PUPILS PLAN NEW THEATRE

Plans and model construction for a Harvard School of Drama and Music, done by architectural students under the direction of Professors Walter Gropius and Hugh Stubbins, are on exhibition at Robinson Hall.

The idea of a theatre for Harvard is not a new one. In the '20's when George Pierce Baker was giving his English 47 theatre workshop course, Edward S. Harkness offered to donate a completely equipped auditorium to the University. President Lowell refused the offer at the time, reasoning that "the drama has no place at Harvard College."

The six architectural students whose work is now on exhibit were instructed to assume that "the University is considering the inauguration of a School of Drama."

Specific architectural requirements were included in the instructions given students John C. Harkness, George Metzger, Willo Von Moltke, Thomas Price, Santiago Ricaurte, and Charles D. Wiley. They were to "design a theatre providing all the facilities necessary for dramatic productions, operas, symphony concerts, dance recitals, pageants, lectures, and motion pictures." The Theatre Auditorium must seat 800 spectators, provide accomodations for an orchestra of 40 musicians, and hold a stage 70 to 75 feet wide. The site selected "is the vacant land in Soldiers Field, bounded by the Harvard Business School, Western Avenue, and the Metropolitan Parkway (along the Charles River)."