THE LITTLE COUNTRY THEATER
With a knowledge of these basic facts in mind, as well as a personal acquaintance with hundreds of young men and women whose homes are in small communities and country districts, the idea of The Little Country Theater was conceived by the author. A careful study of hundreds and literally thousands of requests received from every section of the state, as well as of America and from many foreign countries, for suitable material for presentation on public programs and at public functions, showed the necessity of a country life laboratory to test out various kinds of programs.
The idea conceived became an actual reality when an old, dingy, dull-grey chapel on the second floor of the administration building at the North Dakota Agricultural College,located at Fargo, North Dakota, was remodeled into what is now known as “The Little Country Theater.” It was opened the tenth day of February in the year nineteen hundred and fourteen. In appearance it is most fascinating. It is simply a large playhouse put under a reducing glass. It is just the size of an average country town hall. It has a seating capacity of two hundred. The stage is thirty feet in width, twenty feet in depth, having a proscenium opening of ten feet in height and fifteen feet in width. There are no boxes and balconies. The decorations are plain and simple.
The color scheme is green and gold, the gold predominating. Three beams finished in golden oak cross the mansard ceiling, the beams projecting down several feet on each side wall, from which frosted light bowls and globes are suspended by brass log chains, the indirect lighting giving a soft and subdued tone to the whole theater. The eight large windows are hung with tasteful green draperies. The curtain is a tree-shade green velour. The birch-stained seats are broad and not crowded together.There is a place for a stereopticon and a moving picture machine. The scenery is simple and plain. Whenever possible, green curtains are used. Simplicity is the keynote of the theater. It is an example of what can be done with hundreds of village halls, unused portions of school houses, vacant country stores and basements of country churches in communities.
An Old Dingy, Dull-Grey Chapel on the Second Floor of the Administration Building was Remodeled Into What Is Now Known as The Little Country Theater
An Old Dingy, Dull-Grey Chapel on the Second Floor of the Administration Building was Remodeled Into What Is Now Known as The Little Country Theater
There are three unique features in connection with The Little Country Theater which deserve special mention—the tower, the attic or “hayloft,” and the package library system.
The tower is just to the right of the lower end of the stage. It, too, is plain and simple. It is used as a study and contains materials gathered from all over the world on the social side of country life.
The attic is to the left of the stage and up a flight of stairs. It was formerly an old garret. For over twenty years it was unused. It is the workshop of the theater and contains committee rooms, dressing rooms, a property room, a costume wardrobe, a small kitchen, and a dining room which will comfortably seatseventy-five persons. In many respects it corresponds to the basement of a community building, a church, or an addition tacked on to a village hall. It is often used for an exhibit hall or a scenic studio. In short, The Little Country Theater is a typical rural community center, a country-life laboratory. One significant feature about this experimental laboratory is that the birch-stained seats, the green curtains, the scenic effects, the stage properties, the five hundred costumes, the furniture, the dishes, and all the other necessities have been bought with funds taken in from entertainments and plays, thereby demonstrating that any community can do the same. Endowments in the country are always difficult to raise.
Twelve years ago a country school-teacher sent in a request for some program material. Three personal copies of plays were sent to her, one of which she staged. It was not very long before others heard where she secured her data and many inquiries followed. Out of this request, together with an acquaintance with an old, white-haired man who had just started a similar system at a leading western university,the package library idea came into existence. It is a sort of an intellectual rural free delivery. One might call it the backbone of The Little Country Theater. In order to understand thoroughly the importance of the service which the system renders it will be necessary to say something about the aim of the work, its scope, how the data is gathered, and the practical results already obtained.
The aim of the package library system is to vitalize all the sources of information which can be used for material for presentation on public programs. Its chief object is to make the schools, the churches, the homes, and the village or town halls, centers of community activity where men and women and their children, young and old, can meet just to talk over things, to find out the normal human life forces and life processes, and really to discover themselves.
The field of work is the state and its people. The scope of the service is broad. Any individual or group of people in the state can obtain program material simply by writing and asking for it.
