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Show THE LITTLE COUNTRY THEATER A sociological experiment of great possibilities for development in rural communities has been undertaken at Fargo, North Dakota, by Mr, Alfred G. Arvold, of the North Dakota Agricultural College. Col-lege. "The Little Country Theater" is designed by its founder to meet tho need for recreation in small towns and outlying districts remote from the opportunities for social pleasures of cities. How real this need is Mr. Arvold explains: "Social stagnancy is a characteristic trait of the small town and the country where community spirit is usually at a low ebb. Because of the stupid monotony of the village and country existence, exist-ence, the tendency of the people, young and old, Is to move to large cities. Young people leave the small town and the country because of its deadly dullness. They want life. Older people desert the tho country because they want better living conditions con-ditions and more social and educational advantages advan-tages for themselves and their children. Moral degeneracy in the country, like the city, is usually due to lack of proper recreation. When people have something healthful to occupy their minds they seldom think of wrong-doing. Scientists attribute at-tribute to loneliness many of the cases of insanity among country people. That something fundamental funda-mental must be done along social lines in the country to help people And themselves no one will dispute. The migration from the country to the city will never be stopped until the inhabitants of the small town and the agricultural districts find their true expression in the community." This community spirit, Mr. Arvold believes, is greatly further by the little country theater, where such plays and exercises as may be easily staged in a country school, the basement of a church, or the sitting-room of a farm-house are produced by home talent. These productions, besides providing provid-ing entertainment for tho neighborhood and stimulating stimu-lating community spirit, are presented under intelligent intel-ligent direction, which arouses interest in good drama and helps those who take part to find themselves. them-selves. It is in tliis way that the country theater Idea differs from the amateur theatricals with which we are all familiar. Many of the performers perform-ers discover unguessed abilities in themselves and their neighbors that the acting, managing, staging, or costuming of the plays brings to light, and, most important of all they become this means more satisfied with their surroundings. "Its real purpose," says Mr. Arvold, "is to use the drama, and all that goes with the drama, as a sociological force in getting people together and acquainted with one another. Instead of making the drama a luxury of the classes, its aim is to make it an instrument for the enlightenment and enjoyment of the masses. Although "the Little County Theater" has been in existence only a year, it is already an object of great interest throughout the state of North Dakota. Scarcely a day passes that the founder does not receive requests for plays and for information infor-mation about staging plays from people who realize real-ize that something fundamental is being done to satisfy their hunger for social recreation. During Dur-ing the past year over fifteen hundred pieces of play matter have been loaned to people, literary societies, civic clubs, and other organizations. The original little country theater was started in a disused chapel, remodeled for the purpose, on the second floor of the administration building at the North Dakota Agricultural College. "It is a large playhouse put under a reducing-glass," says tho founder. "Just tho size of an average town hall, with a seating capacity of two hundred. hun-dred. The stage is thirty feet in width, twenty feet in depth, having a proscenium opening ten feet in height and fifteen feet in width. There are no boxes and balconies, and the decorations, which are simple, are in a color scheme of green and gold. Therer-ia-alao-a-Dlace -for a moving-picture machine. "The scenery is simple and painted in plain colors; the doors are wooden doors, the windows have real, glass in them. Any country town can make a set of scenery like this. Simplicity is the keynote of the theater. It is an example of what can be done with hundreds of village halls, unused rooms in school-houses, and basements of country churches." The population of North Dakota is largely foreign-born or of foreign descent, and Mr. Arvold points with special pride to a tableau entitled, "A Farmhouse Scene in Iceland Thirty Years Ago," which was staged at the little country theater by twenty young men and women of Icelandic descent de-scent This tableau, which was carried out with great fidelity to Icelandic character, incited students stu-dents of foreign descent at the institution to present pre-sent other tableaux, depicting the national life of their fathers and mothers. s- "While the little country theater idea Is still in its infancy, it promises to attain a lusty growth. Already the founder is receiving inquiries from V'! all parts of the Union, and it Is interesting to observe that several residents of Porto Rico and the Philippines are at work in developing country coun-try theaters in their respective communities. From the Century. |
