University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Weatherbeaten Props Turn Stage Into Farm
BILL HENRY
BILL HENRY
"I've got a whole house to build yet. . . ."
Monday, Oct. 26, 1959
Bv Carol Heller
"Desire Under the Elms" calls for an authentic 1850 farmhouse setting—and that is what Bill Henry, student set director, has given it.
Soot blackens a brick wall behind an old kitchen range, the steps on a rickety flight of stairs are worn smooth, weather-beaten splintered shingles top paint-cracked plank walls.
The play opens at 8 p.m. today at Experimental Theatre.
And he wasn't kidding.
Bill, a Parkville, Mo., senior, spent yesterday at the theater hammering, pounding and sawing to complete work on the set.
"I've got practically a whole house to build yet." Bill said, his speech muffled by a mouthful of nails as he hammered away at a wall.
Bill said the main problem he encountered in designing the set was the arrangement of so many props on a small stage.
The setting features a 4-room house with back porch, front porch and pocket sized yard. The rooms were nearly completed — furniture, stairs, doors, halls and all — but four walls of siding had yet to be nailed to the house.
"The plot of the play hinges on a farm, and since the audience is right next to the stage, each prop had to be authentic — just painting an image wouldn't do."
Bill took pains to make sure the setting was realistic.
He serouged about in the city wreckage lumber yard, ripped planks from an old abandoned barn and found scaly-paint siding at an old house being torn down.
The result: an old New England farm house complete with dusty wooden floors, plaster walls, rambling stairs and narrow halls.
Even the furniture is authentic There is a four-poster bed, an open-
shelved kitchen cabinet, antique pots and pans and dishes, a black cook stove and tall-backed chairs
Working with Bill yesterday was Dick Borgen, Lawrence senior Dressed like Bill in dusty workclothes and old shoes, Dick was completing lighting patterns.
"It's a warm show, so the lighting must be intimate rather than moody," Dick explained.
"The lighting has to fade smoothly from scene-to-scene across the entire stage. Since the stage is wide with many settings, the lighting must show the audience where to watch for action.
Lighting effects range from a soft twilight haze to the rich golden glow of a coal-oil lamp.
Sue Dillman, Independence senior, spent hours of research before designing costumes that would blend with the authentic setting and lighting.
"It was difficult to design the costumes because most of the records of that time show only the high-style clothing worn by fashionable people," said Sue.
"But the characters in 'Desire Under the Elms' wouldn't have worn fashionable clothing because they were poor farm people."
Even the music which merges the scenes sets the tone of early New England farm life.
The lone melancholy melody of a French horn echoes softly across the hills.
Around the Campus
Two graduate research fellowships in chemistry have been established at KU by the Smith, Kline and French Pharmaceutical Co. of Philadelphia.
Chris R. Rasmussen, Oberlin, and Frank Baron, Brooklyn, N.Y., hold the $2,400 fellowships, both of which are for 12 months.
A gift of $1000 to cover expenses incurred in the research was also given to the chemistry department.
James Tice Jr., a 1957 graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Public Information, has been appointed managing editor of the University of Kansas Alumni Magazine.
KU Grad To Edit Alumni Magazine
Since graduation Mr. Tice has been a member of the Kansas City, Kan., bureau of the Kansas City Star, working on the Times edition.
He attended the University of Kansas City law school the past two years and has earned credits toward a master of arts degree in English from KU.
The KU Alumni Magazine has a circulation of about 12,000. The managing editorship had been unfilled for 15 months since James E. Gunn became administration assistant to the chancellor for university relations.
Research Award to Kurata
The National Science Foundation has granted $54,000 to KU for two years research directed by Dr. Fred Kurata, professor of chemical engineering.
The project is entitled, "A Study of Phase and Volumetric Behavior at Extremely Low Temperatures."
SPEAKS TOMORROW—John Ise, professor emeritus of economics, will speak on socialism at 1 and 3 p.m. tomorrow in 411 Summerfield. The public is invited.
J. R. Pearson Hall To Hold Pep Rally
Joseph R. Pearson Hall will sponsor a pep rally and dance from 7 to 9:30 pm. Thursday in front of the hall.
A motorcade for the rally will start at Gertrude Sellards Pearson Hall and end at J. R. Pearson.
Bobby Goad, assistant football coach, will speak at the rally and introduce some of the varsity players.
Pep club members and cheerleaders will attend.
After the rally there will be a dance in the lounge of the hall. Music will be by Al Thompson and the Sounds.
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