Exciting Theater Ahead
The rendering above shows the Hopkins Center Theater from the balcony, which is on the same level as the Top of the Hop and leads off the big social hall.
DIRECTOR OF DRAMATIC PRODUCTION
IN 1928 I was offered the opportunity to direct the theater work at Dartmouth. As I had lived in California most of my life, I was somewhat apprehensive about taking a job in the frozen north. However, I was told that a committee at Dartmouth, under the chairmanship of Bob Strong, was planning a Student Union that was to include a fine new theater and that the building would be up in two years. This prospect overshadowed all of what I then considered to be the disadvantages of working in a place like Dartmouth, so I moved to Hanover. I have never really regretted this move, even though thirty years later Dartmouth still has what are probably the poorest theater facilities of any college in the country.
The 1928 theater plans were stopped by the depression. As we began to work ourselves out of the depression, President Hopkins appointed a new committee, under the chairmanship of Sidney Hayward, to work on plans for a large auditorium and a small theater. The work of this committee resulted in the Larson Plans of 1938-39 which had many fine features. The architects were at the point of finishing large-scale building plans when Mr. Hitler ordered a march on Poland.
After World War II, President Dickey appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of Russell Larmon, to plan an auditorium and theater. This plan was expanded over past plans to include more recreation facilities and new quarters for the Music Department. For many reasons, including the Korean War, it was decided that it would be unwise for the College to push these plans to completion.
We continued to struggle along with our almost hopeless halls (they cannot by the farthest stretch of the imagination be called theaters) producing seven full-length plays a year. In addition to this schedule, we presented the Interfraternity Play Contest of from twenty to twenty-four one-act plays.
One of the reasons we have such poor theater facilities at Dartmouth is that we have lived for about thirty years under the curse of quite optimistic prospects of having a new theater. Just as we would reach a point where we felt that we could not put up with this situation any longer and would have to make some expensive alterations in Robinson and Webster Halls, a new committee would be appointed to plan a theater. We were perhaps naive in feeling each time that this time we were really going to get it. We felt that we had put up with what we had for so long that we could sweat it out for another two years when we would have something that was really good. The result has been that, aside from some fair lighting equipment (all of which can be used in the Hopkins Center theater) and a few alterations on the Webster Hall stage, which is now used very little for theater productions, the halls that were here in 1928, and even at that time were inferior to those of most high schools in the country, are what we are still working with in 1957. In the meantime, many of our sister colleges have been blessed with fine theaters that leave us in a most embarrassing situation, to say the least.
I do not like to assume the role of a "Pollyanna," but the real disappointments of seeing one new theater after another fade into a dream may prove to be a blessing for Dartmouth in the long run. Although any of the previously planned structures would have provided fine theater facilities and served the College well, I am firmly convinced that the new concept of the Hopkins Center as a creative arts center is so far superior to any we have had in the past that it will prove to be worth waiting for for over thirty years.
THE theater work at Dartmouth is conducted almost entirely on an extracurricular basis; we never have made, and probably never will make, any effort to establish a professional theater school here - this is not the business of a liberal arts college. As we see it, our job is to make possible a greater appreciation of the theater and all its arts and literature through participation, and to serve a larger number of non-participants in the student body and community by presenting to them, in as fine a way as possible, the great plays of history, along with contemporary plays, plays of a real experimental nature, and plays presented purely for entertainment. We may be able to serve better as a training ground for future appreciative audiences for the theater than for specialized workers in the theater.
Along with this general objective go other somewhat specialized objectives. We do have some students who are interested in making some branch of the professional theater their career. Where we are convinced of sincerity and talent, we help these students in whatever way we can. We are proud of the mark that some of our alumni have made in the legitimate theater, radio, television and motion pictures (writers, producers, directors, actors, technicians); there is quite an impressive list.
A much larger group of people continue their interest after graduation by becoming active in a theater group in the community in which they live. Several of our graduates have been the leading force in establishing community theaters that have contributed to the fuller life of the people of their town. It is in this fairly large group that we have a great deal of pride. This is what we are really trying to do here; prepare our graduates so that they can live a fuller, richer life and make a real contribution to the fuller and richer life of other people.
