The weather is getting (ever so slightly) colder, plenty of leftover Halloween candy is hanging around, and the holidays are quickly approaching. Is there a better time of year to curl up with a good mystery?
The Little Theater of Brunswick certainly didn’t think so. From November 20 to 24, 1957, the playhouse staged its own whodunit, drawing visitors to its production of the murder mystery Laura by way of advertisements made to look like newspaper headlines. The production was based on the novel of the same name by Vera Caspary, originally published as a serial in 1942. Laura soon found additional popularity as an Armed Services Edition, one of thousands of titles made into small paperbacks for distribution to the American military during World War II. After the war, Caspary collaborated with playwright George Sklar on the theatrical version of her novel. Both writers’ names appear on the Little Theater’s advertisement.
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Coastal Georgia Historial Society
Little Theater Gazette - Laura p1
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Coastal Georgia Historical Society
Little Theater Gazette - Laura p2
Far from a typical poster, this promotional piece featured four full pages of information on the production. Faux articles gave intriguing insight into the plot, and the cast biographies highlighted Kenneth Williams, the new “speech and dramatic teacher at Glynn Academy,” who played the detective. Several other members of the cast had previously appeared in multiple Little Theater productions. The back pages of the “newspaper” overflowed with well-wishes from local businesses, McGarvey’s Furniture, the Tait Floral Company, and City Drug Store on Newcastle Street among them.
The late 1950s were exciting years for the Little Theater. Founded on April 21, 1931, the organization spent its earliest years putting on productions in Glynn Academy’s Memorial Auditorium. Its very first show, Captain Applejack, included a set that rocked like a real sailing ship. Promotional materials for Laura noted that, for decades, the Little Theater “had no established headquarters,” instead operating out of school auditoriums, church parish halls, and even the Oglethorpe Hotel. In 1954, the theater bought the parish house of St. James Lutheran Church. The building was then moved from Gloucester Street to 609 Grant Street, the new home of a thriving playhouse with the motto Nil Desperandum – “Never Despair.”
This month’s featured images from the collections of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society are two pages from the newspaper-style advertisement for the Little Theater of Brunswick’s production of Laura held from November 20-24, 1957.
The Coastal Georgia Historical Society presents this article and images from our archives as part of our mission “to connect people to Coastal Georgia’s dynamic history.” The Society operates the iconic St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the World War II Home Front Museum, housed in the Historic Coast Guard Station at East Beach. To learn more about the Society, its museums, diverse programs, and membership, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
