Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance

The Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance is an academic department at William & Mary.

Theatre

"William & Mary boasts one of the oldest and most reputable theatre programs in the United States. In 1702 a group of our students presented a Latin "pastoral colloquy" for the Royal Governor, the first record of a theatrical performance in America. The first theatre in America was constructed in Williamsburg in 1716, and in 1736 William & Mary students presented America's first recorded college production of a play - Addison's Cato."1

Buildings

Currently, productions are held in Phi Beta Kappa Hall. In the past, productions have also been produced in Blow Hall and Matthew Whaley School after the fire in William & Mary's first Phi Beta Kappa Hall (the present-day Ewell Hall).

Dance

The discipline of dance was formally established at William & Mary in 1941 by Professor Grace Felker through the Modern Dance Club and its subset of advanced students known as Orchesis. Housed in the Women's Physical Education Department, students studied Modern technique and Dance Composition, and they prepared an annual concert of student choreography which was eventually titled An Evening of Dance.

Over the years, a number of company directors have filled the shoes of Professor Felker including Helen Black, Thelma Dodson, Blanche Duffy, Sophia Saunders, Lorna Burdsall, Catherine Edmundson, Gladys Warren and Rona Sande, and each spring students have been able to present their original choreography in well-received public performances. In 1963 Professor Carol Sherman became director of the dance program followed by Shirley Roby in 1964. In 1965 Professors Sherman and Roby were both members of the faculty, and they co-directed the dance program for the next 35 years.

Beginning in 1968, the course offerings in Dance were expanded. New courses included beginning through advanced levels of Modern technique, History of Modern Dance, Group Choreography and Independent Projects in Dance. DANCEVENT, a fall concert of faculty work, was initiated in 1977, and as the dance program continued to grow, a third full-time dance position was added in 1979 followed soon after by a fulltime accompanist. The Dance Minor was established in 1982. The focus of the minor is choreogaphy, and in 1998 it became necessary to produce the first Dance Minors Concert in addition to the Orchesis spring concert in order to allow all choreographers to present their work. Additional courses have been added to the curriculum including Intermediate Ballet and Jazz, History of American Vernacular Dance and the Alexander Technique. In 2000, Professors Roby and Sherman retired, and that fall, the Dance Program moved to the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance where it continues to flourish.

The Dance Program uses Adair Hall.

History of theatre productions

A list of productions of the William & Mary Theatre is available.

1920s

1926-1927 The Goose Hangs High
1927-1928 You and I; Outward Bound
1928-1929 The Enemy; The Taming of the Shrew; Candida
1929-1930 The Mollusc; Anna Christie; Twelfth Night; The Royal Family

1930s

1930-1931: Vergilian Pageant; The Importance of Being Earnest; Just Suppose; The Merchant of Venice; Enter Madame
1931-1932: Sun-Up; Berkeley Square; John Ferguson; As You Like It
1932-1933: Outward Bound; Holiday; The Recruiting Officer; Much Ado About Nothing
1933-1934: Quality Street; Hotel Universe; The Swan; A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Romantic Young Lady
1934-1935: The Ghosts of Windsor Park; Arms and the Man; The Romantic Age; The Jealous Wife
1935-1936: The Unattainable; The Lying Valet; The Cradle Song; Twelfth Night
1936-1937: Squaring the Circle; Death Takes a Holiday; The Gondoliers; A Trip to Scarborough
1937-1938: The Night of January Sixteenth; First Lady; The Mikado; Liliom
1938-1939: Post Road; RUR; The Pirates of Pinzance; Dear Brutus
1939-1940: The Inspector General; Kind Lady; Our Town; Hay Fever

