ACT II
_Scene_: _Picnic grounds in the country near Harry Benson’s farm. Scene is at dinner-time on the picnic grounds. The band is heard playing in the distance. Ethel, Jennie, and Mrs. Benson are busy taking food from a large box. Mr. Benson is sitting on a spring buggy seat at one side of the stage. Toy balloon whistles can be heard at different intervals, some louder than others. Also auto horns tooting occasionally._
MRS. BENSON
_While working._
Ethel, I thought the pageant went just fine. Didn’t you, Jennie?
JENNIE
I certainly did. Ethel makes a mighty good milk-maid. That fellow in love with her seemed to think the same thing.
MR. BENSON
By jinks, it did me a lot of good to see her snub that city feller.
ETHEL
I’m glad you all enjoyed it. It went better than we thought it would.
MRS. BENSON
How did you train that dog to walk across the stage like he did?
ETHEL
We didn’t—he walked across of his own accord. It fitted in the scene fine, but I could hardly keep from laughing.
MRS. BENSON
Well, I declare, it looked just like he was supposed to do it. (_Looking in box_) I can’t find any salt or pepper.
_Auto horns toot in the distance._
JENNIE
They’re wrapped up in some white paper in one corner.
MRS. BENSON
Here they are.
_Unwraps and puts on table._
JENNIE
Wonder what’s keeping Harry. I saw him right after the game, and he said he’d be down in a little while. Which dish is the salad in, Ethel?
ETHEL
It’s in that large oval dish.
_Auto horn toots._
JENNIE
Do you know what we forgot? We forgot the sugar for the lemonade.
MRS. BENSON
Dear me, now what are we to do?
ETHEL
Do you remember I started to get it this morning when you asked me to whip the cream for the cake? I never thought of it again.
JENNIE
I wonder if the Newtons would have any more than they want.
ETHEL
I’ll run up to where they are eating and see.
_Exit Ethel. Enter Harry in baseball suit._
HARRY
My, but this shady place feels refreshing. Wow! Such a hypnotizing odor. Better watch me. I’m liable to go into a spell and eat the whole works. I feel like a starved wolf.
MR. BENSON
What’s the matter with you fellers, Harry—didn’t I hear you say our club had a better nine than the Lyon Club?
HARRY
Can’t expect to beat that umpire. We got another one for this afternoon’s game and I’ll bet they don’t beat us then. That umpire this morning was absolutely “rotten.” He called me out twice on second base and I was there a mile before the ball both times. Called Jones out on a home base and the catcher dropped the ball before he even touched him. We had to strike at everything that came along, for he’d call it a strike anyway.
JENNIE
We hope you’ll beat this afternoon. Are you too tired to get a pail of water from the spring?
HARRY
Not if you will have dinner ready when I get back.
_Takes bucket on exit._
MR. BENSON
I wonder why Hiram and his wife ain’t here to-day. They’re generally along the first ones at a picnic.
MRS. BENSON
I was talking with her over the phone yesterday and she said they were coming.
MR. BENSON
Doesn’t seem quite natural without Hiram around.
_Enter Ethel with Floyd._
ETHEL
Opal, I brought Floyd down to play with you.
OPAL
_Jumping from swing clapping hands._
Oh goodie, won’t you swing me, Floyd?
ETHEL
Here is lots of sugar.
JENNIE
Good, Harry has gone after the water.
MRS. BENSON
I guess everything is all ready when he gets here.
_Enter Harry with water._
HARRY
I feel just like a starved bear. If dinner isn’t ready I’m going to jump in this bucket of water and drown myself.
_Ethel and Jennie busy making lemonade._
JENNIE
All we’d need to do would be to pour in this juice and sugar (_they do so_) and you’d soon drink the pond dry.
HARRY
Yes, and I’d do it so quick I wouldn’t even get wet.
_Exit Opal and Floyd._
ETHEL
If you people are hungry, get around here, it’s all ready.
JENNIE
Grandma, you and grandpa sit around here.
HARRY
I’ll sit close to the salad.
_Has lemonade on box close to him—everybody takes seat, leaving two for Opal and Floyd and enough to set one more plate._
JENNIE
I wonder where the children have gone to.
MRS. BENSON
I didn’t see them leave. I expect they went up to play with the Smith children.
HARRY
When you run dry on lemo, just hand your cups this way. Will you pass the buns, please?
JENNIE
You ought not to be hungry after eating that big breakfast this morning. What do you think—he ate four eggs, six baking powder biscuits and about a cup full of syrup, to say nothing about potatoes.
HARRY
Just the same I don’t believe pa would advise me to go to the city to cure my appetite, would you pa?
MR. BENSON
I guess not, by jinks! We eat to live, so why not live where we have an appetite for what we eat?
_Enters Hiram smoking corn-cob pipe._
HIRAM
Golly, but I’m just in time.
MR. BENSON
Hello, Hiram, come and have some dinner.
HIRAM
Well, I never turn daon’ a meal when I’m hungry. Got some of those good biscuits, Mary?
_Ethel prepares a place._
MRS. BENSON
We’ve got some biscuits, but I can’t say as they’re very good.
HIRAM
_Lays pipe at side of stage—takes seat at table._
Wall, I can say it without ever tastin’ them. John, I reckon ye can’t say ye haven’t had a good meal since you moved back ter the farm. I can’t keep from talkin’ about you movin’ to the city. Ye thought everything was going to be honey, but it turned out ter be merlasses. Ain’t I right, John?
MRS. BENSON
Where’s Rachel, didn’t she come?
HIRAM
She woke up with a headache this morning. I wanted ter stay hum with her, but she made me come down for a while. There seems to be a large crowd here, to-day.
HARRY
A very large crowd. I never saw the like of autos as were out to the game.
HIRAM
John, what do you know about these fellers. Henry tells me they got beat.
HARRY
The umpire played a fine game.
HIRAM
That’s what Henry was tellin’ me, but I just laughed at him. Everybody hates to acknowledge they’re whipped. John here even kinder hates ter say the city got the best of him. Of course, that’s different then getting beat in a game. It wasn’t any honor ter the city, but ye fellers were on equal footin’ and both teams are used ter the grounds, while John here, he was on a strange diamond. We never had umpires when I was a boy, but we found plenty of other excuses for getting beat.
MR. BENSON
Harry says they’re goin’ to beat them this afternoon.
HARRY
You two just watch us and see. We got a good umpire and we’re going to beat them on equal footin’ as you say.
_Enter Opal and Floyd, hold of hands—stop quick and stand looking._
JENNIE
You children are rather late—here’s your places around here between grandma and me.
_They take places at table, Jennie places bib around them._
Where have you been?
FLOYD
We went up to play with Ruth and Harold. They’ve got a swing fastened away up high and you can swing twice as far as you can with this one.
OPAL
It almost took my breath away.
HIRAM
The country’s the place to raise children in. Here they have all the fresh air and good plain food ter make them grow. In the city they are all crowded up together in a bunch. Their fresh air is all filled with smoke. They have no place for the children to play exceptin’ in the parks where they’re so careful with their hay they have signs all around ter “keep off the grass.” Why, we have to raise their food for them, but they don’t get it until it’s been in cold storage for a year or so or else canned. I tell ye people, God intended fer us ter live in the country—if He hadn’t He’d made the city instead. Ain’t that so, John?
JOHN
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I guess you’re right.
HIRAM
Of course, I’m right.
FLOYD
We’re going back after dinner, ain’t we, Opal?
OPAL
Can we, mama?
JENNIE
Oh maybe, if you’ll not get in anybody’s way and not get hurt.
OPAL AND FLOYD
Oh, we won’t.
HARRY
Pass the salad, please.
HIRAM
How was your play, Ethel?
ETHEL
It went off very well.
HIRAM
We were wantin’ ter see it so bad—such a fine day for it, too. Do ye know we’d enjoy a doin’s like that, where we know the actors, better than we would a play we’d have ter pay three or four dollars to see in the city? Ain’t that right, John?
JOHN
I guess you’re right, I never saw anything better anywhere.
HIRAM
Ethel, how about you? Do ye think ye’ll ever be wantin’ to move back? Rachel and I was just talkin’ the other day about what a loss it would be ter the community if you married a city feller and moved out; we were just wonderin’ if there were any on yer track.
MRS. BENSON
You don’t need to worry. One rich feller tried it and he didn’t get her.
ETHEL
Mother, you shouldn’t tell my little secrets.
FLOYD
I’m ready to go.
_Begins leaving table._
OPAL
So am I.
JENNIE
Let me wipe your hands before you go.
_Wipes their hands and mouths._
FLOYD
_As he begins leaving stage before Opal is ready._
Hurry up, Opal!
OPAL
I’m coming. (_As they go skipping out._) Good-by, mama!
_Exeunt._
HIRAM
Ain’t that just like little tots? I tell ye, people, we don’t appreciate being little till we’re old. Did ye ever notice how older people enjoy sittin’ around talkin’ about the things they did when they were little? Golly, but I’ll never forget the time when I was about three years old and my mother started to walk over ter one of our neighbors that lived about a mile and er half from our place. We didn’t get very far when I wanted ter be carried. Well, she couldn’t carry me so fur so she goes and breaks a hazel brush for a stick-horse and gives it ter me ter ride. Wall, I can remember just as well as if it was yesterday, how I gets on that stick-horse and begun ridin’, runnin’ on ahead kickin’ up my heels and runnin’ side ways like a proud army horse. Then I’d get scared and go to rearin’ and backin’. Then I run clear back again.
