Mary A. Smith

Community theater in the South Coast would not be the same without the clear vision of Mary A. Smith (1908-1969) — actor, director and educator. In 1946, she founded Your Theatre, Inc. in New Bedford, where it has remained in continuous operation, offering area theater-goers four to seven shows each season.

The only daughter of John R. and Helen F. (Murphy) Smith, Mary was born in New Bedford on June 20, 1908. Her father was a talented pianist, nine cousins were in vaudeville, and her mother’s family was popular in British theater. Mary attended Notre Dame Academy in Boston, the Leland Powers School of Theater, Boston University, and the Phidelah Rice School of Theater. At Columbia University, she did graduate work in phonetics with renowned speech scholars. She began acting in summer stock in Hyannis and continued for 8 years in both summer and winter stock nationwide. Because of her talent in doing various dialects, she became a popular voice on network radio shows, including The Goldbergs, The Romance of Helen Trent, and John’s Other Wife.

Mary made a lasting impact on all aspects of theater throughout the South Coast. She founded the Country Playhouse in Dartmouth in the early 1930s as well as the New Bedford Players in 1935. She was the director of the Taunton Stock Company in 1941, and she directed the 1955 summer theater productions at the Mattapoisett Playhouse. During her career, Mary acted in or directed nearly 400 productions. As an educator, she opened a local studio for the teaching of diction, public speaking, speech correction, expressive movement, pantomime, philosophy of expression, literary interpretation, and acting technique.

In 1946, Mary founded Your Theatre, Inc., a non-profit volunteer community theater group in New Bedford that remains her most successful continuous project. With good theater of professional quality as its main objective, its enduring goals have been “To enhance the cultural life of the community, to develop and encourage artistic talent, to encourage dramatic art.” For over two decades, Mary oversaw its production of musicals, dramas, and children’s plays. By the 1960s, Your Theatre opened a location in New Bedford at 100 Parker Street, at the former Brenneke’s Pie Bakery, a space for productions as well as workshops. By the 1980s, the group moved to 72 Maxfield Street to accommodate larger audiences and future growth. St. Martin’s Episcopal Church hall in New Bedford’s South End became Your Theatre’s modest home in the early 2000s. In November of 2023, Your Theatre opened Steeple Playhouse, its new venue at the historic First Baptist Church on 159 William Street in downtown New Bedford. A 10-year long renovation project that was a collaboration of the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE), the City of New Bedford, and Your Theatre, Inc., Steeple Playhouse includes modern lighting and sound as well as seating for over 250, with a completely renovated exterior and rebuilt steeple.

Mary passed in October 1969 in a nursing home in New Bedford, but not before making her mark. Dedicated to hard work, complete honesty and common sense, Mary despised mediocrity. She described good acting as, “A good actor understands the part first of all and then must be sympathetic to the character. He must expand his imagination. But, remember, emotion is the effect of good acting, not the cause . . . The purpose of the actor should be to awaken, uplift, or inspire others – not self-satisfaction.” Your Theatre awards the Mary A. Smith Scholarship annually to a high school senior who is attending college to pursue the performing arts.   

Ann O’Leary, Emily Bourne Research Fellow