Page 6 University Daily Kansan, March 26, 1981
On Campus
TODAY
LA MESA ESPANOLA (Spanish Table) will meet from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in 3059 Wescoe Hall.
THE ACADEMIC COMPUTER CENTER
SEMINAR on "Remote Batch Entry from Time-
Sharing" will be at noon in the auditorium of
the Computer Services Facility.
THE UNIVERSITY COUNCH MEETING will be at 3:0 p.m. in 108 Blake Hall.
THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION NOON FORUM will present "Alternatives to Traditional Legal Practice - The Public Interest Law" at 12:30 p.m. in 104 Green Hall.
THE UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION with Acting Chancellor Del Shankel will be at 4:15 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
THE MINORITY AFFAIRS FILM "More
Work will be at 7 p.m. in the
auditorium of Strong Hall
THE LIFE-ISSUE SEMINAR ON SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES will discuss "Submission" at 7 p.m. in the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Center.
THE KU GERMAN CLUB will meet at 4:30 p.m. in 485 Woods, Geerchow Gorham will give a presentation to the club's members.
THE EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES SEMIPOSIUM ON EDUCATION will host Merle Bolton on "Prospects in Japanese Education" at 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Room of the Union
THE GAY AND LESBIAN SERVICES OF
Maryland. One p.m., in the
Interior Chamber of the P.C. Trust
THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT COLOQUIUM will host Rob Melton on "A Nurses and Bolts Discussion of Library Resources and Procedures" at 8 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the
'The Sage of Emporia' does not credit the sage
"The Sage of Emporia," a monologue play on the life of William Allen White by Henry C. Haskell. Performances tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m., in Swarthout Recital Hall.
By PAUL STEPHEN LIM Contributing Reviewer
Plays in which the characters ontage turn around and address the audience directly, in which the conventional invisible wall between "them" and "us" is torn down and we are asked to be part of the action, must quickly define the ground rules for our "par- ment" in the unfolding drama: Who are we? Where are we? Why is our presence required?
SUCH QUESTIONS are answered with four questions and inquired about some of our more successful peers.
In "The Glass Menagerie," the narrator invites us to enter his consciousness as he begins to remember the life he led with his family. In "The Darkness," mind, we are; in effect, the young man he was, and therefore there is no more need for him to talk to us directly. Only at the end of the play, when he snaps out of his reverie and becomes to be ourselves, does he speak to us again.
In "Our Town," we are being invited to tour not just a turn of-the-century New England town but also all the lives there, with the kindly and generous anger, who acts as our kindly guide throughout.
Whatever else one may think of these plays, there is no denying that the playwrights involved knew exactly what they were doing to their audience.
UNFORTNATELY, SUCH IS not the case with playwright Henry C. Haskell, whose new work, "The Sage of Emporia," is being published by KU's long-awaited University Arts Festival.
"The Sage of Emporia" is a one-character
play based on the voluminous autobiography of William Allen White. When the play opens, we see the 74-year-old Emporia newspaperman a sleep in a chair in his study. After he is awakened by a dream he has been having (the voice of his mother calling him), he doesn't seem the least bit surprised to see all of us in his study.
THE YEAR, we are told, is 1942. But who are we, and what are we doing in his study in Emporia? Are we journalism students from the University of Kansas in nearby Lawrence, waiting for a chance to interview the famous editor? Are we neighbors who have nothing better to do than to watch him sleep? We never find out.
One thing we do out is that we do not eat lunch. Hallway through the first act, White shuffles off briefly and then brings in his meal on a tray. "I wish there were enough here for everyone," he says, and then concludes by feed us more facts from his factified life.
MARK MCDONALD KANSELL
At the end of the play, he puts on his overcoat and says he has to meet his wife at the park. He waves goodbye and leaves, even though we are all still in his study!
GIVEN THIS VERY troublesome relationship that we in the audience have with White, it is difficult to concentrate on what he is actually telling us about his life. Much of it seems like a mere recitation, chronologically, of burdum things he did, famished with his possessions he wrote. None of it is very interesting because precious little is fully dramatized.
