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Finally - A New Home - Porterfield
During the ’67-’68 academic year, the state of Virginia passed an 81-million-dollar bond issue. Part of Radford College’s share of that money was to construct a building that would house a theatre. This building would become Porterfield Hall. It wouldn’t be until the 1971-72 academic year that the Theatre Department would be able to fully occupy it.
There was great interest in what the new building would be named. It seemed natural to name it for Bob Porterfield, the founder of Barter Theatre in Abington, but there was opposition in the General Assembly. Apparently, Bob rubbed some people the wrong way. After some research, two names were submitted by Chuck Hayes: Amélie Louise Rives Troubetzkoy (1863–1945), a princess (by marriage to a Russian prince), a playwright and novelist from Richmond, and Bob Porterfield. Faced with a Troubetzkoy Hall, they chose Porterfield.
Performances began in the new building during the 1971-72 year, but the formal dedication did not occur until the 1972-73 school year. Several people came from the Barter Theatre for the formal opening, including Bob Porterfield’s widow and Owen Phillips, the resident director.
When Porterfield Hall first was occupied, there were curtains, and a few lights, but no other equipment. The first piece of power equipment purchased was a jigsaw. Students who had tools would bring them into the shop for classes to use. One young lady asked for Sear’s biggest tool set for Christmas, and proudly brought it back for use for the next quarter. The building was mainly a shell for several years. There was no lighting for make-up in the dressing rooms. However, the department did have exclusive use of the main stage, although they shared the use of the Studio Theatre with the Art department. A real boon for the department was when Radford became coeducational and began to admit males in the summer of 1972. This made show selection and casting much more flexible. From 1973-74, the name of the department was Theatre, Speech and Communication Disorders.
Although there were only two faculty in the Department Theatre and resources were limited, the shows were well attended. It was not unusual to have a full house (even a couple of ‘sell-outs’) for musicals.
