largely to yours and your department’s work, many of us will
be felicitously occupied with the mental delights of literary
preparation and participation. Our society is thriving
splendidly. Last Friday another similar society was started in
the country north of here. Went out and helped them organize.
They named their club the Greenville Booster Club. Some of the
leading lights are of the country’s most substantial farmers.
Suggest that you send literature on club procedure to their
program committee. This community, both town and country north,
has for the past many years been the scene of much senseless
strife over town matters, school matters, etc.
“I believe the dawn of an era of good feeling is at hand. These
get-together clubs are bound to greatly facilitate matters that
way. At their next meeting I am on their debate and supposed to
get up a paper to read on any topic I choose, besides. Now with
carrying the mail, writing for our newspaper, practicing and
singing with the M. E. choir, also our literary male quartet,
to say nothing of debating and declaiming and writing for two
literaries my time is all taken up. Could you find me something
suitable for a reading?
“Sincerely yours,
“A. B.”
“Regan, N. Dak., Nov. 30, 1917.
“Mr. A. ⸺:
“My sister sent to you for some plays which we are returning.
We put on ‘The Lonelyville Social Club’ after ten days’
practice and cleared $39.10 in Regan and $93.00 when we played
it last night in Wilton. It took well and we are much pleased
with our effort. The proceeds go to the Red Cross.
“Thanking you most sincerely, I am
“V. C. P. (and the rest of the troop).”
“Hensel, N. D., Mar. 15, 1918.
“Dear Friend:
“I received the paint which you sent me. I thank you very much
for it, it certainly came in handy. Do you need it back or if
not how much does it cost? I would rather buy it if you can
spare it.
“The play was a success. We had a big crowd everywhere.
Everybody seemed to like it. Some proclaimed it to be the best
home talent play they had seen. We have played it four times.
Whether we play more has not been decided.
“Yours truly,
“A. H.”
“Overly, N. D., Mar. 21, 1918.
“Gentlemen:—
“Have you any book from the library that would help with a
Patriotic entertainment to be given in this community for the
benefit of the Red Cross? If you can offer suggestions also, we
will appreciate it.
“Thanking you, I am, truly yours,
“G. L. D.”
[Illustration: The Package Library System]
“Lansford, N. D., May 25, 1920.
“Dear Mr. A.:
“As a teacher in a rural school I gave a program at our
school on last Saturday evening. We had an audience of about
seventy-five people and they simply went wild over our program.
Our school has an enrollment of four girls, being the only
school in the county where only girls are enrolled and also the
smallest school in the county. Our program lasted two hours and
twenty minutes and was given by the four girls.
“We have been asked to give our entertainment in the hall in
Lansford. Now I want to ask you for a suggestion. Don’t you
think that in a make-up for ‘grandmothers’ that blocking out
teeth and also for making the face appear wrinkled’ would
improve the parts in which grandmothers take part?
“Would it be possible for you to send me the things necessary
as I would like to get them as soon as possible and do not know
where to send for them. If you can get them for me I shall send
the money also postage, etc., as soon as I receive them.
“Trusting that this will not inconvenience you greatly, I
remain,
“Very truly yours,
“E. B.”
It is not an uncommon occurrence to get a long distance call at eleven
o’clock at night from someone two or three hundred miles away, asking
for information. Telegrams are a common thing. Conferences with people
who come from different communities for advice are frequent. The tower,
the attic, and the package library are an integral part of the theater.
The aim of The Little Country Theater is to produce such plays and
exercises as can be easily staged in a country schoolhouse, the basement
of a country church, the sitting room of a farm home, the village or
town hall, or any place where people assemble for social betterment. Its
principal function is to stimulate an interest in good clean drama and
original entertainment among the people living in the open country and
villages, in order to help them find themselves, that they may become
better satisfied with the community in which they live. In other words,
its real purpose is to use the drama and all that goes with the drama as
a force in getting people together and acquainted with each other, in
order that they may find out the hidden life forces of nature itself.
Instead of making the drama a luxury for the classes, its aim is to make
it an instrument for the enlightenment and enjoyment of the masses.
