- published: 24 Jun 2015
- views: 88076
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Dramat," is the second-oldest college theater company in the country. Founded in 1900 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing some of the finest student theatre in the United States for over a century.
Though no formal theatre company existed at Yale during its first two centuries of existence, dramas and comedies were enjoyed by students from the earliest days. When Professor William Lyon Phelps, '87, commenced his teaching during the 1890s, he began a literary Renaissance that culminated in his sponsorship of the Dramatic Association, founded by Henry D. Wescott, Class of 1901, as a club for students interested in public performances of plays. The first meeting of the organization, chaired by Wescott, occurred on February 2, 1900.
As archivist Gerasimos Tsourapas described its first days: "For its premiere production, the new organization chose The Second Shepherd's Play, the medieval English comedy that offers both sacred and profane variation on the birth of Christ: the religious could take comfort in the play's theological interests; the secular could delight in the naughty pranks of the protagonist. All in all, a good choice to allay the fears of those distrustful of the theater. As if to reinforce the high moral tone of the inaugural performance, the Dramat Executive Committee added Wescott's own adaptation of Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale. Frank Lea Short, a New York theatrical figure, was hired to direct; Phelps and Professor Albert Cook served as literary advisors. Although both plays called for small casts, an "audience-within-the-play"— some one hundred extras—was placed on stage as well; no doubt someone realized the importance of getting as many people involved in the new venture as possible. On May 13, 1900, the first production of the Yale Dramatic Association opened to the universal applause of town and gown."
Woo hey! Uh uh - no way
No way complain huh
I'm not your doormat, your floormat
So don't wipe your feet on me
I'm not the only Garibaldi
Well there's more fish in the sea
I'm not your puppy, your goldfish
So don't treat me like a pet
Hey I'm not your butterfly
So don't chase me with your net
I'm not your kneaded eraser
So don't you wear me down
I'm not your sledge, uh sledge hammer
I'm no tool, that you pound
I'm not your blacktop, for hopscotch
So don't jump all over me
I'm not the place where the dogs roam
At the bottom of the tree
Don't you treat me like I have no feelings
Don't you treat me like that, I have feelings
Don't treat me like that
Don't you treat me like that
Don't treat me like that
Don't you treat me like that!
Uh yeah yeah oh oh na uh uh
Woo hoo ooh ooh
I'm not your carefree, nor sugarless
Like the gum on your shoe,
I'm not the ring 'round your finger
Nor am I wrapped around you
I'm not your shoe string, your rope thing
So don't tie me in a knot
I'm not your asphalt, with oil spots
So don't use me as a parking lot
Don't you treat me like I have no feelings
Don't you treat me like that, I have feelings
Don't you treat me like IEhave no feelings