THE concept of the Hopkins Center makes it possible to observe and practice in the same building all of the fine arts. This will be done on an extracurricular basis for both active and non-active participants. If we can show our students how they can enjoy, in their spare time, the many opportunities that will be offered to them here, we are confident that they will seek this kind of stimulation and enjoyment as a part of their life after they graduate. This, combined with the interest in sports and outdoor life that many of our graduates now have, can lead to an enviable way of living.
Having this cultural activity all in the same place is going to make a tremendous difference in the influence that it will have on the members of our student body. We are not unmindful of the fact that many of our students have little interest in any of the arts; indeed some of them have a tendency to look with suspicion on anything to which the name art is attached. Many of these people are going to have to be led to the trough. This is one of the reasons we have the College Post Office in the Hopkins Center. At least half of the student body will have to go through this building twice a week to attend required lectures in the large lecture hall. We do not suggest that all who pass the various watering troughs that we will have here are going to stick their noses in and really drink; however, we are quite certain that they are all at least going to get their noses wet.
We are also aware of the fact that to provide the facilities is just the beginning. These facilities must be made to work and to work together. In the past at Dartmouth one hand of art has never known what the other hand was doing; this is partly due to the fact that what few facilities we have here are scattered all over the campus and the people involved have not been drawn together by a central idea. In the Hopkins Center we cannot escape each other, even if we should want to. We will have here for the first time the opportunity to show our students how the arts complement each other and have affected our cultures since the beginning of time.
ALTHOUGH since 1928 we have produced well over 200 plays from almost every period in history, there are many important plays that we have always wanted to do, and should do, that are impossible for us to present in either Robinson or Webster Halls. Many of the plays that we have done have suffered because of the lack of a real stage and its accompanying facilities. In the theater in the Hopkins Center we will be able to produce any play that was ever written and in any style that we wish to do it. We have tried to plan this theater for flexibility and with as few limitations as possible. This is why, in addition to a fine, well-equipped stage, we also have a forestage on elevators, along with side stages. This will make it possible for us to bring certain plays out into the audience, either on the same level as the stage or on different levels. This forestage when lowered becomes our orchestra pit for musical productions. When lectures are held here in the early-morning class hours, a section of the forestage can be raised, the stage curtain closed and the lecture can be given without disturbing anything that may be on the stage. When the forestage is not being used it can be brought to the level of the auditorium floor and filled in with seats.
People have asked why we have limited the seating capacity of the theater to 450 seats. This is done for two good reasons; first of all, we are trying to get as much intimacy between the actors and the audience as possible. We feel that Mr. Harrison has given us an ideal intimate seating arrangement. The second reason is that we want to give our theater workers the opportunity of doing a play for a run of a week. This is the way they really learn - doing a play before different audiences for several performances. To get up a show to raise money for some charity and run it for two nights is one form of dramatic activity and requires a large seating capacity. The real motive there is to raise money for the local charity. Although money is going to be a real consideration in the operation of the Hopkins Center Theater, this is not the main motive; our main motives have been stated earlier. We feel that if these motives are carried out properly, enough people will want to see the plays presented in this theater so that our ticket sale will pay for our production costs, as it does now.
Right off the stage, on the west side, we have our theater workshop. The location and size of the shop will make it possible for us to use rolling wagon stages on which we can place an entire setting for an act or scene. This, along with the fine equipment we will have on the stage, will cut down the time necessary for scene changes in a multi-scene show. Instead of requiring minutes for a scene change, scene changes will be done in seconds. In our shop we will be able to have a complete trial setup of our settings without disturbing a rehearsal on the stage. The efficiency of having our workshop right off the stage will in itself have a tremendous effect on the quality of our productions. Up until now our scenery has been built in the basement of Robinson Hall in an area so small that at most only six or eight can work effectively at the same time. This has been a tremendous handicap, not only from the standpoint of being able to do things right, but being able to accommodate people who might like to participate. After things are finished in the basement, they are carried up awkward stairs for two floors and assembled on the stage. While this work is going on, the stage cannot be used for rehearsals. Hours of valuable time are consumed just in carting things back and forth. After the production is over, the units that can be used again are trucked to the various storage areas scattered over the campus. When they are needed again they have to be dug out of storage and brought back to Robinson Hall; half of the time spent on a production here is spent in getting ready to work. This loss of valuable time is bound to be reflected in the quality of things seen on the stage. We will not have this problem in the Hopkins Center. Although experience has shown that college theaters never have enough storage space, and we would like to see some more storage space in the Hopkins Center, we do have storage facilities easily accessible from the workshop which will reduce outside storage to a minimum. Another fine feature is that the theater workshop, the student craft shops and the art studios are all together. This arrangement correlates the work of the people working in all of the arts.
