Punchinello Players

Punchinello Players, founded in 1914, was a theatre organization of the University of Minnesota. When it closed it was the second oldest student-run community theater in the U.S.[1] Punchinello - located on the St. Paul campus - originated for the purpose of improving the lives of the greater community. As a University-associated theater it changed with the times and continued to explore and interrogate the human condition.[2] Punchinello Players closed in 1994 due primarily to its home, North Hall (formerly the St. Paul Campus Dining Hall), being slated for demolition.

Debut

Back to the Farm

Back to the Farm was a two-year production (1913–1915) written by College of Agriculture student Merline H. Shumway and directed by Estelle Cook, English Instructor at the Agricultural School [2][3] to create awareness of the University's new Agricultural Extension Program [4] in the rural communities of Minnesota.[5] Back to the Farm was created to demonstrate the value of scientifically trained farmers. It centers around a farm family in which the father is an old-school farmer, who isn't open to his sons' new ideas about how to do things. The son leaves the farm and enrolls at a nearby agricultural college for their 4-year program. They mend their relationship and he returns to the farm, implementing what he's learned - with the result that the farm becomes the most productive in the state.[6]:426 Initially presented at County Fairs around the state, its popularity exceeded expectations and the play continued to tour at farmers' institutes, other educational sessions and also at social events.[7] It was performed fifty times in the first year and many more times for years afterwards.[note 1]:58 Follow-up plays including Kindling the Hearth Fire and Partners - written by Shumway, Cook and others, all directed by Cook - were also well received, and in those years through 1922 a set of plays were created, performed and made available in bulletin form for communities to perform themselves.[8][9][10][note 2]

The Agricultural Extension Program (along with General Extension, founded 4 years later in 1913) aimed to support Minnesota farming and also increase attendance for the School of Agriculture. That Agricultural School - available to farm community members 16 and older - provided farm instruction and advancement to the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics for those interested.[11] As a Land-grant university, there was a necessary focus on providing agricultural instruction that met the needs of the State of Minnesota, and getting students in place for that instruction. George Edgar Vincent - University President from 1911-1917 - put in place innovative programming including 'University Weeks' with plays, lectures, concerts and debates similar to the Chautauqua Institute he had previously led, in the spirit of increasing educational and cultural opportunities for the general public.[12][13][14]

Those initial rural productions of Back to the Farm launched the existence of Punchinello Players in 1914, originally under the name the Minnesota Agriculture Dramatic Club. The organization changed its name to Punchinello Players in 1923.[15] [note 3] For much of the early decades, all members of Punchinello were students enrolled in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics.[17][note 4]:14 Punchinello operated out of various spaces including the Main Building Auditorium and assorted temporary buildings on the St. Paul Campus through till the 1960s.[18]

Performing Venue

Punchinello Players was based on the St. Paul Campus its whole existence. When formed as the Agricultural Dramatic Club, it served a functional purpose, and there were only a few other theater groups operating - primarily the University of Minnesota's Masquers Club and Players Club.[19] Old Log Theater started in 1940, and local theater came to life in the 1970s.[20]

Scott Hall on the University of Minnesota Campus East Bank was modern and well-furnished when it was built in 1921, and the Agricultural Dramatic Club, along with the other groups at the time including Masquers, Garrick, the Player, Paint and Patches, and Pi Upsilon Delta all participated in activities there.[21] In 1923 Punchinello re-established itself on the St. Paul Campus with the name change.[15]

In the early years, the Agricultural Dramatic Club performed around the state. After World War I, those specific activities ended, but Punchinello continued to tour for different reasons over the years.

North Hall

Punchinello moved to North Hall (formerly the St. Paul Campus Dining Hall) in the 1960s, while O. Meredith Wilson was president.[22] Punchinello operated out of various spaces until then. Besides the Main Building Auditorium, their main location for a period in the 1950s was the 'Punchinello Playhouse' which had room for an audience of 140 in a theater-in-the-round setting, and was situated in a post-war temporary building referred to variously as 'south of Administration' and 'temporary south of Haecker.' Punchinello had no permanent home in all that time.[18][23][24][25][26][27][28] [29][30][31] Wilson became aware of that, and he felt that something better could be arranged. Soon, Punchinello had a new home.[32][33]

