Alum Describes Life as a Player in 1931

One of Winona State's oldest student organizations got a visit from one of its earliest alumnae, Edith Whittier Hopfenspirger, a 1931 graduate, at the Great River Shakespeare Festival this summer.

The Wenonah Players, founded in 1903, held its reunion in conjunction with the Shakespeare Festival in July, and the Hopfenspirger brought a number of reminiscences from her Mankato home. Then, as now, the Wenonah Players was made up of students majoring in drama or who have an interest in acting or staging plays.

Hopfenspirger, wearing her Players drama pins which were earned for acting and production duties, brought history to life when she described a production of The Taming of the Shrew that called for a modern dress performance, including the appearance of a Ford Model T on stage.

Borrowing large planks from a lumber yard, as well as some muscle from the football team, Hopfenspirger and her fellow Players pulled the Model T up the steps of Somsen Hall using ropes. When the play's run was over, the football team was again put to the task of towing it down the Somsen steps and the Model T was returned to its owner.

During the Depression, Hopfenspirger earned money as a walk-on for major performances at the Schubert Theater (now the Fitzgerald). She went on to teach high school dramatics and teach seventh and eighth grades in Morgan, Minnesota.

Last Modified: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 9:30 by Brooke Sherer