“Would it be possible for you to send me the things necessary as I would like to get them as soon as possible and do not know where to send for them. If you can get them for me I shall send the money also postage, etc., as soon as I receive them.
“Trusting that this will not inconvenience you greatly, I remain,
“Very truly yours,
“E. B.”
It is not an uncommon occurrence to get a long distance call at eleven o’clock at night from someone two or three hundred miles away, asking for information. Telegrams are a common thing. Conferences with people who come from different communities for advice are frequent. The tower, the attic, and the package library are an integral part of the theater.
The aim of The Little Country Theater is to produce such plays and exercises as can be easily staged in a country schoolhouse, the basement of a country church, the sitting room of a farm home, the village or town hall, or any place where people assemble for social betterment. Its principal function is to stimulate an interest in good clean drama and original entertainment among the people living in the open country and villages, in order to help them find themselves, that they may become better satisfied with the community in which they live. In other words, its real purpose is to use the drama and all that goes with the drama as a force in getting people together and acquainted with each other, in order that they may find out the hidden life forces of nature itself. Instead of making the drama a luxury for the classes, its aim is to make it an instrument for the enlightenment and enjoyment of the masses.
In a country town nothing attracts so much attention, proves so popular, pleases so many, or causes so much favorable comment as a home talent play. It is doubtful whether Sir Horace Plunkett ever appreciated the significance of the statement he once made when he said that the simplest piece of amateur acting or singing done in the village hall by one of the villagers would create more enthusiasm among his friends and neighbors than could be excited by the most consummate performance of a professional in a great theater where no one in the audience knew or cared for the performer. Nothing interests people in each other so much as habitually working together. It’s one way people find themselves. A home talent play not only affords such an opportunity, but it also unconsciously introduces a friendly feeling in a neighborhood. It develops a community spirit because it is something everybody wants to make a success, regardless of the local jealousies or differences of opinion. When a country town develops a community consciousness, it satisfies its inhabitants.
The drama is a medium through which America must inevitably express its highest form of democracy. When it can be used as an instrument to get people to express themselves, in order that they may build up a bigger and better community life, it will have performed a real service to society. When the people who live in the small community and the country awaken to the possibilities which lie hidden in themselves through the impulse of a vitalized drama, they will not only be less eager to move to centers of population, but will also be a force in attracting city folks to dwell in the country. The monotony of country existence will change into a newer and broader life.
If The Little Country Theater can inspire people in country districts to do bigger things in order that they may find themselves, it will have performed its function. It is the Heart of a Prairie, dedicated to the expression of the emotions of country people everywhere and in all ages.