Bennington College History: Drama: Productions, Workshops, Lectures 1950-1959

1950

• Bennington College Drama Presents: Senior Projects Rigler, Ruth, director; Lambert, Paul, director; Arrick, Lawrence, director; Norton, Coe, director. Scenes from John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen; A Visitor to Blossom Week (an original script) by Frank Gregory; Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw; Hello from Bertha by Tennessee Williams. (1950-05-05) program

• Greek Project: Presenting Scenes from The Suppliants, Electra, and Alcestis Pavell, Barbara, stage manager; Maggin, Joan, assistant stage manager; Klein, Regina, costume designer. Senior Project by Joan Walls.(1950-05-08) program

• The Drama Department of Bennington College Presents an Original Play: Claude Ayer, Ethan; Sundgaard, Arnold, director; Norton, Coe, assistant; Nowak, Lionel, composer; Evans, Letitia, choreographer; Hyman, Charles, set designer; Lochhead, Suzanne, production manager; Rigler, Ruth, stage manager (1950-06-21) program | The Bennington Weekly p. 1

• Jack M. Stein, director of makeup for the M. Stein Cosmetic Company. Lecture and demonstration for dance and drama students on theatrical make up. (1950-10) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 7 p. 1 

• Five One Act Plays: The Picnic by Arnold Sundgaard, Cathleen ni Houlihan by William Butler Yeats,  The Anniversary by Anton Chekov, The Lover by Gregorio Martínez Sierra, and The Stronger by August Strindberg. (1950-11-01) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 4 p. 1 | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 9 review including photographs p.1

  • Productions also held at Troy High School in Troy, NY (1950-12-06) and General Stark Theatre in Bennington, VT (1950-12-12) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 13 p. 3

  • Touring productions, as part of UNESCO's International Theatre Month, were held in February and March of 1951. The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 15 p. 4 

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from Bury the Dead, The Petrified Forest, and Stage Door. Presented by the Junior acting class. (1950-11-13) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 9

• Drama Workshop: An original one-act play by Ruth Rigler; a reading of the new one-act play, Halloween: A Mask by Howard Nemerov; a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire (1950-11-20) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 11 review p. 3

• The Octet and Drama students provided the evening's entertainment Monday night for the Bennington Women's Club. Scenes from: Bury the Dead, A Sunday Afternoon, The Little Foxes and Petrified Forest.  (1950-11-20) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 11 p. 3

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from The Heiress by Henry James, The Flies by Jean Paul Sartre, The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca and The Young and Fair by Richard Nash. Performed by the Sophomore acting class. (1950-11-27) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 12  p. 3 | College Week 

1951

• Maurice Dumoncel. "Aspects of Contemporary French Theatre" lecture. (1951-03-26) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 17 p. 3 article

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets, Venus Observed by Christopher Fry, Thunder Rock by Robert Ardery and Once in a Lifetime by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (1951-04-01) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 18 article p. 1

• Richard Beckhard, co-author of Blueprint for Summer Theatre and former administration assistant for The American National Theatre and Academy will talk. (1951-04-09) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 18 p.1 article | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 19 p. 3 article

• Jennifer by Dorothea Harding. An original one-act play. (1951-04-11) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 19 p. 3 review

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from The Magic Circle by William J. Smith, Halloween by Howard Nemerov, and The Beach by Barbara Golffing (1951-04-30) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 22 p. 3

• Drama Senior Projects: Scenes in French and English from Martine by Jean Jacques Bernard; Queens of France by Thornton Wilder, and Hello, Out There by William Saroyan (1951-05-04) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 21 p. 3 | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 23  p. 3 review

• Drama Workshop: Wallace Fowlie will speak on Jean Cocteau. (1951-06-04) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 24 announcement | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 26 article

• Drama Workshop: Sophomore works in progress. Scenes from A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, Yes My Darling Daughter by William Keighley, Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill, Craig's Wife by George Kelly, and Yerma by Federico García Lorca. (1951-06-04) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 26 p. 24

• Anna Sophie Hedvig by by Kjeld Abell (1951-06-28) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 17 article on how the play was chosen | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 27  article with additional information about the production | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 1 No. 28 review

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from Over Twenty-One by Ruth Gordon, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Bernice Bobs Her Hair by D.D. Brooke. (1951-09-17) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 3 

