The Virginia Players are a dramatic club at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1924 and directed from 1926 by Harry Rogers Pratt,[1] they mounted numerous productions throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
During Pratt's tenure as director, the Virginia Players staged a world premiere performance of Edgar Allan Poe's only play, Politian.[2][3] They collaborated with the Virginia Glee Club in 1930 for a performance of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta "Trial by Jury."[4]
In the beginning, the Players seem to have performed in any space available, including the auditorium in Old Cabell Hall, Madison Hall, and the Jefferson Theatre on the Downtown Mall. Beginning in 1935, with the removal of the Law School from Minor Hall to Clark Hall, they used a lecture room in Minor Hall that was modified into a theatre space.[5] Beginning in 1974, later performances used dedicated facilities in the new Drama Building, which housed both Culbreath Theatre, a proscenium theatre, and the Helms Theatre, a "black box" space.[6]
The current incarnation of the Virginia Players acts as a student group "extension of the Department of Drama" that provides performance opportunities to the broader University community.[7]
References[]
- ↑ Vaughn, Joseph L. (1991). Rotunda Tales: Stories from the University of Virginia, 1920-1960. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Alumni Association. pp. 144-146.
- ↑ "Regional Theatre in Virginia: University of Virginia Drama". http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/theatre/regional_uva.html. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ↑ "Harry R. Pratt, 72, Educator, Ex-Actor". New York Times. 1956-05-07. pp. 27. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3081FFD3A58157B93C5A9178ED85F428585F9&scp=1&sq=%22harry+rogers+pratt%22&st=p.
- ↑ "Two College Glee Clubs Combine to Present Play". Suffolk News-Herald 8 (30): p. 3. 1930-04-25. https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=SNH19300425.1.3&srpos=18&e=------193-en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22university+of+virginia%22+%22glee+club%22----1930---. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ↑ "About Us: History". University of Virginia Department of Drama. http://www.virginia.edu/drama/about-us/history/. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ↑ Hitchcock, Susan Tyler (1999). University of Virginia: A Pictorial History. p. 231. http://books.google.com/books?id=sT7EMa71OD4C&lpg=PA231&ots=7ckTuJYJHB&dq=%22virginia%20players%22%20%22university%20of%20virginia%22&pg=PA231#v=onepage&q=%22virginia%20players%22%20%22university%20of%20virginia%22&f=false.
- ↑ "About the Virginia Players". Virginia Players site. http://virginiaplayers.org/about/. Retrieved 2014-02-14.