In order to render the best aid possible, the system gathers data and information from reliable sources. Briefs upon subjects relating to country life, copies of festivals, pageants, plays, readings, dialogues, pictures of floats, parades, processions, exhibit arrangements, costume designs, character portrayals, plans of stages, auditoriums, open-air theaters, community buildings, constitutions of all kinds of organizations, catalogues of book publishers—in short, every kind of material necessary in building a program which will help people to express themselves—are loaned for reading purposes to citizens of the state. A few minutes’ talk with anybody interested in getting up programs in small communities will soon show the dearth of material along these lines.
In the years gone by, as well as in the present, the letters which come to the desk daily have told many an interesting story.
An energetic teacher in a country school in the northern part of the state sent for several copies of plays and play catalogues. None of the plays sent suited her. She decided to give an original play, “The Comedy.” Whenasked for a description of the staging of the original production, she sent the following letter, which is indicative of what people really can do in the country to find themselves.
“When I wrote to you about ‘The Comedy,’ I do not know what idea I gave you of it; perhaps not a very true one; so I am sending you a copy. The little song is one I learned from a victrola record, so the music may not be correct, but with a little originality, can be used. The little play has the quality of making the people expect something extraordinary, but when performed, the parts are funny, but still not funny enough to produce a ‘roar.’ They are remembered and spoken of long afterwards. Now around here we often hear parts spoken of. I enjoyed training the young people, and they were quite successful. I have found that every place I go people in the country enjoy the school programs very much and speak of them often. We wanted to take some pictures, but could not. The weather was so cloudy before and afterward that we could not take any, but may this Sunday afternoon. I wish I knew just what to write about or just what you wish to know. I liked our arrangements of lights. We only had lanterns. A dressing room was curtained off and the rest of the space clear. We hung four lanterns in a row, one below the other, and had one standing on the floor at the side opposite from thedressing room, and then one on the floor and one held by the man who pulled the curtain on the other side. This gave splendid light. There was no light near the audience except at the organ.“Hoping you will enjoy reading ‘The Comedy’ as much as we did playing and writing it, I am“Yours sincerely,“A. K.”
“When I wrote to you about ‘The Comedy,’ I do not know what idea I gave you of it; perhaps not a very true one; so I am sending you a copy. The little song is one I learned from a victrola record, so the music may not be correct, but with a little originality, can be used. The little play has the quality of making the people expect something extraordinary, but when performed, the parts are funny, but still not funny enough to produce a ‘roar.’ They are remembered and spoken of long afterwards. Now around here we often hear parts spoken of. I enjoyed training the young people, and they were quite successful. I have found that every place I go people in the country enjoy the school programs very much and speak of them often. We wanted to take some pictures, but could not. The weather was so cloudy before and afterward that we could not take any, but may this Sunday afternoon. I wish I knew just what to write about or just what you wish to know. I liked our arrangements of lights. We only had lanterns. A dressing room was curtained off and the rest of the space clear. We hung four lanterns in a row, one below the other, and had one standing on the floor at the side opposite from thedressing room, and then one on the floor and one held by the man who pulled the curtain on the other side. This gave splendid light. There was no light near the audience except at the organ.
“Hoping you will enjoy reading ‘The Comedy’ as much as we did playing and writing it, I am
“Yours sincerely,
“A. K.”
There is something very human about a letter when it solicits your personal help and suggestions. To quote from several of the thousands received will not only show the need for the package library, because of the scarcity of material in small towns and the country, but also give an insight into the mind of the people themselves.
“Barton, N. D., October 23, 1911.“Gentlemen:—Would you kindly send a copy of the following plays: Corner Store, The Deestrick Skule, Country Romance, Pa’s Picnic, A Rival by Request, School for Scandal, Tempest in a Tea-pot, Which is Which.“I wish to get up an entertainment in my school and wish you could help me select a play which would not require too much room and too many actors. Will return the ones I donot use immediately. Any favor which you may render will be greatly appreciated.“Very respectfully,“E. S.”
“Barton, N. D., October 23, 1911.