_Enters a little boy and begins fooling with swing._
Well sir, I rode that stick-horse all the way over and back and never asked once to be carried again. Ye’ve got ter give a kid something to do if you don’t want ter get into trouble.
Give a kid something to do And he’ll grow up, pure, noble and true.
Ain’t that right, John?
MR. BENSON
I guess you’re right, that’s the way I was brought up.
ETHEL
_Speaking to boy at swing._
Hello, little man, why don’t you get in and swing?
_He does so._
MR. BENSON
How’s your cattle lookin’ lately, Hiram?
HIRAM
Fine, by golly, I never seen ’em grow so fast. I get ’em on that new field of bromus grass. They’ll be in mighty fine shape to fatten this fall.
_Enters Leslie Larsen in band suit, carrying horn._
LESLIE
Everybody seems to be happy.
HARRY
Hello Leslie, going to play at the game this afternoon? We’re going to beat ’em.
LESLIE
We’ll be right there, but I’m not so sure about the beating part since that game this morning.
JENNIE
Had your dinner, Leslie?
LESLIE
Yes, we’ve been through half an hour. I was just going to the bowry. We’re going to have a little concert before the speaking.
HIRAM
Who’s the speaker to-day?
LESLIE
Senator McDonald. I saw him coming this way before I started. I met him this morning. Seems like a fine fellow.
HIRAM
John, why don’t yer give ’em a talk on how to be happy in the city?
_Senator walks across rear of stage without noticing anyone. Leslie calls him._
LESLIE
Mr. McDonald, come here a moment.
MR. MCDONALD
Why hello, Mr. Larsen!
LESLIE
Mr. McDonald, this is the Benson family—one of our prominent farmers in this community.
MR. MCDONALD
People, I’m very glad to meet you. It does my heart good to get out and meet the tillers of the soil. I always consider it a great honor to have such a privilege as a day like this. I was out walking to get some fresh air before my talk.
HIRAM
No place like the country for fresh air, ain’t that right Senator?
MR. MCDONALD
You’re right. Hope you fellows will be at the speaking. I always like a large crowd.
MR. BENSON
You can count on our being there.
MR. MCDONALD
Good! bring all your friends. I’ll be walking on. Good-by.
_Exit._
JENNIE
If everyone has had enough, we’ll spread the tablecloth over the table—we’ve got to eat supper here before we leave.
_Women arrange table._
LESLIE
Well, I’ll have to be going or I’ll be late.
HARRY
Guess I’ll walk up with you. I guess the women will come together.
_Exeunt._
MR. BENSON
Hiram, you ought to order you a running water system and an electric light plant for your farm. They’ve got ’em down now so ye can’t afford to be without ’em.
HIRAM
John, are ye havin’ a nightmare about the city?
MR. BENSON
By jinks, I’m speakin’ my right mind. We just sent in an order for an electric light plant. Harry says we can get a motor so small we can carry it around under our arms and can attach it to the wire any place and run our fan mills, pumps, grinders, washin’ machines, in fact everything dependin’ on the size of the motor. In the house you can take off a light bulb and attach a “lectric” iron and cooker, make it do the churnin’ and sweepin’, run the sewin’ machine, and even rock the cradle, besides havin’ light all over yer buildin’s without any danger of fire.
HIRAM
Wall, I’ll be goll durned. John, are ye sure ye haven’t been drinkin’ too much lemonade?
MR. BENSON
It’s right. In the spring we’re goin’ ter git a runnin’ water system made especially for the farm. Harry has had it all planned for over a year now.
HIRAM
Wall, if that don’t beat the cat’s a fightin’. I knew that boy had the stuff in him when he planned that house for you and Mary.
JENNIE
If you folks are going, you had better be coming along.
MR. BENSON
_Looking at watch._
By jinks, it is time we were going.
ETHEL
I’ll be there as soon as I find my fan.
_Exeunt all but Ethel. Enters Clarence unobserved. Ethel looks through box and around for fan._
Well, I’m sure I brought that fan along, I couldn’t think of losing it, for it’s one Clarence gave me before he went away to school and before we moved to the city. Well, that’s funny—I know I couldn’t have lost it on the way, and we—
CLARENCE
You don’t need a fan in this cool place.
ETHEL
Clarence! You here?
_Rises and takes him by the hand._
CLARENCE
Yes, I graduated last week—came home to settle down and do something. One feels mighty ambitious after going through college and wants to get right out and begin applying his knowledge and getting the practical experience. But you? I thought you were in the city. Out for a visit, I suppose?
ETHEL
Visit! Why, the folks have moved back on the farm. Being the baby, I naturally had to come too. Of course, I hated to leave.
CLARENCE
I’m mighty glad to know your folks have moved back on the farm. Now that it won’t be necessary for you to look after them so closely, I suppose you will soon be moving back and start your practical applications, there.
ETHEL
Oh, maybe—things are mighty handy, you know.
CLARENCE
Lots of fine fellows there, too, I suppose?
ETHEL
Lots of them. The girls are scarce, too. Tell me about your college days. Suppose you graduated with high honors?
CLARENCE
Oh, no, no! Not many anyway. There was a lot—
_Enters Hiram, stops and listens._
of things I wanted to get at the bottom of; so many things I was in doubt about. I was too busy to think of honors. I went in to prepare myself for higher honors to be won later in life and that shall be remembered and enjoyed by those that follow after me when I’m gone.
HIRAM
That’s right, my boy. It ain’t so much what you do in school as it is what ye get, and you do after ye get out. That’s the time to do something. Look at Lincoln—he hardly seen the inside of a schoolhouse, but he studied and got something then went and done somethin’. He came from the farm, too. Pardon me, children, I left my pipe layin’ there by this tree when I set down ter dinner. (_Takes pipe and lights, taking long, loud draws._) I’ll be leavin’, I know young folks like to be alone.
_Exit._
CLARENCE
I guess he didn’t recognize me. Have I changed much, Ethel?
ETHEL
A little more mature in looks is all.
CLARENCE
Tell me about your life in the city, Ethel.
ETHEL
I haven’t much to tell—we had a fine house and servants, but the folks were out of place and didn’t feel at home. You see they had lived in the country too long to get any comfort out of the city life—there isn’t anything that seemed real to them. Mother didn’t like to let on for she was the strongest advocate of going, and you couldn’t blame her when she thought of all the conveniences in the city. But even at that she had lived in the country too long to get any enjoyment out of the city. As for me, I’m young and can soon adapt myself to the new conditions in the city. Can’t you imagine what a good city belle I would make?
CLARENCE
Ethel, you have been the best friend I ever had outside of mother and father and they’re both gone. The reason I went away to school was the thought that I might some day be worthy and capable of making a home for you equal to the best found anywhere. I realize that the majority of farmers buy conveniences for themselves without realizing the conveniences their wives need in the house, so they have to go on in the same way their grandmothers did. Ethel, you remember that last letter you wrote me, three years ago, I believe?
ETHEL
Yes, and you never answered it.
CLARENCE
No. When you went away to the city you were young and I did not dare ask you to wait for me. Besides I thought it would be useless for you were thinking that when the time came you would marry a city fellow who could offer you a home without the drudgery some women have on the farm. In that last letter, you were telling me about a certain rich man. Well, I knew your youthful dream had come true. I didn’t want to stand in your way. I knew you were old enough to know what you wanted, so I didn’t write. Ethel, I almost gave up then, and I don’t know but what I would had it not been for my roommate, noble old chap. He got me started right again. Ethel, I hope you will be happy in the city.
_Rises and crosses stage._
ETHEL
I did write about a certain young man, but—
CLARENCE
But what?
ETHEL
I didn’t think you would take it so seriously.
CLARENCE
You mean to say—
ETHEL
That I was only teasing you about the city.
CLARENCE
Then you’re not—
_Takes her hand._
ETHEL
Not if I can help it. How about that home you were dreaming about?
CLARENCE
It’s yours, Ethel, and it’s going to be the very best (_embrace_).
_Embrace. Enter Hiram and Mr. Benson. Stop short on seeing Ethel and Clarence in each other’s arms._
MR. BENSON
_Harshly._
Ethel!
_Ethel and Clarence separate embarrassed._
CLARENCE
_Going up and taking Mr. Benson by the hand._
Mr. Benson, I know this is no way to be caught with your daughter, but since it couldn’t be helped I suppose the only way to get around it will be for you to give your consent to marry her.
MR. BENSON
Are you going to live on the farm?
CLARENCE
Would you advise me to?
MR. BENSON
By jinks, you can’t have her unless you do.
