2/12/2012:
North Dakota audiences were treated to the first production of “The Professor’s Predicament” on this date in 1907. The play was directed by newly hired North Dakota Agricultural College instructor Alfred G. Arvold, the man who would change North Dakota educational theater forever.
After establishing a theater on the NDAC campus, Arvold was known throughout the state, with the department’s play lending library reaching out to communities throughout North Dakota. He also produced a variety of epic outdoor pageants with casts of hundreds, playing before audiences of thousands.
Alfred Arvold’s theater work was recognized throughout the world during his stay on campus from 1907 to 1953. His book about the experience with the name of his creation on the prairie is, “The Little Country Theater.”
Dakota Datebook written by Steve Stark
Sources: Arvold, Alfred, “The Little Country Theater.”
North Dakota Institute of Regional Studies – Don Larew Theatre Collection