Stratford Players Records, 1920-1983 *JMU Records*

Repository:

Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University

Creator:

Stratford Players

Title:

Stratford Players Records

Collection No.:

UA 0029

Date:

1920-1993

Extent:

5 boxes, 1.82 Cubic Feet

Language of the Material:

English

Abstract:

The Stratford Players Records is comprised of record books, scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, rehearsal scripts, programs and playbills, and copies of yearbook pages, documenting the activities of the Stratford Players (formerly known as the Stratford Literary Society and the Stratford Dramatic Club), from 1914-1983.

The Stratford Literary Society was formed in 1914 when members of the Lanier and Lee Literary Societies at the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg joined to form an organization dedicated to the dramatic arts. At the time of founding, the organization's primary focus was on reading theatrical works. In 1919, the Stratford Literary Society was reconstituted to form the Stratford Dramatic Club, or Sigma Delta Chi, and began to hold yearly performances at the New Virginia Theater in downtown Harrisonburg. On April 4, 1950, the group changed its name to Stratford Players.

The Stratford Players – and theater in general – was initially an extracurricular activity, supervised by faculty in the English department. However, when the Department of Speech and Drama was established in 1966, the Stratford Players came under the direction of theater faculty. In 1986, the Department of Theatre and Dance was formed in the College of Fine Arts, where the Stratford Players is now housed. Though the Stratford Players is not independent from the Department of Theatre and Dance, its membership is open to majors and non-majors alike, and members have a voice in play selection and budget decisions.

The Stratford Players have had many faculty advisors over the years, including: James C. Johnston (1919-1921), Ruth Hudson (1921-1965), Argus Tressider (1935-1939), Leland Shubert (1939-1943), Ainslee Harris (1944-1945), Dr. Mary E. Lattimer (1946-1960), James O. Link (1960-1964), Nancy O'Hare (1964), and Horace Burr (1965-1973). In 1973, Stratford Players leadership changed from a single advisor to a team of faculty, which in the early 1970s, included Allen Lyndrup, Thomas L. King, Pam Johnson, Phil S. Grayson and Roger Hall.

The Stratford Players Records is comprised of record books, scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, rehearsal scripts, and copies of yearbook pages, documenting the activities of the Stratford Players (formerly known as the Stratford Literary Society and the Stratford Dramatic Club), from 1914-1983.

The following plays are mentioned in the collection. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is advised to include a two-year margin of error when looking for information on a particular play. 1930 - BAB1931 - When Grandma Pulls the Strings, Modesty, 1932-1933 - The Blossoming of Mary Anne, The Charm School1936 - The Late Christopher Bean, Mrs. Pim Passes By1937-1938 - Danse Macabre, The Maker of Dreams, Lady Luck, The Silver Cord1938 - The Stolen Prince, My Lady Dreams, Rehearsal, The Torch Bearers, Every Woman1937-1938 - The Ninth Guest, Glee Plays the Game1939 - Sorority Phantom, I'll Leave it to You, The Fortune Teller1939-1940 - Ladies in Waiting, Our Town1940-1941 - Alls Well that Ends, What a Life, Love in the Curriculum1941-1942 - Ladies in Retirement, Stage Door, Madison Follies of 19421942-1943 - The Princess Marries the Page, Alice Sit by the Fire1944 - Brief Music1945 - The Romantic Young Lady1946 - The Clock, Lavender and Red Peppers, Shubert Alley1947 - Fortinbras in Plain Clothes, Kind Lady1948 - Ladies of the Jury, A Half Hour, Suppressed Desires, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, Theatre of the Soul, Thank you, Doctor1949 - Ice Bound, Taming of the Shrew1950 - Dear Brutus, Fashion1951 - Moor Born, Cheaper by the Dozen1952 - Night Must Fall, Blithe Spirit1953 - Taming of the Shrew, The Silver Whistle1954 - The Night of January 16th, I Remember Mama1955 - Suspect, Stage Door1956 - Summer House, Bernardino, Outward Bound1958 - Mary Stuart, Mary of Scotland, Arsenic and Old Lace, Theatre of the Soul, Chalk Garden1960 - Our Town, Mad Woman of Chaillot1961 - Diary of Anne Frank, Antigone, Summer and Smoke1962 - Skin of Our Teeth, Everyman, The Birds, The House of Bernarda Alba, 1963 - USA1964 - The Glass Menagerie, Measures Taken, Waiting for Godot, The Bald Soprano, The Maids1965 - Death Takes a Holiday1966 - Ways and Means1967 - Rashoman, Prelude to a Tragedy, The Male Animal, Barefoot in the Park, All's Well That Ends Well, Idiot's Delight1969 - Outward Bound, Three Sisters1970 - Odd Couple, The Mad Woman of Challoit, Good News, How Green was my 10%, Dark of the Moon, The Hairy Falsetto, Tonight at 8:301971 - The Taming of the Shrew, The Rivals, Stop the World I Want to Get Off, Private Lives, Ten Nights in a Barroom1972 - Lion in Winter, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Lysistrata, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running1973 - The Boys in the Band, Our Town, Anna Christie, Lovers and Other Strangers, Plaza Suite1974 - Cabaret, Blithe Spirit, Summer and Smoke, Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead1975 - King Lear, What the Butler Saw, The Drunkard, How to Succeed in Business without really Trying, Carnival, The Pursuit of Happiness, Pots, Pans, and the Piper, Hair, Comings and Goings1976 - The Pursuit of Happiness, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Captain Jones of the Horse Marines, The Diary of Adam and Eve, Apple Tree, Come Sweet Death, One Man's Vision of a Dream, Boccaccio, The Wonder Hat, Hot L Baltimore, Skiddaddle Tales, Guys and Dolls, Death of a Salesman, The Rainmaker, In Performance1977 - The Importance of Being Earnest, Woyzeck, Cinderella, A Delicate Balance, Twelfth Night, Endgame, Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Menachmi, Happy Birthday Wanda Jean,1978 - Heracles, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, La Perichole, Mouse Trap, Bus Stop, Fancies, The Runner Stumbles, The Empty Cradle, Loot, Bump in the Night, Bables, The Sanguinery Chasm, A Man for All Seasons, Scapino, La Ronde1979 - Of Mice and Men, Henry IV, Oklahoma, Down the Line, Fever1980 - Black Comedy, Man of La Mancha, The Chalk Garden, Punch Henry's Jazz Funeral, Pendragon1982-1983 - Macbeth, Marriage of Figaro, Knuckles, Bent, Shop Talk, Look Back in Anger, Out of the Reach of Children, Waiting for Godot, Taming of the Shrew, Lion in Winter, The Diviners, Comedy by Feiffer Allen, Living Fantasy, Bird Bath, Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler, Hay Fever, Wiley and the Hairy Man, Lone Star

The collection is arranged in two series:

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1920-1980

Series 2: Photographs, 1920-1982

Series are arranged chronologically.

Smith, August, "JMU Centennial Celebration – The Stratford Players," James Madison University Centennial Celebration: Madison Century 1908-2008. Accessed February 5, 2018. https://www.jmu.edu/centennialcelebration/stratford.shtml.

Theater and Dance APR Self-Study, October 1996," Box 8, Academic Affairs: Academic Program Reviews, 1976 - present (bulk 1992 - present), UA 0002, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.