_Clarence crosses and puts arm around Ethel._
HIRAM
By golly, it does me good to see the cream of the country come pourin’ back again. Don’t you know some of our greatest men like Lincoln and Washington, come from the farm? They’d all like to have gotten back again but they were so tied up in the world they couldn’t break loose. The cities are all right in a way, and I suppose we couldn’t get along without them now, but, by golly, there would never have been a city if it hadn’t been for the country. Why, I can remember when all the young men that wanted to do something worth while went to the cities and left the very poorest fellows at home. And the old fellows when they got enough money they moved ter the city and spent their money there. By golly, that’s right, ain’t it, John?
MR. BENSON
I guess you’re right, Hiram.
HIRAM
Of course, I’m right. By golly, it sure does me good ter see the change coming where the best people of the country stay on the farm instead of movin’ ter the city where they’re just as much out of place as “A Bee in a Drone’s Hive.”
Author of play—Cecil Baker.
CURTAIN.
LARIMORE
Somebody once said a pageant was a big outdoor play in which people in everyday walks of life—John and Joe and Susan—take an active part and tell the story of what happened in the neighborhood, county, or state in their own manner. It is something that might be called a human festival, because the people young and old and even “the animals, the oxen and the horse, the donkey and the dog” all take part.
This particular kind of a play was especially well portrayed in “The Story of Grand Forks County,” a historical pageant in five episodes, which was presented in the little town of Larimore on June second, nineteen hundred and twenty. Thirty different communities, working in coöperation and under the direction of a central committee, selected the material, dramatized the events, and acted the parts. One thousand persons, ranging in age from a seven-months-old baby to a white-haired man of sixty-five were the players. Schools, churches, clubs, bands, choruses, and various other social agencies contributed their enthusiasm and energies in making the spectacle a success. Ten thousand people saw the production. Eleven hundred automobiles were parked on the grounds, and this did not include those standing in rows in the center of down-town streets.
Larimore, after all, isn’t such a big town, but it is a mighty interesting place. Its population is made up of people who appreciate the big things in life. And when a worth-while thing comes along they put their shoulders to the wheel and—well they make whatever it is go. They showed their mettle when they built the stage for the pageant in a corner of their newly laid-out park. For several days, sometimes in the morning as early as five o’clock, the men in the community were up and at work. They used ice tongs to carry the four hundred bridge planks, which, by the way, were eighteen feet long, twelve inches wide, and four inches thick. They borrowed these from the county commissioners and constructed a huge platform seventy-two feet in width and thirty-six feet in depth. The background was one hundred and fifty-six feet long and twenty feet in height. There were two wings, fourteen and sixteen feet high respectively, on each side. All of these were covered with branches of trees cut and hauled on hayracks from a nearby brook. In the center of the background rows of seats were built in the shape of a tree which held a chorus of two hundred girls, robed in pure white. They came from different sections of the county and sang during the interludes. The seats were arranged in amphitheater style. At each corner a band was stationed. Tents pitched back of the stage were used for dressing rooms. The stage manager happened to be a local auto taxi owner.
June second was an ideal day. At two o’clock in the afternoon the buglers announced the opening of “The Story of Grand Forks County,” a historical pageant in five episodes. Then came the procession of the bands and a chorus. The prologue or story of the play followed. It was written by one schoolmaster and given by another. It is well worth quoting, for it not only shows a fine poetic temperament but tells the history of one of America’s finest agricultural counties.
“Friends, we have gathered here beneath the vaulted sky, In God’s great out-of-doors, where nature greets the eye, With grass and trees and flowers—we’ve gathered here to stage The story of our County down to the present age. In song and dance and tableau its history will be told; In interludes and episodes our pageant will unfold. We journey back in fancy a span of fifty years, Back to the days of Indians and hardy pioneers. Here waves a sea of prairie grass upon the endless plain; Here lies a pile of whitening bones that mark the bison’s reign. Within a fringe of forest green that skirts a river’s flow, The Indians are breaking camp—’tis time for them to go. ‘The white man comes,’ the scouts report, ‘our hunting here is done, The white man comes and we must go, on towards the setting sun.’
“As night comes on and in the west the sun sets for the day, Full slowly up the valley an ox-team weaves its way. It draws a covered wagon. On the driver’s seat a man, His head turned back, is speaking to a woman in the van; ‘Look, Mary, there’s a likely spot in yonder grove of trees, There’s water, fuel, fish, and game; the grass comes to my knees; The land is fertile, level, smooth—what need to farther roam? Come let us halt in this fair place and build ourselves a home.’ Thus did they come, our pioneers, brave husband, braver wife, Heroic souls that sang and worked and asked no odds of life. So friends, to-day, the picture that first will meet our sight, Is the leaving of the red man and the coming of the white. The world is restless, craves to move, and therefore mankind feels A deep abiding gratitude to the man who first made wheels. The great improvements made in wheels, the constant evolution From wagon down to motor car has caused a revolution, Affecting every phase of life, our business and our pleasure, And proved itself in countless ways a blessing beyond measure. It was a happy day indeed when on the frontier trails The pioneers beheld the sight of shining iron rails, That spelled the end of grueling trips to market by ox-team, And heralded the coming of their greatest ally—steam. When now the growth and progress of transportation’s shown, It will explain one reason why prosperity has grown.
“Year after year more settlers came, each year more fields were tilled, And lavish Nature blessed their work, their granaries were filled With golden wheat and other grains; their herds of cattle grew; They prospered greatly and progressed and those who failed were few. Then one by one the towns sprang up, with smithy, bank, and store, With elevator, mill, and yard, and markets at their door. The towns and farms worked hand in hand, theirs was a common cause. And from the start unto this day, advancing without pause, Our industries have grown apace, have made our County great— Till it is known both far and wide the banner of the State.
“The greatest factor in the growth of county, state, or nation, No thing is dearer to our hearts than is the common school, What makes for happiness and peace is public education; For well we know that it must be if liberty shall rule. Our fathers when they came built schools, albeit they were rude, Judged by our standards, poorly taught, ill-disciplined, and crude. These schools did foster splendid men and noble women too; And from that small beginning our present system grew. Our pageant here will show to you how we have forged ahead, How in the work of betterment our schools have always led. Yet, we can not be satisfied with that which we have done, For after all our schools’ advance is only well begun.
“Whence came these men who wrought these deeds? What land did give them birth? They came from distant lands and climes, from far across the earth. The Frenchman came; the Irishman; the German, Scotch, and Norse; And every mother’s son of them, a man of strength and force, That threw himself into the work with hands and heart and brain, That labored for our Country’s weal with all his might and main, Their children, born beneath our flag and fostered in our schools, Hold for the land of liberty a love that never cools; They all are real Americans—Americans through and through They stand for order, law, and right, for all that’s good and true. So in this pageant of to-day as episodes unfold The marvels of our progress; as our wondrous growth is told, All is centered round the people; ’tis their story we portray, For the people made the County what the County is to-day.”
G. T. Almen.
After the prologue, the five episodes and interludes were enacted in a manner highly satisfactory to the ten thousand spectators. Real Indians, dog and pony travois, an old prairie schooner, a sod shanty, the Red River ox-cart, the first railroad engine to enter the county, a stage coach of pioneer days, the cradle, the reaper, the old breaking plow, the one room school house, the different peoples from foreign countries who settled in the county, added interest and gave color to the pageant. The children from the different schools in the county were costumed to represent the different grains, the prairie roses and the violets, the strawberries and the potatoes. One set of girls interpreted an original wind dance. A boys’ band, a business men’s band, a farmers’ band, and a chorus furnished the music.
The final tableau or scene was a magnificent sight, something that will never be forgotten. In the center of the forest background on tiers of raised seats, two hundred girls clad in white were standing. Above them the Stars and Stripes were floating. Down on the stage, a thousand players, real country people, were grouped. On the ground and in a circle ten thousand people were standing. The bands were playing and everybody was singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
One who stood there and looked at it all could not help but think what tremendous opportunities there are out on these prairies, if only the people can find their true expression. As a certain person who was very active in making it a success said, “What shall we say of it? What shall be the future?” The joy of self-expression is a supreme one. “I was in it.” “I made a poster.” “We made the violet costumes.” “Our dog hauled the wigwam”—in fact, “I helped,” these are the words on every lip. Truly it was a pageant “of the people, by the people, for the people,” with none too great nor too small to participate.
For everyone it has meant a great lesson in patriotism and coöperation. For each community in the county it means a refreshing social contact and an unselfish interest in local affairs. It means the creating of pure and wholesome pleasure, rather than the purchasing of that which is often doubtful. It means the discovery of much hidden talent. For the individual it means greater development of social consciousness, a broader and deeper appreciation of his brother and friend, a desire not only to do something for himself but to help someone else. And this is the real gospel of America to-day, the flower of service, which with the aid of stirring imagination will develop into one of everlasting sweetness and beauty.
Up in Grand Forks County they have a county superintendent with a vision, one who not only sees but organizes and does the things. The pageant did what she dreamed it would do. It brought into play all the talent of the county. The art of the people was expressed through the setting, the costumes, the posters, and the light effects; the music, through song and instrument; the organizing power through promotion, seating arrangement, rehearsal, and presentation; the mechanical genius through the stage construction; and the literary ability through the gathering, the arranging, and the writing of the subject matter.