The cafeteria area became the stage and audience area with seating for 119. The proctor balcony over the cafeteria became the lighting/sound booth. The green rooms behind the stage were spacious. Rooms on the second floor were used for costumes. A cavernous area in the basement (the dungeon) was used for large and small props and set pieces.[33]

Chronology

The first committed, long-term faculty advisor of Punchinello was William J. Routledge (Rhetoric Professor at the University Farm) who coached the organization from the late 1920s through till the 1940–1941 school year.[34][35][36] Performances during this period had varied structures, often featured live musical performances before the show and/or between acts, and productions included actors, faculty, and the Faculty Women's Club. Organizational boundaries were flexible as well - some productions were campus-wide, and students were often active in multiple groups. A production of Kismet in 1925 by the Masquers' included members of multiple theaters, including Players, Paint and Patches, and Punchinello; and production was further aided by members of the Arabs - the engineering dramatic society.[37][38][39][16]

Starting with the 1941–1942 school year, Dr. Francis Drake was Faculty Advisor and often show Director, but Punchinello - like many University organizations - was largely dormant during World War II.[40][18][29][30]

Punchinello's faculty advisor and frequent production director for over three decades was William M. Marchand, Humanities Professor of the Rhetoric Department, CFANS.[41][42] Bill Marchand had a PhD in theatre, and prior to coming to the University in 1960 he had co-founded the Paul Bunyan Theatre, a summer theatre in Bemidji.[43]

Theater Genre

Punchinello mainly performed traditional classics as well as some musicals, and the occasional newer work. Among the rare melodrama/related productions were Kind Lady by Edward Chodorov, in 1942.[18] and Dracula (from the novel by Bram Stoker) in 1969.[44] Comedies have included Square Crooks in 1929, Dover Road by A.A. Milne in 1936, Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw in 1954, Harvey by Mary Chase in 1958, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde in 1973 and Hay Fever by Noël Coward in 1978.[25][45][46][31] Punchinello received positive reviews for its production of Machiavelli's La Mangragola in 1968.[22] Punch produced the metatheatrical play Our Town by Thornton Wilder in 1969.[17][39]

Punchinello often explored social issues, with sell-out productions such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett in 1964 and in 1983,[47] as well as lesser known works including Play with a Tiger by Doris Lessing in 1979 and Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer in 1982.[46]

The students who were involved often were sometimes but not always theater majors, representing the range of disciplines within the University.[33]

Finale

Its final two productions continued that tradition: William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life was the second-to-last production. The final production, directed by William Marchand, was Thornton Wilder's Our Town.[48]

See also

Notes
  1. From notes of a freshman: October 11, 1916. Saw “Back the Farm” in chapel, and nearly died laughing. Ted Thorson as “Gus” is certainly a card.[6]
  2. “The play (‘Back to the Farm’) has been produced in nearly every state of the union and has been put on by the extension division of the University throughout the state”.[7]
  3. Punchinello Star and Committee on Sorority Dance: Miss Daane will play a leading role in ‘The Passing of the Third Floor Back’’ which Punchinello, agricultural campus dramatic club, will present Friday and Saturday evenings.[16]
  4. Square Crooks was the second production given by Punchinello Players that year (1928-1929), and that was the first time that Punchinello put on a second production in an academic year[17]
  • Cook, Estelle. (1915). Kindling the hearth fire: A rural drama. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/169146.
  • "Minnesota, University of" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.

