Theatre Impact

 Theatre Impact, a troupe founded by Webster College (later Webster University), began in the summer of 1962 with a cast and crew of professional actors, college students, high school students, and teachers.¹ Wayne Loui, a faculty member at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, was hired to direct the first season's productions².

The first season included the following plays³:

 

• Doctor in Spite of Himself (by Moliere)
• School for Scandal (by Richard Sheridan)
• Henry IV (by Luigi Pirandello)
• Medea (by Euripides)
• Comedy of Errors (by William Shakespeare)

 

Henry IV, originally announced as the third production, was replaced with The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry ⁴.

 

In 1963, the second season of Theatre Impact featured the following plays⁵:

 

• Cyrano de Bergerac (by Edmond Rostand)
• The Lark (by Jean Anouilh)
• Antigone (by Sophocles)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
• Macbeth (by William Shakespeare)

 

For its third season in 1964, Theatre Impact moved offcampus to Kirkwood Park and offered the following plays⁶:

 

• Othello (by William Shakespeare)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (by Oscar Wilde)
• J.B. (by Archibald MacLeish)
• The Taming of the Shrew (by William Shakespeare)
• The Teahouse of the August Moon (by John Patrick)

 

In 1965, the final season of Theatre Impact featured the following productions⁷:

 

• Death of a Salesman (by Arthur Miller)
• Arms and the Man (by George Bernard Shaw)
• Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare)
• Rhinoceros (by Eugene Ionesco)
• The Lady's Not for Burning (by Christopher Fry)

 

The opening of the Loretto-Hilton Center in May 1966 provided a permanent home back on the main campus. Theatre Impact itself ceased to exist as a summer stock company. Instead, a professional company in residence at the college was established which later became known as the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis⁸.

 

Notes

¹'Theatre Impact' plans 5 plays in professional summer stock. (1962, January 12). The Web, vol. 38, no. 7, p. 1.

²W. Loui joins 'Impact' staff. (1962, February 9). The Web, vol. 38, no. 8, p. 1.

³Director schedules 'Impact' auditions for early March. (1962, February 23). The Web, vol. 38, no. 9, p. 1.

⁴Summer stock swings into fourth week. (1962, July 17). The Web, vol. 39, no. 1, p. 1.

⁵Theatre Impact plans season. (1963, February 1). The Web, vol. 39, no. 9, p. 1.

⁶Theatre Impact in Kirkwood Park. (1964, May 1). The Web, vol. 40, no. 10, p. 4.

⁷Webster's annual Theatre Impact will open its 1965 season... (1965, April 30). The Web, vol. 41, no. 9, p. 1.

⁸Beltz, Maggie. (1966, April 15). Professionals combine with students. The Web, vol. 43, no. 11, p. 3.

 

 

Additional references

4 NY actors, 8 WC actresses star in 'Impact'. (1962, May 4). The Web, vol. 38, no. 13, p. 1.

Impact ready to run. (1963, May 3). The Web, vol. 39, no. 12, p. 3-4.

Summer stock seeks to stimulate cultural activity through drama. (1962, April 13). The Web, vol. 38, no. 12, p. 3.

Summer stock staff grows; show people endorse effort. (1962, March 30). The Web, vol. 38, no. 11, p. 7.