June 7, 14, 1953
And so, as the Gods commanded, Hercules went forth on his ninth labor—to gain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
Julian Thompson, author of The Warrior's Husband, makes merry with the legendary Amazons, the labors of Hercules, and the Trojan War, with side glances at the natures of men and women and their reputed tendencies to fall into each other's arms despite their dignified pretenses. Here is an Amazonian queendom in which man is naught but an incidental necessity and a domestic convenience. The women do the fighting and ruling—and look extraordinarily attractive in armor.
"The night before the big event it rained cats and dogs. Roofs leaked that never leaked before and some of our props were a sorry-looking sight by morning. The prop crew rallied around like the old pros that they are and had things going again by play time. The opening curtain found 370 hardy and loyal souls in their seats waiting for us.
". . . .The second performance found us all there with no casualties. The weather was better, the audience was bigger and the cast responded with a smooth performance. We may not have broken the record for hardiness set by the cast of Sleeping Beauty but we did our share towards maintaining the tradition of the Theatre. Our show went on."
[Bill Gardner, The Mountaineers, 1953]
The Warrior's Husband was Earl Kelly's first production with the Mountaineer Players. Kelly directed for the Players through 1974, except in 1958 and 1965 when he was on sabbatical leave from his teaching job at Ballard High School in Seattle.