“Gentlemen:—Would you kindly send a copy of the following plays: Corner Store, The Deestrick Skule, Country Romance, Pa’s Picnic, A Rival by Request, School for Scandal, Tempest in a Tea-pot, Which is Which.
“I wish to get up an entertainment in my school and wish you could help me select a play which would not require too much room and too many actors. Will return the ones I donot use immediately. Any favor which you may render will be greatly appreciated.
“Very respectfully,
“E. S.”
“Gilby, N. D., Jan. 18, 1912.“Dear Sir:—“Will you please forward your list of amateur plays. We are about to stage the annual H. S. play, and find it rather difficult to select a play not too sentimental in characters. We would like one for 5-7 boys and 5-8 girls. Our hall is small with cramped stage room, and the scene must be quite simple. If you have any suggestions to offer or any sample play to forward for examination, will you kindly let us know as soon as possible.“Yours very truly,“E. F. L.”
“Gilby, N. D., Jan. 18, 1912.
“Dear Sir:—
“Will you please forward your list of amateur plays. We are about to stage the annual H. S. play, and find it rather difficult to select a play not too sentimental in characters. We would like one for 5-7 boys and 5-8 girls. Our hall is small with cramped stage room, and the scene must be quite simple. If you have any suggestions to offer or any sample play to forward for examination, will you kindly let us know as soon as possible.
“Yours very truly,
“E. F. L.”
Ross, N. D., Jan. 22, 1913.“Dear Sir:—“Enclosed find plays, also stamps to cover mailing expenses.“Please send me the following amateur plays: Exerbition of District Skule, Mock Trial, Scrap of Paper, Sugar and Cream. Please send also the following as listed under package libraries: Manual Training, School House as an Art Gallery, School House as a Social Center, Fireless Cooker.“Yours truly,“M. C.”
Ross, N. D., Jan. 22, 1913.
“Dear Sir:—
“Enclosed find plays, also stamps to cover mailing expenses.
“Please send me the following amateur plays: Exerbition of District Skule, Mock Trial, Scrap of Paper, Sugar and Cream. Please send also the following as listed under package libraries: Manual Training, School House as an Art Gallery, School House as a Social Center, Fireless Cooker.
“Yours truly,
“M. C.”
“Backoo, N. D., Jan. 24, 1914.“Dear Sir:—“I rec’d the packet of information on Country Life and will return it after our next meeting the 27th. Can you send me two or three dialogues suitable for a Literary Society in a rural district. We have 6 or 8 young ladies that might take part but very few young men. And will you suggest a few subjects for debate of interest and benefit to a country community.“Yours truly,“J. B. P.”
“Backoo, N. D., Jan. 24, 1914.
“Dear Sir:—
“I rec’d the packet of information on Country Life and will return it after our next meeting the 27th. Can you send me two or three dialogues suitable for a Literary Society in a rural district. We have 6 or 8 young ladies that might take part but very few young men. And will you suggest a few subjects for debate of interest and benefit to a country community.
“Yours truly,
“J. B. P.”
“Austin, N. D., Feb. 11, 1914.“Gentlemen:—“I should be very glad if you could send me a short play of say 30 or 45 minutes length as you mentioned in Nov. We are using the schoolhouse as a meeting place and so have not much room on the stage. Could use one requiring from 4 to 8 characters.“Yours truly,“H. W. B.”
“Austin, N. D., Feb. 11, 1914.
“Gentlemen:—
“I should be very glad if you could send me a short play of say 30 or 45 minutes length as you mentioned in Nov. We are using the schoolhouse as a meeting place and so have not much room on the stage. Could use one requiring from 4 to 8 characters.
“Yours truly,
“H. W. B.”