When all these faculties are brought into exercise, they cannot help but arouse the creative instincts in the mind of the county or the community. They appeal to the heart instincts. This is one of the pageant’s great values to society.
FORTY TOWNS
In order to feel the pulse of the people of the state in regard to their attitude toward plays, as well as to carry the drama to the people, a road tour of forty towns was made. Twenty-two counties were visited. The play selected for this trip was “Back to the Farm,” written by Merline Shumway, a former student at the Minnesota Agricultural College. It is a three-act rural comedy. The central thought running through the play is the old way of doing things on the farm versus the new method. It appeals to all classes of people and especially to those who have tilled the soil. One farmer said it was the best thing he had ever seen. Another told his friends that “‘Back to the Farm’ had ‘The Birth of a Nation’ skun a mile.” They were both right, because to them the play came out of the soil.
A cast of eight characters was taken on the tour. They were given twenty-five dollars a week and their railroad fares. In the evening they presented the play and during the day made a brief social survey of every community visited. For instance, one young man would go to the livery stable or garage and find out something about the roads in the surrounding community. Naturally, roads have something to do with people getting together. Another would measure the size of village halls, the assembly rooms in schoolhouses, the basements of churches, empty country stores, and lodge rooms—in fact, any place where people assembled. Listing musical activities in the town was the duty of one member of the cast. Still another looked up everything he could find about athletics in the different places. The various clubs, organizations, and societies in the town were tabulated by one young man. The three ladies in the cast ascertained the number of festivals, pageants, home talent plays, programs, games, folk dances, library facilities, and newspapers. All of these facts, combined with other data obtained before and since then, make a splendid social diagnosis of certain phases of country life in North Dakota. They give one an insight into the activities of country folks out on a prairie. Many interesting conditions were revealed by the survey and knowledge gained elsewhere.
As a rule the roads are good. Travel in the late spring, summer, and fall is comparatively easy. In the winter it is more difficult, just as it is in any state. In some places the roads are graded ten, fifteen, and twenty miles out from a center. The prairie or grass road is frequently used to save time. It is not an uncommon occurrence for parties to drive twenty and thirty miles to attend a picnic, a play or a social function of some kind. Even in the winter and early spring the snow and “gumbo” do not stop them from attending social activities. Automobiles average from one to three to a section of land. Means of communication are constantly improving. Inasmuch as the homes in the country in the state are far apart, due to the present large acreage of the farms, the roads are an important factor in developing the social life in the country districts.
Practically every community possesses some sort of a hall or a meeting place. In size they accommodate, so far as the seating arrangement is concerned, from one to six hundred persons. In the forty towns visited, four had halls with a seating capacity of less than one hundred and fifty, fifteen with two hundred, twelve with three hundred, five with four hundred and four with six hundred and over. The seats were not stationary, the halls being used for other purposes. For the most part they consisted of folding chairs, kitchen chairs, boxes, saw-horses, and barn floor planks. The stages were small and the scenery scarce. In several places one could stand on the stage, and touch the ceiling with his hands. The front curtains were usually roll curtains and covered with advertising. Very few stages had a set of scenery. Oil and acetylene lamps furnished the necessary light. Barn lanterns were not uncommon. Occasionally some enterprising community would have electricity. In one village hall electric light bulbs were set in large tomato cans which were cut down on one side. These served as footlights. Automobile head lights facing toward the stage quite frequently gave the necessary light. Plumbers’ candles were sometimes used. Dressing room facilities were generally lacking. Sometimes a ladder was placed at the back window near the stage and the characters in the play who found it necessary to change their make-up would climb out on the ladder and go down in the basement between acts and make the necessary adjustments. Screens, blankets, and sheets pinned across the back corners of the stage make a good impromptu stage dressing room. Several of the halls had excellent dining rooms in connection with them. All the buildings were used for many different community activities. Most of them lacked good architecture, simply because the agencies in education had never taken enough interest in planning community buildings for country districts. The present tendency in consolidated schools is to install stages, platforms, and gymnasiums, in order to make them available for every activity characteristic of community life. A great many of the communities had splendid well arranged halls.
The musical survey showed that in districts where the people were of foreign descent all kinds of music thrived. The majority of the places had the talent, but not the leadership and the organization. Music in the schools was fairly well developed. Dance orchestras were popular. One town had a good orchestra, a fine band, and a glee club. Another had just a band of fifteen pieces. Victrolas were popular and in use in every school for games and folk dances. An interesting feature of the different kinds of music was the popularity of the violin. Every orchestra was blessed with this particular kind of a string instrument.
So far as clubs and organizations are concerned, every community has plenty of them. Some of them are very active and broad-minded, as well as farseeing in their work. Others are petty in their attitude and inclined to do very little. Many duplicate each other’s work. Where there is leadership, the organizations are alert and perform many valuable acts of service.
Athletic activities in the various towns and country districts are extremely popular with both the young and the old. Baseball is generally played at twilight, between seven-thirty and nine-thirty in the evening. Basketball tournaments in consolidated school districts attract considerable attention. Field days at farmers’ picnics create an unusual interest.
County play days in which all the children in the county meet at some particular place and participate in games, folk dances, parades, and pageants have become an integral part of the social life of the state. Out of the fifty-three counties in the state over thirty-five have play days. From two to ten thousand people attend these annual affairs.
The attitude of the weekly papers toward social functions and public programs is excellent. Space is freely given. The library facilities for furnishing data for presentation on public programs are not good, due primarily to lack of material and funds with which to purchase it. The possibilities for library work in the country districts in the state and even other states are infinite. Thousands of letters besides the survey of the forty towns attest this fact.
Hundreds of plays are presented in the state every year. Home talent plays are generally greeted with great crowds everywhere. Everybody “likes ’em.” Operettas are popular because large casts of characters are necessary to produce them. And besides everybody likes to see his offspring, relative, or friend take part. It is human nature to see what is in a person. The audiences are always enthusiastic and appreciative. The repertoire consists of comedies, classical plays, Christmas festivals, pantomimes, operettas, and May fetes. The community without a play is one without a leader. In a great many towns and rural districts the play, the picnic, and the Christmas festival are annual affairs. It is doubtful whether anything proves so popular with the vast majority of people as a real play staged by honest-to-goodness country folks. It also unconsciously brings out a spirit of leadership.
These few facts which were gathered by the cast during the day, coupled with other information secured before and after the tour, tell one something, perhaps not much, about the social life of country people in a prairie state.
The experiences encountered during the forty-day sojourn were interesting, to say the least. The audiences ranged in size from twenty-six persons to seven hundred. A county fair or circus admission of fifty cents for adults and twenty-five for children was charged. Sometimes the audiences were made up of cowboys, or cow-punchers, as the Westerners say. In one community two hundred sheep herders saw the play. In another, lignite coal miners and their families witnessed the production. For the most part the halls were filled with wheat growers and dairymen and their kin. With a few possible exceptions the crowds were rural in their complexion. Out in the extreme western part of the state the lights balked and the play never started until nine forty-five in the evening. In one town a thirteen dollar and fifty cent crowd enjoyed the comedy. It was necessary to purchase a bolt of chocolate colored cambric in another place, because only one screen could be found in the whole community. The cambric was used as a background and the screen for a left wing. The back of a piano with the American flag drooped over it served as the right wing. Old-fashioned acetylene lamps gave the necessary light. A large dry goods box was used for a ticket stand. Planks resting on saw horses satisfied the crowd so far as a seating arrangement was concerned. Social functions frequently followed the presentation of the play. After paying all expenses, the profits on the forty town road tour amounted to six dollars and sixty-seven cents.
The tour showed that people actually like plays. It carried the drama to the people.
COLD SPRING HOLLOW
A little over a year ago it was my good fortune to spend several days in Berkley County, West Virginia. “Tepee,” a jovial and good natured fellow and myself were in a camp out three miles from historic Martinsburg. The place was not so very far from the Maryland border. The festival chosen was “The Ingathering,” a story about America, in which food for humanity was the central theme. The characters were the country youth from those West Virginia hills. The site selected was Cold Spring Hollow near Opequan Creek. It was a beautiful spot in a little valley on Uncle Nat’s farm. On the hillsides which rose right and left from the hollow, there were many stately pines. A spring in the upper part of the valley kept the grass green and furnished many a refreshing drink.
The scene of the story of “The Ingathering” is laid in the Garden of Freedom where the Altar of Liberty is concealed. Mother Earth is escorted through a field of golden grain to the Garden. Here she stops and tells her escort that the Holy Earth has a soul and that through the ages her friends have been, Story, Art, and Song and that the elements of nature when the seasons were made selected Autumn as the most beautiful of all. The Spirit of Autumn, arrayed in all the colors characteristic of that season, moves about the field with graceful rhythm. Story then comes running through the field into the Garden of Freedom and tells Mother Earth that her children, representing many different races, are coming in search of the Altar of Liberty. They enter the field talking, though they do not understand each other. They babble. As they approach the Garden she halts them, asks them to be seated and gives Story a basket of bread that they may have food to eat. Mother Earth realizes that when people break bread with each other they not only understand each other better, but they also exemplify the noblest virtues of mankind—sacrifice and charity. Story then tells Mother Earth that people since time immemorial have commemorated the ingathering of food. Art comes and teaches the races many games and frolics with them. In the distance Song is heard. She enters and succeeds in getting all these people singing together. Mother Earth beckons Story, Art, and Song to bring all these people to the Garden of Freedom. They come and kneel with hands outstretched. For a moment darkness reigns everywhere. Story, Art, and Song uncover what these children for generations have been praying for. Light again appears and before their eyes the Altar of Liberty is seen in the Garden of Freedom which is located in the land called America.
