Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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 I i i The Bolton Theater DREAM UNDER CONSTRUC- TION Saturday, April 16, 1977 — a threshold was crossed that day as the ground- breaking ceremony changed Kenyon's new theater from a dream under con- struction to a building under construc- tion. The theater's design was originally conceived by James Michael, recently retired Professor of Drama. A sketch of his showed a circular building which contained an approximately semi-circu- lar arrangement of seats with a stage jut- ting out into the audience. Further plan- ning, designing, and refining of this original idea was supervised by Daniel Parr, scene designer and technical director at Kenyon. The resulting collec- tion of lists, sketches, and models was then taken to architect Robert Fairfield of Toronto, who had previously designed one of the world's greatest theaters, the festival fheater in Strat- ford, Ontario. He became consulting arc hitect for the building, and Richard fschilman and Associates of Columbus became responsible for turning the ideas of Fairfield and the others into a building. Funding for the theater was provided by numerous donors, most significantly Kenyon Bolton, a college trustee for whose family the structure was finally named. So what is the fruit of these labors like? Ihe theater's jutting stage, with its rear section holding movable pieces of scenery which can lx fitted together in several ways for various scenic needs, lends itself to many kinds of production situations. The closeness of the stage to the audience allows actors to project well without trained voices. As impor- tant as anything, the theater is a center for campus community life. Accord- ingly, it has an abundance of people space — a large, inviting lobby; a spa- cious Green Room that allows members of the production company and their friends to visit after the show; and an attractive courtyard between the old and new theaters. That a new theater was necessary to meet the educational, social, and artistic needs of Kenyon had been clear for some time, and the Bol- ton Theater seems just Ihe dream to finally fill those needs. (1) Shovelers at the groundbreakmgceremony. l-r: Edgar Davis, chairman at the fund-raising drive. Thomas Turgeon ot Ihe Drama Department; Rich- ard I Thomas, trustee; Beatrice Koopman '77. then president of Ihe Kenyon College Dramatic Club; and President Philip H Jordan (2) Donor lames P Slorer '49 with President Jordan. (J) lames Michael (center) examines the building site with Paul Sessman '49 and Thomas in the spring ot 197S 10 new theater — history