“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” fading southern belle Blanche DuBois said at the end of Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” a show the Nicholls Players will present Saturday and Sunday in Talbot Theater.Stanley Coleman, the group’s advisor, said Blanche’s one line sums up his experience so far at Nicholls.

“I have depended very much on others, not strangers, but friends to help me with each and every show,” he said.

Coleman has been in charge of the theater program at Nicholls since he arrived in 1999, but theater at Nicholls has been around almost since the beginning of the University.

Aaron O’Neal, associate professor of speech and a former head of the theater program, recalled that when Nicholls was first started, Bonnie Bourg, one of the original faculty members, was the first to put on a show for the University.

When “The Nicholls Worth” ran into financial difficulty in 1956, Bourg suggested putting on a variety show as a fundraiser. It was a huge success and soon after the administration considered adding a permanent theater program.

The first play performed on campus in 1957 was “Time Out For Ginger,” a Broadway comedy about a 14-year-old girl football player written by Ronald Alexander. Later Nicholls performed its first musical, “Lil Abner,” written by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank and based on the comic strip “Li’l Abner” by Al Capp.

Since there were only two buildings on campus at that time, Elkins Hall and Shaver Gym, the plays had to be done in the gym. O’Neal said Bourg recruited almost all of the student athletes to portray the muscular and manly characters in the play.

He said Bourg did such a good job of casting the show and getting volunteers to work backstage that she often joked, “Who’s going to come see the show? Everyone’s already in it!”

Alfred Delahaye, professor emeritus of journalism, revealed some of the early days of the University in his book, “The Elkins-Galliano Years – 1948-1983.” He recalled memories of the “Lil Abner” production.

Outside of Delahaye’s office in 1956, the students built a pen for one of the show’s characters, “Salami” a full-grown pig. Delahaye said Salami would often escape from his enclosure and the entire cast would stop rehearsals to chase its porcine cast member across campus.

O’Neal said Lera Kelly came in a few years later to officially start the speech and theater department. Kelly established the theater degree program, which remained until the late 1980s.

In 1963, Mel Berry took over and managed the program off and on until Coleman took over in 1999. O’Neal said Berry directed around 63 productions before he retired.

Coleman and O’Neal said over the years the Nicholls Players and the theater department have had some amazing successes and produced some incredible talents.

Off-Broadway success stories like John “Spud” McConnell and Ann Galjour got their start at Nicholls. Plus the University took several performances to state competition and won. Ironically, the last performance that the department took to state was a previous performance of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Soon after O’Neal said the speech and theater departments lost their accreditation when the University faced the same thing that it faces today – the removal of accredited programs in order to reduce duplication in the state.

However, O’Neal said there has been talk recently to try and bring back a degree in theater. Coleman said that would be great because there are many students who have inquired about getting a major or minor in theater.

“Since I’ve been here there’s always been an interest,” he said. “But a number of our students have gone on to other schools because they couldn’t find a major here.”

He also said there needs to be more interest in the current theater program in order to keep the group alive. He has watched a steady decline in support from the administration, the campus and the community. When he started, the Nicholls Players would do four or five productions a year, but that number has dwindled significantly. The group now only produces one show per semester.

Coleman said he no longer feels that theater is supported by the administration, but he would like to see them change that by at least attending more productions.

“We did have at one time an administration that was real followers of theater,” Coleman said. “It’s interesting. Sometimes the retirees come more often than the present administrators do.”

James Stewart, head of the Department of Mass Communication, said he believes theater is even more important to the University now than it was 30 or 40 years ago because it “acts as an outreach to the local community” – which is not something “you can put a dollar value on.”

“Seeing a live performance is a very unique opportunity,” Stewart said. “It gets people on campus and gets the word out about Nicholls to the surrounding community. And it doesn’t cost the University all that much.”

Coleman said he will continue working on more shows because the students benefit from their experience in theater. They learn creativity, poise, confidence and critical thinking – key skills that they will need in almost any kind of job.

“We would like to see the program continue,” Coleman said. “That’s why we keep trying to do a show that will bring in people.”

The Nicholls Players continues to depend on the kindness of strangers and friends to make theater a regular part of the experience at Nicholls State University. The organization encourages any students interested in theater to attend its monthly meetings or to stop by one of its open try-outs.

“A Streetcar Named Desire,” directed by Stanley Coleman and starring Christian Samaha, Kirk Savoie, Jeannette Burke and Shay Ives, will take place Saturday and Sunday in Talbot Theatre, with possible showings on Monday and Tuesday.