• The Little Clay Cart (Mṛcchakaṭikā) by Shudraka. Three scenes were presented by the Bennington Drama Department. (1951-09- 27) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 4 review on p. 2 | The production coincided with a three day "Conference on India" described in an article on p. 1 of The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 1 

• Peace by Aristophanes presented by the freshman drama group on Commons Lawn with music by the Bennington Band under the direction of Gunnar Schonbeck. "A Feast celebrating the return of the Goddess, and of a bumper crop of apples will be held directly afterwards along with orgiastic rites" (1951-10-12) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 5 |  The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 7 review p. 3

• The Bennington College Drama Department Presents: A scene from Antigone and The Intellectual Ladies Anouilh, Jean; Molière; Fowlie, Wallace, translator; Alvin, Robert, director; Craig, Colin, assistant director; Keese, Carolyn, stage manager; Sherman, William, set designer; Marron, Renee, lighting designer; Lester, Eugene, composer (1951-11-08) program | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 3 | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 10 review p. 2 | ticket

• The R.P.I. Players present The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Commons Theatre. (1951-11-17)

• Faculty Variety Show. "Mr. Robert Alvin, drama instructor here, will direct the faculty thespians." (1951-11-23) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 10 

• Five Japanese Noh plays: The Damask Drum, Eboshi-ori by Miyamasu, Tsunemasa, Benkei on the Bridge by Hiyoshi Sa-ami, and Kantan. Presented by the freshman drama group. (1951-12-03) College Week | The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 11 

• Tomorrow I Hope by Dorothea Harding. (1951-12-06) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 12  p. 3 review by literature faculty member Catharine Osgood Foster.

• Drama Workshop. The one-act play Aria da Capo by Edna St. Vincent Millay and scenes from The Good Woman of Sutzuan by Berthold Brecht, Oedipus by John Dryden, Love for Love by William Congreve, School for Scandal by Richard Sheridan and Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill. (1951-12-11) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 No. 12 | College Week 

• Drama and Literature Seminar. Wallace Fowlie. "The French Theatre, 1941-51" (1951-12-17) College Week

1952

• Drama Workshop. The Putney School Theater presented George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion (1952-03-17) The Bennington Weekly Vol. 2 Number 15 

• Drama Production Seminar: Modern Experimentation and Its Application in the Theatre. College Week 

  • Morris Oliver "The Experimental Process and Its Scientific Origin"(1952-03-28)

  • Drama Faculty "Discussion of Naturalism and Realism" (1952-04-04)

  • Daniel Shapiro. "Expressionism in Art" (1952-04-11)

  • Howard Nemerov. "Family Reunion and T.S. Eliot" (1952-04-18)

  • William Sherman "Trends of the Physical Theatre" (1952-05-02)

  • Willliam "Bill" Bales and Ben Belitt. "Evolution of Modern Dance."  (1952-05-16)

  • Robert Alvin. "Directorial Approaches"(1952-05-23)

  • Wallace Fowlie. "Forms of Symbolism" (1952-05-30)

  • Alexander Dorner. "The Future of Art Today" (1952-06-06) College Week

  • John Holabird. "The Political Play" (1952-06-13)

• Volpone Jonson, Ben; Holabird, John, director. Presented by the member of the Introduction to Theatre class. (1952-04-18) program

• Bennington College Drama Department Presents: An Evening Workshop Senior Projects. Eliot, T. S.; O'Casey, Sean; Maggin, Joan, director; Sargent, Al, director; Hart, Mary Lynn, stage manager; Barry, Jackson, designer; Pavell, Barbara, stage manager; Blinder, Ethlyn, designer; Brown, Alice; Kelly, Barbara, stage manager. Family Reunion by T.S. Eliot, Joint Owners in Spain by Alice Brown, and Within the Gates by Sean O'Casey. (1952-04-25) program | College Week | ticket

• Bennington College Drama Presents: Senior Projects Rigler, Ruth, director; Lambert, Paul, director; Arrick, Lawrence, director; Norton, Coe, director. Scenes from John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen; A Visitor to Blossom Week (an original script) by Frank Gregory; Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw; Hello from Bertha by Tennessee Williams.  (1950-05-05) program

• Deirdre of the Sorrows by J. M. Synge. Presented by the Introduction to tho Theatre Class in the garden behind Jennings. (1952-06-06) College Week

• The Bennington College Drama Department Presents: Into Gentle Hands Senior Project. Miller, Dorothy Jayne; Sherman, William, technical director (1952-06-19) program | College Week 