For instance, he says of Theodore Roosevelt: "I've never known another man so vital, nor another man so dear." Again, we are not shown how or why. This Sage of Emporia is not sagacious; he merely speaks ex cathedra.
Still, there are three moments in the play when one is moved, a unique testament to
William Allen White (Jack Wright) recounts one of his famous newspaper articles in Henry Haskell's play, "The Sage of Emporia."
Jack B. Wright's actomy sensibilities and craft. The moments: White's description of his mother's watch, then his admission that he was never able to communicate with his father, and thus his account how he came across Mary's editorial on the death of his daughter Mary.
THE SCRIPT, unfortunately, does not allow actor Wright or director Ronald Willis to create more of such moments. Playwright Nicholas Benedetto will autobiography, striving them together in
such a way that hardly any of the scenes build toward any kind of climax. They merely amble along, and it makes almost no diffrence in the many stories and anecdotes come in.
At the end of the play, just before he leaves,
White says: "I've been wondering where to
end my autobiography. May be here might be
as good a place as any... What I want to
say is that I've never had a bored hour in my life."
He said it. I didn't.
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COMMONWEALTH THEATRES
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THE FINAL CONFILICT
THE LAST CHAPTERS ON THE CRIMINAL
EVL. 7:15 9:20
WEEKEND MAT. 2:00
Student Senate funded
Pine Room, Kansas Union
U. S. Department of Education Kansas City
Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m.,
SILVER, GOLD & COINS
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN PRESENTS:
--with coupon.
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Class Rings
Antiques-Furniture
BUY OR SELL
Boyds Coin & Antiques
Cut out this taco and bring it in Thursday through Sunday, March 26-29.
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Monday Satunda
9 a.m-5 p.m
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Offer good at participating Taco John's listed below with coupon only.
1626 W. 23rd St.
1101 W. 6th St.
SVA FILMS
[1978]
Thursday, Mar. 26
Edvard Munch
Peter Walkins' brilliant depiction of the life of the painter of "The Scream" and others is the greatest biography of an artist. The founder of Expressionism from every angle, Walkins creates a stunning portrait of a painter interested in any aspect of artistic creation can afford to miss. John Simon New, *Sweets and Snips*, 7:30 (Cal). *Sweats and Snips*, 7:30.
Friday, Mar. 27 The Warriors
Walter Hill (The Long Riders) retelling of the legend of Xenophon, set in a jazzy neon urban night setting. A gang leader and a daring hunter are blamed; hunted by 100,000 gang members, the lone Warriors must cross Brooklyn to get to their own turf. With a twist, the warrior is suspensive direction, this is an exilizing, mesmerizing film. With Michael Beck, James Romar, Deborah Van Valkenberg, the director of The Dinosaur! (947 mm², Color: 3.90-3.93)
Wise Blood
The new film by John Husner is one of his best and one of the strangest American movies ever made. Based on Flannery O'Connor's novel, hazel Makes (Bradour of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), who re-entertains the fictional foundering of the "Christian Without Christ," only one of many desperate, mystic cults in rural Georgia. A sardonic, bizarre but poignant story, the movie is a mesphere and a sense of humor that goes beyond black. With Ned Bedesty, Harry Dean Stanton, Amy Irving, Plus and "Landscape" (102/8 mln). Color: 7:00.
Dark Star
an early film by John Caperton (Halloween), written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien), and directed by deteriorating space-ship, this low-budget, high-quality science fiction film easily out-distances those $40 million of the universe with a funny cast and philosophical bent. A class act. Plus: "The Wizard of Space" (*8/31*) Color. 12:00 Mid-night.
Unless otherwise noted all films will be shown at Woodfair Auditorium in the morning or Friday, Saturday, Popular and Sunday films are $150. All DVDs are $20.00. The DVD selection is based on Union, 4th level. Information: 864-387-911. No smoking or refresheral visits.