IN the basement, in addition to storage rooms, work rooms and dressing rooms, we have what we call the Student Theater. This theater will seat approximately 150 people and will be one of the features that will make our theater activity somewhat more effective than it is at most colleges. This is going to be a very flexible theater. We will be able to change our acting areas so that we can do arena style productions, regular proscenium type productions, and combination proscenium and arena presentations. This theater will allow the fraternities much more freedom in the styles of their productions for the Interfraternity Play Contest. We will also be able to run this most unusual and valuable dramatic activity in an efficient way which our poor facilities have not allowed us to do in the past.
We consider the Interfraternity Play Contest perhaps the most important dramatic activity of each season; it is unique. To the best of our knowledge Dartmouth is the only college in the country that has a successful fraternity play contest and has had an annual contest, with the exception of the war years, for over twenty years. Every fraternity on the campus (24) enters the contest and presentations run all the way from standard one-act plays through original plays to scenes from famous modern and classical plays. The contest runs for two weeks and is well attended. This is not only a valuable activity for the fraternities and the life of the College but it is interesting to note that some of our most successful alumni in the commercial theater and in community theaters got their first interest in the theater through their participation in an Interfraternity Play Contest. This is one example of how you can lead students to the watering trough and really have them drink.
The Language Clubs will use this Student Theater for the presentation of foreign language plays; the Frost Prize original plays will also be presented here. For many years we have talked about the desirability of expanding the dramatic program of the College by adding an interdormitory play contest and a faculty theater group. Our lack of space has made this impossible; with two theaters we will be able to carry forward this desirable expansion. The stage of the Student Theater is planned so that any play that becomes a hit here can easily be moved to the theater upstairs.
We call this the Student Theater because we want the students to use it and to use it on their own. The main theater will be our showcase where we really strive for perfection. There comes a time in the experience of our students who are interested in the theater, when they should have the opportunity of doing something entirely on their own where they can learn by doing, either by accomplishment or by failure. A painter or a craftsman can work in a comparatively small area; a person working in the theater must have a theater to work in and, furthermore, he must be able to get associates to work with him in his attempt to accomplish his purpose. The latter in itself can be a most valuable educational experience for a student. In the past we have made several attempts to let students work on their own, but our facilities have been so limited that we have been able to do only a few all-student productions. The Student Theater in the Hopkins Center will fill a crying need for this type of student dramatic activity at Dartmouth.
Many college buildings are built for a nine-month use; this is true of most dormitories and classroom buildings. This will not be true of the Hopkins Center. Indeed, having this wonderful plant may make it possible for the College to realize more revenue than it now does from summer use of its dormitories. For many years we have been urged by the businessmen of the area and our local and summer residents to have a good summer theater at Dartmouth. The fact that we do not have one now has also been a casualty of our thinking that we were about to have a good theater. Three years ago we were seriously considering erecting a tent theater on the campus and starting a Dartmouth summer theater. We had gone into some of the details when President Dickey appointed the present Hopkins Center Committee and we decided to wait until we had a real theater where we could present a fine summer theater series. The Hopkins Center will not only provide excellent facilities for summer theater use, but the other activities here will make it possible to carry on a summer cultural program that will attract people from miles around and add greatly to the prestige of Dartmouth College. In the large garden we will have summer concerts; we will also be able to present outdoor theater performances here. Our art galleries will have changing shows throughout the summer, our art studios may be used by famous visiting artists; the music rooms will be available for use by visiting .musicians and composers; the "Top of the Hop" will make a perfect gathering place for groups working in Hanover, such as the Bell Telephone group, and will be an ideal meeting place for alumni visiting Hanover. The building itself will attract many visitors.
The Hopkins Center will provide cultural inspiration for our students, our faculty, our alumni, our neighbors and our visitors twelve months of the year. It will be a fitting recognition of the greatness of the man whose name it will bear.
Warner Bentley, who has waited 29 years for a new theater, is by general Hanover consent the man who most deserves the Hopkins Center.
George Schoenhut (r), scenic director, will have special reason to cheer when The Players finally leave the miseries of Robinson Hall.
Ground floor plan showing the Student Theater and other drama facilities
