From the Archives: Wooster Theater Productions

Wooster Theater Over The Years

Hello folks and welcome to my mini-documentary of the history of Wooster School's theatre! We'll be going over everything from Wooster’s first production to its latest! For starters did you know that the Black Box theater was originally backstage? The stage was originally in the Alumni Gym. Most of you have probably been on the front of the old stage. It opened up into a back space where the wrestling team (yes, Wooster had wrestling) used to practice. But, now we know it was the Black Box, and we have seen so many amazing configurations, sets and shows in this space over the years.

For the first time, we have managed to digitize one of Wooster’s old shows.

The first performance we documented was a show called “Woosteria,” performed in May of 1946. Wooster shows used to be specifically written for the school, even featuring people such as John Verdery in the plays they would make. Another performance of note is “Bye Bye Birdie” performed in 1993. Urinetown just came off of a sold-out run, and it was the THIRD time in 20 years that show has been performed on the Wooster stage. Before that, the most recent show was a performance of “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea,” a play based on the famous fairy tales and famed writer, Hans Christian Anderson. It was one of Wooster’s most technically advanced plays, featuring a working rain system right in the middle of the Black Box theater. 

        A photo of Bye Bye Birdie taken from an old Wooster paper

For the first time, we've managed to digitize one of Wooster's old plays (see below). The play “Harvey” was performed in 2002 and gives a unique look at just how Wooster theater has evolved over the years. You can see how the old stage used to look before it was sealed off. Unfortunately, parts of the tape were recorded over, but we still managed to preserve a majority of the show.

Harvey is a play first performed all the way back on November 1st, 1944. It was written by American playwright Mary Chase. She is a celebrated writer and several of her works, including Harvey, have received film and television adaptations. The show follows a man named Elmwood P. Dowd, and his imaginary friend, a six-foot-tall rabbit named Harvey. After Elmwood's sister has him committed to a sanatorium, trouble ensues.

Thanks for reading and looking over the play. I hope you enjoyed it!