A HISTORY OF THE BARNSTORMERS
Earliest Beginnings

Our Story begins in January of 1919, when a small group of undergrads looked around social life at Hopkins and decided: there is something missing! Sure, we had a Glee Club, a Banjo and Mandolin Club, some sports teams, some fraternities and a student publication... but not drama, no fine arts. And so, this little band joined together to form... The Johns Hopkins University Dramatic Club!! Their first production was You Never Can Tell by George Bernard Shaw, which was performed on 7 May 1919 in The Albaugh's Theatre. From the very first production, the practice of hiring outside professionals to direct was established when the Dramatic Club hired Miss Clementine Walter, who had acted in Paris and New York, to direct their show. She would go on to direct the next year's production, The Admirable Crichton, by J.M. Barrie. The following year, they produced Arms and the Man, another Shaw. This was the first show to have a student crew of technicians and designers, thus beginning the long-standing tradition of student technical work at Hopkins.
At their founding, the club had three goals: to start a tradition of drama which they felt had previously been lacking at Hopkins, to present the University and its students to the general public in a new light, and to provide opportunities for all students who were interested in dramatic work. By their second season, they had already begun to dream of producing a show written, directed, staged, and acted entirely by "Hopkins Men." Their first effort along these lines occurred the very next year, when two student-written one-act plays were produced. The first, Burning the Midnight Oil, by Mitchell B. Carroll, was a comedy about the life of a Hopkins student, while the second, Mosaics of Love, treated on a sentimental romance. It was written by Oscar W. McCleary. Over the next few years, the Barnstormers tried to produce several short plays in November which were written by students, but this endeavor fell by the wayside until much later.
In 1922, an event of some importance occurred. An alumnus of the class of 1901, Walter B. Swindell, Jr. returned to his alma mater to advise the drama club and direct their shows. During his time with the club, he considerably influenced the path it was to take. Firstly, he decided that it was much too difficult with an all-male cast to put on a serious drama each year. Rather, he turned the interests of the group towards farce, with the female roles being covered by cross-dressed males. The first show he directed for the group was The Purple Mask, a farce that was performed in the Lyric Playhouse in March of 1923.
Apparently, they had so many people try out in the fall of 1922 (more than the football team) that they decided to hold a series of one-act plays, at Swindell's suggestion, to assess the new talent. These shows were student directed, and included Helena's Husband, Overtones, and A Very Naked Boy. Though this was the first and last time they attempted more than one production a year for a very long time, it initiated the institution of giving freshmen their own shows, as well as the use of student directors rather than recruits from the faculty.
At their founding, the club had three goals: to start a tradition of drama which they felt had previously been lacking at Hopkins, to present the University and its students to the general public in a new light, and to provide opportunities for all students who were interested in dramatic work. By their second season, they had already begun to dream of producing a show written, directed, staged, and acted entirely by "Hopkins Men." Their first effort along these lines occurred the very next year, when two student-written one-act plays were produced. The first, Burning the Midnight Oil, by Mitchell B. Carroll, was a comedy about the life of a Hopkins student, while the second, Mosaics of Love, treated on a sentimental romance. It was written by Oscar W. McCleary. Over the next few years, the Barnstormers tried to produce several short plays in November which were written by students, but this endeavor fell by the wayside until much later.
In 1922, an event of some importance occurred. An alumnus of the class of 1901, Walter B. Swindell, Jr. returned to his alma mater to advise the drama club and direct their shows. During his time with the club, he considerably influenced the path it was to take. Firstly, he decided that it was much too difficult with an all-male cast to put on a serious drama each year. Rather, he turned the interests of the group towards farce, with the female roles being covered by cross-dressed males. The first show he directed for the group was The Purple Mask, a farce that was performed in the Lyric Playhouse in March of 1923.
Apparently, they had so many people try out in the fall of 1922 (more than the football team) that they decided to hold a series of one-act plays, at Swindell's suggestion, to assess the new talent. These shows were student directed, and included Helena's Husband, Overtones, and A Very Naked Boy. Though this was the first and last time they attempted more than one production a year for a very long time, it initiated the institution of giving freshmen their own shows, as well as the use of student directors rather than recruits from the faculty.
"Barnstormers"

In 1924, after producing another farce, the group decided that a renaming was in order. The original founders had never intended, after all, to remain the "Drama Club" forever. Thus, in keeping with their new image as a comedy-troupe, they rechristened themselves the Johns Hopkins University Barnstormers. Barnstorming, a circus of sorts, where pilots would perform tricks in airplanes, was a popular form of comical entertainment in the early 20th Century.
