 Rehearsals of Scenes from As You Like It and Macbeth In Woodworth Auditorium Sock and Buskin Society circa 1916 Woodworth
hall was constructed on the UND campus in 1910 for the Teacher's
College as a Normal School
building. Named for Horace Woodworth, principal of the first UND
Normal School, the building was located west of the UND Law School
(just south of where the East section of the Chester Fritz Library now
sits). The four story building looked nearly identical to the Law
School building (but was about 12 years older) and included
classrooms, offices and a small lecture hall that the newly formed Sock
and Buskin Society quickly claimed for rehearsals and
performances. The performance space was small (proscenium arch
opening of only about 13' X 20' and seating for about 250) but served
the early needs of
S&B. Modifications were made to the space in 1916 & 1917
to create a deeper stage (by addition of temporary platforms to the
front) and some stage lighting.
The Sock & Buskin Society (later Dakota Playmakers) held monthly meetings in the space. These meetings included business of the group followed by a program that could include lectures by UND faculty or outside guests and also included presentation of one-acts or scenes from larger works. Meetings and presentations were open to all persons interested in theatre. As the Playmakers developed they quickly outgrew the space (there are notices in both the Dakota Student and Grand Forks Herald that seating limits set by the Fire Marshall will be strictly enforced). By the early 1920's most performances were held off-campus, but meetings and some shows were still held at Woodworth. The building was destroyed by fire on March 10, 1949 a couple of hours after the end of an evening's performance of Winterset by UND alum Maxwell Anderson (who began his writing career nearly 40 years earlier writing plays and scenes with the S&B in Woodworth Auditorium). The photographs in this section were taken during rehearsals of scenes from As You Like It and Macbeth. Of note- the clown in the As You Like It photographs is Frederick H. Koch, director of the Sock and Buskin Society.
|
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
| Loren Liepold, Technical Director Department of Theatre Arts Chandler Hall, Room 5 3280 Davis Drive, Chandler Hall; Stop 8136 Grand Forks, ND 58202-8136 TELEPHONE 701-777-2865 FAX 701-777-3522 EMAIL- loren_liepold@und.nodak.edu |