kanawha Players purchased land and later constructed a workshop to house their equipment, to provide space to construct scenery and to meet the needs of rehearsal space. Financial records are either nonexistent or incomplete 128 so no accurate assessment can be made of the financial aspect of this group's show business. The Kanawha Players have had many financial problems, and the next few years do not promise relief. However, they have managed to hire professional di rectors for forty-two of the first fifty years and are better housed than they have been since April 9, 1936, when The Play house was damaged by fire. The Players presented a total of 317 plays during the fifty years of its history. The group has consistently averaged over six full-length major productions annually. However, the forty-ninth and fiftieth seasons saw only five plays produced. The composition of play types show that the type of play most frequently selected was modern comedy. Of the 317 plays produced, 186 or 58.7 per cent of them were in this category. Serious drama was represented eighty-eight times or by 27.8 per cent of the productions. There were fifteen classic revivals, four musicals, and twenty-four one- act plays, burlesque comedies and melodramas. Only thirty- two of the selected plays, or ten per cent, had no previous record of professional theatre productions in New York. There is a marked absence of premier productions or plays presented for the first time. Little effort has been spent in encouraging experimental play production. George S. Kaufman, et al, has been the all-time favorite playwright of The Kanawha Players followed by George Bernard Shaw, John van Druten, George Abbott, et al, Rachel Crothers, William 129 Shakespeare, Thornton wilder and Tennessee Williams, in that order. Only four musicals were offered during the entire fifty years. Moreover, two of these appeared during the last five- year period. The first twenty years saw no musicals produced, followed by another twenty-year lapse before the second one was presented. None of the musicals was enthusiastically re ceived. Some speculation as to the reasons behind this in clude; a lack of musical talent in the group, people with musical training and talent were more likely to be affiliated with the Light Opera Guild, lack of adequate staging facili ties, and cost of producing a musical. A total of 578 newspaper reviews covered the play production activities of The Kanawha Players from 1922 through 1972. Five plays were not reviewed by either paper and forty- six were reviewed in only one paper. During the fifty-year period, 317 plays were produced with 177 of them receiving "rave reviews" in both newspapers; an additional 105 produc tions resulted in "rave reviews” published by one paper or the other. Twenty-eight plays received "lukewarm reviews" in both newspapers and fifty-nine plays were given "rave reviews" by one writer while receiving an unfavorable review by the other. Only two productions, during the fifty-year period, received what might be considered as unfavorable reviews in both local newspapers. The importance of the little theatre to the community was demonstrated by public recognition during its fiftieth year 130 with a commemorative booklet of congratulations and acknowl edgements. The front cover is reprinted and appears in Figure 14. CONCLUSIONS The community theatre of Charleston, West Virginia, is remarkable in that it has continued over a fifty-year period from 1922 through 1972 without Interruption. The question is "Why?". 1. The constantly changing population of the community asso ciated with the high concentration of industry brings well educated and affluent people to the area. Many of them help to stimulate interest in culture, generally, and in theatre arts, specifically. These people evidently need some type of outlet for their creative and artistic expression and find that opportunity with The Kanawha Players. 2. The originators of The Kanawha Players created a strong organization from the very beginning through such procedures as developing a Constitution and By-Laws, Incorporation and employing a professional director. They welcomed newcomers to the group and worked to create an enjoyable social life for the active members as well as giving good drama to the audience. 3. The organization felt the need for recognition of a greater area than the Kanawha Valley. In 1941 the director and part of the membership acquired the prestigious title of "The Official State Theatre of West Virginia" for The Kanawha 131 Figure 14. Front cover of the fifty-year commemorative publication. 132 Figure lb- 133 Players. This title is used with pride in all publicity and every member is quick to correct the unenlightened. 4. The Kanawha Players made significant contributions in the area of community service through its efforts in fund raising drives, performing educational skits, encouraging works of local playwrights and touring the state with shows to enter tain at various hospital facilities. Its members participated in the West Virginia Centennial Celebration in 1963, and have also been responsible for organizing a Childrens* Theatre. 5. They have maintained salaried professional directors for forty-two of the fifty seasons. This may reasonably be considered a major reason that their productions have been consistently well received in the community. Most of these professional directors, however, have not remained long enough to establish continuity and tradition. 6. Despite the lack of a permanent theatre, the members have shown extraordinary resourcefulness in adapting to the facili ties available to them. They now own a workshop which holds a rehearsal stage. 7. Plays selected for performance tended to be noteworthy plays. Only thirty-two plays were given during the entire fifty-year period, which had no previous Broadway record, over fifteen per cent of the plays selected for production had been recognized by having won either the Pulitzer Prize, the Drama Critics Circle Award, or both. Forty-six per cent of the selected plays were found listed among the "Ten Best 134 Plays" edited by Bums Mantle, et al. The Player’s prefer ence favored the play which was well known and which had won popular and critical approval in Mew York. Twenty-four of the productions of The Kanawha Players were plays which had appeared on Broadway one year or less prior to the Charleston presentation. The Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia, pro duced successful and satisfying plays at an astonishing rate over a continual period of fifty years from 1922 to 1972. On the surface the organization appeared to be lacking in strong leadership, well-defined goals, financial security and sound purpose. However, despite these apparent deficiencies, they have succeeded where others have failed. The most apparent reason for the remarkable success and longevity of this group stems from the fact they met a real need in the community. The audience responded to their ex cellent productions with enjoyment and pride in their achieve ments. The members represented the most basic and fundamental reason for a community theatre group. That is, it was the coming together of persons who simply wanted to do a play. It is, perhaps, best expressed by Tom Jones in his introduction to Celebration. I love the theatre. And I love it not because it's "now" but because it’s "then." It’s ancient. Primitive. I love it because it touches something basic within myself. It is a ceremony. A ritual. And something in me craves that ritual, needs it. People gather in a circle. An invocation is offered. A parable is enacted, and somehow, through these ancient "mysteries" of movement and music and poetry, 135 / I am revealed unto myself. I am confirmed. Here, gathered with my fellow creatures, I am part of a group knowledge that goes beyond any simple reason ing of the mind. Winter and summer. Regeneration and decay. There they are up in the spotlight, same as always: battling, struggling, making us laugh and cry. It is delicious. Änd somehow it is also ennobling. It’s like a fire. Like sitting by a fire. That is a primitive thing too. It is inefficient and ridiculously archaic for our day and time. But in some strange and ancient way it heals and soothes us more than turning up the central heating. It "roots" us. It connects us with the past« And it releases us to dream about the future.*3' The reason is universal and succeeded in sustaining The Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia, for over half a century. RECOMMENDATIONS The Kanawha Players, like many other little theatre or community theatre groups, finds itself facing hard times. Audiences have grown smaller, cost of everything has increased, and artistic workers are finding other less time consuming hobbles. The following recommendations are made from a careful examination of the past and from being an active and a passive member of The Kanawha Players since 1959. These recommenda tions could apply not only in Charleston, West Virginia, but to any non-professional theatrical organization facing a black out in the near future. 