References
  1. "UNM News Service 4.19.82". University of Minnesota News Service. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  2. "Country Plays with Country Players". 'Rural Manhood: Devoted to the County (Rural) Work of the Young Men's Christian Associations in Village, Town and Open Country. The International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations, New York: 417–418. January 1918. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  3. Back to the Farm : A Play in Three Acts
  4. "Exension History". University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  5. "Listings". The Minneapolis Journal. October 1, 1905.
  6. The Gopher: Annual Publication of the Student Body of the University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota. 39. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1916.
  7. "events". The Minneapolis Evening Star. March 21, 1915.
  8. "Suggested Plays". Extension Circular. Vol. 1. South Dakota State College. January 1918. pp. 9–10. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  9. "University Extension – The Agricultural Extension Division". President's Report. Vol. 21 no. 37. University of Minnesota. 1918. pp. 129–132. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  10. "Minnesota Extension Service News". Vol. 1 no. 1. University of Minnesota, Department of Agriculture, Extension Division. October 1921. p. 5. Retrieved December 30, 2017. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  11. Miller, Ralph (1979). The History of the School of Agriculture 1851-1960. Institute of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics. St. Paul, Minnesota: University of Minnesota.
  12. "Presidential History". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  13. ' 'The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties: From Self-Improvement to Adult Education in America, 1750-1990.". Stanford University Press. 1994. p. 291. ISBN 9780804765282. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  14. Lehmberg, Stanford; Pflaum, Ann M. (2001). The University of Minnesota 1945-2000. University of Minnesota Press. p. xvii.
  15. "Punchinello Players". Snac Cooperative. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  16. "Society". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. March 2, 1924. p. 4.
  17. "'Punchinello Players Will Give Comedy – "Square Crooks" Will Be Given at Auditorium May 31 and June 1". The Minneapolis Star. May 25, 1929. p. Fourteen.
  18. "The 1942 Gopher" Yearbook, Minneapolis, Minnesota. University of Minnesota Student Body, Vol 55. 1942. P. 212
  19. "Society". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. Jan 9, 1916. p. 4.
  20. Petrie, Carolyn (October 19, 1997). "Long Live the Theater: Here's how the strong survived. More than a dozen professional-level theaters here are 20 years old. What has kept them going? Passion, conviction, ingenuity, openness, and a sense of their place in the big picture". Star Tribune. p. 1F, 3F.
  21. "'U' Theater to Be Real Laboratory – New Ideas in Production Possible in Finest Little Playhouse". The Minneapolis Star. October 1, 1921. p. 7.
  22. Altman, Peter (February 20, 1968). "Drama Review: Punchinello Players Rewards Critic by Bright Performance". The Minneapolis Star. p. 10B.
  23. "Events". The Minneapolis Star. May 10, 1953.
  24. "Events". The Minneapolis Star. February 22, 1953.
  25. "Players to Give Drama by Shaw". The Minneapolis Star. May 3, 1954.
  26. "Events". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. November 25, 1956.
  27. "Events". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. February 10, 1957.
  28. "Star Calendar". The Minneapolis Star. February 14, 1957.
  29. "Events". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. May 12, 1957.
  30. "'U' Players Plan 'The Male Animal'". The Minneapolis Star. November 18, 1957.
  31. "Star Calendar". The Minneapolis Star. May 15, 1958.
  32. "O. Meredith Wilson, 1960-1967". Office of the President. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  33. Roberts, Raequel (November 12, 1979). "'Punchinello Players elebrate 65th years". Minnesota Daily.
  34. "The Gopher: Annual Publication of the Student Body of the University of Minnesota", Volume 45, Minneapolis, Minnesota. University of Minnesota, 1922, Page 484.
  35. "The Minnesota Alumni Weekly", Volume 23, Number 9, Minneapolis, Minnesota. University of Minnesota, 11/22/23 Page 63.
  36. "'Farm Faculty Club Will Sponsor Play". The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. January 31, 1932. p. 36.
  37. "Faculty Women of Farm School to Give Benefit". The Minneapolis Star. January 28, 1932. p. 7.
  38. "Banquets and Formals Vie for Campus Honors – Masquers' Club Gives Stupendous Performance of 'Kismet' Tonight; Evening School Students Dine at Minnesota Union". Minneapolis Daily Star. January 31, 1925. p. 3.
  39. "U Farm Club to Present Comedy". The Minneapolis Star. April 18, 1936. p. 18.
  40. "The University of Minnesota Directory of Student Organizations", Minneapolis, Minnesota. University of Minnesota Student Activities Bureau, Office of the Dean of Students, published annually
  41. "William Marchand Obituary". Pioneer Press. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  42. "William Marchand Obit". Park Bugle. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  43. Baumann, Thomas (October 13, 1978). "Born in 1914, Punchinello Players is still young at heart". Minnesota Daily.
  44. "UMN Press Releases". UMN Conservancy. University of Minnesota News Service. 1969. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  45. "UMN Press Releases". UMN Conservancy. University of Minnesota News Service. 1973. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  46. "UMN Press Releases" (PDF). UMN Conservancy. University of Minnesota News Service. 1978. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  47. "UMN Press Releases" (PDF). UMN Conservancy. University of Minnesota News Service. 1983. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  48. "It's curtains for Punchinello Players" (PDF). ParkBugle. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
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