By this time, enough interest had been generated among the student body in extra-curricular activities that were not athletic in nature that an award for excellence in "non-curricular, non-athletic" activities for three years. This award was a small gold charm (to be worn on a watch fob) with the Hopkins crest on the front and the name and activity of the recipient engraved on the back. The Barnstormers always had a very healthy number of members be honored in this way.
In 1924, the group attempted to make good on the founders’ dream of producing an all-Hopkins musical. Have You Been To Lima? was composed and written by members, but they could not raise enough money to put it on. Instead, the group produced Richard Harding Davis' The Galloper (Davis was also a "Hopkins Man,") It was lauded throughout campus as the sixth success of the club. This year was also notable for the fact that one "A. Hiss" is mentioned as a member. Alger Hiss later went on to be the Barnstormers’ president twice, in 1925 and 1926.
By this time, enough interest had been generated among the student body in extra-curricular activities that were not athletic in nature that an award for excellence in "non-curricular, non-athletic" activities for three years. This award was a small gold charm (to be worn on a watch fob) with the Hopkins crest on the front and the name and activity of the recipient engraved on the back. The Barnstormers always had a very healthy number of members be honored in this way.
In 1924, the group attempted to make good on the founders’ dream of producing an all-Hopkins musical. Have You Been To Lima? was composed and written by members, but they could not raise enough money to put it on. Instead, the group produced Richard Harding Davis' The Galloper (Davis was also a "Hopkins Man,") It was lauded throughout campus as the sixth success of the club. This year was also notable for the fact that one "A. Hiss" is mentioned as a member. Alger Hiss later went on to be the Barnstormers’ president twice, in 1925 and 1926.
Changing Times, Changing Shows
Over the next several years, "Pops" Swindell became as much as fixture of the club as the Merrick Barn, in which they often held rehearsals and meetings. By 1930, after directing more than seven shows with the group, Walter Swindell decided it was time for him to retire. His last show with the Barnstormers was McCarthy's If I Were King, a serious work, instead of a farce. Two young Barnstormer alumni were chosen as his replacements, William B Banks and Howard M. Caplan, both of the class of 1929. Like Swindell before them, they would have a lasting effect on the still developing theatre troupe.
Their first innovation was to invite co-ed students from schools such as Goucher College and the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. With female cast members, the troupe could branch out from farce into still comic, but more substantive work. Casting actresses from other schools would be standard practice for the group until Hopkins became co-educational in 1973.
The female actresses were welcomed by the Hopkins boys, but not offered official membership in the club. Membership at this time was electoral, and a man was eligible after having participated in two or more Hopkins shows. When members were elected to the club, usually in their junior year, they were awarded a Barnstormers "key," which was much like the charms worn by fraternity members on their watch chains. It was gold, with one side showing the mask of tragedy, the other comedy, with the word "Barnstormers" underneath both.
Throughout the thirties, the Barnstormers continued to grow in size, popularity and ambition. They usually put on one show a year, in December or March, at the Maryland Casualty Auditorium, sometimes drawing crowds of more than 1,000. In 1935, they attempted two productions over the course of the year. See Naples and Die by Elmer Rice was put on in December of 1934, with The Road to Rome by Robert Sherwood serving as the spring show in March.
Their first innovation was to invite co-ed students from schools such as Goucher College and the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. With female cast members, the troupe could branch out from farce into still comic, but more substantive work. Casting actresses from other schools would be standard practice for the group until Hopkins became co-educational in 1973.
The female actresses were welcomed by the Hopkins boys, but not offered official membership in the club. Membership at this time was electoral, and a man was eligible after having participated in two or more Hopkins shows. When members were elected to the club, usually in their junior year, they were awarded a Barnstormers "key," which was much like the charms worn by fraternity members on their watch chains. It was gold, with one side showing the mask of tragedy, the other comedy, with the word "Barnstormers" underneath both.
Throughout the thirties, the Barnstormers continued to grow in size, popularity and ambition. They usually put on one show a year, in December or March, at the Maryland Casualty Auditorium, sometimes drawing crowds of more than 1,000. In 1935, they attempted two productions over the course of the year. See Naples and Die by Elmer Rice was put on in December of 1934, with The Road to Rome by Robert Sherwood serving as the spring show in March.