1940s

1940-1941: You Can't Take It With You; Night Must Fall; Mary of Scotland; My Heart's in the Highlands
1941-1942: Gas Light; Family Portrait; The School of Husbands; Hedda Gabler
1942-1943: Thunder Rock; The Male Animal; Bach to Methuselah, Part I; Man of Destiny; Square Circle
1943-1944: Papa is All; The Patriots; Tartuffe; Candida
1944-1945: Quality Street; Juno and the Paycock; Volpone; Private Lives
1945-1946: Pygmalion; Murder in the Cathedral; Ladies in Retirement; Too Many Husbands
1946-1947: Arsenic and Old Lace; Arms and the Man; The Comedy of Errors; Joan of Lorraine
1947-1948: The Skin of Our Teeth; Blithe Spirit; MacBeth; The Dark Lady of Sonnets; Passion, Poison, and Petrification
1948-1949: The Great Campaign; The Candidates; The Taming of the Shrew; An Inspector Calls
1949-1950: The Little Foxes; The Merry Wives of Windsor; No More Peace; The Father

1950s

1950-1951: The Warrior's Husband; Here We Are; The Winter's Tale; The Seagull
1951-1952: Ten Little Indians; The Silver Cord; The Merchant of Venice; The Miser
1952-1953: First Lady; The Playboy of the Western World; The Trojan War Will Not Take Place; Much Ado About Nothing
1953-1954: You Never Can Tell; The Stronger Woman; The Beautiful People; The Highland Reel; Hamlet
1954-1955: The Circle; Uncle Harry; The Winslow Boy; Twelfth Night
1955-1956: Dial "M" for Murder; Antigone; Home is Tomorrow, As You Like It
1956-1957: Summer and Smoke; The Highbrow Young Ladies; The Village Wooing; Romeo and Juliet
1957-1958: Hark Upon the Gale; Ghosts; The Matchmaker; Othello
1958-1959: The Madwomen of Chaillot; The Glass Minagerie; The Cheats of Scapin; Box and Cox; The Red Velvet Goat; All's Well That Ends Well
1959-1960: Carnival of Theives; The Boy Friend; The Late Christopher Bean; Lysistrata

1960s

1960-1961: The Diary of Anne Frank; Babes in Arms; Blithe Spirit; A Midsummer Night's Dream
1961-1962: The Crucible; Where's Charley?; John Brown's Body; The Taming of the Shrew
1962-1963: The Visit; Under Milk Wood; The Threepenny Opera; The Shoemaker's Holiday
1963-1964: Our Town; Lola; Death of a Salesman; The Tragedy of King Richard III
1964-1965: The Time of Your Life; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Long Day's Journey into Night; The Duchess of Malfi
1965-1966: Dark of the Moon; The Days Between; Misalliance; The Merchant of Venice
1966-1967: Centaur, Centaur!; The Importance of Being Earnest; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; As You Like It
1967-1968: Rhinoceros; The Disappearing Sphere; Kiss Me Kate; Electra
1968-1969: The Fantasticks; The Devil's Disciple; The Investigation; Hamlet
1969-1970: The Unknown Soldier and His Wife; Mandragola; Of Thee I Sing; Phaedra

1970s

1970-1971: Twelfth Night; Dark Mirrors and Bright Windows; The Dumb Waiter; Act Without Words I; Act Without Words II; A Sleep of Prisoners; The Maids; The Gradiges Fraulein; Man of La Mancha; Rainbow Sign
1971-1972: You can't Take it With You; The Trail of the Catonsville Nine; Ernest in Love; The Miser
1972-1973: Antony and Cleopatra; A Cry of Players; Brigadoon; The Trojan Women
1973-1974: The Seagull; The House of Gernarda Alba; Anything Goes; The Alchemist
1974-1975: Melody; The Beggar's Opera; Angel Street; Much Ado About Nothing
1975-1976: Godspell; The Hot L Baltimore; Tonight at 8:30 (Fumed Oak, Red Peppers, Ways and Means); The Spanish Tragedy
1976-1977: The Clouds; King Lear; Guys and Dolls; The American Dream; The Zoo Story
1977-1978: Damn Yankees; Uncle Vanya; The Birthday Party; The School for Wives
1978-1979: Carousel; Medieval Plays for Christmas; Woyzeck; The Constant Wife
1979-1980: The Wild Duck; Measure for Measure; The Waltz of the Toreadors

