History of Hobart and William Smith's Little Theater
Medbery Mummers and Shakespeare on Comstock Terrace
By the early 20th century, two student theatrical groups regularly performed on the HWS campus. Reflecting the structure of the rest of the colleges at the time, Hobart and William Smith each had their own group: The Medbury Mummers for Hobart and the William Smith Dramatic Association for William Smith.
While the Mummers were originally an all-male group, they soon began to include women actors in their productions and then officially within the group. The William Smith Dramatic Association was known for producing Shakespeare plays on the Comstock terrace with an all-female cast. Additionally, both groups worked together on joint productions and nights of theater until combining to create The Little Theater in 1924.
Little Theater
From 1924 to 1984, the Little Theater operated as a student club, producing faculty and student-directed performances. The club was highly-regarded and before the theater department’s creation in 2014 was the main theater group on campus. It was self-funded through ticket and program sales. A highly-organized club, voting priviledges were earned by participating in productions both on-stage and behind the scenes.
The Little Theater produced a wide variety of classical and student-written works, ranging from comedy to drama, musicals to experimental theater. Many Stage Whispers publications emphasize that this variety is part of the reason to have college theatrical groups. According to the 1946 edition of Stage Whispers, as a small group within a larger organization, primarily run as a learning opportunity, college theater is less dependent on ticket sales and audience reaction, giving them the opportunity to experiment and create more exciting theater.