In a country town nothing attracts so much attention, proves so popular,
pleases so many, or causes so much favorable comment as a home talent
play. It is doubtful whether Sir Horace Plunkett ever appreciated
the significance of the statement he once made when he said that the
simplest piece of amateur acting or singing done in the village hall by
one of the villagers would create more enthusiasm among his friends and
neighbors than could be excited by the most consummate performance of
a professional in a great theater where no one in the audience knew or
cared for the performer. Nothing interests people in each other so much
as habitually working together. It’s one way people find themselves.
A home talent play not only affords such an opportunity, but it also
unconsciously introduces a friendly feeling in a neighborhood. It
develops a community spirit because it is something everybody wants to
make a success, regardless of the local jealousies or differences of
opinion. When a country town develops a community consciousness, it
satisfies its inhabitants.
The drama is a medium through which America must inevitably express its
highest form of democracy. When it can be used as an instrument to get
people to express themselves, in order that they may build up a bigger
and better community life, it will have performed a real service to
society. When the people who live in the small community and the country
awaken to the possibilities which lie hidden in themselves through the
impulse of a vitalized drama, they will not only be less eager to move to
centers of population, but will also be a force in attracting city folks
to dwell in the country. The monotony of country existence will change
into a newer and broader life.
If The Little Country Theater can inspire people in country districts to
do bigger things in order that they may find themselves, it will have
performed its function. It is the Heart of a Prairie, dedicated to the
expression of the emotions of country people everywhere and in all ages.
THE HEART OF A PRAIRIE
People are more or less influenced by their emotions. What matters is not
so much what persons think about certain things as how they feel toward
them. Thought and emotion usually go hand in hand. One is essential
to the other. It is through the heart of a people that emotions are
expressed. For centuries the drama has been the great heart strength
through which humanity expresses its higher and finer instincts. Its
power to sway the feelings of mankind by seeking to find out the hidden
life forces in us all can never be overestimated. It is through the
drama that people learn to interpret human nature, its weakness and its
strength. The sad and the happy, the rich and the poor, the strong and
the weak, the young and the old, those with many different ideas and
ideals see their actions reflected in this mirror. The supreme duty of
society is to point out the way to its citizens, whether they live in the
country or in the city, to live happy and useful lives. In this respect
the drama plays an important rôle. As Victor Hugo once said, “The theater
is a crucible of civilization. It is a place of human communion. It is in
the theater that the public soul is formed.”
In the early generations of the world it was the only form of human
worship. The Shepherds of the Nile conceived a sacred play in which
the character “the God of the Overflow” foretold by means of dramatic
expression the period of the flooding of the valley. The Vedic poets
sang their songs in the land of the Five Rivers of India. The Hebrews
expressed their religious philosophy through a democratic festival called
the Feast of Tabernacles. The country people who made Rome their center
celebrated the ingathering of their food with a festival called the
Cerealia. The Festival of Demeter was a characteristic play of the early
Greeks. The country people of the Orient had ritualistic dramas dealing
with animal and plant life. The Incas, the Indians of Peru, worshiped at
the Altars of Corn. In the realm of nature, Ceres, the goddess of grains,
Mother Earth, Pomona, the goddess of fruits, Persephone, emblematical
of the vegetable world, Flora, the goddess of flowers, Apollo, the sun
god, and Neptune the god of water, have been the theme of many a dramatic
story. All these ceremonies and many more not only signify the wide usage
of this art in every age and every part of the world, but also unfold
tremendous possibilities for future pageant, play, and pantomime among
country people. If civilization’s sense of appreciation could be aroused
to see the hidden beauties of field and forest and stream—of God’s great
out of doors—men and women and children would flock to the countryside.
The drama is one of the many agencies which seeks to stimulate this sense
of appreciation. It deals with human problems by means of appeals to the
emotions.
The absence of a vision in many country communities has been one of the
chief causes for their backwardness, their dullness, and their monotony.
