A Brief History

The Matchbox Players was one of the few clubs founded alongside with the college itself in Behrend’s very first semester. It was originally called The Dramatics Club back in 1948 and will be celebrating its 60th birthday in the fall of 2008.

In the early days, the club did plays directed by English faculty, however the club had to rig their own lighting and perform while their audience sat in a circle of chairs around them. Most often these productions were held in the old gymnasium—our current Erie Hall.

Doing a few plays each semester, the club would also go on tour with their performances and travel to other campuses. They even turned a profit with ticket sales that way.

Somewhere along the way, members of the Dramatics Club started calling themselves The Behrend Players and started doing Improv shows. In 1971, all operations were moved to the Studio Theatre, which before that had been a studio for painting and art supplies. It's been our theatrical home ever since. In 1989, the club changed its name again, this time to The Matchbox Players because the theatre looked like a Matchbox to them (not to mention it was flammable, since it's made of old dry wood, is dusty, and has a room full of paint thinner and other chemicals).

Ever since 1971, casts of plays have been signing the room upstairs inside the studio theatre with their names and short messages. If you’re ever up there, take a look. However, not all of our old members have moved on. One of the old English teacher directors from the very early days, Bill Lane, lives on campus in the yellow house by the Smith Chapel.

© 2007 The Matchbox Players