Her Own Way, the first production produced by the newly formed Humboldt State, was staged on Tuesday evening, December 8, 1914 at the Minor Theatre in Arcata, which itself had just opened for the first time on Dec. 3, the previous Thursday night. Though the Minor was designed to show movies and is famous as the oldest currently operating movie house in the U.S., it has mostly been forgotten that it also hosted many stage productions, including some 40 locally produced shows in its first decade.
With a brand new campus and no venue in which to perform plays, the speech department produced their first play at the Minor; the proceeds from the 1914 event went to the Belgian Relief Fund.
In celebration of this historical event, a staged reading of Her Own Way will be performed exactly 100 years later by HSU theatre faculty, staff, and family members at the Minor as a fundraiser for the Emma Center of Arcata.
For more information, contact Humboldt State’s Department of Theatre, Film, & Dance at 707-826-3566. Tickets are available at the Minor’s website, http://www.catheatres.com/.
For information about the history of the opening in 1914, the play, and the Belgian Relief Fund, visit the HSU Stage & Screen blog.