THE WAR AND BEYOND

In 1936, another director by the name of Paul Heinrichs (a founding member of the 1919 Drama Club) was chosen to helm the group's shows. The next few years saw a successful production every December produced in the Maryland Casualty Auditorium. In 1941 however, the war in Europe caught up with America, and with Hopkins. The director of the 1941 production, Clarence de Haven, was called up for military service, so Carrol Robinson was called in, with the assistance of the then-president Graham Newton. A Slight Case of Murder by Damon Runyon went up in December, and was followed by a large and successful dance. 1942 and 1943 saw continued operation of the club, despite the fact that they could no longer have professional directors, due to the war. This period saw some of the first totally-student run shows in the history of the club, but these too were affected by a lack of just about everything, from lights to actors.
By 1947, the war was well over, but the Barnstormers had been hit hard, as had the rest of the country. They were several years recovering from the hit the war had on their membership and overall production quality. This year is also notable in that the very first female member of the group, Adelaide "Tommie" DeVinny, was elected.
During the 1950s, the group was slowly building both its numbers and prestige on campus. It was helped along by gaining a semi-permanent home in the ROTC building gymnasium, and by new blood, such as John Astin, who joined the group in 1949. The Barnstormers were now regularly producing two to three shows a year, usually in December and March. The University also took an interest in the group, aiding them with more funding, which allowed them to put on free shows for several years. Needless to say, the audience numbers at this time grew exponentially.
The group became so popular that by the end of the fifties they were performing before audiences of 1000s, with standing room only. Their repertoire continued to expand beyond their traditional farces and into more mature fare. By 1954, the Barnstormers had branched out into semi-weekly radio plays with WJHU, drama workshops, and dramatic readings, on top of their semester productions. The group was even confident enough to try and mount another self-written musical, Quiet Down, with book by Pete Fischer and music by Joe Donohue, both members of the group.
By 1947, the war was well over, but the Barnstormers had been hit hard, as had the rest of the country. They were several years recovering from the hit the war had on their membership and overall production quality. This year is also notable in that the very first female member of the group, Adelaide "Tommie" DeVinny, was elected.
During the 1950s, the group was slowly building both its numbers and prestige on campus. It was helped along by gaining a semi-permanent home in the ROTC building gymnasium, and by new blood, such as John Astin, who joined the group in 1949. The Barnstormers were now regularly producing two to three shows a year, usually in December and March. The University also took an interest in the group, aiding them with more funding, which allowed them to put on free shows for several years. Needless to say, the audience numbers at this time grew exponentially.
The group became so popular that by the end of the fifties they were performing before audiences of 1000s, with standing room only. Their repertoire continued to expand beyond their traditional farces and into more mature fare. By 1954, the Barnstormers had branched out into semi-weekly radio plays with WJHU, drama workshops, and dramatic readings, on top of their semester productions. The group was even confident enough to try and mount another self-written musical, Quiet Down, with book by Pete Fischer and music by Joe Donohue, both members of the group.
HOLY GIRLS, BATMAN!
After the turmoil of the Vietnam war and the social change of the sixties, the Barnstormers would face one more major upheaval: girls! In 1970, The Johns Hopkins University began admitting female undergraduate students for the first time. In very short order, the girls permeated every aspect of Hopkins life, including theatre. Also at this time, the Barnstormers became large enough to produce far more than their traditional three shows a year. Just about anyone with a show to produce came to the Barnstormers for help. The group worked closely with Theatre Hopkins, an independent theatre company that put on shows in the Merrick Barn.
Our technical work and acting skills continued to improve throughout the eighties, aided in part by courses taught from 1983 to 1987 by Edward Albee on acting, directing and playwriting. Further, in 1979 Arellano Theatre was dedicated. After years of producing shows in the voluminous but outdated Shriver Hall and the cramped Merrick Barn, the 150-seat theatre was the answer to the group's prayers. Barnstormers board members served as consultants on the design of the space, so that the result was as close to what a student group needed as possible. For many years, Arellano became the permanent home of all Barnstormers productions. |
100% STUDENT MADE
The landscape of Hopkins student life at the end of the 1980s was entirely different from that of the 1920s. New musical groups, especially a cappella, were being founded each year. There were several new dance troupes, an African-American Theatre Troupe, and others. Hopkins students had begun to take a very broad and serious interest in the fine arts, especially in performing arts. Again, the Barnstormers expanded and adapted to suit the needs and tastes of the times. By the mid-eighties, the group was producing more shows that it ever had in its history. A standard season for the Barnstormers was an Orientation show, a showcase of freshmen talent called the Freshmen One Acts, a Fall drama, an Intersession show, a Spring Musical, as well as two or three other "studio" shows produced throughout the year. We were producing so many shows that we added another "tech director" position to our board, as one person could not supervise all the technical work that was needed.
