Fifty-five years … Congratulations, Belfry!

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Dear Editor:

I read with special interest your article about the Belfry’s announcement of the slate of plays for their 55th season.

I was in the very first play of the Hamilton County Theatre Guild long before there was a Belfry. Along with John and Betty Lou Kyle, I was on stage at the Noblesville High School in the Eugene O’Neill classic “Ah, Wilderness” 55 years ago. John was wonderful as Sid Davis, a gambler and drunk, brother-in-law of the head of the household, Nat Miller. He stole many scenes with his very humorous portrayal. I played the minor character of a 19-year-old Yale student, Wint Selby, classmate of the son of Nat Miller. Betty Lou was the director of the play and had a hard time controlling John’s funny adlibbing!

Kraft

My cousin, the late Eddie Campbell, was in several Belfry plays and my father, Dr. Haldon C. Kraft, was in many Belfry productions. He, along with my mother, Mary Baker Kraft, faithfully attended almost every Belfry production until his death in 1982. My parents loved the Belfry.

The theater has always had a special place in my life. I live in Florida and several years ago participated in numerous “senior” lighthearted stage productions known as Acting Up. Yet, to this day, one of the more special theatrical memories I have harkens back to my childhood days at Noblesville High School. After hundreds of hours of play practices and performing in six plays, I along with my very good friend, Sally Butler Kenley, was awarded the honor of Best Thespian three days before I graduated in 1963.

John Kraft

Tallahassee, Fla.