ET CETERA
University Daily Kansan, January 24, 1985
Page 6
Mark Sicence, Annandale, Va., freshman, Nancy Sears, left to right, rehearse a scene in "The Arkansaw Bear," a Shawnee senior, and Tracy Iwersen, Kansas City, Mo., junior, children's play.
Children's play adds perspective to uncomfortable subject of death
By RICK ZAPOROWSKI Staff Reporter
Adults who deal with the death of a relative often avoid the uncomfortable job of explaining it to their children. They tell them they are too young to understand what happened and overlook their children's reactions.
However, a play being produced by a KU theatre group offers a fresh approach to the
The University of Kansas Theatre for Young People will present a play designed to help children cope with death. "The Arkansaw Bear," by Aurand Harris, takes a sensitive look at a young girl's reaction to her grandfather's death.
THE GROUP WILL perform the play at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. Tickets for the public performance are on sale at the Murphy Hall box office for $1.50. All seats are reserved.
Jed Davis, professor of theatre and the show's director, said children's shows sometimes include death in their plots. But Arkansas Act 280 provides a different perspective on death
"Often death is seen as a punishment for crimes committed," he said. "What is new (in this play) is that a sympathetic character dies on stage."
"The Arkansaw Bear" is the first play for young people in which death is a central theme and in which it is dealt with directly, Davis said.
"WEVE BEEN IN an era of protecting children from unpleasanties," he said. "Perhaps the play will serve to open up some dialogue."
The play takes a realistic approach to death and does not try to explain the meaning of death, Davis said. It also avoids the common euphemisms for death, such as "passed away" or "went to sleep," which can be confusing and frightening to children.
The play will teach adults as much as children because the theme affects people of all ages, said Tracy Iverson, Kansas City, MN. A new girl dealing with her grandfather's death
The play depicts Tish, portrayed by Iwersen, and her confrontation with her grandfather's imminent death. After her mother prohibits her from visiting her grandfather, Tish seeks refuge under her grandfather, who she meets in a world in which she meets the Arkansaw Bear, a dancing bear, who, like her grandfather, is dying.
"It's a subject that many adults don't quite know how to deal with." she said.
— who has come to take the bear away. They attempt to run away and then try to use the evening's first star to wish death away. But neither works.
TISH TRIES TO help the dancing bear escape from the Great Rimstinger — death
"Tish realizes it's futile and you can't put it (death) off," Iwersen said, "but it's not something to be afraid of."
Together, Tish and the dancing bear learn that death is inevitable and necessary to survive.
The dancing bear begins to accept death after realizing his famous routines can be passed on to a young, energetic bear who passes by. As the young bear learns the dances, Tish learns that she is her grandmother and that she that can carry on for him in life.
THE ARKANSAW BEAR becomes content after teaching the little bear the dance routines that made him famous.
Leaving one's mark on the world for future generations is a primary theme of the show. It serves as a way for Tish to accept her new role, and the audience is encouraged to accept having to go with the Rinemaster.
The Ringmaster is a delicate role to portray, Davis said, because he needs to be an authority figure but should not frighten children in the audience.
"I didn't want him threatening." Davis said. "He's being played as gently as possible, with a sort of aloofness."
Iwersen said, "He commands respect."
The cast is working to control the mood of the show, Davis said, so that the audience will not leave the theater deprived.
"WE'RE DEALING WITH material that is kind of sad," he said. "We're not trying to let it get heavy. We have been keeping it pretty unbeat."
'We've been in an era of protecting children from unpleasantries. Perhaps the play will serve to open up some dialogue.'
"The Arkansas Bear" will begin a tour of Kansas on Feb. 22 and will 'continue performances through March and April.
The public performance at the University of Kansas will follow four days of perform-
ment in Lawrence and other Douglas County schools who will be buses to KU to see the play.
Jed Davis, professor of theatre and director of 'The Arkansaw Bear'
Veda Owens/KANSAN
Laurence Peters, Denver freshman, left, portraying Star Bright, grants a wish to the Arkansasaw Bear, played by Mark Silence, Annandale, Vae., freshman.