When the country develops a robust social mind, one that appeals because
of the bigness of the theme, it is then that life in the open and on the
soil will become attractive. The lure of the white way will pass like
ships at night. That a new light seems to be breaking is evidenced by the
establishment of consolidated schools, community buildings, and country
parks. These and other social institutions, together with better means
of communication and transportation, materially assist in the solution
of the country life problems. A country district must be active and not
passive if it would interest the young and even the old.
If the drama can serve as just one of the mediums to get the millions of
country people here and elsewhere to express themselves in order that
they may find themselves there is no telling what big things will happen
in the generations to come. If, as has often been said, agriculture is
the mother of civilization, then every energy of a people and every
agency dramatic and otherwise, should be bent to make that life eventful
and interesting from every angle. The function of The Little Country
Theater is to reveal the inner life of the country community in all its
color and romance, especially in its relation to the solution of the
problems in country life. It aims to interpret the life of the people of
the state, which is the life of genuine American country folks.
CHARACTERISTIC INCIDENTS
While still in its infancy, the work of The Little Country Theater
has already more than justified its existence. It has produced many
festivals, pageants, and plays and has been the source of inspiration to
scores of country communities. One group of young people from various
sections of the state, representing five different nationalities,
Scotch, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Swede, successfully staged “The
Fatal Message,” a one-act comedy by John Kendrick Bangs. Another cast
of characters from the country presented “Cherry Tree Farm,” an English
comedy, in a most acceptable manner. An illustration to demonstrate that
a home talent play is a dynamic force in helping people find themselves
was afforded in the production of “The Country Life Minstrels” by an
organization of young men coming entirely from the country districts.
The story reads like a fairy tale. The club decided to give a minstrel
show. At the first rehearsal nobody possessed any talent, except one
young man. He could clog. At the second rehearsal, a tenor and a mandolin
player were discovered. At the third, several other good voices were
found, a quartet and a twelve piece band were organized. When the show
was presented, twenty-eight different young men furnished a variety of
acts equal to a first class professional company. They all did something
and entered into the entertainment with a splendid spirit. “Leonarda,” a
play by Björnstjerne Björnson with Norwegian music between acts, made an
excellent impression.
[Illustration: A Farm Home Scene in Iceland Thirty Years Ago]
Perhaps the most interesting incident that has occurred in connection
with the work in this country life laboratory was the staging of a
tableau, “A Farm Home Scene in Iceland Thirty Years Ago,” by twenty
young men and women of Icelandic descent whose homes are in the country
districts of North Dakota. The tableau was very effective. The scene
represented an interior sitting room of an Icelandic home. The walls
were whitewashed. In the rear of the room was a fireplace. The old
grandfather was seated in an armchair near the fireplace reading a
story in the Icelandic language. About the room were several young
ladies dressed in Icelandic costumes busily engaged in spinning yarn and
knitting, a favorite pastime in their home. On a chair at the right was
a young man with a violin, playing selections by an Icelandic composer.
Through the small windows rays of light representing the midnight sun
and the northern lights were thrown. Every detail of their home life was
carried out, even to the serving of coffee with lumps of sugar. Just
before the curtain fell, twenty young people, all of Icelandic descent,
joined in singing the national Icelandic song, which has the same tune as
“America.” The effect of the tableau was tremendous. It served as a force
in portraying the life of one of the many nationalities represented in
the state.
When “The Servant in the House” by Charles Rann Kennedy was presented, it
was doubtful in my mind whether a better Manson and Mary ever played the
parts. Both the persons who took the characters were country born. Their
interpretation was superb, their acting exceptional. In fact, all the
characters were well done. Three crowded houses greeted the play.
An alert and aggressive young man from one part of the state who
witnessed several productions in the theater one winter was instrumental
in staging a home talent play in the empty hayloft of a large barn during
the summer months. The stage was made of barn floor planks. The draw
curtain was an old, rain-washed binder cover. Ten barn lanterns hung on
a piece of fence wire furnished the border lights. Branches of trees
were used for a background on the stage. Planks resting on old boxes and
saw-horses were made into seats. A Victrola served as an orchestra. About
a hundred and fifty people were in attendance at the play. The folks
evidently liked the play, for they gave the proceeds to a baseball team.
