6 University Daily Kansan, March 26, 198*
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
Computer Services Facility.
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 COUNCIL MEETING will be at 3:30 p.m. in 108 Blake 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 Than Bows and Away" will be at 5E on Wednesday.
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 4085 West 16th Street will give a presentation of the book "The Trial."
THE EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES SYMPOSIUM ON EDUCATION will host Merle Bolton on "Prospects in Japanese Education" at 7:30 p.m. in the Centennial Room of the Office.
THE GAY AND LESBIAN SERVICES OF
MILFORD, p.m. in the
independent Uniform of the p.m.
THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM will host Rob Melton on "A Muts and Bots Discussion of Library Resources and Procedures" at 8 p.m. in the Wainland Room of the
'The Sage of Emporia' does not credit the sage
By PAUL STEPHEN LIM Contributing Reviewer
"The Sage of Emporia," a monologue play on the life of William Allen White by Henry C. Haskell. Performances tonight and tomorrow at 8 n.m., in Swarthownt Reed Hall.
Plays in which the characters onstage 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 transition from "perception" to the unfolding drama. Who are we? Where are we? Why is our presence required?
SUCH QUESTIONS are answered with some of our more successful contemporary projects.
In "The Glass Menagerie," the narrator invites us to enter his consciousness as he begins to remember the life he led with his brothers and sisters. As a child, 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 starts thinking more to be ourselves, does he speak to us again.
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.
UNFORTUNATELY, SUCH IS not the case with playwright H.C. Haskell, whose new work, "The Sage of Emporia," is being performed at 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 aislepee 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 find out is that we do not eat lunch. Halfway through the first act, White shuffles offside briefly and then brings in his meal on a tray. "I wish there were enough here for everyone," he says, and then continues to feed us more facts from his factified life.
MARK MCDONAL DIKANSA staf
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 humdum things he did, famous people he has known, then 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 to be a minister in 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. Playing the roles of Mr. and Mrs. While's autobiography, stringing 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 difference 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 biography. May be here might be
as a good place as any. . . What I want
is say that I've never had a bored hour in my
life."
He said it, I didn't
VALID ID CARDS
institution. Locked. Color
available at
I - DENT SYSTEMS
TRAILRIDGE APARTMENTS
Studios, 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments,
2-3-4 Bedroom Townhouses.
- Racequestball
* Free Tennis
* Free Swimming
* On KU Bus Route
904 Vermont
843-8019
Student Senate funded
Pine Room, Kansas Union
Boyds Coin & Antiques
731 New Hampshire
Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m.,
Monday Saturday
9 am-5 pm
U. S. Department of Education Kansas City
--mid east fine foods
Class Rings Antiques-Furniture
BUY OR SELL
dli Baba
SILVER, GOLD & COINS
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN PRESENTS:
815 New Hampshire
UPSIDE DOWN
Margaritas
$1.25
AT
PRESTON'S
815 New Hampshire
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TACO JOHN'S.
Cut out this taco and bring it in Thursday through Sunday, March 26-29.
1626 W. 23rd St.
Offer good at participating Taco John's listed below with coupon only.
Lawrence,KS 66044
1101 W. 6th St.
Thursday, Mar. 26
Edvard Munch
Peter Walkins' brilliant depiction of the life of the painter of "The Scream" and its creator, Peter Jackson, has ever been approached by the co-founder of Expressionism from every angle. Walkins creates a stunning portrait of a man who was terrested in any aspect of artistic creation can afford to miss. John Simon, New York-based artist (Calgary), Swabishdishes.org, 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 master strategist are blamed; hunted by 100,000 gang members, the lone Warriors must cross Brooklyn to get to their own turf. With his suspenseful direction, this is an exciting, mesmerizing film. With Michael Beck, James Remar, Debron Van Valentine, Timothy Bates and Dinosaur! (94/7 min.) Color: 3:00-9:30
Wise Blood
The new film by John Huston is one of his best and one of the strongest American movies ever made. Based on Plainman actor Renee Zakeloff, hazel Muster (Brad Dourif of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), who revolts against his evangelist past by marrying a doctor, only one of many desperate, mystic cills in ruin Geogia. A sardonic, bizarre but brilliant film with rich, documentary effect that leaves behind goes beyond. With Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton, IAmy Irving. And JanLenice's "Landscape" (10:28 m)
Dark Star
An early film by John Carpenter (helio-
wen), written by Dan Bannon (Allen),
demonstrating the deteriorating space-ship, this low-budget, high-quality science fiction film easy on distances $4 million more than its predecessor, is funny cast and philosophical bent. A class act. Plus: "The Wizard of Space" (*8/38* min.) Color, 120- Midnight.
Unless otherwise noted all film will be shown at Woofworth Auditorium in the evening of Friday, Saturday, Popular and Sunday Fridays. Saturday, Popular and Sunday Fridays are £200 available at the cinema. Film tickets available at the Union 4th level. Information 864-3477. No smoking or refresher admissions at the theatre.