102-Year-Old Play, "Loosely Based" on Monon Bell Rivalry, Being Staged at Purdue
February 12, 2006
February 12, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - Indiana-born George Ade's 1904 play, The College Widow, is being staged by Purdue University. "The play, loosely based on the football rivalry between DePauw University and Wabash College, is being set in 1924 to add flashy 'Roaring Twenties' costumes," notes an Associated Press story on the production, which will be staged February 17-26 in West Lafayette.
Dale Miller, a professor emeritus and the former chairman of Purdue's theater division, will direct the play. "Miller said he has done very little adaptation to the play, which he said holds up well more than a century after its premiere," the AP reports. "Widow opened in New York on Sept. 20, 1904, and ran for about a year, during which three road companies were performing it across the land."
"Comedy has a notoriously short shelf life, but I have been impressed by old George Ade," Prof. Miller is quoted. "He kind of had the root of what is funny, and it still works with very little translation." 
Learn more about the play at the Web site of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, where the complete article can be found.
One of college football's greatest rivalries, the Monon Bell Classic is also one of the closest. Wabash now leads the all-time series 52-51-9 with DePauw holding a 35-33-6 edge in games played for the coveted trophy. Access highlights of this year's game here, visit the official Monon Bell page here, and order a DVD of the DePauw-Wabash battle for the Bell here.
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