Hayswood Theatre got its start back in 1969.
Apparently, members of the Woman's Literary Club were looking for
innovative ways of bringing people to Corydon to help support the local
economy. They also saw the development of a theatrical group as a
means of "reviving and promoting the cultural growth of all of
us."
Initially, the Woman's Literary Club looked to the Travel Association
and the Harrison County Agricultural Society in hopes of using the fair
grounds as a year-round performing arts center. However, this plan
did not come to fruition.
So, the group turned its eyes elsewhere. They looked to a large
grain barn owned by Professor Sam P. Hays. Professor Hays was
interested in donating the barn and land, but also wanted the plan to
include the development of a farm museum and archive.
Now the group began to look for people
interested in drama. To this end, meetings were held to discuss
how to proceed. A local minister, Reverend
William Huckabone, offered to chair these meetings. Steps were
taken to look into renovating Professor Hays' barn, but money became an
issue.
To drum up more support, many universities were contacted. Mr.
and Mrs. Kenneth and Celia Turner from West Baden's Northwood Institute
learned of the Literary Club's needs and offered to provide assistance.
They came to Corydon and were very impressed with the interest of Rev.
Huckabone and members of the community.
Since the Turners had never been to Corydon, they were taken on a
tour of the downtown area. As they walked by the State Capitol,
Mrs. Turner reportedly peeked in through one of the windows and
suggested that the drama group perform in it.
The challenge was accepted. In 1970, the proper permission was
granted to use the State Capitol as the theatre. However, the
theatre group decided not to put on plays. They decided to perform
re-enactments of actual trials that had been held in the State Capitol
in the 1820s. They called these the Old
Trials. Many hurdles still had to be jumped before the first
performance was given, however, the Hayswood Players were born.
Old
Trial Pic 1 Old
Trial Pic 2 Old
Trial Pic 3
However, the Hayswood Players felt a little intimidated about putting
on these productions alone, so student actors and actresses came to
Corydon to assist. Further, there were no scripts to follow, so
each individual actor and actress had to respond as he/she thought
appropriate.
The Old Trials were greeted with great success. People came
from all over to watch there re-enactments. The Literary Club even
invited President Nixon to one of the
performances.
Republican
Article Nixon's
Reply
As time went along, however, many of the student actors left, and the
Hayswood Players had to step in and begin to act for the first time.
It was this experience that gave the Hayswood Players the courage to
continue.
From here, the history becomes a little muddled. Apparently,
the Hayswood Players continued to do productions of the Old Trials for a
period of time. However, they soon decided to venture out and do
other plays (Never
Too Late, The Diary of Anne Frank, Aesop's Falables, The Fantastick to
name a few). The Hayswood Little Theatre Group, as it had become
known, was performing plays at the Harrison Grange Hall until May 1971.
At this time, the Eureka
Telephone Company leased a building to the group.
The building was had been used by the Fiesta Discount House.
However, it was going out of business, so Eureka offered the building to
the Hayswood Little Theatre Group. With a lot of renovations, the
building was made into the current Hayswood Theatre that is located on
the corner of Chestnut and South Capitol.
Hayswood
History Part 2
======
If you have any other information regarding the
history of Hayswood Theatre in form of Pictures, Programs or of its
history please Contact us.
