Theatre Programs 1940-1969

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A Study in Style: Short Plays by Pinter and Carlino Program [1968]

University of Maine Portland Campus

The Dirty Old Man

Written by Lewis John Carlino
Directed by Thomas A. Power
The wisdom of age is often overpowered by the haste of youth. Occasionally age touches youth, but never as often or as well as we wish. Carlino shows us the awkwardness, the tenderness, and the pain that result from an old man and a young. girl attempting to bridge the gap. THE DIRTY OLD MAN was originally produced off Broadway in tandem with SARAH AND THE SAX under the omnibus title DOUBLETALK.

Review Sketches

Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by William P. Steele
These short plays are highly imaginative and hilarious sketches which Pinter wrote for the London revues ''Pieces of Eight" and "One to Another". Their ... moods range from the totally farcical · to the serious: and the characters in them represent quite real, if sometimes strange, human beings. ·
Benito Cereno Program [1968]

University of Maine Portland Campus

Written by Robert Lowell

Directed by David Wheeler

Performed by the Theatre Company of Boston

From the program:

AN HISTORICAL INCIDENT, first reported in Delano's Voyages and Travels, published in Boston in 1817, caught the imagination of Herman Melville some 40 years later. Melville, whose now famous novel, Moby Dick, had been a critical failure when it was first published in 1851, had turned to the writing of short stories. He used Delano's account as the basis of a short story which was published by Putnam's Magazine under the title of Benito Cereno.

MELVILLE'S STORY stirred brief interest, but then it sank into obscurity for more than one hundred years, when the famous contemporary American poet, Robert Lowell, recognized its significance.

BENITO CERENO, through the magic of Lowell's pen and the inspired interpretation of the Theatre Company of Boston, has been acclaimed a cultural and poetic masterpiece by critic Robert Brunstein. Of particular significance is the portrayal of Babu, the black slave, a character central to the dramatic conflict of the play.
An Evening with Edward Albee Program [1967]

University of Maine Portland Campus

Undated, estimated to be c. 1967

From the program:

The Art Theatre of the University of Maine in Portland, proudly presents three contemporary one-act plays by Edward Albee.

FAM AND YAM
Directed by Thomas A. Power
Fam and Yam is an imaginary interview. It is a short but eloquent example of the biting wit and incisive satire of this brilliant young American playwright.

THE AMERICAN DREAM
Directed by William P. Steele
Time: The Present
Place: A typical upper middle class American home

THE SANDBOX
Directed by Thomas A. Power
In this play Mr. Albee crosses the boundaries between life and the stage. As Grandma begins to weave her own rather dismayed history between the cool, indifferent patter of the people and the equally cool but somehow more sympathetic sounds from the guitar, as Grandma covers herself with sand in order to die, and as the cryptic athlete turns out to bear a relationship to her after all, a nearly invisible string of intelligence and sentiment moves to bind the collage together.
A Slight Ache and Play Program [1967]

University of Maine Portland Campus

Two One-Act Plays Directed by David Wheeler

A Slight Ache written by Harold Pinter
A comedy of menace at a country house during a summer morning, noon, and afternoon.

Play written by Samuel Beckett
Buried up to their necks in three burial urns, a husband, his wife, and his mistress speak about their lives from the world of the dead.

Performed by the Theatre Company of Boston
Waiting for Godot Program [1966]

Theatre Company of Boston

Written by Samuel Beckett

Directed by David Wheeler

From the program:

WAITING FOR GODOT is the most famous of all the plays Beckett has written. It was first staged in Paris where it ran over three hundred performances. Translated into English by Beckett, it has subsequently been translated into innumerable languages, including Japanese, Swedish and Yugoslavian. No other play has had so great an impact on the modern theatre.
The Visit: A Tragedy Program [1965]

Gorham State Teachers College

Written by Friedrich Duerrenmatt

Directed by Donald C. Spencer

Undated, estimated to be c. 1965
The Waltz of the Toreadors: A Comedy in Three Acts Program [1965]

Gorham State Teachers College

Written by Jean Anouilh

Directed by Donald C. Spencer
The Glass Menagerie Program [1962]

Gorham State Teachers College

Written by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Dr. Donald C. Spencer

From the program:

This play, Tennessee Williams' first commercial success, made its appearance in New York in 1945 with Laurette Taylor as Amanda, Julie Haydon as Laura, and producer Eddie Dowling as Tom. It was a notable success and won the Drama Critics Circle Award. Since then THE GLASS MENAGERIE has been a staple in the college and community theatre repertoire. In the catalogue of Williams' dramas this play stands as a refreshing and useful contrast with the more recent output which tends to capitalize on the often rather bizarre elements in contemporary society: the neurotic, the psychotic, and sometimes the perverse. THE GLASS MENAGERIE of all the plays is the most lyrical and gently sentimental. Its hues tend to be muted rather than garish, its range limited rather than extended, its crises corrosive rather than explosive.
The Littlest Angel and Amahl and the Night Visitors Program [1958]

Gorham State Teachers College

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell with Miss Elizabeth Sawyer as Narrator

Ahmal and the Night Visitors by Gian-Carlo Menotti

Presented by the Student Chapter of Music Educators National Conference.
The Medium and Sunday Excursion Program [1958]

Gorham State Teachers College

The Medium, Words and Music by Gian-Carlo Menetti

Sunday Excursion, Music by Alec Wilder

Staged and Directed by Ralph Chambers

Musical Direction by Gerard Chamberland

Presented by Archons in association with the Student Chapter of Music Educators National Conference.
57 Varieties Program [1957]

Portland Junior College, Westbrook Junior College, and Gorham State Teachers College

Combined Colleges Variety Show

Directors

Mary Jane Proach ... Westbrook Junior College

Leslie LaFond ... Gorham State Teachers College

James Transuc ... Portland Junior College
Harold's Club Program [1953]

The Longhair Club

Directions Courtesy of the Longhair Club

President : Robert Olesen

Vice-President : Joseph Bisson

Secretary : Walter Brown

Treasurer : Robert Gelinas
Home for Christmas: A One Act Play Program [1950]

Portland Junior College

Written and Directed by Carl G. French

Produced by Paul Leighton

Undated, estimated to be c. 1950
Love Rides the Rails or Will the Mail Train Run To-Nite? : A Melodrama in Three Acts Program [1950]

Portland Junior College

Written by Morland Carey

Directed by Arnold Kuvent

Undated, estimated to be c. 1950
Rebecca: A Three Act Play Program [1950]

Portland Junior College

Written by Daphne DuMaurier

Directed by Mr. Carl French
Briar Rose: An Opera Fantasy and Prologue in Three Acts Program [1940]

Gorham Normal School

Directed by Miriam Eunice Andrews