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Irene Smart Rains, who for more than a quarter-century trained young costumers
studying at the University and played a key role in presenting the nation's
first outdoor drama The Lost Colony, died April 20 at her Chapel Hill home
after a period of declining health. She was 95.
Scott Parker, director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama, said, "She's been
one of the most influential professors in the Department of Dramatic Art since
its inception in 1919.
"She taught hundreds of students who are now successful professionals in all
aspects of the theater," he said. "Just to mention two of those names -- Andy
Griffith, one of the University's most famous alumni, and William Ivey Long, a
two-time Tony Award-winning costume designer who has, at the moment, six plays
running on Broadway. Her influence will be felt for many years to come in the
theater community across this country."
Rains began working as a costume assistant with Paul Green's The Lost Colony
in Manteo in 1938, the second year of the drama's presentation. She became the
drama's costumer in 1946. A native of Roanoke Island, she studied costuming for
several years in New York.
An associate professor in theatre arts at Carolina, where she had been a
costumer since 1942, Rains designed and executed many of the colorful costumes
used in productions on the Carolina campus. The Carolina PlayMakers were
without her services for the first time in 27 years when she retired from the
full-time teaching faculty in 1969. She continued to serve as technical adviser
at the University and as costumer for The Lost Colony after retiring from the
University. She continued working for The Lost Colony until the mid-1980s.
In 1984, Rains received the N.C. Theatre Conference's Distinguished Career
Award in recognition of distinguished service by an individual who has devoted
a lifetime to the profession. Wrote Gov. Jim Hunt on that occasion in 1984,
when he also conferred upon her membership in the Order of the Long Leaf Pine,
an honorary society: "Since 1938, your behind-the-scenes work for The Lost
Colony has thrilled and excited audiences night after night. You have practiced
your art and demonstrated your skills as a costumer for that production year
after year and for countless others in Chapel Hill and elsewhere."
In 1977, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the Roanoke Island
Historical Society.
In lieu of flowers, contributions should be sent to the Roanoke Island
Historical Association, 1409 Highway 64/264, Manteo, N.C., 27954.
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