4 bands to play benefit for African famine relief
By SHELLE LEWIS
Staff Reporter
Mike Janas, Liberty, Mo., junior,
practiced this week for a concert at the
Lawrence Opera House — a concert that
will affect people thousands of miles away.
Jans and the two local bands he plays with. The Blinkies and Poverty Wanks, will perform in a benefit concert Saturday night to raise money for victims of the devastating famine in Africa, which has hit Ethiopia particularly hard.
The Pedaljets and Rick Frydman and the Jolly Ranchers also will perform at the 8 p.m. concert at the Opera House, 642 Massachusetts St.
"NOBODY IS GETTING paid and nobody is headlining, so there won't be any competition between the bands," said Janas, who has been serving double duty as a guitarist for the two bands and as the concert's stage manager. "It's been an all-in-one effort between the bands, and it's a very good cause to do this for."
Julie Bennett, Merriam senior, thought
of holding the benefit concert. She began organizing the concert last month.
"About 185 million people are being threatened," she said. "This is the worst famine of the century. I thought the best way to help would be by getting both the students and the community involved."
Bennett said she had decided to go ahead with her plan after she had received positive response from members of the bands and the community.
"THE OPERA HOUSE gave us a really nice deal, and several people in the community have made donations, so the concert itself is being fully-funded," she proceeds at the door will go to the Red Cross' African Famine Relief Fund."
Tickets will be available at the door for a minimum $4 donation. Concert-goers may own their own 3.2 percent beer, and everyone who attends concert must be 18 years of age or older.
"We'd like to raise a thousand dollars," Bennett said. "Anything beyond that will be a nice surprise."
Poverty Wanks has 10 members — and a three-piece horn section — who play reggae, ska and a touch of funk, and Riek Taylor and only Jolly Ranchers have a country music声场.
The concert will cater to a variety of musical tastes. she said
FRYDMAN SAID, "WE play electric campfire music. Music you would listen to while sitting around a campfire, but a little cooler." It's campfire music you can dance to.
On the other end of the scale, The Blinkies and The Pedalet play prog-
ductions.
However, while the audience and the bands rattle the dance floor at the Opera House, Bennett wants people to remember the concert's purpose.
"The problem is not going to go away after Saturday," she said. "My main goals in having the concert are to educate the audience and for everyone to have a good time."
Frydman said, "It's only a small thing that we're doing, but we're doing what we can."
Lawrence groups lend support to famine victims
By MARGARET SAFRANEK
According to Dave Armstrong, outreach campus minister at the center, the meals were a way to raise money for Catholic Relief Services, an organization providing aid to Ethiopia, and to call attention to the simple food needed for survival.
For some organizations in Lawrence, Ethiopia has been more than just a story on the evening news.
Shortly before the end of last semester, the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road, sponsored suppers of soup and salad for 100 people. 100 people attended over four evenings.
THE ST. LAWRENCE Catholic Center raised nearly $300 through the suppers, he said. Nearly all of the money will get to famine victims in Ethiopia.
Several Lawrence churches either have raised money or taken actions to call for more funding.
A1 Ecumenical Christian Ministries,
1204 Oread Ave., on a recent Sunday,
a special collection for Ethiopia was taken
up at all of the services. Jack Bremer.
BREMER SAID HE knew that some contributors to relief funds were concerned about how their donations were being spent and suggested that the donors ask questions before making contributions.
director and campus pastor at ECM, said that the money collected would go through an established relief organization, the Orthodox Commission on Overseas Relief.
"One hundred percent of the offering goes for the actual relief effort," he said. The relief agency utilizes missionaries to help people, that is, money where it is needed."
He said that stories had circulated about groups, parporting to be raising money for famine relief, proclaiming from the Ethiopian colony of Addis Ababa that they collected money actually aiding Ethiopians.
"Ak how the money is getting to Ethiopia and through what channels it will be sent," Bremer said. "Iqhure as to how the money will go directly to benefit the cause."
