Notre Dame Theatre Chronology

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Early Productions

Play Title: Procida

Date Performed: Commencement 1845

Henry IV

Author: William Shakespeare
Date Performed: Commencement 1847

1856: Rev. N.H. Gillespie, Director
1857: Rev. N.H. Gillespie, Director
1858: Rev. N.H. Gillespie, Director
1859:
1860: Rev. N.H. Gillespie, Director

The Rivals

Author: Sheridan
Date Performed: Commencement 1861
Sponsoring/Producing Organization: The Dramatic Society

Columbus

(First commencement play in first Washington Hall)
Date Performed: Commencement 1862

Play Title: William Tell

Author: Friedrich Schiller, 1804
Date Performed: Commencement 1863, 1870, 1876 (from which a photograph survives)
Director: Rev. Father Shaw
Sponsoring/Producing Organization: The Thespian Society
Cast included: N.H. Gillespie, E.M. Brown, John (later Father) McManus

Play Title: The Nervous Man

Director: Rev. Father Shaw
Sponsoring/Producing Organization: The Thespian Society
Cast included: N.H. Gillespie as McShane

Play Title: Bourgeois Gentihomme

Author: Moliere
Director: Rev. N.H. Gillespie
Sponsoring/Producing Organization: The Thespian Society