Witness Theatre was founded in 1990 by Joshua Wolf Coleman, Brooke Ettle, Rebecca
Garron, Andy Bragen and several others, with the goal of producing entirely student written, directed, teched, and acted shows. After a few years, the group became defunct, but was picked up again in 1998, and established as a charter group of the Barnstormers. For several years, they received funding and support, both moral and technical, from the Barnstormers Executive Board, before branching off to become their own successful group. It has become a very strong theatre group in its own right, and was officially "severed" from the Barnstormers in 2002, although they had long been operating independently. Witness is an organization dedicated to producing entirely student-written, directed, and acted work, an idea that has been present in Homewood theatre since the founding of the Drama Club in the 1920s. They continue to produce shows to this day, putting up three to four showcases a year, as well as a full length play over Intersession.
Another expansion of the Hopkins theatre scene, the Hopkins Classic Players, was begun by several students in 1993, and lasted until 1998. This group, like the original Hopkins Drama Club, was more interested in bringing serious drama to the Homewood student body than in comedy or musicals. Over the course of their existence, the Classic Players produced a number of classical dramas, especially works by Shakespeare, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, as well as others, such as Cyrano de Bergerac. Unfortunately, interest in this group waned, until it quietly disappeared. The desire to put on serious drama, especially Shakespeare, has not left the Homewood student body, however. In 2001, the "Underground Shakespeare Company" was formed. Although that group too, couldn't sustain an active membership, the next year the Barnstormers picked up the idea, and have incorporated a Spring Shakespeare into their season.
Also begun in the 1990s was an offshoot of the Barnstormers that produced a showcase of sketch comedy each semester. This was done on and off throughout the nineties, until 1998, when "Throat Culture" (a pun on the oft-maligned tradition of "cutthroat" pre-meds) was officially formed as a charter group of the Barnstormers, to combat the dangers of sobriety on Hopkins Homewood campus. To this day, they are a charter group under the auspices of the Barnstormers, producing two student-written comedy shows a year.
Witness Theatre was founded in 1990 by Joshua Wolf Coleman, Brooke Ettle, Rebecca
Garron, Andy Bragen and several others, with the goal of producing entirely student written, directed, teched, and acted shows. After a few years, the group became defunct, but was picked up again in 1998, and established as a charter group of the Barnstormers. For several years, they received funding and support, both moral and technical, from the Barnstormers Executive Board, before branching off to become their own successful group. It has become a very strong theatre group in its own right, and was officially "severed" from the Barnstormers in 2002, although they had long been operating independently. Witness is an organization dedicated to producing entirely student-written, directed, and acted work, an idea that has been present in Homewood theatre since the founding of the Drama Club in the 1920s. They continue to produce shows to this day, putting up three to four showcases a year, as well as a full length play over Intersession.
Another expansion of the Hopkins theatre scene, the Hopkins Classic Players, was begun by several students in 1993, and lasted until 1998. This group, like the original Hopkins Drama Club, was more interested in bringing serious drama to the Homewood student body than in comedy or musicals. Over the course of their existence, the Classic Players produced a number of classical dramas, especially works by Shakespeare, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, as well as others, such as Cyrano de Bergerac. Unfortunately, interest in this group waned, until it quietly disappeared. The desire to put on serious drama, especially Shakespeare, has not left the Homewood student body, however. In 2001, the "Underground Shakespeare Company" was formed. Although that group too, couldn't sustain an active membership, the next year the Barnstormers picked up the idea, and have incorporated a Spring Shakespeare into their season.
Also begun in the 1990s was an offshoot of the Barnstormers that produced a showcase of sketch comedy each semester. This was done on and off throughout the nineties, until 1998, when "Throat Culture" (a pun on the oft-maligned tradition of "cutthroat" pre-meds) was officially formed as a charter group of the Barnstormers, to combat the dangers of sobriety on Hopkins Homewood campus. To this day, they are a charter group under the auspices of the Barnstormers, producing two student-written comedy shows a year.
SWIRNOW-FICATION!
By the mid nineties, there were so many performing arts groups that it was difficult for them to find a place to perform on campus. Gone were the days when the ROTC gymnasium was a suitable venue. Even Arellano, such an improvement when it was built, was beginning to show its age. Fire codes and other restrictions made producing quality shows more and more difficult. It became clear that the University would need an entirely new facility to house its growing arts population. As a result, the Mattin Arts Center was built.
