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Before 1910 Photos, Programs, Posters & Information

The early history of theatre at the University of North Dakota is primarily that of class plays and special presentations.  The earliest documented production was All For A Man in 1902.

In 1905 Frederick Henry Henry Koch arrived at the University of North Dakota as a professor of English.  He wanted to be an actor but had been convinced by his family to follow the path of a teacher instead.  Koch's actor passion was stirred at UND where he took charge of the minor class productions.  During the spring of 1906 Koch developed a tour of Northeast North Dakota (which he later referred to as the "barnstorming tours") with a class play performance of The Rivals.

Over the years these tours grew and exposed much of the eastern part of the state to live theatre and firmly instilled in Koch the belief that even the simple lives of North Dakota's farmers were worthy of imortalization in plays.

During the next decade these revelations would result in Koch creating a "communal theatre movement" that worked under the premise that everyone, regardless of social rank, had a story to tell and that a collective group could serve as author, producer and performer of a play. 

Productions and Events    Notable Happenings

Productions and Events

1909 Lost Labors Love	1908-09 Tom Pinch	1907-08 The Love Chase
1906-07 Martin Chuzzlewit She Stoops to Conquer	1905-06 Jeppe on the Hill, or the Transformed Peasant The Rivals (June 1906)	Prior to 1905 Throw Him Out
1903-04 The Lost Opportunity (?) The Obstinate Family (?) The Tricks of the Trade or Merchant of Venice Up-to-Date Xysts	1901-02 All For a Man

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Notable Happenings Within Our Department

1901 and before	1902	1903
1904	1905     -Frederick H. Koch joins the University of North Dakota as a professor in English. He will go on to form UND's first play producing organization, "The Sock and Buskin Society" (name later changed to "The Dakota Playmakers")	1906
1907	1908	1909
1930

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