• The Bennington College Drama Department Presents: Two scenes from Man and the Masses Senior Project. Toller, Ernst; Sherman, William, technical director (1952-06-19) program | College Week 

• The Bennington College Drama Department Presents: The third act of Dido and Aeneas and the first act of The Marriage of Figaro Purcell, Henry; Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Tanenbaum, Miriam, director; Chabay, Leslie, director; Sargent, Al, set designer; Smith, Frances, choreographer; Lopez, Elias, music director (1952-06-20) program

• Halloween A Masque: a play by Howard Nemerov, will be performed immediately after the costume judging in the Theatre. (1952-10-31) College Week 

• Lillian Hellman, whose play, The Autumn Garden will be presented at the Drama Workshop will speak to the Community. (1952-11-10)

• The Autumn Garden Hellman, Lillian; Alvin, Robert, director; Sherman, William, set designer; Schiffer, Herma, stage manager; Landon, Lisa, assistant stage manager; Saltman, Sylvia, production manager; Wolfson, Frances, technical director (1952-11-13) program "Miss Hellman stayed over for the dress rehearsal and expressed great satisfaction with the set, the acting, and the direction." Bennington College Alumnae Quarterly vol. IV n. 2 p.23

• The Buxton players will present The Insect Comedy by Josef and Karel Capello. (1952-12-16) College Week 

1953

• Senior Projects in Acting and Directing: The Ringmakers, Sodom and Gomorrah, Tartuffe, and Sicilian Limes  Dow, Martha; Giraudoux, Jean; Molière; Pirandello, Luigi; Keese, Casey, director; Levitt, Alan J., director; Donahoe, Ned, director; Romano, Drue, director (1953-04-13) program | College Week 

• The Good Woman of Setzuan  Brecht, Berthold; Alvin, Robert, director; Barry, Jackson, assistant director; Sherman, William, set design; Wolfson, Frances, projection. Junior drama production (1953-04-27) program | College Week 

• Children's Theatre Program: The Elves and the Shoemaker and Rapunzel and children's pantomime by Sue Petrone. (1953-05-11) College Week 

• The Bennington College Drama Department Presents: Ring Around the Moon Anouilh, Jean; Fry, Christopher; Donahoe, Ned, director; Lissner, Carolyn, assistant director; Wolfson, Frances, set costume and lighting designer; Larsen, Elizabeth, music; Peck, Wanda, stage manager; Larson, Elizabeth, choreography (1953-05-12) program

• Uta Hagen. "Informal talk on the Theater" (1953-10-12) The Bennington Biweekly | College Week |  College Week 

• Dramatic reading of Dragon's Mouth by Jaquetta Hawks (1953-10-19) The Bennington Biweekly and (1953-10-31) College Week 

• Drama Workshop: The Flies by Jean-Paul Sartre. (1953-11-13) College Week 

• Cricket Wings by Alfred Kreymborg and Gammer Gurton's Needle by William Stevenson. Junior Division Production. (1953-12-14) College Week

1954

• Drama Workshop. Scenes from the third year acting class. (1954-04-05) College Week 

• Senior Projects in Drama: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote, Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers with scenes adapted by Sue Petrone, and Years Ago by Ruth Gordon with music and lyrics by Wanda Peck (1954-04-12)  College Week

• Senior Projects in Drama: Scenes from Agamemnon by Aeschylus, scene from Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, and This Property is Condemned by Tennessee Williams (1954-04-19) College Week 

• Drama Workshop. Discussion of the Senior Division production, Way of The World by William Congreve. (1954-04-26) College Week  

• A staged reading of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. Junior Division Production. A collection will be taken for the Dylan Thomas Fund. (1954-05-03) College Week 

• Drama Workshop. Scenes by the Introduction to the Theatre and Intermediate Acting Techniques classes (1954-05-10) College Week 

• Drama Workshop. A discussion of literary values in The Way of the World by William Congreve. Panelist: Catharine Osgood Foster, Wallace Fowlie , Francis Golffing, and Thomas Wilcox. (1954-05-17) College Week 

• The Way of the World by William Congreve. (1954-06-17) College Week 

• Drama Workshop. Scenes from The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Tea and Sympathy by Robert Anderson, The Moon is Blue by F. Hugh Herbertand The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (1954-10-04) The Bugler 

