Mitchell receives award for volunteerism during theater conference

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

For the National Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre, it?s people like Sue Mitchell, of Mt. Pleasant, that keep things behind the scenes moving in the right direction.

During the National Society?s annual theater conference, held at the Mt. Pleasant Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana from April 29 ? May 1, Mitchell was recognized for over three years of hard work and dedication with the Martha Hayes Award for Volunteerism.

?I really enjoy volunteering?and with all the folks that volunteer at the museum, there should be so many other people getting this award,? Mitchell insists. ?I?m also very humbled to receive the award. Since Martha?s passing, I have missed working with her, so getting this award is certainly special.?

The National Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre was originally founded with the purpose of preserving the heritage, memorabilia and historical value of tent, folk and repertoire theater. Each year, the society hosts a weekend seminar at the Theatre Museum for members of the society, and since the death of former member and volunteer, Martha Hayes, has been presenting an award for outstanding volunteerism to one deserving volunteer.

?Sue has been very instrumental in getting our library all set up and cataloging all our information properly into our system,? said David Ripper, the national society?s current president. ?Often, the best volunteers are sometimes the people you never see. Sue has really taken on a lot with this cataloging and with other things, and just done a fantastic job with it all.?

The library refers to a massive computer-cataloged inventory of theater scripts, music scores, historical photos, posters and a plethora of other memorabilia the museum has surrounding the history of early American theatrical entertainment.

?We just have an amazing amount of information and artifacts that people can access,? said Mitchell. ?In fact, we have had a lot of professors, researchers and people like that who have come to our theater and accessed our library because it is so extensive.?

According to Ripper, tent-theater began around 1852 and continued to perform all the way through to the early 1990s, which is when the last few shows went off the road. Ripper says, that at one time in American history, there were over 400 to 600 tent shows touring the U.S., and were largely popular is smaller towns and communities.

?Tent theater and traveling theater is a real major part of our country?s history,? said Ripper.

Besides conducting regular board business and the presentation of the Martha Hayes Award for Volunteerism, the annual weekend conference also features presentations by theater historians, reflections from former theater troupers and short theatrical presentations. In addition, this year also saw a presentation from Ryan Cook, a senior English major from Iowa Wesleyan University, who presented a research project he conducted on the staging techniques of William Shakespeare.

?The meeting every year is attended by professionals and theater enthusiasts from all over the country,? said Ripper. ?It?s a time for people to get together who love theater and its history to talk and learn together. We look forward to it every year.?

Today, the Theater Museum, which was officially opened in 1973, is maintained and operated by the Midwest Old Threshers and a host of dedicated volunteers and donors. Much of the museum?s contents have been donated to the museum that originally belonged to some of the tent and traveling show companies in the U.S.

The museum holds various hours throughout the year, and is open by appointment for individual and group tours. For more information, call 319-385-9432.