1. The active membership, officers and board of directors 137 Guernsey, The Best Plays of 1968-1969, pp. 303-304. 136 must be concerned with saving the organization for the future and not just the next production. No one individual can do this, but every committee who makes a decision, every meeting of the officers and board of directors, and all artistic workers must always be concerned with the image of the group and its future in the community. 2. All decisions that require special knowledge should be checked by trained people. Aid can be obtained from the business, educational, and industrial communities in decision making. This type of assistance should be sought, accepted and backed by all the active membership* 3. Positions in management or non-artistic jobs should be assigned to qualified people and not the most popular actor of the past season. This effort will help to interest new members who do not have the desire to be actors and make pro duction more of a community project. 4. Most of the elected personnel have not remained for a long period of time, so the organization could not fully benefit .from their experience. This situation coupled with the lack of records creates a situation which invites repetition of error. The membership should strive to elect competent people and then back them during their term of service so they will remain in the organization as advisors. 5. The community theatre should broaden its scope of activi ties. Most active people are involved with community services, church, and/or other volunteer work. If individuals find that 137 their creative hobby will assist in service, they are more inclined to devote their free time, energy, and money to that hobby. 6. Play selection should be related to other theatre groups in the area. In the Greater Kanawha valley there are three colleges, a dinner theatre, another little theatre group, a light opera organization, five or six professional shows each winter, and direct plane service to New York which makes the area exceptional in theatre experience. Plays selected by a community theatre must be unique and not something seen recently in another theatre. There are good plays, both new and old, which could be selected and done well by any group so that the audience would not be seeing the same plays over and over again. The season should have variety and the play selection should be based on audience appeal as well as or ganization interest rather than on one person’s desire to star In a particular role. 7. Roles must not be pre-oastI Some plays might require this special casting but this situation must be made public at the beginning of try-outs. All roles should be open to newcomers as well as older members. Each person attending a try-out session should feel he or she is being fairly evalu ated by an open-minded committee. This will encourage the newer members to become active. 8. Expenses must be reducedl Professionalism does not have to be expensive and amateur productions do not have to be 138 inferiorI There are enough trained and experienced people who are already active members in the group; in addition there are many people in the surrounding community who can direct plays as well as act, and who might be qualified to design scenery. For a season or two these people’s talents could help the Players save money on hired personnel* Scenery, properties and costumes should be planned so they could be used over a period of time rather than for one show, only. The cost of lumber, canvas and other fabric can be cut by a designer and technical staff who think ahead. 9. The social atmosphere should be established again. Active and passive members, trained and untrained volunteers should be welcomed to all rehearsals, work sessions and performances. This should not be something advertised in the newspaper and Playbill and forgotten when people congregate. Personal in vitations and efforts are more effective than complimentary tickets delivered by the Welcome Wagon. This type of effort will change passive members into active workers and untrained volunteers into working actors and stage crew members. 10. The workshop rehearsal theatre should be used* This space is not fully utilized and could be a great asset in training beginners and in offering more opportunity for per formance* It would be more rewarding to the actors and technical staff to perform before a full house of ninety-five rather than a two-thirds empty Civic Center Little Theatre. The rent saved by vacating the Civic Center Little Theatre for a season or two could decorate and purchase needed equip 139 ment for the rehearsal area. The space could then be used for experimental productions. The use of the workshop theatre would also permit more than two performances of a production and the quiet scenes would not be underscored by rock and roll music amplified from other parts of the vast Civic Center Complex. 11. The present active membership must be willing to support new ideas and be happy to see new talent working for the or ganization. A group of people who discourage newcomers because they fear they will be deprived of stardom themselves can destroy a theatre groupI The Players must be willing to try new things and support the efforts of others rather than expecting everything to fail unless it has been done in the past, or done by themselves* Many of these recommendations are general and idealistic, but they can save The Kanawha Players if the members wish to continue for another fifty years. This little theatre group has faced hard times in the past and has been able to adjust and meet the needs of the community and its membership. There is no reason why they cannot continue, thrive and improve upon this ideal. no BIBLIOGRAPHY 141 BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Brockett, Oscar. The Theatre: An Introduction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Incorporated, 1969• Chapman, John (ed.). The Best Plays of 1947-1948 through The Best Plays ofUsT^SlT^ vols'..New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, I9ii, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952. Chapman, John and Garrison Sherwood. The Best Plays of 1894-1899* New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 19^5. Coggin, Philip A. The Uses of Drama: A Historical Survey of Drama and Education from Ancient Greece to the Present Day. New York: George Braziller, Incorporated, 195$. Community Drama. Prepared by The Playground and Recreation Association of America. New York: The Century Company, 1926 de Gruyter, Julius. The Kanawha Spectator. Vol. I. Charleston: Jarrett Printing Company, 195YL Gard, Robert. Grassroots Theatre. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1955. Gard, Robert, Marston Balch and Pauline Temkin. Theatre In America: Appraisal and Challenge. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 19$8. Gard, Robert and Gertrude S. Burley. Community Theatre: Idea and Achievement, New York: Duel!, Sloan and Pearce, 1959. Gassner, John. The Theatre In Our Times. New York: Crown Publishers, Incorporated^ 1954. Gilder, Rosamond, et. al. (ed.). Theatre Arts Anthology: A Record and a Prophecy. New York: Theatre Arts Books,“ m------— Guernsey Jr., Otis L. (ed)) The Best Rlays of 1964-1965 through The Best Plays of 197Ó-19T1. V“vols. New York: Dodd, Mead and (Company ,“T9$8, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971. Hammond Contemporary World Atlas, New Census Edition. New York: Doubleday andCompany, incorporated, 1971. 142 Henderson, Archibald, (ed.), Pioneering & People’s Theatre. Chapel Hill: The University o£ North“carolina Press, 1945. Hewes, Henry (ed.). The Best Pjays of 1961-1962 through The Best Plays of 19 Houghton, Norris. Advance From Broadway: 19,000 Miles of American Theatre. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1941. Hughes, Glenn. The Story of the Theatre. New York: Samuel French, 1930. Isaacs, Edith «7. R. (ed.). Theatre: Essays on the Arts of the Theatre. Boston: Little, Brown anefcompany, 1957. Kronenberger, Louis (ed.). The Best Plays of 1952-1953 through The Best Plays o£ 1960-19¿i. F"vols. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company,^953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961. MacGowan, Kenneth. Footlights Across America: Towards A National Theatre^ Mew York: Harcourt,Brace andCompany, OT57--- *------ MacKay, Constance D’Arcy. The Little Theatre In The United States. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1917. MacKaye, Percy. Coagaunity Drama: Its Motive and Method of Neighborliness« Boston: Houghton “Mifflin Company, 1917. McCalmon, George and Christian Moe. Creating Historical Drama. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965. McCleery, Albert and Carl Glick. Curtains Going Up. New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1999 * Mantle, Bums. The Best Plays of 1919-1920 through The Best Plays of 1946-194?. ¿8 vols. New York: Dodd, Meadand Company? ITO, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947. Mantle, Burns and Garrison Sherwood (ed.). The Best Plays of 1899-1909. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1944. Mantle, Bums and Garrison Sherwood (ed.) • The Best Plays of 1909-1919. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1943. 143 Mitchell, Roy. Creative Theatre. New York: The John Day Company, 1929. Novick, Julius. Beyond Broadway: The Quest for Permanent Theatres. New York:"'' '"Öii 1 and ¥ang, 1968. ’ Poggi, Jack. Theatre Xn America: The Impact of Economic Forces 1870RIW7. Ithaca: Cornell university Press, isss:------ Rice, Elmer. The Living Theatre. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, l959. Rolland, Romain. The People’s Theatre. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1918. Selden, Samuel (ed*). Organizing A Community Theatre. Cleveland: Western Reserve University, T945. Smith, Samuel S. The Craft of the Critic. New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1931. Sper, Felix. From Native Roots: A Panorama of Our Regional Drama. Caldwell, Idaho: The”Caxton Printers, Ltd., rarer Stratton, Clarence. Producing In Little Theatres. New York: Henry Holt and Company, loTT. Taubman, Howard. The Making of the American Theatre. New York: Coward McCann, Inc.,l96dl Wolseley, Roland E« Critical Writing for the Journalist. Philadelphia: ¿hiiton Company, 1959. Young, John W. The Community Theatre and How It Works. New York: Harper and brothers, 1957* PERIODICALS The Drama Magazine, September 1922 - June 1931. Baker, Virgil L. "The Community Theatre As A Force In Adult Education." Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. IV, no. 3 r (October 1952) pp. 22 7-23(E Btcwr, Gilmore* "Director’s Comment on Community Theatres: Reply to William Work." Quarterly Journal of Speech Vol. XXXVII, (April 1950), pp. 233-ran Cloonan, Richard T. "Theatre: OSA: Detroit." Theatre Arts, Vol. XLIV, (October 1960), pp. 62-65. 144 Dart, Peter. "Dean in Dallas: A Teacher for the Community Theatre." The Speech Teacher, Voi. XIII, (March 1964), pp. 110-114. Dietrich, John and William Work. "Dramatic Activities in American Community Theatres: 1949-50." Quarterly Journal Voi. XXXVII, (April 1951), pp. 185-190. Duthie, Mary Eva. "A Directory of Nonprofessional Community Theatres In The United States 1952." Educational Theatre Journal, voi. V, no. 2, (May 1953), pp. 134-165. Duthie, Mary Eva. "The Community Theatre At Mid-Century." Educational Theatre Journal, Voi. Ill, no. 1, (March 1951), pp. Heinsheiraer, H. W, "Grass-Roots Theatre — U. S. A." Recreation, Voi. XLIX, no. 2, (February 1956), pp. 59-61. Murray, William. "The Culture Boom." Holiday, Voi. XXXIX, March 1966), pp. 70-74 and 120-130. Musselman, Virginia and Siebolt Frieswyk. "Drama Is Recrea tion." Recreation, Voi* LV, no. 2, (February 1962). Neale, Mary. "Kanawha Players Oldest Community Theatre In U. S.j 50th Anniversary Set for September 18." The New Charleston, VOI. XXXIV, no. 4, (July-August,‘"1971 ), pp. l0-l8 and 42. Sandle, Floyd. "Community Relations and community Recreation Through Community Drama." Speech Teacher, Voi. VI, (September 1957), pp. 229-232. School, Edwin R. "The Drama In The Community Theatre." Educational Theatre Journal, Voi. V, no. 1, (May 1953), pp. 128-133. Smith, Alee. "A Citizen's Theatre — By and For The People." Recreation, Voi. LI, no, 1, (January 1958), pp. 18-20. Stocker, Joseph, "Somewhere West of Broadway." The Survey, Voi. &XXXVII, no* 11, (November 1951), pp. 455^455." Wolcott, Jean. "A Community Theatre." Recreation, Voi. XLIX, no. 9, (November 1956) , pp* 434-05* Work, William. "Current Trends In Community Theatre Opera tions." Quarterly Journal of Speech, Voi. XXXV, (December 1949) pp? ’464-4697 145 Young, John Wray. "The Community Theatre and How It Works." Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. X, no. 1, (March 1958), pp.--7S-76’.------ NEWSPAPERS Charleston pally Mail, August, 1922 - June 1972. Charleston Gazette, August 1922 - June 1972. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Barushok, James W. "A Study of The Membership and Leadership of Queen City Little Theatre." Unpublished Dissertation, Michigan State University, 1966. Bogard, Morris R. "The Drama League of America. A History and Critical Analysis of Its Activities and Achievements." Unpublished Dissertation, University of Illinois, 1962. Brown, Edward 0, "A History of The Shreveport Little Theatre 1922-1958," Unpublished Dissertation, University of Denver, 1958. Moore, Lester L. "A History of the Professional Theatre In Newark, New Jersey Prom 1847 to 1867," Unpublished Dissertation, Columbia university, 1966. Stuart, Betsy. "History of the Kanawha Players’ First 35 Years." Unpublished notes. Waldan, Roy S, "The Theatre Guild’s Middle Years - 1928-1939." Unpublished Dissertation, New York University, 1966, Warye, Richard J. "A Descriptive Study of Community Theatres In The Metropolitan Areas of the United States." Unpublished Dissertation, Ohio State University 1966. MISCELLANEOUS Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce, "Charleston, West Virginia." Windsor Publications, 1970. Pamphlet. Morgan, John 6. "Charleston 175." The Charleston Gazette 1970* Pamphlet. 146 INTERVIEWS Gage, Richard N. September 19, 1971. Ringham, Jr., Chris. September 19, 1971. Stuart, Betsy and Charles. April 12, 1970, May 3, 1970, September 6, 1970, January 10, 1971, June 20, 1971, December 5, 1971. APPENDIX APPENDIXES 148 APPENDIX A Chronological Listing of Plays Produced by the Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia from 1922 to 1972 1. 1922 - 23 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Three one act plays Glory of the Morning William Ellery Leonard November 2, Overtones Alice Gerstenberg 3, 1922 The Neighbours Zona Gale Mr. Pim Passes By A« A* Milne January 4, 5, 1923 A Successful Calamity Clare Kummer February 7, 8, 1923 Three one act plays Will O’ the Wisp Doris F. Halman March 14, Twelve Pound Look J. M. Barrie 15, 1923 Hop O' Me Thumb George R. Sims Enter Madam Gilda Varesi and Mey 2 / 3 j Dolly Byrne 1923 Prunella Laurence Housman and June 9, 1923 Granville Barker 2. 1923 - 24 Rollo's Wild Oat Clare Kummer October 18, 19, 1923 The Pigeon John Galsworthy November 22, 23, 1923 Her Husband's Wife A. E. Thomas January 24, 25, 1924 The Dover Road A. A. Milne March 20, 21 1924 Smilin' Through Allan Langdon Martin May 28, 29, 1924 149 3, 1924 - 25 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Polly with a Past George Middleton and November 20, Guy Bolton 21, 1924 The Truth Clyde Fitch February 10, 11, 1925 Three one act plays Their Husband Alice Gerstenberg April 22,23, As I Remember You Sada Cowan 1925 TEe Mayor and the George Ade Manicure 4. 1925 - 26 Dulcy George S. Kaufman and December 10, Marc Connelly 11, 12, 1925 You and I Philip Barry February 11, 12, 1926 Grumpy Horace Hodges and March 11, 12, R. Wigney Percival 13, 1926 Three one act plays Finders Keepers George Kelly April 13, 1926 A Night at An Inn Lord Dunfee Suppressed Desires Susan Glaspell and George Cook To the Ladies George S. Kaufman and April 26, 27, Marc Connelly 28, 1926 Peg 0’ My Heart J. Hartley Manners May 27, 28, 29, 1926 5. 1926 - 27 The Whole Town’s Talking John Emerson and November 17, Anita Loos 18, 19, 1926 Seven Keys to Baldpate George M. Cohan December 15, 16, 17, 18, 1926 Expressing Willie Rachel Crothers February 3, 4, 5, 1927 150 1926 - 27 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Seventh Heaven Austin Strong March 18, 19, 21, 22, 1927 The Show-Off George Kelly April 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 1927 Kindling Charles Kenyon June 6, 7, 8, 9, 1927 6. 1927 - 28 A Pair of Sixes Edward Peple November 7, 8, 9, 10, 1927 Craig’s Wife George Kelly December 13, 14, 15, 16, 1927 Love 'Em and Leave 'Em George Abbott and January 24, John V. A. Weaver 25, 26, 27, 1928 The Bad Man Porter Emerson Browne February 21, 22, 23, 24, 1928 Captain Applejack Walter Hackett March 27, 28, 29, 30, 1928 Merton of the Movies George S. Kaufman and May 1, 2, 3, Marc Connelly 4, 1928 Gentlemen Prefer Blonds Anita Loos and May 29, 30, John Emerson 31, June 1, 2, 1928 7. 1928 - 29 The Butter and Egg Man George S. Kaufman October 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 1928 The Last of Mrs. Cheyney Frederick Lonsdale November 13, 14, 15, 16, 1928 151 1928 - 29 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE The First Year Frank Craven December 11, 12, 13, 14, 1928 Charm John Kirkpatrick January 28, 29, 30, 31, 1929 Outward Bound Sutton Vane February 25, 26, 27, 28, 1929 The Silver Cord Sidney Howard March 25, 26, 27, 28, 1929 Pomeroy's Past Clare Rummer April 30? May 1, 2, 3, 1929 The Constant Wife W. Somerset Maugham June 11, 12, 13, 14, 1929 8. 1929 - 30 Loose Ankles Sam Janney October 1, 2, 3, 4, 1929 The Royal Family George S. Kaufman and November 4, 5, Edna Ferber 6, 7, 8, 1929 The Witch H. Weirs Jenssen December 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1929 The High Road Frederick Lonsdale January 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,1930 Children of the Moon Martin Flavin February 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1930 Dr« Knock Jules Romain March 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 1930 Meet the Wife Lynn Sterling April 8, 9, 10, 11, 1930 Road to Rome Robert Emmett Sherwood May 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1930 152 9. 