[Illustration: SCENE—“Leonarda” _By Björnstjerne Björnson_]
Every fall harvest festivals are given in different sections of
the state, with the sole purpose of showing the splendid dramatic
possibilities in the field of agriculture. A feature in one given a few
years ago is deserving of special mention. Country people in North Dakota
raise wheat. The state is often called the bread basket of the world. A
disease called black rust often infests the crop and causes the loss of
many bushels. In order to depict the danger of this disease, a pantomime
called “The Quarrel Scene between Black Rust and Wheat” was worked out.
The character representing Wheat was taken by a beautiful fair-haired
girl dressed in yellow, with a miniature sheaf of grain tucked in her
belt. The costume worn by Black Rust was coal-colored cambric. The face
was made up to symbolize death. Wheat entered and, free from care, moved
gracefully around. Black Rust stealthily crept in, pursued and threatened
to destroy Wheat. Just about the time Wheat was ready to succumb, Science
came to the rescue and drove Black Rust away. Wheat triumphed. Several
thousand people saw this wonderful story unfolded in the various places
where it was presented. Everybody caught the significance of it at once.
Just the other day a farmer from Divide County who had planned a
consolidated schoolhouse came to the theater, in order to find out how to
install a stage “so the people in his community could enjoy themselves”
as he put it. Divide County is some three hundred miles from The Little
Country Theater.
One young man from the northwestern part of the state wrote me a letter
well worth reading. He said in part:
“Dear Sir:—I thought you might like to know how we came out on
the play ‘Back to the Farm,’ so I am writing to tell you of the
success we had.
“In the first place we had a director-general who didn’t
believe in doing things by halves. For nearly a month we
rehearsed three times a week. That means after the day’s work
was done we ate a hasty supper, hurried through the chores,
cranked up the Ford and ‘beat it’ to rehearsal. And when we did
give it we didn’t waste our efforts in a little schoolhouse
with a stage consisting of a carpet on the floor and a sheet
hung on a wire for the curtain. Nix! We had an outfit that any
theater in a fair sized town might well be proud of.
“Well, we had a full house and then some, they even came from
Minot fifty miles north of here and from other neighboring
towns. After it was over we got all kinds of press notices,
nice complimentary ones, too. Our fame even went as far as
Washburn and the County Supt. of Schools asked us to come down
and give it at the Teachers’ Institute, Nov. 4, to give the
teachers an idea what could be done in other communities y’see?
We didn’t go though, didn’t have any way to pay expenses as he
wanted to give it free. However, we went to Garrison, Ryder,
Parshall, Makoti and drew a full house every time except once
and that was due to insufficient advertising, only two days.
We collected enough money to buy chairs and other furnishings
for our new ‘Little Country Theater’ and also the salary of an
instructor to our orchestra we are just starting.
“Our stage is surely ‘great.’ The wings, interior set and arch
are made of beaver board, with frames of scantling, the frame
of the arch, however, is not scantling, but two by fours. It
is all made in such a manner that it can be knocked down and
packed away, when we wish to use the building for basketball or
other games. The back drop is the most beautiful landscape I
have ever seen, a real work of art.
“The front drop curtain is what made it possible for us to get
the entire outfit. It has the ad of nearly every business man
in Ryder and represents something like $240. The complete
stage cost us $200 so we still had some left over.
“The theater which is not yet completed is in the basement of
the new brick consolidated school. It will be steam heated and
later electric lighted, two dressing rooms back of the stage,
and well I guess that’s enough for a while. The auditorium will
be about 19 x 40 ft.
“Now I believe what we can do others can do as we are only an
ordinary community, our director was a college graduate with a
lot of pep and push, that’s all.
“Do you ever loan out any of your scenery? Another party who
has ‘caught the fever,’ is going to try the same stunt with
modifications. I am getting to be a sort of an unofficial agent
for your Extension Div. as people here are getting interested
in these ‘doin’s’ so don’t be surprised if you get a letter
from us now and then.