The Altar of Liberty was constructed out of poles and evergreens cut from the nearby woods. Joe and Jim, two country lads, were the architects and builders. Joe was fat and chubby and about as large around as an apple barrel. He had a pair of merry blue eyes and everybody liked him. One day after the rehearsal, when we were laying out the frame work of the altar with poles, I said, “Joe, don’t you think you had better get a saw and cut the ends of these poles straight so they’ll stand erect?” Joe looked at me and said, “Don’t you think I can cut them?” He was standing with his hand and foot resting on the handle and blade of a wood chopper’s ax. When told he might try, he raised the ax over his shoulder and with several strokes cut the pole off as straight and clean as any first-class carpenter would have sawed it. After that day when anybody saw Joe carrying an ax around the camp they would follow him, because they knew Joe was an expert woodsman. Jim, his pal, was lean, had brown eyes, and was somewhat rough spoken. But Jim could drive twenty penny spikes. His aim was true. Of the many he drove he never missed a head. The construction of the Altar of Liberty was the medium through which Joe and Jim got interested in the festival.
The evening it was presented the automobiles which usually furnished the lights were not there. The hilly roads prevented their coming down into the valley. Some other kind of light had had to be found. One day during the week a fourteen-year-old boy had been seen scratching a match on the edge of a tin can cover. When asked what made the flame he said it was pitch. After a few trials as to its light power, the lads were sent up into the woods to get all they could find. They brought back large quantities. Chunks of pitch as large as your fists were placed on flat pieces of limestone near the altar. These natural footlights with a huge bonfire furnished all the light necessary for the production. A small organ, about the size of three suit-cases placed on top of each other, was used for the musical effects. The audience was made up of about a hundred and twenty-five country people. They were seated on peach crates, buggy seats, camp stools, horse blankets, and checkered bed quilts.
The evening the festival was presented was an ideal one. The air was cool and crisp. The stars were out. In the distance Opequan Creek could be heard. The scene was a most impressive one. Evergreen boughs laid on the ground in the form of a circle separated the audience from those who took part in the play. At the right and up the hill a little way the organ could be heard at intervals. The most beautiful part of it all was near the end of the festival when the reflection of the lights on the flat stones showed the ensemble of the characters. They were kneeling in the Garden of Freedom with their hands outstretched toward the Altar of Liberty singing—
“Our fathers’ God, to Thee, Author of Liberty To Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom’s holy light; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King!”
The effect was thrilling. In a valley in the foothills of West Virginia a group of country people were not only finding themselves, but they were also expressing a great American ideal.
The message of The Little Country Theater—to help people find their true expression in the community in which they live—was carried beyond the golden stubbled field of the land of the Dacotahs into the heart of the hills of West Virginia.
Knowledge is of two kinds—We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it.
_Samuel Johnson._
APPENDICES
He reads much. He is a great observer, and he looks quite through the deeds of men.
_Shakespeare._
In order to give the reader of this narrative on The Little Country Theater an insight into the hidden possibilities for the development of a life in both town and country, a life with more color and romance, a select list of reading materials is given. Aside from the program material sources, a careful reading of such books as _The Holy Earth_, by Liberty Bailey; _Three Acres and Liberty_, by Bolton Hall; _The Fairview Idea_, by Herbert Quick; _The Village_, by Ernest Poole; _The Farmer and The New Day_, by Kenyon Butterfield, and scores of other books cannot help but broaden one’s outlook upon life. A reading taste could easily be developed in this and other countries if every community, regardless of its size, would place a book shelf containing interesting literature in the country store, village post office, community hall, school house, or somebody’s home. A few dollars, say fifteen or twenty-five would be a sufficient fund to begin the reading circle. The school master, especially the county superintendent, would soon see a changed attitude and a renewed interest in education. The grown-ups, the folks whose school days are no more, as well as the school children would, if a library bookshelf was placed in every hamlet, be given an opportunity to spend at least a part of their leisure time, with pleasure and profit. Good books are good friends. Reading one is like visiting somebody you haven’t seen in a long while. The author dedicates the several pages left to those who want to read that they may know.
APPENDIX A
Select list of suitable reference material—General References, Country Life, Suggested Lists of Plays, Presentation of Plays, Promotion of Plays.
GENERAL REFERENCES
_Ancient Art and Ritual_—Jane Ellen Harrison. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Book of Days, The_—R. Chambers. Publisher, W. and R. Chambers, London, England.
_Dramas and Dramatic Dances_—William Ridgeway. Publisher, Cambridge University Press, London, England.
_Drama of Savage People, The_—Loomis Havemeyer. Publisher, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
_Fine Arts, The_—G. Baldwin Brown. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Golden Bough, The_—J. G. Frazer. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Play of Man, The_—Karl Groos. Publisher, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Amateur and Educational Dramatics_—Evelyne Hillard, Theodora McCormick, Kate Oglebay. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Art Theater, The_—Sheldon Cheney. Publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, New York.
_Book of Marionettes, A_—Helen Haiman Joseph. Publisher, B. W. Huebsch, New York City, New York.
_Chief Contemporary Dramatists_—Thomas Dickinson. Publisher, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Civic Theater, The_—Percy Mackaye. Publisher, Mitchell Kennerley, New York City, New York.
_Community Theater, The_—Louise Burleigh. Publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Drama, The_—Alfred Bates. Publisher, The Athenian Society, London, England.
_Drama League Series of Plays, The_—Publisher, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_History of the Theater in America, A_—Arthur Hornblow. Publisher, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
_Insurgent Theater, The_—Thomas Dickinson. Publisher, B. W. Huebsch, New York City, New York.
_Life and Art of Edwin Booth_—William Winter. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Life and Art of Joseph Jefferson_—William Winter. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Masterpieces of Modern Drama, The_—John Alexander Pierce and Brander Matthews. Publisher, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_Mediaeval Stage, The_—E. K. Chambers. Publisher, A. C. McClurg and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Neighborhood Entertainments_—Renee B. Stern. Publisher, Sturgis and Walton Company, New York City, New York.
_Our American Holidays_—Robert Haven Schauffler, Publisher, Moffat, Yard and Company, New York City, New York.
_Plays and Players_—Walter Prichard Eaton. Publisher, Stewart and Kidd Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.
_Studies in Stage Craft_—Clayton Hamilton. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Ten Thousand Words Often Mispronounced_—William H. Phyfe. Publisher, Putnam Sons, New York City, New York.
_Theaters and Picture Houses_—Arthur S. Meloy. Publisher, Architects Supply and Publishing Company, New York City, New York.
_Theater Through Its Stage Door_—David Belasco. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_Training for the Stage_—Arthur Hornblow. Publisher, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
COUNTRY LIFE
_Adult Recreation as a Social Problem_—Edward Alsworth Ross. Source, _The American Journal of Sociology_, January, Nineteen Eighteen. Publisher, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
_American Country Girl, The_—Martha Foote Crow. Publisher, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York City, New York.
_Chapters in Rural Progress_—Kenyon L. Butterfield. Publisher, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
_Constructive Rural Sociology_—John M. Gillette. Publisher, Sturgis and Walton Company, New York City, New York.
_Country Life Movement in the United States, The_—L. H. Bailey. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Country Town, The_—Wilbert L. Anderson. Publisher, The Baker and Taylor Company, New York City, New York.
_Educational Needs of Farm Women_—United States Department of Agriculture, Report No. 105. Publisher, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
_Fairview Idea, The_—Herbert Quick. Publisher, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Indiana.
_Farm Boys and Girls_—William A. McKeever. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Farmer and the New Day, The_—Kenyon L. Butterfield. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Holy Earth, The_—L. H. Bailey. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Introduction to Rural Sociology_—Paul Vogt. Publisher, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Little Town, The_—Harlan Paul Douglas. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Our European Neighbors_—Twelve volumes edited by William Harbutt Dawson. Publisher, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Outlines of Economics_—Richard T. Ely. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Plans of Rural Community Buildings_—W. C. Nason. Source, Farmers Bulletin 1173. Publisher, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
_Proceedings—First, Second, and Third National Country Life Conferences._ Publisher, National Country Life Association, Amherst, Massachusetts, c/o Kenyon L. Butterfield.
_Psychic Causes of Rural Migration_—Ernest R. Groves. Source, _The American Journal of Sociology_, March, Nineteen Sixteen. Publisher, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
_Rural Improvement_—Frank Waugh. Publisher, Orange, Judd Company, New York City, New York.
_Rural Life Problem of the United States, The_—Sir Horace Plunkett. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Rural Planning and Colonization_—Ben Faast. Publisher, Wisconsin Colonization Company, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
_Rural Versus Urban_—John W. Bookwalter. Publisher, The Knickerbocker Press, New York City, New York.