1930 - 31 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Ladles of the Jury Fred Ballard October 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1930 In the Next Room Eleanor Robson and November 3, Harriet Ford 4, 5 , 6, 9, 1930 Merry Wives of Windsor William Shakespeare December 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1930 Candida George Bernard Shaw February 2, 4, 5, 6, 1931 Broadway Philip Dunning and March 2, 3, George Abbott 4, 5, 6, 1931 Paris Bound Philip Barry April 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1931 The Swan Ferenc Molnar May 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1931 Bird In Hand Jbhn Drinkwater ¿Ttxxiô 2 f 3, 4 f 5, 1931 10. 1931 - 32 What Every Woman Knows Sir James M. Barrie October 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1931 The Good Hope Herman Heijermans November 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 1931 Twelfth Night or William Shakespeare Student Per- What You Will formances: December 11, 12, 1931 Regular Per formances : December 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1931 153 1931 - 32 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION Once In a Lifetime Moss Hart and January 25, George S. Kaufman 26, 27, 28, 29, 1932 The Play’s The Thing Ferenc Molnar February 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 1932 The First Mrs. Fraser St. John Ervine March 28, 29, 30, 31; April 1, 1932 June Moon Ring Lardner and April 25, 26, George S. Kaufman 27, 28, 29, 1932 Trelawny of the Wells Sir Anthony Wing Plnere May 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 1932 11. 1932 - 33 Let Us Be Gay Rachel Crothers October 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1932 The Ghost Train Arnold Ridley November 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1932 Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare December 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1932 Rebound Donald 0. Stewart January 24, 25, 26, 27, 1933 There's Always Juliet John van Druten February 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 1933 Private Lives Noel Coward March 3, 1933 The School for Sandal Richard Brinsley April 25, 26, Sheridan 27, 28, 1933 Ten Nights in a William W. Pratt May 23, 24, Bar-Room 25, 26, 1933 154 12. 1933 - 34 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Hay Fever Noel Coward October 10, 11, 12, 13, 1933 As Husbands Go Rachel Crothers November 14, 15, 16. 17, 1933 The Spider Fulton Oursler and January 22, Lowell Brentano 23, 24, 25, 1934 Merry Go Round Albert Maltz and March 13, 14, George Sklar 15, 16, 1934 The Second Man S. N. Behrman May 30, 31? June 1, 1934 13. 1934 - 35 The Late Christopher Sidney Howard October 16, Bean 17, 18, 1934 The Mad Hopes Romney Brent December 4, S, 6, 7, 1934 Mrs. Moonlight Benn W. Levy February 19, 20, 21, 22, 1935 The Perfect Alibi A. A. Milne March 26, 27, 28, 29, 1935 Fashion Mrs. Anna Cora Mowatt April 30? May 1, 2, 3, 1935 The Distaff Side John van Druten May 29, 30, 31, 1935 14. 1935 - 36 Three Cornered Moon Gertrude Tonkonogy October 15, 16, 17, 18, 1935 Candle-Light p. G. Wodehouse December 10, 11, 12, 13, 1935 155 1935 - 36 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Shining Hours Keith Winter February 4, 5, 6, 7, 1936 Post Road Norma Mitchell and March 17, 18, Wilbur Daniel Steele 19, 20, 1936 Louder, Please Norman Krasna April 29, 30; May 1, 1936 The Trial of Mary Dugan Bayard Veiller ¿Tuxïô 2 f 3 f 4, 5, 1936 15. 1936 - 37 Personal Appearance Lawrence Riley October 22, 23, 1936 Kind Lady Edward Chodorov December 3, 4, 1936 Milky Way Lynn Root and February 4, Harry Clark 5, 1937 Men Must Fight Reginald Lawrence and March 18, S. K. Lauren 19, 1937 Belle, The Typewriter Bernard Francis Moore April 26, Girl or The Vampires 27, 28, 1937 of Chicago Pursuit of Happiness Lawrence and Armina May 27, 28, Langner 1937 16. 1937 - 38 Boy Meets Girl Bella and Samuel October 28, Spewack 29, 1937 Ceiling Zero Frank Wead December 16, 17, 1937 Elizabeth the Queen Maxwell Anderson February 15, 16, 17, 1938 George and Margaret Gerald Savory March 15, 16, 1938 156 1937 - 38 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Night of January 16th Ayn Rand April 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 1938 Yes, My Darling Daughter Mark Reed May 24, 25, 1938 17. 1938 - 39 First Lady Katharine Dayton and October 25, George S. Kaufman 26, 1938 Winterset Maxwell Anderson December 6, 7, 1938 Tonight at 8:30 Noel Coward January 31? Ways and Means February 1, Fumed Oak 2, 1938 Hands Across the Sea Night Must Fall Emlyn Williams February 27, 28, 1939 Stage Door Edna Ferber and March 28, 29, George S. Kaufman 30, 1939 Our Town Thornton Wilder May 23, 24, 25, 1939 18. 1939 - 40 Ah, Wilderness Eugene O'Neill November 1, 2, 3, 1939 Susan and God Rachel Crothers December 6, 7, 1939 Outward Bound Sutten vane January 31? February 1, 2, 1940 You Can’t Take It Moss Hart and March 5, 7, ~itE YouT George S. Kaufman 8, 1940 Blind Alley James Warwick Ajoirll 2/ 1940 Meet My Sister Harry W. Gribble May 22, 23, 24, 1940 157 19. 1940 - 41 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DÂTË Three Men On a Horse John Cecil Holm and October 29, George Abbott 30, 31, 1940 Margin for Error Clara Boothe December 4, 5, 1940 The Guardsman Franz Molnar February 4, 5, 6, 1941 Charley's Aunt Brandon Thomas March 18, 19, 20, 1941 Ladies In Retirement Edward Percy and April 29, 30; Reginald Denham May 1, 1941 Male Animal, The James Thurber and May 27, 28, Elliott Nugent 29, 1941 20. 1941 - 42 The Man Who Came to Moss Hart and November 4, Dinner George S. Kaufman 5, 6, 1941 Out of The Frying Pan Francis Swann December 2, 3, 4, 1941 Pride and Prejudice Helen Jerome January 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 1942 Rope's End Patrick Hamilton March 17, 18, 19, 1942 George Washington Moss Hart and April 28, Slept Here George S. Kaufman 29, 30, 1942 Mr. and Mrs. North Owen Davis June 3, 4, 1942 21. 1942 - 43 Heaven Can Wait Harry Segall October 28, 29, 30, 1942 Claudia Rose Franken December 2, ------3, 1942 158 1942 - 43 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Arsenic and Old Lace Joseph Kesselring January 26, 27, 28, 29, 1943 Good-Bye Again Allan Scott and March 3, 4, George Haight 1943 Nine Pine Street John Colton and April 6, 7, Carlton Miles 1943 Love Rides the Rails Morland Cary May 25, 26, or Will tSe Mail 27, 1943 Train Run Tonight 22. 1943 - 44 Pursuit of Happiness Lawrence and Armina October 26, Langner 27, 28, 29, 1943 Papa Is All Patterson Greene December 6, 7, 8, 1943 Three Men On a Horse John Cecil Holm and January 8, George Abbott 9, 1944 The Land Is Bright George S. Kaufman and January 24, 3 Edna Ferber 25, 27, 28, 1944 My Sister Eileen J. Fields and February 28; J. Chodorov March 1, 3, 1944 The Philadelphia Philip Barry April 24, 25, 26, 1944 Junior Miss Joseph Fields and May 22, 23, Jerome Chodorov 24, 1944 23. 1944 - 45 Dark Eyes Elene Miramova and October 2, Eugenie Leontovich 3, 41 6, 1944 Uncle Harry Thomas Job November 27, 28, 29, 1944 159 1944 - 45 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE The Old Maid Zoe Akins February 26, 27, 28; March 2, 3, 1945 Janie Josephine Bentham and April 2, 3, Herschel Williams 4, 1945 Three’s A Family Phoebe and Henry May 14, 15, Ephron 16, 1945 The Drunkard or William H. Smith June 4, 5, The Fallen Saved 6, 8, 1945 24. 1945 - 46 Kiss and Tell F. Hugh Herbert October 15, 16, 17, 19, 1945 Blithe Spirit Noel Coward November 26, 27, 28, 30, 1945 Cyrano de Berqerac Edmund Rostand January 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 1946 Murder Without Crime J. Lee Thompson March 4, 5, 6, 8, 1946 On Borrowed Time Paul Osborn April 29, 30; May 1, 3, 1946 Room Service John Murray and May 27, 28, Allen Boretz 29, 31, 1946 25. 1946 - 47 Snafu Louis Solomon and October 28, Harold Buchman 29, 30, 1946 Our Town Thornton Wilder December 2, 3, 4, 1946 Ten Little Indians Agatha Christie February 7, 8, 1947 160 1946 - 47 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Laura Vera Caspary and March 28, George Sklar 29, 1947 Over Twenty-One Ruth Gordon April 24, 25, 26, 1947 The Hasty Heart John Patrick May 26, 27, 28, 1947 26. 1947 - 48 Radio Plays Over WGKV John Loves Mary Norman Krasna July 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1948 My Sister Eileen Joseph Fields and July 12, 13, Jerome Chodorov 14, 15, 16, 17, 1948 The Importance of Oscar Wilde July 19, 20, Being Earnest 21, 22, 23, 24, 1948 Personal Appearance Lawrence Riley July 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 1948 But Not Goodbye George Seaton August 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1948 The Would-Be Gentleman Moliere August 10, 11 12, 13, 14, 1948 Petticoat Fever Mark Reed August 17, 18 19, 20, 21, 1948 Dear Ruth Norman Krasna August 24, 25 26, 27, 28, 1948 27. 