It Has a Seating Capacity of Two Hundred
It Has a Seating Capacity of Two Hundred
“Verona, N. D., Feb. 14, 1915.“Dear Mr. ⸺:“While to-day the blizzard rages outside—inside, thanks largely to yours and your department’s work, many of us will be felicitously occupied with the mental delights of literary preparation and participation. Our society is thriving splendidly. Last Friday another similarsociety was started in the country north of here. Went out and helped them organize. They named their club the Greenville Booster Club. Some of the leading lights are of the country’s most substantial farmers. Suggest that you send literature on club procedure to their program committee. This community, both town and country north, has for the past many years been the scene of much senseless strife over town matters, school matters, etc.“I believe the dawn of an era of good feeling is at hand. These get-together clubs are bound to greatly facilitate matters that way. At their next meeting I am on their debate and supposed to get up a paper to read on any topic I choose, besides. Now with carrying the mail, writing for our newspaper, practicing and singing with the M. E. choir, also our literary male quartet, to say nothing of debating and declaiming and writing for two literaries my time is all taken up. Could you find me something suitable for a reading?“Sincerely yours,“A. B.”
“Verona, N. D., Feb. 14, 1915.
“Dear Mr. ⸺:
“While to-day the blizzard rages outside—inside, thanks largely to yours and your department’s work, many of us will be felicitously occupied with the mental delights of literary preparation and participation. Our society is thriving splendidly. Last Friday another similarsociety was started in the country north of here. Went out and helped them organize. They named their club the Greenville Booster Club. Some of the leading lights are of the country’s most substantial farmers. Suggest that you send literature on club procedure to their program committee. This community, both town and country north, has for the past many years been the scene of much senseless strife over town matters, school matters, etc.
“I believe the dawn of an era of good feeling is at hand. These get-together clubs are bound to greatly facilitate matters that way. At their next meeting I am on their debate and supposed to get up a paper to read on any topic I choose, besides. Now with carrying the mail, writing for our newspaper, practicing and singing with the M. E. choir, also our literary male quartet, to say nothing of debating and declaiming and writing for two literaries my time is all taken up. Could you find me something suitable for a reading?
“Sincerely yours,
“A. B.”
“Regan, N. Dak., Nov. 30, 1917.“Mr. A. ⸺:“My sister sent to you for some plays which we are returning. We put on ‘The Lonelyville Social Club’ after ten days’ practice and cleared $39.10 in Regan and $93.00 when we played it last night in Wilton. It took welland we are much pleased with our effort. The proceeds go to the Red Cross.“Thanking you most sincerely, I am“V. C. P. (and the rest of the troop).”
“Regan, N. Dak., Nov. 30, 1917.
“Mr. A. ⸺:
“My sister sent to you for some plays which we are returning. We put on ‘The Lonelyville Social Club’ after ten days’ practice and cleared $39.10 in Regan and $93.00 when we played it last night in Wilton. It took welland we are much pleased with our effort. The proceeds go to the Red Cross.
“Thanking you most sincerely, I am
“V. C. P. (and the rest of the troop).”
“Hensel, N. D., Mar. 15, 1918.“Dear Friend:“I received the paint which you sent me. I thank you very much for it, it certainly came in handy. Do you need it back or if not how much does it cost? I would rather buy it if you can spare it.“The play was a success. We had a big crowd everywhere. Everybody seemed to like it. Some proclaimed it to be the best home talent play they had seen. We have played it four times. Whether we play more has not been decided.“Yours truly,“A. H.”
“Hensel, N. D., Mar. 15, 1918.
“Dear Friend:
“I received the paint which you sent me. I thank you very much for it, it certainly came in handy. Do you need it back or if not how much does it cost? I would rather buy it if you can spare it.
“The play was a success. We had a big crowd everywhere. Everybody seemed to like it. Some proclaimed it to be the best home talent play they had seen. We have played it four times. Whether we play more has not been decided.
“Yours truly,
“A. H.”
“Overly, N. D., Mar. 21, 1918.“Gentlemen:—“Have you any book from the library that would help with a Patriotic entertainment to be given in this community for the benefit of the Red Cross? If you can offer suggestions also, we will appreciate it.“Thanking you, I am, truly yours,“G. L. D.”
“Overly, N. D., Mar. 21, 1918.
“Gentlemen:—
“Have you any book from the library that would help with a Patriotic entertainment to be given in this community for the benefit of the Red Cross? If you can offer suggestions also, we will appreciate it.
“Thanking you, I am, truly yours,
“G. L. D.”