• Major Barbara Shaw, George Bernard; Donahoe, Ned, director; Sherman, William, set and costume design; Fried, Lovelia, stage manager; Vallas, Mary, technical director (1954-11-05) program | The Bugler Vol. 1 No. 1  | The Bugler Vol. 1 No. 3  | College Week | The Bugler Vol. 1 No. 4 review p. 1

• Norris Houghton. "Advance from Broadway" lecture. College Week (1954-11-08)

1955

• Drama Workshop: an original one-act play, The Pool by Barbara Golffing  and one act of The Good Hope by Herman Huijermans. A Junior Division Drama Workshop. (1955-04-30) College Week 

• Drama Workshop: Senior Projects. Scenes from Jane Eyre, He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreyev, an original one-act play Out of Light by Vernon Hayes, Joan of Lorraine by Maxwell Anderson, Electra, and The Father. (1955-06-16) College Week 

• Try-outs for The Chalk Circle - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights. (1955 fall) College Week

• Senior production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. (1955 fall) Community Council Minutes 

• Workshop with Norris Houghton from the Phoenix Theater in New York to discuss his production of The Seagull. (1955 fall) Community Council Minutes 

• Junior class project of the play Moor Born by Dan Totheroh. (1955 fall) Community Council Minutes 

1956

• Comus Milton, John; Lawes, Henry, composer; Wilcox, Thomas, director; Schonbeck, Gunnar, music director; Goldstone, Ruth, choreography; Glover, Carole, costumes; Poling, Nancy, costumes; Stein, Evelyn, stage manager. Date is approximate based on entering and graduation dates of students. (1956) program

• Drama Senior Projects: an experimental scene based on Yerma by Federico García Lorca, an adaptation from The Red and the Black by Stendhal, a one scene from both The Misanthrope and The School for Wives by Molière. (1956-06-23) College Week 

• Bennington College Drama Workshop Presents: The Cretan Woman Jeffers, Robinson; Alvin, Robert, director; Rounds, George R., sets and costumes; Nowak, Lionel, music; Hawkins, John R., stage manager; Seward, Jill, lighting (1956-10) program

1957

• Drama Workshop Presents: A Concert Reading: The Doctor and the Devils Thomas, Dylan; Schneiderman, Jane, director; Sherman, William, designer; Foster, Sally, stage manager; Allison, Mary Jane, lighting; Harper, Norma, sets; Hanf, Catherine, costumes; Clifford, Harriet, costumes. The date is approximate based on the fact this was a senior project for Jane Schneiderman and she graduated in 1957. (1957) program

• The Drama Department Presents: Senior Projects: The Infernal Machine and Machinal Cocteau, Jean; Treadwell, Sophia; Davison, Barbara, translator; Alton, William, Director; Montgomery, Jennifer, design and lighting; Terpening, Jane, stage manager; Sherman, William, design and lighting; Bauscher, Noel, stage manger; Howarth, Milton, technical director (1957-11-15) program

1958

1959

• The Drama Department Presents: Three Senior Projects: The Intruder, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, Caesar and Cleopatra, and The Chairs  Maeterlinck, Maurice; Williams, Tennessee; Shaw, George Bernard; Ionesco, Eugène; Foster, Sally, director; Alexander, Priscilla J., designer; Teleki, Ilona, stage manager; Denholtz, Linda Monheit, director; Grossman, Frances, designer; Rosenstein, Myra, stage manager; Sander, Peter M., director; Marcus, Jane, stage manager; Alton, William, director; Eiseman, Julie, stage manager; Harris, Gary, technical director; Stone, Lucy, lighting (1959-06-12) program

• Drama Workshop: Scenes from The Shepherd's Chameleon, Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Suddenly Last Summer, and The Brute Ionesco, Eugène; Inge, William; Williams, Tennessee; Chekhov, Anton; Hanley, Mary Lynn, translator; Hoff, Diane, stage manager; Alton, William, director; Vanderwal, Lisa, stage manager; Kriebel, Carol, director; Denholtz, Linda Monheit, designer; Hambleton, Anne, director; Allison, Mary Jane, designer; Harris, Gary, technical director (1959-06-19) program

• The Bald Soprano and Victims of Duty Ionesco, Eugène; Alton, Bill, director; Sherman, William, designer; Allen, Donald M., translator; Watson, Donald, translator; Sirulnikoff, Jack, music; Denholtz, Linda, assistant director; Harris, Gary, technical director; Alexander, Priscilla J., stage manager. Presented by the Drama Department of Bennington College. Date is approximate based on entering and graduation years of the cast and crew members. (1959) program