1948 - 49 Radio Plays over WGKV Night of January 16th Ayn Rand May 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 1949 161 28• I949 - 50 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Two Blind Mice Samuel Spewack January 23, 24, 25, 26, 1950 The Voice of The Turtle John van Druten February 21, 22, 23, 24, 1950 Angel Street Patrick Hamilton April 4, 5, 6, 1950 Life with Mother Howard Lindsay and May 2, 3, 4, Russel Crouse 5, 1950 Born Yesterday Garson Kanin July 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1950 Dream Girl Elmer Rice July 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 1950 Boy Meets Girl Bella and Samuel July 24, 25, Spewack 26, 27, 28, 29, 1950 Heaven Can Wait or Here Contes Mr.“Jordan Harry Segall August 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1950 Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw August 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1950 The Vinegar Tree Paul Osborn August 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1950 They Knew What They Sidney Howard August 22, 23, ‘Wanted 24, 25, 26, 1950 ■L«iMngMwhat«. Up the aSMBMkaOyBa* Moss Hart August 29, 30, 31; September 1, 2, 3, 1950 162 29. 1950 - 51 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE See How They Run Philip King November 1, 2, 3, 4, 1950 The Torch-Bearers George Kelly December 12, 13, 1950 The Petrified Forest Robert E. Sherwood January 24, 25, 26, 27, 1951 Ladies In Retirement Edward Percy and March 7, 8, Reginald Denham 9, 10, 1951 For Love or Money F. Hugh Herbert May 9, 10, 11, 12, 1951 State of the Union Howard Lindsay and July 9, 10, Russell Crouse 11, 12, 13, 14, 1951 Blithe Spirit Noel Coward July 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 1951 Yes, My Darling Mark Reed July 24, 25, Daughter 26, 27, 28, 1951 Born Yesterday Garson Kanin July 31, August 1, 2, 3,4, 1951 The Heiress Ruth and Augustus August 7, 8, Goetz 9, 10, 11, 1951 Out of the Frying Pan Francis Swann August 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1951 Accent On Youth Samson Raphaelson August 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 1951 Three one act plays Fumed Oak Noel Coward August 28, 29, Hello Out There William Saroyan 30, 31? Sep Ways ahd Means Noel Coward tember 1, 1951 4 163 30. 1951 - 52 PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Goodbye, My Fancy Fay Kanin November 7, 8, 9, 10, 1951 The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams January H, 12, 1952 £ Remember Mama John van Druten March 6, 7, 8, 1952 Command Decision William Wister Haines April 4, 5, 1952 Bertha, The Beautiful Charles George May 19, 20, Typewriter GxrT 21, 22, 1952 31• 1952 - S3 Twentieth Century Ben Hecht and October 22, Charles Mac Arthur 23, 24, 25, 1952 Glad Tidings Edward Mabley December 3, 4, 5, 6, 1952 The Madwoman of Chai Hot Jean Giraudoux February 11, 12, 13, 14, 1953 Bell, Book and Candle John van Druten April 8, 9, 10, 11, 1953 Mr. Roberts Thomas Higgen and May 20, 21, Joshua Logan 22, 23, 1953 The Curse of An Aching Herbert E. Swayne August 18, Heart or Trapped In 19, 20, 21, the Spider1s Web 22, 1953 32• 1953 - 54 Light Up the Sky Moss Hart October 14, 15, 16, 17, 1953 Stalag 17 Donald Beran and December 8, Edmund Trzcinski 9, 10, 11, 12, 1953 164 1953 - 54 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Night Must Fall Emlyn Williams February 3, 4, 5, 6, 1954 Harvey Mary Chase March 24, 25, 26, 27, 1954 Parade Marianne Waters May 26, 27, 28, 29, 1954 Bertha, The Beautiful Charles George Unknown Typewriter Girl~ 33. 1954 - 55 The Male Animal James Thurber and October 27, Elliott Nugent 28, 29, 30, 1954 My Three Angels Samuel and Bella December 16, Spewack 17, 18, 1954 The Importance of Oscar Wilde February 17, Being Earnest 18, 19, 1955 An Inspector Calls J. B. Priestley March 31? April 1, 2, 1955 The Remarkable Mr. Liam O’Brien May 18, 19, Pennypacker ‘ 20, 1955 Ten Nights In a William W. Pratt August 23, Bar-Room 24, 25, 26, 27, 1955 34. 1955 - 56 Dial *M' for Murder Frederick Knott October 13, 14, 15, 1955 Skin of Our Teeth Thornton Wilder November 30? December 2, 3, 1955 King of Hearts Jean Kerr and February 14, Eleanor Brooke 15, 18, 1956 165 1955 - 56 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare April 5, 6, 7, 1956 The Solid Gold Cadillac George S. Kaufman and May 17, 18, Howard Teichmann 19, 1956 Under the Gaslight Augustin Daly August 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 1956 35. 1956 - 57 Oh, Meni Oh, Women1 Edward Chodorov October 10, 11, 12, 13, 1956 The Time of Your Life William Saroyan December 6, 7, 8, 1956 The Desperate Hours Joseph Hayes February 7, 8, 9, 1957 Two short plays Riders to the Sea John Millington Synge March 21, LysistraEa Aristophanes 22, 23, 1957 The Teahouse of the John Patrick May 8, 9, 10 August Moon 11, 1957 The Orphans or Adolphe D'Ennery and August 8, 9, Adrift on tEe Eugene Cormon 10, 15, 16, Streets of Paris 17, 1957 36. 1957 - 58 Front Page Ben Hecht and October 17, Charles MacArthur 18, 19, 1957 Bernardine Mary Chase November 20, 21, 22, 23, 1957 The Corn is Green Emlyn Williams February 6, 7, 8, 1958 Janus Carolyn Green March 20, 21, 22, 1958 166 1957 - 58 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Desk Set William Marchant May 8, 9, 10, 1958 Lechery in Left Hand Tom Murphy July 18, 19, or Tne Rail Must 25, 26, 1958 Go Through Janus Carolyn Green August 8, 9, 10, 1958 37. 1958 - 59 Visit to a Small Planet Gore Vidal October 2, 3 4, 1958 Papa Is All Patterson Greene October 30, 31; November 1, 1958 Arms and the Man George Bernard Shaw December 11, 12, 13, 1958 Witness for the Agatha Christie February 13, Prosecution 14, 20, 21, 1959 Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller April 3, 4, 10, 11, 1959 No Time for Sergeants Ira Levin May 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1959 Under the Gaslight Augustin Daly July llr 12, 18, 19, 1959 38. 1959 - 60 Say, Darling Richard Bissell, Abe October 2, 3, Burrows, and 9, 10, 1959 Marian Bissell Speaking of Murder Audrey and William Roos November 4, 5, 6, 7, 1959 Peter Pan James M. Barrie December 10, 11, 12, 13, 1959 167 1959 - 60 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Inherit the-Wind Jerome Lawrence and January 22, Robert E. Lee 23, 29, 30, 1960 The Fifth Season Sylia Regan March 11, 12, 18, 19, 1960 Auntie Maine Jerome Lawrence and May 6, 7, 8, Robert E. Lee 14, 15, 1960 39. 1960 - 61 Of Thee I Sing George Kaufman, Morris October 7, 8, Ryskind, George 14, 15, 21, Gershwin, and Ira 22, 1960 Gershwin Two for the Seesaw William Gibson December 30, 31; January 6, 7, 13, 14, 1961 Detective Story Sidney Kingsley February 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 1961 The Women Clare Boothe March 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 1961 Look Homeward, Angel Ketti Frings April 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 1961 Operation Mad Ball Arthur P. Carter May 12, 13, 19, 20, 1961 Secret Service William Gillette August 24, 25, 26, 31; Sep tember 1, 2, 1961 40. 1961 - 62 Born Yesterday Garson Kanin October 6, 7, 13, 14, 1961 Summer and Smoke Tennessee Williams November 24, 25; December 1, 2, 1961 166 1961 - 62 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Abe Lincoln in Robert Sherwood February 16, Illinois 17, 22, 23, 24, 1962 The Marriage-Go-Round Leslie Stevens March 30, 31> April 5, 6, 7, 1962 Dark of the Moon Howard Richardson and May 11, 12, 18 William Berney 19, 1962 Life with Father Howard Lindsay and August 31; Russell Crouse September 1, 2, 3, 1962 41. 1962 - 63 Critic’s Choice Ira Levin October 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 1962 Darkness at Noon Sidney Kingsley November 23, 24, 30; December 1, 2, 1962 The Visit Friedrich Duerrenmatt January 18, 19, 25, 26, 27, 1963 The Seven Year Itch George Axelrod March 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 1963 Come Blow Your Horn Neil Simon April 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 1963 The Anvil Julia Davis May 3, 4, 5, 1963 The Rivals Richard B. Sheridan September 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1963 42. 1963 - 64 Thurber Carnival James Thurber October 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 1963 169 1963 - 64 (continued) PLAY PRODUCTION DATE Picnic William Inge November 23, 28, 29, 30; December 1, 1963 The Girls in 509 Howard Teichmann January 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 1964 The Lark Jean Anouilh March 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 1964 The Diary of Anne Frank Frances Goodrich and May 1, 2, 7, Albert Hackett 8, 9, 1964 Androcles and the Lion George Bernard Shaw August 28, 29; Septem ber 4, 5, 1964 43. *964 - 65 High Tor Maxwell Anderson October 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 1964 Desire Under the Elms Eugene O'Neill November 27, 28; December 4, 5, 1964 Photo Finish Peter Ustinov January 15, 16, 22, 23, 1965 Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw March 5, 6, 12, 13, 1965 The Madwoman of Jean Giraudoux April 30; May “"chailloF----- I, 7, 8, 1965 You Can’t Take It Moss Hart and September 10, With You George S. Kaufman II, 17, 18, 1965 44• 1965 - 66 The Caine Mutiny Court Herman Wouk October 15, Martial 16, 22, 23, 1965 170 1965 - 66 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Never Too Late Sumner Arthur Long December 3, 4, 10, 11, 1965 Cat On a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams January 28, 29; February 4, 5, 1966 Bus Stop William Inge March 11, 12, 18, 19, 1966 Anastasia Guy Bolton April 29, 30; May 6, 7, 1966 Arsenic and Old Lace Joseph Kesselrlng August 19, 20, 26, 27, 1966 45. 