A brief history of theater at the University of Idaho

Last week I had the chance to take home a couple of pieces of University of Idaho Theatre Arts Department history when I attended their annual costume sale.

Students in the program organize the sale to raise funds for their activities — selling clothing, shoes, masks and more from past theater productions to those of us in need of Halloween inspiration. The sheer variety of pieces up for grabs was a testament to just how active and creative the department is. In the spirit of celebrating our annual opportunity to dress up and be whoever we want to be, let us take a look back at the history of UI theater.

The first play we know for certain was produced by university actors was “The Rivals,” a comedy that centers on 18th century manners and includes a fair amount of word play. Department of Elocution instructor Aurelia Reinhardt directed the play and was also the founder of a dramatics club on campus. Reinhardt’s instruction duties included women’s physical education, which likely explains why ticket sales to productions of “The Rivals” were earmarked for a university gymnasium fund.

First staged in 1900 at the Grand Army of the Republic Hall near downtown Moscow, the play was offered numerous times over the following years. A group of students even traveled by train to Boise as ambassadors of the new university up north, demonstrating the quality of their education to legislators.

Another important figure in the history of Vandal theater was Jean Collette, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the university. She was hired into the English Department in 1933 and became head of dramatics in 1937.

Miss Collette was with the dramatics department during World War II. During those years, when there were very few men on campus, the production teams worked with whatever possible to keep productions going, from dying and starching cheesecloth for costumes to straightening each nail pulled from previous sets to reuse them for the next show.

As a stage director, she kept students interested in dramatics with classic and contemporary plays such as Molière’s 17th-century comedy “Tartuffe” and the 1936 play “Idiot’s Delight” by Robert Sherwood. In 1967, she retired after directing 101 plays at the university.

Alongside University professor Edmund Chavez, Collette began the UI Summer Theatre in 1953, working with students and community members on productions. In the 1980s it became the Idaho Repertory Theatre, known commonly as IRT.

Although IRT took a brief hiatus between 2016 and 2022, it remains a staple of summertime in Moscow. For four decades, young people from around the region have experienced the magic of theater through summer camps and locals have enjoyed impressive productions of everything from time-tested plays like “Biloxi Blues” to original works like Micki Panttaja’s “The Outfit.”

UI’s Theatre Arts Department has another full season of productions planned for this school year. This weekend and next you will find student actors bringing the spirit of the season to Hartung Theater with “The Addams Family: A New Musical.” Happy trick-or-treating!

Kersting-Lark is the head of special collections and archives at the University of Idaho libraries.