125 Years of Cap and Bells

Williams’ student theater troupe Cap and Bells marked its 125th anniversary this season, with performances and a Special Collections exhibition of archival photos, playbills, posters and other ephemera.

Founded in the fall of 1898, Cap and Bells mounts six to eight productions a year involving student directors, designers, actors and stage managers. Shows take place all around campus and run the gamut from original student-written work (Stephen Sondheim ’50 debuted Phinney’s Rainbow in 1948) to Shakespeare, Stoppard and, yes, Sondheim. Many notable alumni in theater have trod the boards with Cap and Bells.

Casey Monteiro ’24, a thespian who also served on the group’s board this year, says she’s excited “to be a part of a long-standing legacy and robust history in this organization and to build on the works of theater makers who came before us.”

Photo, at top: Where to From Here (1950); photograph courtesy of Williams College Archives