1966 - 67 A Streetcar Named Tennessee Williams September 30; Desire October 1, 7, 8, 1966 The Rainmaker N. Richard Nash November 25, 26; December 2, 3, 1966 Any Wednesday Muriel Resnick January 27, 28; February 3, 4, 1967 The Country Girl Clifford Odets March 10, 11, 17, 18, 1967 Take Her, She's Mine Phoebe and Henry May 12, 13, Ephron 19, 20, 1967 Mr. Roberts Thomas Higgen and August 24, 25, Joshua Logan 26, 27, 1967 46. 1967 - 68 Mary, Mary Jean Kerr October 13, 14, 20, 21, 1967 A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry December 8, 9, 15, 16, 1967 171 1967 - 68 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION DATE Barefoot in the Park Neil Simon January 26, 27; February 2-, 3, 1968 Who’s Afraid of Edward Albee March 1, 2, Virginia Woolf? 8, 9, 1968 A Thousand Clowns Herb Gardner April 19, 20, 26, 27, 1968 A Funny Thing Happened Burt Shevelove, Larry July 12, 13, On the Way to the Gilbart, Stephen 19, 20, 1968 Forum Sondheim 47. 1968 - 69 The Best Man Gore Vidal October 11, 12, 18, 19, 1968 The Odd Couple Neil Simon November 29, 30; December 6, 7, 1968 Little Mary Sunshine Rich Besoyan January 31; February 1, 7, 8, 1969 A View from the Bridge Arthur Miller March 21, 22, 28, 29, 1969 The Pleasure of His Samuel Taylor and May 16, 17, Company Cornellia Otis Skinner 23, 24, 1969 48. 1969 - 70 Hay Fever Noel Coward October 10, 11, 17, 18, 1969 Everything in the Edward Albee November 28, Garden 29; December 5, 6, 1969 Don’t Drink the Water Woody Allen January 23, 24; February 3, 4, 1970 172 1969 - 70 (continued) PLAY AUTHOR PRODUCTION PÂTE The Little Foxes Lillian Heilman March 13, 14, 20, 21, 1970 Harvey Mary Chase May 8, 9, 15, 16, 1970 Fantastics Tom Jones July 8, 9, 10, 1970 49• *970 - 71 Cactus Flower Abe Burrows October 15, 16, 17, 1970 The Lion in Winter James Goldman December 10, 11, 12, 1970 The Killing of Sister Frank Marcus January 28, George 29, 30, 1971 Marat-Sade Peter Weiss March 11, 12, 13, 1971 U. §.• John Dos Passos and May 20, 21, Paul Shyre 22, 1971 50• 1971 - 72 Our Town Thornton Wilder October 14, 15, 16, 1971 The Miracle Worker William Gibson December 2, 3, 4, 1971 School for Scandal Richard Sheridan February 3, 4, 5, 1972 The Owl and the Bill Manhoff March 9, 10, Pussycat 11, 1972 The Prime of Miss Jay Presson Allen April 20, 21, Jean Brodie and Muriel Spark 22, 1972 173 APPENDIX B Alphabetical Listing of Plays Produced by the Kanawha Players of Charleston, West Virginia from 1922 to 1972 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Abe Lincoln in Illinois Robert E. Sherwood 1961-62 (40) Accent On Youth Samson Raphaelson 1950-51 (29) A Funny Thing Happened Burt Shevelove, Larry 1967-68 (46) On the Way to the Gilbart, Stephen Forum Sondheim Ah, Wilderness Eugene O'Neill 1939-40 (18) Anastasia Guy Bolton 1965-66 (44) Androcles and the Lion George Bernard Shaw 1963-64 (42) Angel Street Patrick Hamilton 1949-50 (28) An Inspector Calls J. B. Priestley 1954-55 (33) Anvil, The Julia Davis 1962-63 (41) Any Wednesday Muriel Resnick 1966-67 (45) Arms and the Man George Bernard Shaw 1958-59 (37) Arsenic and Old Lace Joseph Kesselring 1942-43 (21) 1965-66 (44) As Husbands Go Rachel Crothers 1933-34 (12) Auntie Marne Jerome Lawrence and 1959-60 (38) Robert E. Lee Bad Man, The Porter Emerson Browne 1927-28 (6) 11 ' '■ - ". Barefoot in the Park Nell Simon 1967-68 (46) Bell, Book and Candle John van Druten 1952-53 (31) Belle, The Typewriter Bernard F. Moore 1936-37 (15) Girl Bernardine Mary Chase 1957-58 (36) Bertha, The Beautiful Charles George 1951-52 (30) Typewriter Girl 1953-54 (32) 174 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Best Man, The Gore Vidal 1968-69 (47) Bird In Hand John Drinkwater 1930-31 (9) Blind Alley James Warwick 1939-40 (18) Blithe Spirit Noel Coward 1945-46 (24) 1950-51 (29) Born Yesterday Garson Kanin 1949- 50 (28) 1950- 51 (29) 1961-62 (40) Boy Meets Girl Bella and Samuel 1937-38 (16) Spewack 1949-50 (28) Broadway George Abbott and 1930-31 (9) Philip Dunning Bus Stop William Inge 1965-66 (44) But Not Goodbye George Seaton 1947-48 (26) Butter and Egg Man, The George S. Kaufman 1928-29 (7) Cactus Flower Abe Burrows 1970-71 (49) Caine Mutiny Court- Herman Wouk 1965-66 (44) Martial, The Candida George Bernard Shaw 1930-31 (9) Candle-Light P. G. Wodehouse 1935-36 (14) Captain Applejack Walter Hackett 1927-28 (6) Williams 1965-66 (44) C.a t O* 1 n •aLu Hot T•»«■i' nI •» Roof• Tennessee Ceiling Zero Frank Wead 1937-38 (16) Charley’s Aunt Brandon Thomas 1940-41 (19) Charm John Kirkpatrick 1928-29 (7) Children of the Moon Martin Flavin 1929-30 (8) Claudia Rose Franken 1942-43 (21) Come Blow Your Horn Neil Simon 1962-63 (41) Command Decision William Wister Haines 1951-52 (30) 175 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Constant Wife, The W. Somerset Maugham 1928-29 (7) Corn Is Green, The Emlyn Williams 1957-58 (36) Country Girl, The Clifford Odets 1966-67 (45) Craig’s Wife George Kelly 1927-28 (6) Critic’s Choice Ira Levin 1962-63 (41) Curse of An Aching Herbert Swayne 1952-53 (31) Heart Cyrano de Bergerac Edmund Rostand 1945-46 (24) Dark Eyes Elena Miramova and 1944-45 (23) Eugenie Leontovich Darkness at Noon Sidney Kingsley 1962-63 (41) Dark of the Moon Howard Richardson and 1961-62 (40) William Berney Dear Ruth Norman Krasna 1947-48 (26) Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller 1958-59 (37) Desire Under the Elms Eugene O'Neill 1964-65 (43) Desk Set, The William Marchant 1957-58 (36) Desperate Hours, The Joseph Hayes 1956-57 (35) Detective Story Sidney Kingsley 1960-61 (39) Dial "M" for Murder Frederick Knott 1955-56 (34) Diary of Anne Frank, The Frances Goodrich and 1963-64 (42) Albert Hackett Distaff Side, The John van Druten 1934-35 (13) Don’t Drink the Water Woody Allen 1969-70 (48) Dover Road, The A. A. Milne 1923-24 (2) Dream Girl Elmer Rice 1949-50 (28) Dr. Knock Jules Romain 1929-30 (8) Drunkard, The W. H. Smith 1944-45 (23) 176 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Dulcy George S. Kaufman 1925-26 (4) Marc Connelly Elizabeth the Queen Maxwell Anderson 1937-38 (16) Enter Madam Gilda Varesi and 1922-23 (1) Dolly Byrne Everything in the Garden Edward Albee 1969-70 (48) Expressing Willie Rachel Crothers 1926-27 (5) Fantastics, The Tom Jones 1969-70 (48) Fashion Anna Cora Mowatt 1934-35 (13) Fifth Season, The Sylvia Regan 1959-60 (38) First Lady George S. Kaufman 1938-39 (17) and Katharine Dayton First Mrs. Fraser St. John G. Ervine 1931-32 (10) First Year, The Frank Craven 1928-29 (7) For Love or Money F. Hugh Herbert 1950-51 (29) Front Page, The Ben Hecht, and 1957-58 (36) Charles MacArthur Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos and John 1927-28 (6) Emerson George and Margaret Gerald Savory 1937-38 (16) George Washington Slept George S. Kaufman, 1941-42 (20) Here Moss Hart Ghost Train, The Arnold Ridley 1932-33 (11) Girls in 509, The Howard Teichmann 1963-64 (42) Glad Tidings Edward Mabley 1952-53 (31) Glass Menagerie, The Tennessee Williams 1951-52 (30) Good-By Again Allan Scott and 1942-43 (21) George Haight Goodbye, My Fancy Fay Kanin 1951-52 (30) 177 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Good Hope, The Herman Heijermans 1931-32 (10) Grumpy Horace Hodges and 1925-26 (4) T. Wigney Percival Guardsman, The Franz Molnar 1940-41 (19) Harvey Mary Chase 1953-54 (32) 1969-70 (48) Hasty Heart, The John Patrick 1946-47 (25) Hay Fever Noel Coward 1933-34 (12) 1969-70 (48) Heaven Can Wait Harry Segall 1942-43 (21) (Here Comes Mr. Jordan) 1949-50 (28) Heiress, The Ruth add Augustus 1950-51 (29) Goetz Her Husband's Wife A. E. Thomas 1923-24 (2) High Road, The Frederick Lonsdale 1929-30 (8) High Tor Maxwell Anderson 1964-65 (43) Importance of Being Oscar Wilde 1947-48 (26) Earnest, The 1954-55 (33) Inherit the Wind Jerome Lawrence and 1959-60 (38) Robert E. Lee In the Next Room Eleanor Robson and 1930-31 (9) Harriet Ford I Remember Mama John van Druten 1951-52 (30) Janie Josephine Bentham and 1944-45 (23) Herschel Williams Janus Carolyn Green 1957-58 (36) John Loves Mary Norman Krasna 1947-48 (26) June Moon George S. Kaufman and 1931-32 (10) Ring Lardner Junior Miss Jerome Chodorov and 1943-44 (22) Joseph Fields 178 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Killing of Sister Frank Marcus 1970-71 (49) George, The Kind Lady Edward Chodorov 1936-37 (15) Kindling Charles Kenyon 1926-27 (5) King of Hearts Jean Kerr and 1955-56 (34) Eleanor Brooks Kiss and Tell F. Hugh Herbert 1945-46 (24) Ladies In Retirement Reginald Denham and 1940-41 (19) Edward Percy 1950-51 (29) Ladies of the Jury Fred Ballard 1930-31 (9) Land Is Bright, The George S. Kaufman and 1943-33 (22) Edna Ferber Lark, The Jean Anouilh 1963-64 (42) Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Frederick Lonsdale 1928-29 (7) The Late Christopher Bean, Sidney Howard 1935-36 (13) The Laura Vera Caspary and 