Trooly Rooral Theater

Peterborough's reputation as a center of rustic and summer theaters began as early as 1867 with the establishment of the Trooly Rooral Theater. Plays were presented by a group of amateur performers over the stables of the Bleakhouse. This amateur group preformed regularly for several summers as much for their own pleasure as for that of their audience.

This was the beginning of a tradition of outdoor and summer theaters in Peterborough. In 1914, Mary Ware Laughton purchased the property bordering the MacDowell Colony, and opened a performance-oriented summer school. The new "Out-Door Players" troupe preformed its first public production on August 11, 1914. The new troupe took full advantage of the natural outdoor scenery. According to the Peterborough Transcript in 1914, "a very rustic place was chosen for this production, amid the pines and hemlocks, with the little brook running between the natural stage and the seats erected for the visitors; all of which added to the beauty of the play."

The growing reputation of Peterborough as a center of arts appealed to Bostonian Marie Buress Currier, a Shakespearean actress. Currier came to Peterborough in 1917 and constructed a log cabin on the land adjacent to the Out-Door Players. In 1922 Marie Currier announced that she would open an outdoor theater camp, named Mariarden. The camp proved to be more than just an outdoor camp and theater. Currier hired top architects to design approximately forty buildings, including studios, refractory, administration building, a 600-seat amphitheater in the woods, complete with a Shakespearean stage, as well as a small indoor theater. International instructors and performance artists, such as dancer Roshanara, Margaret Sullivan, Ted Shawn, and Ruth St. Denis were among the famous faces to grace Mariarden.

Not only famous faces appeared but also rising stars found their beginnings at Peterborough's outdoor theaters. A seventeen year-old Bette Davis enrolled at Mary Ware Laughton's Out-Door Players. During a dance class, Mariarden's dance instructor Roshanara, seeing that Davis possessed a rare talent persuaded Marie Currier to waive the tuition and invite the young Bette Davis to Mariarden. This discovery was the first step in a long career in Broadway and film for Bette Davis.

The outdoor theaters in Peterborough ended in 1934, when Mariarden presented its last season. The Trooly Rooral Theater tradition silently stepped aside and made its final bow after seeing the rise of many stars and facing many glorious sunsets in the woods of Peterborough.

March 2004