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Resident Professional Theater Could Include 3 Plans At KU
(Editor's note: This is the third in a four-part series.) By Tom Winston
A resident professional theater at KU could be a professional group, an artist-in-residence plan, a specialized graduate student plan or any variation of these.
All three plans are now in use in American universities.
F. Cowles Strickland, visiting professor of speech and drama, formerly of Stanford University and the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., said many universities have made their physical production equipment available for professional use. This is done, he said, for two reasons:
- A professional theater can make a better contribution to undergraduates and the theater should contribute to public understanding.
- If the universities wish to train students professionally, there should be a professional theater in which to train them.
"These universities are moving to professional companies to increase the audience and to increase the scope of the audience," Prof. Strickland said.
"They want to get the biology major out to the theater. They want to do Chekhov, for example, well enough that the student will want to see it not because it is Chekhov but because it is a good show. Good performances can help such people grow intellectually and emotionally."
PROF. STRICKLAND said another group of universities brings in professional groups to be associated with their theater departments. "This is fundamentally where KU stands," he said.
"A very few universities are tackling this problem by using graduate assistants," Prof. Strickland said. "They sign graduates who have special proficiency in acting so they will be available for acting. This kind of scholarship has done more for the plawright than for the actor and director."
Recently several universities, including KU have been having festival seasons and seminars involving professional artists.
Since Murphy Hall opened in 1958, the University Theatre has employed professional actors or directors to do shows.
Resident professional theater projects are planned for Omaha, Des Moines, Houston, Oklahoma City and a few other large metropolitan areas, Prof. Goff said, adding that the Kansas City area must take its place as "one of the stepping stones."
LEWIN GOFF, director of the University Theatre, plans to extend these single appearances into a kind of artists-in-residence program.
He said he would like to raise enthusiasm for the theater to the level of athletic teams and to see an NCTA—National Collegiate Theater Association—alongside the NCAA.
THE FIRST RESIDENT professional theater company to collaborate with a university will open next March under the direction of Sir Tyrone Guthrie in co-operation with the University of Minnesota. Sir Tyrone will begin with professional actors.
Sir Tyrone's company has 15 men and 10 women, of "the best available professional talent in Great Britain, Canada and on Broadway." Minneapolis was chosen because of enormous public response to the idea of a professional repertory company. Detroit and Milwaukee were sounded out and rejected for lack of interest.
The repertory is to be drawn from six categories:
- A Shakespearean plav.
- A recent American play of near-classical status (O'Neill, Williams, Miller).
- A recent English, Irish or Scottish play of near-classical status (Shaw, Wilde, Barrie, O'Casey)
- A classical play in translation (Moliere Goethe, Euripides).
- A recent play in translation of near-classical status (Chekhov, Ibsen).
- A recent American comedy.
The theater will use no local talent during its initial summer season. But a connection with the University of Minnesota Theatre will allow graduate drama students to work with the playing company in technical, production and administration areas on fellowships from a St. Paul foundation.
Nationalist Chinese Troops Assault Mainland Power Plant, Kill106 Reds
TAPEI — (UPI) The official Central News Agency said today Nationalist Chinese guerrillas blew up a gold-mine power plant in Red China last month, killing 100 Communist and 6 Russian technicians.
The raid on the gold mine was one of five demolition projects described by Central in a lengthy report on Nationalist guerrilla activities on the Red-held Chinese mainland.
THE REPORT, based on information obtained from Nationalist intelligence agencies, said other facilities sabotaged by the guerrillas included a drydeck, an ammunition dump and two bridges.
U. S. military sources declined com- $ ^{3} $ formation they have on the subject is classified. They would say only that U.S. leaders here have no connection with Chinese guerrilla activities.
Central said an increase in "preparation activities on the mainland" during the past six months has led to four clashes between Nationalist agents and Communists troops in which some guerrillas have been killed.
