University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Dramatic Art.

The Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina was established in 1936; prior to that, instruction in the history of theater and comparative drama was given in the Department of English. In addition to academic instruction, the new department produced plays and supported dramatic efforts. The Carolina Playmakers, founded in 1918 by drama professor Frederick Henry Koch (1877-1944), became its production unit. Koch and the group specialized in folk drama and were considered seminal in the Little Theatre movement of the early 20th century. The Playmakers performed plays (many of which were written by students) on campus, and also toured North Carolina and other states. The Carolina Dramatic Association, begun in 1922, was a cooperative program of the Department of Dramatic Art and the University Extension Division's Bureau of Community Drama. A new semi-professional theatrical group, the PlayMakers Repertory Company, was established in 1976. Many persons associated with the study of dramatic art at the University of North Carolina later achieved professional prominence, including Thomas Wolfe, Paul Green, Kay Kyser, Betty Smith, Shepperd Strudwick, Jack Palance, Louise Fletcher, Anne Jeffries, and Andy Griffith.

From the guide to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art Photographs and Related Materials, 1911-1970s, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.)

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