1946-47 (25) George Sklar Lechery in Left Hand Tom Murphy 1957-58 (36) Let Us Be Gay Rachel Crothers 1932-33 (11) Life with Father Howard Lindsay and 1961-62 (40) Russel Crouse Life with Mother Howard Lindsay and 1949-50 (28) Russel Crouse Light Up the Sky Moss Hart 1949-50 (28) 1953-54 (32) Lion in Winter, The James Goldman 1970-71 (49) Little Foxes, The Lillian Heilman 1969-70 (48) Little Mary Sunshine Rich Besoyan 1968-69 (47) Look Homeward, Angel Ketti Frings 1960-61 (39) 179 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Loose Ankles Sam Janney 1929-30 (8) Louder, Please Norman Krasna 1935-36 (14) Love 'Em and Leave 'Em George Abbott and 1927-28 (6) John V. A. Weaver Love Rides the Rails Morland Cary 1942-43 (21) Mad Hopes, The Romney Brent 1934-35 (13) Madwoman of Chaillot, Jean Giraudoux 1952-53 (31) The 1964-65 (43) Male Animal, The James Thurber and 1940-41 (19) Elliott Nugent 1954-55 (33) Man Who Came to Dinner, George S. Kaufman 1941-42 (20) and Moss Hart Marat/Sade Peter Weiss 1970-71 (49) Margin for Error Clare Boothe 1940-41 (19) Marriage-Go-Round, The Leslie Stevens 1961-62 (40) Mary, Mary Jean Kerr 1967-68 (46) Meet My Sister Harry W. Gribble 1939-40 (18) Meet the Wife Lynn Sterling 1929-30 (8) Men Must Fight Reginald Lawrence and 1936-37 (15) S. K. Lauren Merry Go Round, The Albert Maltz and 1933-34 (12) George Sklar Merry Wives of Windsor, William Shakespeare 1930-31 (9) The Merton of the Movies George S. Kaufman and 1927-28 (6) Marc Connelly Midsummer Night's William Shakespeare 1932-33 (ID Dream Milky Way, The Lynn Root and Harry 1936-37 (15) Clark Miracle Worker, The William Gibson 1971-72 (50) Mr. and Mrs. North Owen Davis 1941-42 (20) 180 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Mr. Pim Passes By A* A* Milne 1922-23 (1) Mr. Roberts Thomas Heggen and 1952-53 (31) Joshua Logan 1966-67 (45) Mrs. Moonlight Benn W. Levy 1934-35 (13) Murder Without Crime J. Lee Thompson 1945-46 (24) My Sister Eileen Joseph A. Fields and 1943-44 (22) Jerome Chodorov 1947-48 (26) My Three Angels Samuel and Bella 1954-55 (33, Spewack Never Too Late Sumner Arthur Long 1965-66 (44) Night Must Fall Emlyn Williams 1938-39 (17) 1953-54 (32) Night of January 16th, Ayn Rand 1937-38 (16, The 1948-49 (27) Nine Pine Street John Colton and 1942-43 (21) Carleton Miles No Time for Sergeants Ira Levin 1958-59 (37, Odd couple, The Neil Simon 1968-69 (47) Of Thee I Sing George S. Kaufman, 1960-61 (39, Morrie Ryskind and George and Ira Gershwin Oh, Menl Oh, Women 1 Edward Chodorov 1956-57 (35) Old Maid, The Zoe Akins 1944-45 (23) On Borrowed Time Paul Osborn 1945-46 (24) Once In a Lifetime George S. Kaufman 1931-32 (10, and Moss Hart Operation Mad Ball Arthur Carter 1960-61 (39) Orphans, The Adolphe D'Ennery and 1956-57 (35) Eugene Cormon Our Town Thornton Wilder 1938-39 (17) 1946-47 (25, 1971-72 (50) 181 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Out of the Frying Pan Francis Swann 1941-42 (20) 1950-51 (29) Outward Bound Sutton Vane 1928-29 (7) 1939-40 (18) Over Twenty-One Ruth Gordon 1946-47 (25) Owl and the Pussycat, Bill Manhoff 1971-72 (50) ““The ------ Pair of Sixes, A Edward Peple 1927-28 (6) Papa Is All Patterson Greene 1943-44 (22) 1958-59 (37) Parade Marianne Waters 1953-54 (32) Paris Bound Philip Barry 1930-31 (9) Peg 0* My Heart J. Hartley Manners 1925-26 (4) The Perfect Alibi A. A. Milne 1934-35 (13) Personal Appearance Lawrence Riley 1936-37 (15) 1947-48 (26) Peter Pan J. M. Barrie 1959-60 (38) Petrified Forest, The Robert E. Sherwood 1950-51 (29) Petticoat Fever Mark Reed 1947-48 (26) Philadelphia Story, Philip Barry 1943-44 (22) The Photo Finish Peter Ustinov 1964-65 (43) Picnic William Inge 1963-64 (42) Pigeon, The John Galsworthy 1923-24 (2) Play's the Thing» The Ferenc,Molnar 1931-32 (10) Pleasure of His Company, Samuel Taylor and 1968-69 (47, The Cornellia Otis Skinner Polly with a Past George Middleton and 1924-25 (3) Guy Bolton Pomeroy's Past Clare Kummer 1928-29 (7) 182 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Post Road Wilbur Steele and 1935-36 (14) Norma Mitchell Pride and Prejudice Helen Jerome 1941-42 (20) Prime of Miss Jean Jay Presson Allen 1971-72 (50) ““Brodie,“The ana Muriel Spark Private Lives Noel Coward 1932-33 (11) Prunella Laurence Housman and 1922-23 (1) Granville Barker Pursuit of Happiness, Lawrence Langer and 1936-37 (15) The Arinina Marshall Langer 1943-44 (22) Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw 1949-50 (28) 1964-65 (43) Rainmaker, The N. Richard Nash 1966-67 (45) Raisin in the Sun, A Lorraine Hansberry 1967-68 (46) Rebound Donald Ogden Stewart 1932-33 (11) Remarkable Mr. Penny- Liam O'Brien 1954-55 (33) packer, The Rivals, The Richard B. Sheridan 1962-63 (41) Road to Rome, The Robert E. Sherwood 1929-30 (8) Rollo's Wild Oats Clara Kummer 1923-24 (2) Room Service John Murray and 1945-46 (24) Allen Boretz Rope's End Patrick Hamilton 1941-42 (20) Royal Family, The George S. Kaufman and 1929-30 (8) Edna Ferber Say, Darling Richard Bissell, 1959-60 (38) Abe Burrows and Marian Bissell School for Scandal Richard B. Sheridan 1932-33 (11) 1971-72 (50) Second Man, The S, N. Behrman 1933-34 (12) 183 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Secret Service William Gillette 1960-61 (39) See How They Run Philip King 1950-51 (29) Seven Keys to Baldpate George M. Cohan 1926-27 (5) Seventh Heaven Austin Strong 1926-27 (5) Seven Year Itch, The George Axelrod 1962-63 (41) Shining Hour, The Keith Winter 1935-36 (14) Show-Off, The George Kelly 1926-27 (5) Silver Cord, The Sidney Howard 1928-29 (7) Skin of Our Teeth, The Thornton Wilder 1955-56 (34) Smilin' Through Allan L. Martin 1923-24 (2) Snafu Louis Solomon and 1946-47 (25) Harold Buchman Solid Gold Cadillac, George S. Kaufman and 1955-56 (34) The Howard Teichmann Speaking of Murder Audrey and William 1959-60 (38) Roos Spider, The Fulton Oursler and 1933-34 (12) Lowell Brentano Stage Door George S. Kaufman and 1938-39 (17) Edna Ferber Stalag 17 Donald Bevan and 1953-54 (32) Edmund Trzcinski State of the Union Howard Lindsay and 1950-51 (29, Russell Crouse Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams 1966-67 (45) A Successful Calamity, A Clare Kummer 1922-23 (1) Summer and Smoke Tennessee William 1961-62 (40) Susan and God Rachel Crothers 1939-40 (18) Swan, The Ferenc Molnar 1930-31 (9) 184 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Take Her, She's Mine Phoebe and Henry 1966-67 (45) Ephron Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare 1955-56 (34) Teahouse of the August John Patrick 1956-57 (35) Moon, The Ten Little Indians Agatha Christie 1946-47 (25) Ten Nights In a William W. Pratt 1932-33 (ID Bar-Room 1954-55 (33) There's Always Juliet John van Druten 1932-33 (ID They Knew What They Sidney Howard 1949-50 (28) “HSanEea Thousand Clowns, A Herb Gardner 1967-68 (46) Three-Cornered Moon Gertrude Tonkonogy 1935-36 (14) Three Men On a Horse John C. Holm and 1940-41 (19) George Abbott 1943-44 (22) Three's a Family Phoebe and Henry 1944-45 (23) Ephron Thurber Carnival, A James Thurber 1963-64 (42) Time of Your Life, William Saroyan 1956-57 (35, Torch-Bearers, The George Kelly 1950-51 (29) To the Ladies George S. Kaufman and 1925-26 (4) Marc Connelly Trelawny of the Arthur Wing Pinero 1931-32 (10) "Wils” Trial of Mary Dugan, Bayard Veiller 1935-36 (14) The Truth, The Clyde Fitch 1924-25 (3) Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 1931-32 (10) Twentieth Century Ben Hecht and 1952-53 (31) Charles MacArthur 185 PLAY AUTHOR SEASON Two Blind Mice Samuel Spewack 1949-50 (28) Two for the Seesaw William Gibson 1960-61 (39) Uncle Barry Thomas Job 1944-45 (23) Under the Gaslight Augustin Daly 1955-56 (34) 1958-59 (37, U. S. A. John Dos Passos and 1970-71 (49) Paul Shyre View from the Bridge, A Arthur Miller 1968-69 (47) Vinegar Tree, The Paul Osborn 1949-50 (28, Visit, The Friedrich Duerrenmatt 1962-63 (41) Visit to a Small Gore Vidal 1958-59 (37) Planet Voice of the Turtle, John van Druten 1949-S0 (28) The What Every Woman Knows J. M. Barrie 1931-32 (10) Whole Town's Talking, John Emerson and 1926-27 (5) The Anita Loos Who's Afraid of Edward Albee 1967-68 (46) Virginia Woolf’? winterest Maxwell Anderson 1938-39 (17) Witch, The H. weirs Jenssen 1929-30 (8) Witness for the Agatha Christie 1958-59 (37) “Prosecution Women, The Clare Boothe 1960-61 (39, Would-Be Gentleman, Moliere 1947-48 (26) . The'"' ' Yes, My Darling Mark Reed 1937-38 (16) “Daughter 1950-51 (29) You and I Philip Barry 1925-26 (4) You Can't Take It George S. Kaufman 1939-40 (18) “^iUfYou---- and Moss Hart 1964-65 (43) 186 ONE-ACT PLAYS PLAY AUTHOR SEASON As Z Remember You Sada Cowan 1924-25 (3) Finders Keepers George Kelly 1925-26 (4) Fumed Oak Noel Coward 1938-39 (17) 1950-51 (29) Glory of the Morning William E. Leonard 1922-23 (1) Hands Across the Sea Noel Coward 1937-38 (17) Hello Out There William Saroyan 1950-51 (29) Hop 0 Me Thumb George R. Sims 1922-23 (1) Lysistrata Aristophanes 1956-57 (35) Mayor and the George Ade 1924-25 (3) Manicure, The Neighbours, The Zona Gale 1922-23 (1) Night At An Inn Lord Dunfee 1925-26 (4) Overtones Alice Gerstenberg] 1922-23 (1) Riders to the Sea John Millington Synge 1956-57 (35) Suppressed