Sock and Buskin

Sock and Buskin (or the Sock and Buskin Club) was a theater organization founded at Centre in 1919 by three students, S.R. Cheek, Jr., Howard VanAntwerp, Jr., and Burwell K. Marshall. They were aided by Prof. Frank L. Rainey, who had acted as coach for the Carnival plays in previous years. In the beginning Sock and Buskin was limited to twenty-four elected members whose qualifications were an active interest in and proven ability in drama. The purpose was to be the production of plays by students themselves and the development of dramatic talent. The first production was two-one act plays performed in April 1920: J.M. Barrie’s The New Word and Bessie Wreford Springer’s A Girl to Order. In 1924 Prof. Jack Sterrett of the English Department replaced Rainey as the faculty advisor. For several years the major dramatic production was given as part of Carnival. Because the men’s campus didn’t have a theater, plays were performed in the auditorium of the women’s campus. The name was changed in 1930 to The Centre College Players. Now known as Centre Players, the organization remains the college’s student theater group, performing student-written and directed pieces. The name comes from the two ancient symbols of comedy and tragedy. In Greek theatre, actors in tragic roles wore a boot called a buskin that elevated them above the other actors. The actors with comedic roles only wore a thin soled shoe called a sock.