_Six Thousand Country Churches_—Charles Otis Gill and Gifford Pinchot. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Social Anatomy of a Rural Community, The_—Charles J. Galpin. Source, Wisconsin Research Bulletin, Number 34. Publisher, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
_State and the Farmer, The_—L. H. Bailey. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Three Acres and Liberty_—Bolton Hall. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Village, The_—Ernest Poole. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
SUGGESTED LIST OF PLAYS—ONE ACT
_Afternoon Rehearsal, An_—Lizzie M. Knapp. Characters, Six Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_American Beauties_—A. Seaman. Characters, Six Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Aunt Minerva_—Catherine Tudor. Characters, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Bank Account, The_—Howard Brock. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Brentano, New York City, New York.
_Barbara_—Jerome K. Jerome. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Belles of Canterbury, The_—Characters, Eleven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Between the Soup and the Savory_—Gertrude Jennings. Characters, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Bishop’s Candlesticks_—Norman McKinnel. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Bracelet, The_—Alfred Sutro. Characters, Four Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Brown Paper Parcel, A_—M. J. W. Characters, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Business Meeting, A_—Arlo Bates. Characters, Ten Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Christening Robe, The_—Anne L. Estebrook. Characters, Twelve Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Christmas Chime, A_—Margaret Cameron. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Christmas Tale, A_—Maurice Boucher. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Clod, The_—Lewis Beach. Characters, Four Male, One Female. Publisher, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_Cooks and Cardinals_—Norman C. Lindon. Characters, Four Male, Two Female. Publisher, Harvard Plays, 47 Workshop, Brentano’s, New York City, New York.
_Courtship of Miles Standish_—Eugene W. Presbrey. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Cut Off with a Shilling_—S. T. Smith. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Dancing Dolls_—Kenneth Sawyer Goodman. Characters, Four Male, Seven Female. Publisher, The Stage Guild, Chicago, Illinois.
_Day That Lincoln Died, The_—Prescott Warren and Will Hutchins. Characters, Five Male, Two Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Deacon’s Hat, The_—Jeanette Marks. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, Three Welsh Plays, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Dear Departed, The_—Stanley Houghton. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, Five One Act Plays, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Dinner at Seven Sharp_—Tudor Jenks. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Dress Rehearsal of Hamlet_—Mary Macmillan. Characters, Ten Female. Publisher, Stewart and Kidd, Cincinnati, Ohio.
_Embers_—George Middleton. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Far Away Princess, The_—Herman Sudermann. Characters, Two Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Roses, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Fatal Message, The_—John Kendrick Bangs. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_First Come, First Served_—John Maddison Morton. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Florist Shop, The_—Winifred Hawkridge. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, In Harvard Plays, Brentano’s, New York City, New York.
_Futurists_—Mary Macmillan. Characters, Eight Women. Publisher, Stewart and Kidd, Cincinnati, Ohio.
_Gettysburg_—Percy MacKaye. Characters, One Male, One Female. Publisher, Duffield and Company, New York City, New York.
_Ghost of Jerry Bundler, The_—W. W. Jacobs and Charles Rock. Characters, Seven Male. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Girls, The_—Mabel H. Crane. Characters, Nine Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Green Coat, The_—Alfred De Musset and Emile Augier. Characters, Three Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Holly Tree Inn_—O. Berringer. Characters, Four Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Hour Glass, The_—W. B. Yeats. Characters, Three Male, One Female. Publisher, Plays from the Irish Theater, Macmillan and Company, New York City, New York.
_How the Vote Was Won_—Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St. John. Characters, Two Male, Eight Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Indian Summer_—Meilhac and Halevy. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_In Hospital_—Thomas H. Dickinson. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, In Wisconsin Plays, B. W. Huebsch, New York City, New York.
_Intruder, The_—Maurice Maeterlinck. Characters, Three Male, Five Female. Publisher, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York City, New York.
_In the Wrong House_—Martin Becher. Characters, Four Male, Two Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_In the Zone_—Eugene O’Neill. Characters, Nine Male. Publisher, The Moon of the Caribbees, Boni and Liveright, New York City, New York.
_Joint Owners in Spain_—Alice Brown. Characters, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Kleptomaniac, The_—Margaret Cameron. Characters, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Lend Me Five Shillings_—J. Maddison Morton. Characters, Five Male, Two Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Little Red Mare, The_—O. E. Young. Characters, Three Male. Publisher, Dick and Fitzgerald, New York City, New York.
_Lonesomelike_—Harold Brighouse. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, Gowans and Gray, London, England.
_Lost Silk Hat, The_—Lord Dunsany. Characters, Five Male. Publisher, Mitchell Kennerley, New York City, New York.
_Maker of Dreams, The_—Oliphant Down. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Gowans and Gray, London, England.
_Marriage Has Been Arranged, A_—Alfred Sutro. Characters, One Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Marriage Proposal, A_—Anton Tchekoff. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Merry, Merry Cuckoo, The_—Jeanette Marks. Characters, Four Male, One Female. Publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Misdemeanor of Nancy, A_—Eleanor Hoyt. Characters, Two Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Speaker, Volume Two, Hinds, Hayden and Eldredge, New York City, New York.
_Miss Civilization_—Richard Harding Davis. Characters, Four Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Modesty_—Paul Hervieu. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Mouse Trap_—Burton Harrison. Characters, One Male, One Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Mouse Trap, The_—William Dean Howells. Characters, One Male, Six Female. Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Mrs. Oakley’s Telephone_—Eudora M. Jennings. Characters, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Mrs. Patt and the Law_—Mary Aldis. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Plays for Small Stages, Duffield and Company, New York City, New York.
_Nance Oldfield_—C. Reade. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Neighbors_—Zona Gale. Characters, Two Male, Six Female. Publisher, Wisconsin Plays, B. W. Huebsch, New York City, New York.
_Newly Married Couple, A_—Björnstjerne Björnson. Characters, Three Male, Four Female. Publisher, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Noble Lord, The_—Percival Wilde. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Obstinancy_—R. Benedix. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Old Peabody Pew, The_—Kate Douglas Wiggin. Characters, One Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Op’-O-Me-Thumb_—Frederic Fenn and Richard Pryce. Characters, Five Female, One Male. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Orange Blossoms_—J. P. Wooler. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Our Aunt from California_—M. D. Barnum. Characters, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Overtones_—Alice Gerstenberg. Characters, Four Female. Publisher, Washington Square Plays, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_Pair of Lunatics, A_—W. R. Walkes. Characters, One Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Pantaloon_—J. M. Barrie. Characters, Four Male, One Female. Publisher, Half Hours, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Pipers Pay, The_—Margaret Cameron. Characters, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Playing with Fire_—Percival Wilde. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Dawn and Other One Act Plays, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Pot of Broth, A_—W. B. Yeats. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, In the Hour Glass and Other Plays, Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Prairie Wolf, The_—John Lange. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_Press Cuttings_—Bernard Shaw. Characters, Four Male, Four Female. Publisher, Press Cuttings, Brentano’s, New York City, New York.
_Princess Faraway, The_—Edmond Rostand. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Hinds, Noble and Eldredge, New York City, New York.
_Proposal under Difficulties, A_—John Kendrick Bangs. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_Real Thing, The_—John Kendrick Bangs. Characters, Two Male, Five Female. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_Riders to the Sea_—J. M. Synge. Characters, One Male, Three Female. Publisher, John W. Luce, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Rising of the Moon, The_—Lady Gregory. Characters, Four Male. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Sam Average_—Percy Mackaye. Characters, Three Male, One Female. Publisher, Duffield and Company, New York City, New York.
_Side Show, The_—John Kendrick Bangs. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_Silent System, The_—A. Dreyfus. Characters, One Male, One Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil_—Stuart Walker. Characters, Seven Male, Two Female. Publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Spreading the News_—Lady Gregory. Characters, Seven Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Sunbonnets_—Marian D. Campbell. Characters, Eleven Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Sunset_—Jerome K. Jerome. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Suppressed Desires_—George Cram Cook and Susan Glaspell. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Plays by Susan Glaspell, Small, Maynard and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Swan Song, The_—Anton Tchekoff. Characters, Two Male. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Teeth of the Gift Horse, The_—Margaret Cameron. Characters, Two Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Three Pills in a Bottle_—Rachel L. Field. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, Plays 47 Workshop, Brentano’s, New York City, New York.
_Tickets, Please_—Irving Dale. Characters, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Tradition_—George Middleton. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Traveling Man, The_—Lady Gregory. Characters, One Male, One Female, One Child. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Trifles_—Susan Glaspell. Characters, Three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Frank Shay, New York City, New York.
_Washington’s First Defeat_—Charles Nirdlinger. Characters, One Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Waterloo_—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Characters, Three Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Which Is Which_—H. Theyre Smith. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Wire Entanglement, A_—Robert Mantell. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Workhouse Ward, The_—Lady Gregory. Characters, Two Male, One Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Zone Police, The_—Richard Harding Davis. Characters, Four Male. Publisher, Charles Scribner and Sons, New York City, New York.