Desires Susan Glaspell and 1925-26 (4) George C. Cook Their Husbands Alice Gerstenberg 1924-25 (3) Twelve Pound Look, J. M. Berrie 1922-23 (1) The Ways and Means Noel Coward 1937-38 (17) 1950-51 (29) Will O' The Wisp Doris F. Halraan 1922-23 (1) 187 APPENDIX c BY-LAWS OF KANAWHA PLAYERS, INC., A CORPORATION REVISED 1967 ARTICLE I Name The name of this organization shall be Kanawha Players, Inc. ARTICLE II Aims and Objectives The aims and objectives of this organization shall be to promote and offer public entertainment through theatrical exhibition in all its forms, including dramatic, musical, in struction sessions, theatre generally, on a non-profit basis. ARTICLE III Members Section 1. Membership. The membership of this organi zation shall include all persons holding season tickets and other persons actively participating in the productions as from time to time may be designated by the Board of Directors and upon the payment of such dues as may be prescribed. Each member shall be entitled to one vote at all meetings of the organization. Section 2. Meetings, (a) A general meeting of the membership shall be held annually during September or October at the Chief office of the organization, or at such other place as the Board of Directors shall designate in Charleston, West Virginia for the purpose of hearing committee reports, discussing plans, and the transaction of such other business as may be brought before the meeting. Notice of the time and place of holding said meeting shall be given the members in writing or personally at least five (5) days prior thereto. Twelve (12) members shall constitute a quorum. (b) A general meeting of the membership shall also be held annually in April or May at a place described in (a) above for the purpose of electing Directors, receiving reports, and for the transaction of any other business authorized or required to be transacted by the members. Notice of the time and place of holding said meeting shall be given the members in writing or personally at least five (5) days prior thereto. Twelve (12) members shall constitute a quorum. 188 (c) The President may call a special meeting at any time and place and shall do so upon the request in writing of at least five (5) active members in good standing. Written notice of such meeting shall be given the members at least five (5) days prior thereto. ARTICLE IV Board of Directors Section 1. Number and Term of Office, (a) The management of this organization shall be vested in a Hoard of twelve (12) Directors. The term of six (6) members elected at the annual meeting of April, 1960 shall expire June 30, 1962, and the term of the six members elected at the annual meeting of April, 1961 shall expire June 30, 1963. The term of office of each succeed ing member of the Board of Directors shall be for two (2) years and no Director shall be qualified to hold office more than two (2) successive terms computed from the annual meeting election of April, 1958. (b) The immediate past president, if his term as a member of the Board has expired, shall be a member ex-officio of the Board, in an advisory capacity, only. Service in an advisory capacity shall not be counted as membership on the Board. (c) The President of the Junior Board shall be considered a voting member of the Board of Directors. Section 2. Election. The Board of Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of the organization from among nominations which shall be made by a nominating committee to be appointed by the President, and any other nominations which may be made from the floor. Section 3. Duties and Power. The Board of Directors shall have general charge and control of the affairs, funds, and property of the organization. It may employ a Director of productions and such other persons as it may deem necessary under such terras and conditions as it sees fit. It shall have the power and authority to fill any and all vacancies caused by death, resignation or otherwise, and members so elected shall complete the original term of office* Failure to attend three (3) consecutive meetings of the Board without a satis factory excuse may be considered as a resignation and the vacancy shall be filled as provided hereinbefore. Section 4. Meetings. The Board of Directors shall meet not less than once each month from September through May and at such other times as called by the President. Six (6) members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. 189 ARTICLE V Officers Section 1. Personnel. The Board of Directors shall elect from its members a President, one or more Vice-Presidents, a Secretary and a Treasurer, which election shall be held annually in the month of April subsequent to the annual meeting of the membership as hereinbefore provided. Section 2. Powers. The powers and duties of the officers shall be as follows: (a) President. The President shall be the executive officer ofthe organization and shall preside at all general meetings and Board meetings. He shall appoint any committee members not otherwise provided for. He shall have general supervision and direction of the organization's affairs, sub ject to the direction of the Board of Directors, and is author ized to sign, and to sign and acknowledge on behalf of the organization, and all instruments requiring the signature or the signature and acknowledgment of the organization. (b) Vice-President. The Vice-President (or the first Vice-Pre sident, if there be more than one) shall, in the ab sence of the President or due to his inability to act, perform all the duties and exercise all the powers and privileges of the President. (c) Secretary. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the members and the Board of Directors; shall keep and preserve all records, books and papers (not financial in character) of the organization; and, shall send notices of all general meetings and meetings of the Board of Directors and transfer to his successor all essential records at the close of his term of office. (d) Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the funds of the organization, shall receive and account for all monies and shall deposit the same to the creditof the organization in some bank of deposit. He shall pay, subject to the order of the Board of Directors, all bills, vouchers, and accounts and shall sign all checks and drafts drawn in the name of the organization or on its behalf. He shall keep full and accurate accounts and shall present financial state ments at meetings of the members and Board; and shall turn over to his successor all books and financial records. He shall furnish food and sufficient bond for the faithful per formance of his duties, unless waived by action of the Board of Directors. 190 ARTICLE VI Committees Section 1. Standing Committees and Their Duties. (a) Finance Committee. The Finance Committee shall be composed of the Treasurer, as chairman, and such other mem bers as shall be designated by the chairman. This committee shall have charge of the season ticket sale and of the raising of sufficient funds to carry on the activities of the organi zation. It shall prepare a budget for approval of the Board at its September meeting each year and shall advise the Board on matters relating to financing those activities. (b) Flays Committee. The Plays Committee shall include not less than one member of the Board of Directors and shall be responsible for play reading and recommendations for specific productions for approval by the Board, the casting of authorized productions and the procurement of books, the recruiting of acting personnel and the maintenance of a file of such personnel. (c) Production Committee. The Production Committee shall include not less than one member of the Board of Directors and shall be responsible for set construction, properties, furnish ings, cosmetics, sound, lighting and make-up. (d) House Committee. The House Committee shall include not less than one member of the Board of Directors and shall be responsible for auditorium procurement, box office arrange ments, ushers, publicity, compiling of program material and the printing thereof, upkeep, maintenance and general super vision of the workshop and arrangements for special events. ARTICLE VII Junior Board of Directors The President shall appoint a Junior Board of Directors which, upon recommendation of the President of the retiring Junior Board, shall include not less than four (4) members of said retiring Junior Board. The Junior Board shall perform such duties as may be assigned to it by the Player's Board, and shall elect a President and such other officers as it deems necessary from its own membership. The President of the Junior Board shall sit, in a non-voting capacity, with the Player's Board. A member of the Player's Board shall be designated by the President of said Player's Board to sit, in a non-voting capacity, with the Junior Board. 191 ARTICLE VIII Amendments These by-laws may be amended or altered, in whole or in part, by the majority vote of the members of the Board of Directors at any of their meetings provided that the intent to amend the by-laws is included in the notification of the meeting.