University Daily Kansan, March 7, 1985
ET CETERA
Page 7
Prof fulfills childhood dreams in theatre
By RICK ZAPOROWSKI Staff Reporter
A child rarely follows his early career aspirations. But one KU professor has lived one of his dreams for almost 60 years.
DAVIS SAID HE continued writing plays throughout high school, developing his skills and nurturing his interest in theatre. He said it wasn't a senior year that he learned he could actually major in theatre in college.
Davis began his college education at the University of Minnesota, but it was interrupted when he served in
contributed to the school's reputation as one of the nation's top theatre programs. KU is one of fewer than 20 Winnard Wired School Holidays in the country, it has an approved graduate degree program in children's theatre.
'He unfolds the students' creativity. He respects their individual worth, dignity and creativity, and he gently brings it out in them.'
Jed Davis, professor of theatre, put on plays with children in his Stillwater, Minn., neighborhood beginning about age 6. He wrote the scripts, selected the casts, directed roles and played the leading roles in his play, and managed the duties of producer, stage manager and set designer.
JOEN KRAEMAN
Jed Davis, professor of theatre and director of University of Kansas Theatre for Young People, shows how his puppet, Zwertawa, performs. Members of a puppet theatre from Warsaw, Poland, gave Zwertwa to him.
Willis said Davis was solely responsible for the strength and recognition of the University of Kansas Theatre for Young People.
DAVIS WAS BORN in 1921. Davis, the youngest of four children, said his parents — his father, an amateur
THE YOUNG ACTORS would clear out the barn next to Davis' house, put up makeshift curtains, tack up handbills on neighborhood telephone booths, and organize a parade to promote the show. Admission was a mere penny.
Ronald Willis chairman of the department of theatre
lighting and set design to administration and direction. Beginning in his childhood and continuing throughout his career, Davis has taught children for eight years and young adults to perform in new and perhaps uncomfortable ways.
"I remember, particularly, realizing my fellow children's interest tended to flag a lot," he said. "If there was anything I had, it was a one-track mind. When I was engaged in something, I was really engaged in it. I couldn't understand those people who flitted in and out.
"I learned that if I was going to have them in the show, they needed to have a contract. So I duplicated a contract. They had to sign it saying they had to come to rehearsals and come to performances."
Davis, now in his 25th year at KU, said he planned to retire in two years. However, he has not reduced the energy he puts into the theatre program. His enthusiasm for teaching and directing continues to flourish.
Almost 60 years later, Davis continues to manage theatre productions. His work has established a strong children's theatre program at the University of Kansas. He also encourages children to pretend to be various characters and directs college students in children's plays to become convincing animals and other fantastic roles.
DAVIS DIRECTS THE University of Kansas Theatre for Young People. The most visible products of his hard work - the plays - have been seen by children all across Kansas.
Ronald Willis, chairman of department of theatre, said that Davies' colleagues and students con- tained caring, knowledgeable and untrifling.
"HE'S A MUCH-LOVED, well-respected man," Willis said.
Davis' plays, such as his recent project, "The Arkansaw Bear," have
He said that Davis contributed to both the creative and the administrative aspects of the program — and he nearly裂 placewhen he retired.
"Davis is KUTYP." Willis said. "He's created the program and has given it prestige and high quality. He's an internationally known authority on children's theatre."
Davis has had a lifelong interest in the many aspects of theatre, from
minstrel man, and his mother, an actress in high school — always supported the plays he and other children staged.
"And Lord knows what they put up with: raiding of all the linen closets for curtains, swiping of storm doors," he said. "We made stages out of them by resting them on orange crates. They put up with an enormous amount of inconvenience, but they never missed a show."
the army from 1942 to 1946. And when he wasn't dodging German cannon fire, he was writing and producing shows with his fellow soldiers in recreational settings.
He returned to the University of Minnesota and earned his academic degrees in speech and theatre. He served as director of the children's theatre and lighting designer at Michigan State University from 1953 to 1968. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of
Minnesota in 1958. Two years later, he became director of children's theatre at KU.
DAVIS SERVED AS the director of KU's theatre department from 1967 to 1976.
From 1963 to 1965, Davis served as president of the Children's Theatre Association of America, a division of the American Theatre Association. Davis served a one-year term as president of the entire association in 1972.
Davis started KU's Theatre for Young People in 1967. Davis' work made children's theatre a significant part of the entire theatre department.
Wills said that Davis' ability to work effectively with his students and his complete grasp of the workings of children's theatre brought students to KU from around the nation and from overseas.
"He unfolds the students' creativity." he said "He respects their individual worth, dignity and creativity, and he gently brings it out of them."
BOBBY PHELPS Independence, Mo., graduate student, said he returned to KU to study children's theatre specifically because he wanted to work with Davis before he retired. Phelps said that Davis offered his actors flexibility in character development.
"He sets up a vision and lets you play with it," he said. "He gives you 'let of freedom.'"
Davis directs the children's productions at KU and teaches creative drama classes. He also has written several books on children's theatre. He co-wrote "Theatre, Children and Youth," a textbook used in classrooms across the nation.
Davis says creative drama provides children an opportunity to role play. The children's improvisations, such as pantomime, characterizations and theatre games, help them to develop many general skills and abilities.
"YOU LEARN HOW to get along in a group," he said. "You learn how to communicate so somebody can understand you. You learn how to follow a train of conversation because all their dialogue is improvised.
"But we're not necessarily turning them into star performers. On the other hand, there are those who will want to continue along this line. Creative drama keeps the door open for those who are especially talented to get a solid foundation."
Davis also teaches his college actors to use the fundamental group processes. He trains his actors to develop successful shows through creativity and communication.
Davis says he rarely pressures his actors when directing them in a play. He prefers to stress the positive aspects of a production during rehearsals.
"I'M KIND OF low-keyed, I guess," he said. "I believe in positive reinforcement. I emphasize the things that they are doing well, so that they keep their confidence going, rather than a constant slashing down."
Tracy Iwersen, Kansas City, Mo., junior, has performed in four of Davis' shows. She said that nearly all of his students admired him because of his active interest in the people with whom he worked.
"He's very, very inspiring," she said. "He doesn't need to yell because people work to please him."
Davis said, "I try not to get mad. Occasionally I have been disgusted with the way a production has bogged up perhaps in the rehearsal process."
"It's partly my fault when that happens, too, and that makes you even more disgusted. It means you haven't paced the total rehearsal process well enough. But generally speaking, I try not to take it out on the actors."
Iwersen said that Davis kept hearsals positive by reacting to the actors' characters and that he occasionally joined them during improvisations to stir enthusiasm.
Davis said he usually felt responsible for any problems that occurred during the run of a show but often found it difficult to take credit for the successes.
He said. "They're the ones doing the show. I'm inclined to give most of the credit to them. I realize, of course, that I was behind a lot of it, but the ideas that are there are largely a combination of what I contributed and what they contributed."
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Monday, March 18,1985
7 p.m. Kansas Union Ballroom