SUGGESTED LIST OF PLAYS—MORE THAN ONE ACT
_Abraham Lincoln_—John Drinkwater. Characters, Thirty-three Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Admirable Crichton, The_—J. M. Barrie. Four Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Adventure of Lady Ursula, The_—Anthony Hope. Four Acts. Characters, Twelve Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Alabama_—Augustus Thomas. Four Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Alice-Sit-By-The-Fire_—J. M. Barrie. Three Acts. Characters, Four Male, Five Female. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_All-Of-A-Sudden-Peggy_—Ernest Denny. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Amazons, The_—Arthur Pinero. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Five Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Anti-Matrimony_—Percy Mackaye. Four Acts. Characters, Two Male, Three Female. Publisher, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_Arrival of Kitty, The_—Norman Lee Swartout. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Arrow Maker’s Daughter, The_—Grace E. Smith and Gertrude Nevils. Two Acts. Characters, Six Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Arrow Maker, The_—Mary Austin. Characters, Eight Male, Nine Female. Publisher, Duffield and Company, New York City, New York.
_As You Like It_—William Shakespeare. Five Acts. Characters, Sixteen Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Bachelors’ Romance, A_—Martha Morton. Four Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Back to the Farm_—Merline H. Shumway. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, University of Minnesota, Agricultural Extension Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
_Barbara Frietchie_—Clyde Fitch. Four Acts. Characters, Thirteen Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Bee in a Drone’s Hive, A_—Cecil Baker. Two Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Five Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_Beyond the Horizon_—Eugene O’Neill. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, Boni and Liveright, New York City, New York.
_Bob, Mr._—Rachel E. Baker. Two Acts. Characters, Three Male, Four Female. Publisher, Eldridge Entertainment House, Franklin, Ohio.
_Breezy Point_—B. M. Locke. Three Acts. Characters, Thirteen Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Brown Mouse, The_—Mabel B. Stevenson, adapted from the Novel by Herbert Quick. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Cabinet Minister, The_—A. W. Pinero. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Nine Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Captain Rackett_—Charles Townsend. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Chinese, Lantern, The_—Lawrence Housman. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Clarence_—Booth Tarkington. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Christopher Columbus_—Alice Johnstone Walker. Four Acts. Characters, Eighteen Male, Two Female. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_College Widow, The_—George Ade. Four Acts. Characters, Fifteen Male, Ten Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_County Chairman, The_—George Ade. Four Acts. Characters, Sixteen Male, Six Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_Cousin Kate_—H. H. Davies. Three Acts. Characters, Three Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Country-Side, The_—Harry Hagerott. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_Cricket on the Hearth_—Charles Dickens. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Eight Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Cupid at Vassar_—Owen Davis. Four Acts. Characters, Twelve Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_David Garrick_—T. W. Robertson. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_David Harum_—Eugene Noyes Westcott. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Three Female. Publisher, Charles Frohman Company, New York City, New York.
_Doll’s House, The_—H. Ibsen. Three Acts. Characters, Three Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Engaged_—W. S. Gilbert. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Esmeralda_—Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett and William Gillette. Three Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Every Ship Will Find a Harbor_—Albert C. Heine. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_Farmerette, The_—Evelyn Gray Whiting. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Fortune Hunter, The_—Winchell Smith. Four Acts. Characters, Seventeen Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Girl With the Green Eyes, The_—Clyde Fitch. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Great Divide, The_—William Vaughn Moody. Three Acts. Characters, Eleven Male, Three Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_Green Stockings_—A. E. W. Mason. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Hadda Padda_—Godmundur Kamban. Four Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Alfred Knopf, New York City, New York.
_Hazel Kirke_—Steele Mackaye. Four Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Her Husband’s Wife_—A. E. Thomas. Three Acts. Characters, Three Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Hick’ry Farm_—Edwin M. Stern. Two Acts. Characters, Six Male, Two Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Hour Glass, The_—William Butler Yeates. Characters, Four Male, Two Female, Two Children. Publisher, The Macmillan Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_House Next Door, The_—J. H. Manners. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Hurry, Hurry, Hurry_—Leroy Arnold. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Importance of Being Earnest, The_—Oscar Wilde. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_It Pays to Advertise_—Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Kindling_—Charles Kenyon. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York City, New York.
_Lady of the Weeping Willow Tree, The_—Stuart Walker. Three Acts. Characters, Six. Publisher, Stewart and Kidd Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.
_Lady Windermere’s Fan_—Oscar Wilde. Four Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Leonarda_—Björnstjerne Björnson. Four Acts. Characters, Six Male, Six Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Little Minister, The_—J. M. Barrie. Four Acts. Characters, Eleven Male, Five Female. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_Little Women_—Marian De Forest, adapted from Story by Louisa M. Alcott. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Lion and the Mouse, The_—Charles Klein. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Lonelyville Social Club_—W. C. Parker. Three Acts. Characters, Ten Female. Publisher, Eldridge Entertainment House, Franklin, Ohio
_Man from Home, The_—Booth Tarkington. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Three Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_Man of the Hour_—George Broadhurst. Four Acts. Characters, Thirteen Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Man Without a Country, The_—Elizabeth McFadden and A. Crimmins. Three Acts. Characters, Twenty-three Male, Two Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Melting Pot, The_—Israel Zangwill. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_Mice and Men_—Madeline Lucette Ryley. Four Acts. Characters, Six Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Milestones_—A. Bennett and E. Knoblauch. Three Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Six Female. Publisher, George H. Doran, New York City, New York.
_Miss Hobbs_—Jerome K. Jerome. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Miss Lulu Bett_—Zona Gale. Three Acts. Eight Characters. Publisher, Zona Gale, Portage, Wisconsin.
_Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh_—Harry James Smith. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Mrs. Temple’s Telegram_—Frank Wyatt and William Morris. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Much Ado About Nothing_—William Shakespeare. Two Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Three Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Nathan Hale_—Clyde Fitch. Four Acts. Characters, Twelve Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_New Country Woman, The_—Lillian Rolle. Four Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_New York Idea, The_—Langdon Mitchell. Four Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Six Female. Publisher, Walter Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Nothing but the Truth_—James Montgomery. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Officer 666_—Augustin MacHugh. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Our Boys_—Henry J. Bryon. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Pair of Spectacles, A_—Sydney Grundy. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Peg O’ My Heart_—J. Hartley Manners. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Pillars of Society, The_—H. Ibsen. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Nine Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Pomander Walk_—Louis N. Parker. Three Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Private Secretary, The_—Charles Hawtrey. Three Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Four Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Professor’s Love Story, The_—J. M. Barrie. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Five Female. Publisher, Chicago Manuscript Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Prunella_—Lawrence Housman and Granville Barker. Three Acts. Characters, Eleven Male, One Female. Publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Pygmalion and Galatea_—W. S. Gilbert. Three Acts. Characters, Four Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Quality Street_—J. M. Barrie. Four Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Six Female. Publisher, Sanger and Jordan, New York City, New York.
_Raindrops, The_—M. Thorfinnson and Eggert V. Briem. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Little Country Theater, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota.
_Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, The_—Anne Warner. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Rip Van Winkle_—Charles Burke. Two Acts. Characters, Eleven Male, Three Female, One Child. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Rivals, The_—R. B. Sheridan. Five Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Romancers, The_—Edmond Rostand. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, One Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Rose O’ Plymouth Town_—Beulah Marie Dix and Evelyn G. Sutherland. Four Acts. Characters, Four Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Russian Honeymoon, A_—Eugene Scribe. Three Acts. Characters, Four Male, Three Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Sanctuary—A Bird Masque_—Percy Mackaye. Characters, Four Male, Twenty-two Female. Publisher, Frederick A. Stokes, New York City, New York.
_School for Scandal_—Richard B. Sheridan. Five Acts. Characters, Thirteen Male, Four Female. Publisher, Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Scrap of Paper, A_—J, Palgrave Simpson. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Six Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Servant in the House, The_—Charles Rann Kennedy. Five Acts. Characters, Five Male, Two Female. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_She Stoops to Conquer_—Oliver Goldsmith. Five Acts. Characters, Sixteen Male, Four Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Silas, the Chore Boy_—Frank Bernard. Three Acts. Characters, Six Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Sitting Bull—Custer_—Aaron McGaffey Beede. Characters, Nine Male, Four Female. Publisher, Bismarck _Tribune_, Bismarck, North Dakota.
_Shore Acres_—James Herne. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Eight Female. Publisher, Charles Frohman Company, New York City, New York.
_Sweethearts_—W. S. Gilbert. Two Acts. Characters, Two Male, Two Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Taming of the Shrew_—William Shakespeare. Three Acts. Characters, Fifteen Male, Three Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Tempest, The_—William Shakespeare. Five Acts. Characters, Five Male, Seven Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Three Hats, The_—A. Shirley. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Thousand Years Ago, A_—Percy Mackaye. Four Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Two Female. Publisher, Doubleday, Page Company, New York City, New York.
_Toastmaster_—Norman Lee Swartout. Three Acts. Characters, Eight Male, Two Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Trelawney of the Wells_—Arthur W. Pinero. Four Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Eight Female. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Twelfth Night_—William Shakespeare. Five Acts. Characters, Ten Male, Three Female. Publisher, Walter H. Baker, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Valley Farm_—A. L. Tubbs. Four Acts. Characters, Six Male, Six Female. Publisher, T. S. Denison and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Washington, the Man Who Made Us_—Percy Mackaye. Three Acts. Characters, Sixty-six Male, Ten Female. Publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, New York.