The Package Library System
The Package Library System
“Lansford, N. D., May 25, 1920.“Dear Mr. A.:“As a teacher in a rural school I gave a program at our school on last Saturday evening. We had an audience of about seventy-five people and they simply went wild over our program. Our school has an enrollment of four girls, being the only school in the county where only girls are enrolled and also the smallest school in the county. Our program lasted two hours and twenty minutes and was given by the four girls.“We have been asked to give our entertainment in the hall in Lansford. Now I want to ask you for a suggestion. Don’t you think that in a make-up for ‘grandmothers’ that blocking out teeth and also for making the face appear wrinkled’ would improve the parts in which grandmothers take part?“Would it be possible for you to send me the things necessary as I would like to get them as soon as possible and do not know where to send for them. If you can get them for me I shall send the money also postage, etc., as soon as I receive them.“Trusting that this will not inconvenience you greatly, I remain,“Very truly yours,“E. B.”
“Lansford, N. D., May 25, 1920.
“Dear Mr. A.:
“As a teacher in a rural school I gave a program at our school on last Saturday evening. We had an audience of about seventy-five people and they simply went wild over our program. Our school has an enrollment of four girls, being the only school in the county where only girls are enrolled and also the smallest school in the county. Our program lasted two hours and twenty minutes and was given by the four girls.
“We have been asked to give our entertainment in the hall in Lansford. Now I want to ask you for a suggestion. Don’t you think that in a make-up for ‘grandmothers’ that blocking out teeth and also for making the face appear wrinkled’ would improve the parts in which grandmothers take part?
“Would it be possible for you to send me the things necessary as I would like to get them as soon as possible and do not know where to send for them. If you can get them for me I shall send the money also postage, etc., as soon as I receive them.
“Trusting that this will not inconvenience you greatly, I remain,
“Very truly yours,
“E. B.”
It is not an uncommon occurrence to get a long distance call at eleven o’clock at nightfrom someone two or three hundred miles away, asking for information. Telegrams are a common thing. Conferences with people who come from different communities for advice are frequent. The tower, the attic, and the package library are an integral part of the theater.
The aim of The Little Country Theater is to produce such plays and exercises as can be easily staged in a country schoolhouse, the basement of a country church, the sitting room of a farm home, the village or town hall, or any place where people assemble for social betterment. Its principal function is to stimulate an interest in good clean drama and original entertainment among the people living in the open country and villages, in order to help them find themselves, that they may become better satisfied with the community in which they live. In other words, its real purpose is to use the drama and all that goes with the drama as a force in getting people together and acquainted with each other, in order that they may find out the hidden life forces of nature itself. Instead of making the drama a luxury for the classes, its aim is to make it an instrumentfor the enlightenment and enjoyment of the masses.
In a country town nothing attracts so much attention, proves so popular, pleases so many, or causes so much favorable comment as a home talent play. It is doubtful whether Sir Horace Plunkett ever appreciated the significance of the statement he once made when he said that the simplest piece of amateur acting or singing done in the village hall by one of the villagers would create more enthusiasm among his friends and neighbors than could be excited by the most consummate performance of a professional in a great theater where no one in the audience knew or cared for the performer. Nothing interests people in each other so much as habitually working together. It’s one way people find themselves. A home talent play not only affords such an opportunity, but it also unconsciously introduces a friendly feeling in a neighborhood. It develops a community spirit because it is something everybody wants to make a success, regardless of the local jealousies or differences of opinion. Whena country town develops a community consciousness, it satisfies its inhabitants.
The drama is a medium through which America must inevitably express its highest form of democracy. When it can be used as an instrument to get people to express themselves, in order that they may build up a bigger and better community life, it will have performed a real service to society. When the people who live in the small community and the country awaken to the possibilities which lie hidden in themselves through the impulse of a vitalized drama, they will not only be less eager to move to centers of population, but will also be a force in attracting city folks to dwell in the country. The monotony of country existence will change into a newer and broader life.
If The Little Country Theater can inspire people in country districts to do bigger things in order that they may find themselves, it will have performed its function. It is the Heart of a Prairie, dedicated to the expression of the emotions of country people everywhere and in all ages.