1980s

1980-1981: Company; Waiting for Godot; Oedipus Rex; She Stoops to Conquer
1981-1982: The Importance of Being Earnest; Henry IV, Part I; Cabaret; The Elephant Man
1982-1983: A Streetcar Named Desire; Tartuffe; Fiddler on the Roof; Of Mice and Men
1983-1984: Sweeney Todd; The Playboy of the Western World, The Good Woman of Setzuan; Luann Hampton Laverty Oberlander
1984-1985: Fade Out-Fade In; Major Barbara; Agnes of God; Epicoene
1985-1986: Fool for Love-Savage Love; The Robber Bridgegroom; Goin' Home to Freedom; As You Like It
1986-1987: Our Town; Hair; Brighton Beach Memoirs; Her House
1987-1988: Crimes of the Heart; Three Sisters; Anything Goes; Coriolanus
1988-1989: The Threepenny Opera; A Christmas Carol; The Country Wife; The House of Blue Leaves
1989-1990: The Canterbury Tales; Becoming Memories; The Crucible; Medea

1990s

1990-1991: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; A Lie of the Mind; Six Characters in Search of an Author; Romeo and Juliet
1991-1992: All the King's Men; A Doll's House; Noises Off; The Wake of Jamey Foster
1992-1993: Once Upon a Mattress; Top Girls; Twelfth Night; Death of a Salesman
1993-1994: Guys and Dolls; Night Sky; Summer and Smoke; The Rivals
1994-1995: Chicago; Our Country's Good; The Matchmaker; Helene
1995-1996: A Fool for Love; The Dining Room; The Cherry Orchard; Walk Together Children
1996-1997: Showboat; The Rose Tatoo; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Arcadia
1997-1998: Crazy for You; Caucasian Chalk Circle; Blithe Spirit; Angels in America, Part I
1998-1999: Much Ado About Nothing; The Hostage; The Beggar's Opera; Hedda Gabler
1999-2000: The Fantasticks; The Servant of Two Masters; The Tapestry: A Play Woven in Two; Sylvia

2000s

2000-2001: The Bacchae; The Misanthrope; Moon Over Buffalo; The Passion
2001-2002: Kiss Me Kate; Good Night Desdemmona (Good Morning Juliet); Harvey; Vinegar Tom
2002-2003: A Little Night Music; The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Earnest; The Piano Lesson
2003-2004: The Skin of Our Teeth; Carnival; In the Garden of Live Flowers; Marat/Sade
2004-2005: Batboy: The Musical; The Merchant of Venice; Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues; The Madwoman of Chaillot
2005-2006: A View From the Bridge; Pal Joey; Stop Kiss; Amadeus
2006-2007: Gypsy; As Bees in Honey Drown; Ramayana (Rama's Journey); Orpheus Descending
2007-2008: It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Superman!; Antigone; The Scams of Scapin; Mother Courage and Her Children
2008-2009: Damn Yankees; The Seagull; When the Purple Settles; All's Well that Ends Well
2009-2010: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Little Shop of Horrors; Eurydice; The School for Wives
2010-2011: Table Manners; Oklahoma!; Rhinoceros; The Rover
2011-2012: Travesties; Cabaret; Night of the Iguana; Ruined
2012-2013: Come and Gone; Pippin; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Sitayana
2013-2014: Dancing at Lughnasa; La Cage aux Folles; Coast of Utopia: Voyage; Clybourne Park
2014-2015: Big Love; Three Penny Opera; Crowns; Spring Awakening

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

Playbills, 1891-1896 and undated, from plays staged at Cameron Hall at Eastern State Hospital with actors and actresses from the College of William & Mary and the local community. Virginia Cities Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, William & Mary.
Althea Hunt Papers
Howard Scammon Papers