Rear Adm. Pei Yu-Fen said Tuesday that a "larger number of guerrillas" had been sent to the mainland recently. He declined to elaborate on the statement today.
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Vieth to Discuss Rochester's Work
David M. Vieth, associate professor of English, will present the Humanities Forum program "A Crux for Critics and Scholars; Rochester's 'Heroical Epistle' and 'Epistolar Essay,' next Tuesday.
Prof. Viet, who will give the speech at 8 p.m. in the Oread Room
of the Kansas Union, holds B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. His book on John Wilimot, the Earl of Rochester, entitled "Attribution in Restoration Poetry; A study of Rochester's 'Poems' (1680)" is to be published by the Yale University Press in February.
A GUIDE FOR THE UNMONEYED
R. L. Sigafos was a keen, ambitious lad, and when he finished high school he wished mightily to go on with his education. It seemed, however, a forlorn hope. R. L.'s father could not send the boy to college because a series of crop failures had brought him to the brink of disaster. (R. L.'s father raised orchids which, in North Dakota, is a form of agriculture fraught with risk.)
It was, therefore, squarely up to R. L. He could go to college only if he worked his way through. This was a prospect that dismayed him. He had a deep-seated fear that the task would be too great, that he would never be able to carry on a full, busy college life and still find time to do odd jobs and make money.
Racked with misgivings, R. L. paced the streets, pondering his dilemma. One day, walking and brooding, he came upon a park bench and sat down and lit a Marlboro cigarette. R. L. always lit a Marlboro when he was low in his mind. R. L. also always lit a Marlboro when he was merry. The fact is there is no occasion—happy or sad, pensive or exuberant, cheery or solemn—when Marlboro with its fine filter and fine flavor is not entirely welcome, as you will discover when you go to your favorite tobaccoist and buy some, as we—the makers of Marlboro and I and R. L. Sigafoos—hope you will do real soon.
Sitting and thinking and smoking a Marlboro on the park bench, R. L. was suddenly interrupted by a small, quavering voice which said, "My boy, you are troubled. Can I help?"
BRANFORD
I gave a fencing lesson to the Dean of Women
Seated beside R. L. was a tiny, gnared man with wispy, snow-white hair. His skin was almost transparent, showing a delicate tracery of fragile bones beneath. His back was bent, and his hands trembled. But his eyes were bright and clear. R. L. looked into those eyes, into the wrinkled face. He saw wisdom there, and experience, and kindness. "Do you think, sir," said R. L., "that a boy can work his way through college and still enjoy a rich, full campus life?"
"Why, bless you, son," replied the stranger with a rheumy chuckle, "of course you can. In fact, I did it myself."
"Was it very hard?" asked R. L.
"Yes, it was hard," the stranger admitted. "But when one is young, all things are possible. I, for example, used to get up at five o'clock every morning to stoke the furnace at the SAE house. At six I had to milk the ewes at the school of animal husbandry. At seven I gave a fencing lesson to the Dean of Women. At eight I had a class in early Runic poets. At nine I gave haircuts at the Gamma Phi Beta house. At ten I had differential calculus. At eleven I posed for a life class. At twelve I watered soup at the Union. At one I had a class in Oriental languages. At two I exercised the mice in psych lab. At three I gave the Dean of Women another fencing lesson. At four I had qualitative analysis. At five I went clamming. At six I cut meat for the football team. At seven I ushed at the movies. At eight I had my ears pierced so that at nine I could tell fortunes in a gypsy tearoom. At ten I had a class in astronomy. At eleven I tucked in the football team. At twelve I studied and at three I went to sleep."
"Sir," cried R. L., "I am moved and inspired by your shining example!"
"It was nothing," said the stranger modestly, shaking his frail white head. "It was just hard work, and hard work never hurt anybody."
"Would you mind telling me, sir," said R. L., "how old you are now?"
"Twenty-two," said the stranger.
© 1963 Max Shulman
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