WHILE MOST OF the churches have spent time raising money for the famine victims in Africa, another group has pursued a different avenue of assistance.
dinner in February at Trinity Episcopal Church, 111 Vermont St., to aid famine victims. According to Revered the David Tate, interim pastor at Canterbury House, the money raised probably would go to Ethiopian relief efforts.
Some students at Canterbury House,
116 Louisiana St. will sponsor a pancake
The Rev. Don Conrad, a pastor at University Lutheran, said that the group suggested people write letters to representatives and senators in Washington, D.C., so that the hunger issue can be kept alive.
Bread for the World, a Christian citizens movement that meets at University Lutheran Church, 2104 W. 15th St., focuses its attention on government, encouraging congressional members to support legislation on African relief
"I would guess that not over 10 letters a year go out from the residence halls to congressmen," he said. "More students should realize that if you spend a few minutes and 20 cents, you might change a vote."
Musical family to perform
By PEGGY HELSEL Staff Reporter
However close the Shumway family might be, distance keeps them apart. Scattered over the East and Midwest, the Shumway family often offer no opportunity to visit their parents or alieans at Clipperton.
But now the Shumway children have another reason to come home to see Mom and
The Shumways will perform together in a chamber music recital as part of the Centenennial Alumni Series. The free performance will happen at Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall.
THE FATHER OF the clan, Stanley Shumway, who does not perform with the family, is the chairman of the music department at the University of Kansas.
His wife, Jan Shumway, gives piano lessons and has her own radio program, "On the Aisle," on Audio Reader, a closed-circuit radio service for the blind.
The Shumways have five children, all of whom are KU graduates. Four of them are in the U.S.
Stanley Shumway said he didn't push his children into music, but influenced them
"What we tried to do was give them the opportunity to enjoy music," he said.
Jan Shumway said, "We thought it would enrich their lives. Learning music helps them learn other things, like concentration and the beauty of sound."
PLAYING IN THE reecial will be Jan
Sally and Sylyn and Susan, both
26, and son Steve, 24.
Susan Shumway Busch works as a free-lance violinist in New York City, Sally Shumway, her twin sister, is a violist for the Potsdam Music Society, which is currently residing in Potsdam, New York.
Steve Shamway, a cellist, is a member of the music faculty at Miami University in Ohio.
Two of the Shumway children will not perform in the recital.
Dave Shumway, 23, is a student at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD, and could not return for the performance; Mary Shumway Berry, 25, studied music but her degree in business and owns a word of business with her husband in Lawrence.
Susan Shumway Buch said in a telephone interview from New York, "Mom started us all on piano when we were five, and Sally and I started violin at seven. We were encouraged by our parents, but it was always our decision."
THE SHUMWAYS PERFORMED for the first time together last year at the Lawrence Arts Center and at Baker University in Baldwin City.
"We had played together just for fun until last year, when we figured. 'Why not?' We had the resources and the musicians." Susan Shumway said. "I really love performing with my family, it's the most fun I've had all year."
Sally Shumway said the family was glad to get the opportunity to play in the alumni series, and that they were already working on next year's recital.
Jan Shumway said her family's musical talent wasn't inherited.
"Maybe the inclination toward music is." she said, "but it's something they've worked very hard on and have put in a lot of dedication. It doesn't just happen."
"Lawrence is culturally stimulating," she said. "They've had a lot of opportunities for performing and listening to performances a very important part of all of our lives."
She credits the Lawrence community for having a great influence on the development of the community.
Bottoms up: Beer can turns 50
WASHINGTON — For lovers of foamy suds, today marks the 50th anniversary of the beer can.
This golden jubilee commemorates the historic day in 1935 when the Kreuger Brewing Co. bean selling canned beer.
Milestones in the history of the beer can include:
According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, 610 billion beer cans have been produced over the 50-year span.
- 1958 — First aluminum can sold.
- 1962 – Ring-pull openers test-marketed on Iron city beer by Pittsburgh Brewery C.
- 1970 — Beer Can Collectors of America founded in St. Louis.
- 1975 — Non-detachable can-open tabs introduced by Fall City beer.