_What Every Woman Knows_—J. M. Barrie. Four Acts. Characters, Five Male, Four Female. Publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York City, New York.
_What Happened to Jones_—George Broadhurst. Three Acts. Characters, Seven Male, Six Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Witching Hour, The_—Augustus Thomas. Three Acts. Characters, Twelve Male, Three Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_You Never Can Tell_—Bernard Shaw. Four Acts. Characters, Six Male, Four Female. Publisher, Brentano’s, New York City, New York.
_When We Were Twenty-One_—H. V. Esmond. Four Acts. Characters, Nine Male, Five Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Why Smith Left Home_—George Broadhurst. Three Acts. Characters, Five Male, Seven Female. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
PRESENTATION OF PLAYS
COSTUMES
_Bankside Costume Book for Children_—Melicent Stone. Publisher, Saalfield Publishing Company, New York City, New York.
_Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs_—Constance Mackay. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Costumes for Bazaars and Masquerades._ Publisher, The Ladies’ Home Journal, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
_Costumes in England_—F. W. Fairholt. Publisher, Macmillan Company, New York City, New York.
_Dennison’s Costume Book._ Publisher, Dennison Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Flower Children_—Elizabeth Gordon. Publisher, P. F. Volland Company, New York City, New York.
_Historic Dress in America_—Elizabeth McClellan. Publisher, G. W. Jacobs and Company, New York City, New York.
_History of British Costume_—J. R. Planche. Publisher, G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., London, England.
_Meadowgold._ Publisher, Extension Division, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
_Mother Earth’s Children_—Elizabeth Gordon. Publisher, P. F. Volland and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Practical Hints on Stage Costumes_—Cyril Bowen. Publisher, Samuel French, New York City, New York.
_Two Centuries of Costume in America_—Alice Morse Earle. Publisher, Macmillan and Company, New York City, New York.
MAKE-UP
_Art of Theatrical Make-Up, The_—Cavendish Morton. Publisher, Adams and Charles Black, London, England.
_Brief Make-Up Guide_—Eben H. Norris. Publisher, T. S. Denison, Chicago, Illinois.
_Hageman’s Make Up Book_—Maurice Hageman. Publisher, The Dramatic Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Making Up_—James Young. Publisher, M. Witmark and Sons, New York City, New York.
PRODUCTION
_American Pageantry_—Ralph Davol. Publisher, Davol Publishing Company, Taunton, Massachusetts.
_Community Drama and Pageantry_—Mary Porter Beegle and Jack Randall Crawford. Publisher, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
_Festivals and Plays_—Percival Chubb and Associates. Publisher, Harper and Brothers, New York City, New York.
_How to Produce Amateur Plays_—Barrett H. Clark. Publisher, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_How to Produce Children’s Plays_—Constance D’Arcy Mackay. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_How to Stage a Play_—Harry Osborne. Publisher, T. S. Denison and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Modern Theater Construction_—Edward Bernard Kinsila. Publisher, Chalmers Publishing Company, New York City, New York.
_Open Air Theater, The_—Sheldon Cheney. Publisher, Mitchell Kennerley, New York City, New York.
_Play Production in America_—Arthur Edwin Krows. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Practical Stage Directing for Amateurs_—Emerson Taylor. Publisher, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Producing Amateur Entertainments_—Helen Ferris. Publisher, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Shakespeare for Community Players_—Roy Mitchell. Publisher, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York City, New York.
SCENIC EFFECTS—STAGE DEVICES—LIGHTING
_Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs_—Constance Mackay. Publisher, Henry Holt and Company, New York City, New York.
_Electric Stage Lighting Apparatus and Effects_—Kliegel Brothers. Publisher, Kliegel Brothers, New York City, New York.
_Secrets of Scene Painting and Stage Effects_—Van Dyke Browne. Publisher, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Theatrical Stage Rigging_—J. R. Clancy. Publisher, J. R. Clancy, Syracuse, New York.
PROMOTION OF PLAYS
NEWSPAPERS
_Country Weekly, The_—Phil C. Bing. Publisher, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Editorial, The_—Leon Nelson Flint. Publisher, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Essentials in Journalism_—H. F. Harrington and T. T. Frankenberg. Publisher, Ginn and Company, New York City, New York.
_How to Write Special Feature Articles_—Willard G. Bleyer. Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Making Type Work_—Benjamin Sherbow. Publisher, The Century Company, New York City, New York.
_Newspaper Reporting and Correspondence_—Grant M. Hyde. Publisher, D. Appleton and Company, New York City, New York.
_Newspaper Writing and Editing_—Willard G. Bleyer. Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Principles of Advertising, The_—Tipper, Hollingworth, Hotchkiss, Parsons. Publisher, The Ronald Press Company, New York City, New York.
_Types of News Writing_—Willard G. Bleyer. Publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Company, New York City, New York.
_Typical Newspaper Stories_—H. F. Harrington. Publisher, Ginn and Company, New York City, New York.
POSTERS
_Art of Sign Painting, The_—Frank Atkinson. Publisher, Frederick J. Drake and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_“A Show At” Shocards_—F. H. Atkinson and G. W. Atkinson. Publisher, Frederick J. Drake and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Letters and Lettering_—Frank Chouteau Brown. Publisher, Bates and Guild Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
_Modern Painters’ Cyclopedia, The_—F. Maire. Publisher, Frederick J. Drake and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
_Poster, The_—Publisher, Poster Advertising Association, Chicago, Illinois.
_Practical Publicity_—Truman A. De Weese. Publisher, George W. Jacobs and Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
_Signists’ Modern Book of Alphabets, The_—F. Delamotte. Publisher, Frederick J. Drake and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
APPENDIX B
GLOSSARY OF STAGE TERMS
_Arch_—Doorway or archway in section of scenery.
_Act_—Division of play.
_At Rise_—Beginning of play or act.
_Back Stage_—Portion back of visible stage.
_Back Drop_—Large curtain hanging at rear of stage showing a landscape, garden or woods.
_Borders_—Section of different colored cloths or scenery hanging at intervals from above. Usually represents sky, ceiling or branches of trees.
_Border Lights_—Rows of lights in tin troughs suspended from ceiling used to illuminate stage.
_Brace_—Support, usually slender pole to keep scenery in place.
_Bunch Lights_—Groups of lights on movable standards.
_Business Manager_—Person who looks after finances of production, promotes advertising campaign, sells and takes tickets, etc.
_Comedy_—A play light and amusing, having a happy ending.
_Costume_—A character dress of a particular period or locality worn in a play.
_Cue_—Last words of a speech indicating time for next actor to begin.
_Cross_—To move from one side of the stage to the other side.
_Dimmer_—Electrical device to regulate quantity of light on stage.
_Drops_—Curtains or pieces of scenery extending height and whole width of stage.
_Down_—Down stage means direction of audience.
_Discovered_—In person on stage at beginning of play or act.
_Drama_—A composition intended to portray life or character to be performed on stage.
_Farce_—A light, somewhat ridiculous play usually short.
_Festival_—A periodical season of entertainment embracing pageantry, drama, music and dancing.
_Footlights_—Illumination on front of stage floor.
_Front_—Part of stage nearest audience.
_Lash Line_—Rope used to hold sections of scenery together.
_Left_—Actor’s left on stage when facing audience.
_Music Plot_—Brief statement of incidental music in play.
_Off_—Away from visible stage.
_On_—On stage.
_Pantomime_—A dramatic performance where words are not used—a dumb show.
_Pageant_—An outdoor spectacle or play of large proportions.
_Pastoral Play_—A drama describing rural life.
_Prompter_—One who reminds actor of parts forgotten.
_Property Man_—One who looks after properties in play.
_Puppet Show_—A small image in human form play.
_Properties_—Articles used in play.
_Proscenium_—Arch framing the stage where front curtain hangs.
_Run_—Portion of stage leading to visible part.
_Set Piece_—A structure built on stage like tree, wall or cottage.
_Set_—Scenery for certain act in play.
_Scene_—Subdivision of play or act in play.
_Stage-Manager_—One who looks after arrangement of stage scenery for a play.
_Spotlight_—Light aimed at certain section of stage.
_Tableau_—Representation of some scene by grouping of people.
_Tormentors_—Passages near proscenium opening.
_Trap_—Hole in stage floor.
_Tragedy_—A dramatic composition having an unhappy ending.
_Up_—Toward rear of stage.
_Upstage_—Part of stage farthest away from audience.
APPENDIX C
OPEN AIR THEATERS—STADIUMS
Greek Theater, University of California, Berkeley, California, The Crescent—El Zagal Park, Fargo, North Dakota—The Harvard Stadium, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
APPENDIX D
RURAL COMMUNITY CENTER—TYPES OF COMMUNITY BUILDINGS
Rural Community Center, Rusk Farm—Community House, Leeland, Texas—Village Hall, Wyoming, New York—Community Building and Floor Plan—Auditorium, Hendrum, Minnesota.
APPENDIX E
STAGE DESIGNS