“Yours truly,
“A. R.”
When “The Little Red Mare,” a one-act farce was given, Hugh’s father
came down to see me and tell me that if there was anything needed in the
country it was more life and good entertainments for the young people. He
was a very interesting character and a bit philosophical. When I told
him about the mistakes made in the work, he pulled out a lead pencil,
placed it between his fat thumb and finger and looking straight at me
said, “if it wasn’t for mistakes we’d never have rubbers on the ends
of our pencils.” His son, Hugh, who took the character of the old deaf
fellow in the play, did a superb piece of acting.
Over in the village of Amenia they have a country theater. It is located
on the second floor up over a country store, and has a seating capacity
of about one hundred and seventy-five people. The stage is medium size.
The curtain is a green draw curtain. The lighting system is unique,
containing border lights, foot lights, house lights, and a dimmer. The
plays selected and produced are only the best. One villager said he never
thought plays would change the spirit of the community so much.
[Illustration: SCENE—“The Servant in the House” _By Charles Rann
Kennedy_]
Up near Kensal, North Dakota, about four miles out from the town, the
McKinley Farmers’ Club have a place modeled in some ways after The Little
Country Theater. The country people formed a hall association, sold
stock to the extent of three thousand dollars, donated their labor, and
put up the building. The site was given by a country merchant. It is
a typical rural center, consisting of auditorium, stage, rest rooms,
dining room, and kitchen. An excellent description of its activities is
contained in a letter from one of its members dated April 17, 1918, which
I shall quote in part:
“The club year, just closed has been satisfactory in all
events. From a social standpoint, this community through the
efforts of the McKinley Club has enjoyed the fellowship of
their neighbors and friends in a manner that is foreign to most
rural communities.
“The officials of the past year have injected literary work
into its meetings or rather at the close of the club meeting.
Meetings are held on the second and fourth Saturday evenings
of each month. The men of the club meet in the auditorium and
transact regular business while the Ladies’ Aid of the Club
meet in the dining rooms. At the close of the business session
all congregate in the auditorium where a program made up of
songs, recitations, readings, essays, debates, dialogues,
monologues, the club journal, four minute speeches, etc., is
given. With the program or literary over, all retire to the
dining rooms, where the ladies have a lunch arranged which
is always looked forward to. Home talent plays and public
speakers are from time to time in order and always enjoyed. A
five piece orchestra composed from amongst the membership play
for dances, at plays, etc. The dramatic talent of the club has
just played ‘A Noble Outcast’ and despite a rainy evening the
proceeds counted up to $93.00. The proceeds were used to pay
for the inclosing of the stage and stage scenery. They will put
this on again, the proceeds to go to buy tobacco for the boys
‘Over There.’ Last June the club members and their families in
autos made a booster trip boosting the play ‘Back to the Farm,’
presented by The Little Country Theater Players. They canvassed
ten towns in a single day, driving one hundred and twenty
miles. The result was that when the ticket force checked up
$225.00 had been realized. The club celebrates its anniversary
in June of each year.
“The Ladies’ Aid of the club have been a great help and their
presence always appreciated. To date they have paid for out of
their funds, and installed in the club hall, a lighting system
that is ornamental and is of the best, a piano, kitchen range,
and a full set of dishes with the club monogram in gold letters
inscribed on each piece.
“The stage is enclosed and scenery in place so that the
dramatic talent of the community have an ideal place for work.
“I have in a hurried manner given you some of our doings in
general.
“Respectfully,
“J. S. J.”
I shall never forget the night referred to in the above letter when “Back
to the Farm” was given in the hall. Automobiles loaded with people came
from miles around. The hall was packed. Children were seated on the floor
close up to the stage. Fifty persons occupied a long impromptu plank
bench in the center aisle, with their bodies facing one way and their
heads looking toward the stage. They stood on chairs in the vestibule at
the back. The windows were full of people. Three men paid fifty cents
each to stand on a ladder and watch the play through the window near the
stage. It was as enthusiastic and appreciative a crowd as ever witnessed
a play. They still talk about it, too.