Housing practice rooms, a dance studio, and best of all, an enormous black-box theatre, the Mattin Center became the new center of arts life at Homewood. The Barnstormers eagerly expanded their ambitions to match their new space, the Swirnow Theatre. Although the theatre was shared with two other groups (Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theatre and Witness Theatre), its advances more than made up for its drawbacks. Aside from the improved lighting, sound, and seating, as well as size, the Swirnow Theatre also had the benefit of professional supervisors, who could both maintain the space and lend advice and aid where it was needed. Bill Roche, the technical supervisor of the space, and Eric Beatty, the supervisor of the Mattin Center, continued to support all of the performing arts groups on campus, not the least of them the Barnstormers. As a result of this new space and new advice, the Barnstormers shows started take on a look and feel of professionalism seldom seen in student theatre.
Housing practice rooms, a dance studio, and best of all, an enormous black-box theatre, the Mattin Center became the new center of arts life at Homewood. The Barnstormers eagerly expanded their ambitions to match their new space, the Swirnow Theatre. Although the theatre was shared with two other groups (Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theatre and Witness Theatre), its advances more than made up for its drawbacks. Aside from the improved lighting, sound, and seating, as well as size, the Swirnow Theatre also had the benefit of professional supervisors, who could both maintain the space and lend advice and aid where it was needed. Bill Roche, the technical supervisor of the space, and Eric Beatty, the supervisor of the Mattin Center, continued to support all of the performing arts groups on campus, not the least of them the Barnstormers. As a result of this new space and new advice, the Barnstormers shows started take on a look and feel of professionalism seldom seen in student theatre.
THE SEARCH FOR SPACE
The COVID-19 pandemic demanded drastic changes from the arts as the world was forced online. This led to Zoom editions of Barnstormers productions, such as CLUE: Stay at Home, as well as socially distant, masked shows like The Drowsy Chaperone (which was streamed rather than performed for a live audience) and Hamlet.
In 2019, the university made the decision to demolish the Mattin Arts Center with the intention of building a new student center in its place. This meant The Drowsy Chaperone was our last show to be performed in the space before demolition began, and the Barnstormers began to search for new spaces. Arellano was the obvious choice, but due to scheduling it was not consistently available. This led to Hamlet being performed in Shriver Hall in the fall of 2021 which, as a traditional concert venue, presented unique technical challenges. Our Intersession show that winter was even more challenging in terms of space; She Kills Monsters was staged in the Glass Pavilion in the style of a more immersive theatre experience, given the open nature of the venue and lack of a large, defined 'stage.' However, in both of these cases the creativity of the Barnstormers won over the unique challenges of working in spaces that were not built with theatre in mind! |
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Many think of Hopkins as a school "where fun goes to die," or worse, a school where only academic pursuits are of any value. The Johns Hopkins University Barnstormers would like to humbly disagree with that viewpoint. Not only have the Barnstormers thrived for over 100 years to provide valuable entertainment to the Hopkins community, many former Barnstormers have gone on to a lasting and successful career in the arts. The Mobtown Players, a popular Baltimore theatre group, was founded in 1998 by four former Barnstormers. John Astin went on from the Barnstormers to play several notable roles on film and screen, before returning to his alma mater to teach theatre until 2020. The past one hundred and three years (and counting!) have been full of ups and downs for our little group, but through it all we would like to think that we stayed true to the original intentions of the founders: to provide fine theatre to the students of the Johns Hopkins University.
Sources:
- The Johns Hopkins Hullabaloo, editions from years: 1889, 1891-1898, 1900-1903, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1922-1927, 1929, 1930, 1932-1936, 1938, 1939, 1941-1943, 1947-1951, 1953-1963, 1965-1967, 1970-1972, 1974-1980, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1992, and 1994 (all available in the Hutzer Undergraduate Reading Room) - Programs from the Barnstormers cubicle in the Mattin Center Student Offices Building - Old Show posters from the cubicle and the Barn - Barnstormers Alumni, including The Mobtown Players, Leah Miller, Mike Pokorny, Steven Schenck, Jibbs Merkel, Kris Jansma, Ryan Whinnem, Bill Henry, and Damien Newton - Newsletter reviews and articles Page Credits: - Written November 2005: Karen E. Starr, Sceneographer 2004-2005, Tech Director 2005-2006 - Updated June 2022: Katherine Budinger, Secretary 2022-2023, Actor |