Experts, workers create artful business of theater
By JACKI CAMPBELL
The theater is an art, but it is also a business—a business involving countless experts and tireless workers. Theater people are almost always extremely devoted to their art. They would have to be to sacrifice as much as they do for it.
"Kids in the theater here," Lewin Goff, director of KU's University Theatre, said, "are very unselfish kids. They give up a lot to put on those plays. The theater cuts off a part of their social lives."
STUDENTS IN THE THEATER often cannot participate in many of the campus social activities, he said. They spend much, indeed most of their time working at Murphy. Many a
Last of a two-part series
Saturday night they spend polishing scenes, brushing up on blocking (planned stage movements), or striking (tearing down) a set.
The results of their efforts provide one of the most popular modes of entertainment for other students. The Red Dog is fine fun and a movie usually enjoyable, but plays offer a certain "something" found nowhere else. This must be true or it would be easier to get tickets.
It is interesting to note just what the production of a play entails.
NO ONE PERSON can produce a play. The writer throws in its first creative ingredients, but many others help stir the batter, here and there adding a dash of seasoning.
There are three kinds of theaters at KU: the University Theatre, in which large, technically difficult productions are given; the Experimental Theatre, a small one which places the audience much closer to the actors and action; and the Children's Theatre, which produces plays appealing to the younger set.
Selection of scripts is done by a panel of theater instructors. Each comes with a preference in mind and enters into discussions with the others to see whose preferences are most beneficial to the students and enjoyable to the audience. The season's plays are chosen and the work begins.
THE DIRECTOR is the man in charge. Most of KU's productions are faculty directed, but upperclass drama students direct a few.
Directors assume myriad roles when accepting the responsibility of directing a play. They become arbitrators of disputes; intellectuals who interpret the scripts; judges who choose the actors most suitable for the roles; managers who crack the disciplinary whip to catalyze every ounce of acting enthusiasm into play-acting believability; overall administrators who fit the pattern parts into one, complete, recognizable whole; and lastly, diplomats.
"We have to be very diplomatic, you know," Fred Litto, director of "The Rogue's Trial," said. "Sometimes an actor gets a little carried away and you have to calm him down. But you don't want to make him too mad, so you do it diplomatically."
MOST COLLEGE DIRECTORS have several months in which to organize their ideas about the plays they will direct. It may seem the summarized plot lists, blocking suggestions and costume preferences in script books need only be carried out by the director, but in truth these are usually only ideas subject to adaptions. They serve simply as a starting point.
Every element of the play must support the director's own interpretation of that play. Since two people rarely see anything identically, it is inconceivable that the director's ideas always coincide with the playwright's. That is why adaptations and even changes are instigated.
The designers are those who plan and produce the sets (background framework, etc) for the play. In the experimental theatre, sets are relatively simple, as in "Theatre, U.S.A."
In the major productions of the university theatre, however, they are complicated and intricate and, in most cases, greatly increase the chances for believability.
IN "OLIVER!", for example, how much less realistic it would have been if the turntable had not made it possible for different sets to be used.
Oscar G. Brockett says the set must "mirror adequately the action, mood, theme, style, characters and period of the play." It must be functional and correlate the costumes which "reflect sufficiently the psychological and sociological attributes of each role."
The actors in every play are chosen because of what they can contribute to it. Tryouts are open and non-theater students are urged to audition.
H. A. THANE, in History of English Literature," says actors must "see the event, whatever it be, and they see it as it is; I mean that they have it within themselves, with its persons and details, beautiful and ugly, even dull and grotesque."
They must portray "not merely the externals, the visible and picturesque traits, the details of color and costume, but also, and chiefly, the internals, that is, the motions of anger and joy, the secret tumult of the soul, the ebb and flow of ideas and passions which are expressed by the countenance, swell the veins, make a man to grind his teeth, to clench his fists, which urge him on or restrain him."
Actors get the glory. Their names are the ones that come quickest to mind when a certain play is mentioned. Most of those who saw "My Fair Lady" or "The Physicists" last year recall the performances of Kip Niven and Sean Griffin, and it would be a pretty good guess that when Sam Gabhart or Steve Grossman are mentioned, people remember their performances in "Oliver!" and "The Rogue's Trial," which were given this year.
Musicals done in years past here ("West Side Story," for example) also involve dancing. A choreographer creates a visual medium in terms of line, shapes and spatial relationships, Brockett explained.
RHYTHM, TEMPO, and the time it takes to execute the number are the primary elements to consider when evaluating a dance. If too much time is given to it, the importance of the story may be sacrificed.
The people who have no dignified title such as actor, director or choreographer, are the ones who put, perhaps, the most time into the readying of the production. These are the people who hammer the nails, paint the sets, ring the doorbell, turn on the lights or secure and place the props.
What would happen if an actor reached for a knife with which to commit a "murder," and no knife was there?
IT IS UP TO THE MEN behind the scenes to see that such disasters do not happen. Without them the play could not go on. They are the prime contributors to the smoothness of the play.
When you sit in Murphy awaiting the rise of the opening curtain next time, think of everything that goes into making the next two hours enjoyable for you. Think of the responsibility of the actor, the work of those "men behind the scenes" and the director who has devoted months of long-houred days to it.
THERE IS MORE to a play than a few dressed-up people reciting lines on a decorated stage. They worked hard for this and their reward is satisfaction.
"Years ago," Lewin Goff, director of the University Theatre, said, "people in the theater were people to stare at. Now they're people to respect."
Man rapes at 91
MANILA—(UPI)—A 91-year-old farmer from Bulacan was being hunted by police to answer charges of kidnapping and rape.
A young woman, identified only as Estrellita, told police the farmer, Hugo David, dragged her from a motorcycle taxi Sunday night as she was returning home from church.
ACCIDENTS HIT YOUNG
CHICAGO — (UPI) — Accidents cause more deaths among persons 15 to 24 years old than any other cause, according to reports of the National Safety Council.
Seven times as many youths died from accidents in 1964 than from cancer, the next most frequent cause of death.
4 Daily Kansan Monday, January 9, 1967
When You're in Doubt—Try It Out, Kansan Classifieds.
IT'S A NORTH WIND THAT BLOWS NO GOOD
Crushed between the twin millstones of January weather and final exams, you are saved from total despair, poor devils, only by the knowledge that winter vacation will soon be here.
Where will you go this year? Will it be Florida again, or are you tired of jails? Then how about Puerto Rico?
A most excellent notion, say I. A balmy and bountious island with long white beaches and blue, blue skies and green, healing seas. And, most pleasant of all, the warm and gracious people of Puerto Rico! You don't even have to know Spanish to communicate with this friendly folk. Just learn three simple phrases and you'll get along splendidly: "Buenos días" which means "Good morning," "Gracias" which means "Thank you," and "Que será será" which means "Your llama is on my foot."
In order to help you enjoy the fabled land of Puerto Rico it would be well for me to supply a bit of historical background. (It would also be well for me to say a few words about Personna Super Stainless Steel Blades because the makers of Personna Super Stainless Steel Blades pay me to write this column and they are inclined to sulk if I omit to mention their product. Of course, they don't stay gloomy long, for they are kindly, cheery men fond of Morris dancing, spelling bees, and temperance punch—fine, upright types, as true and gleaming and durable as the blades they make. And if you've tried Personna's, you know how true and gleaming and durable that is! And if you haven't tried Personna's, poor devil, you've cheated both your purse and face, for Personna's last and last, shave after luxury shave, close, clean, nickless, hackless, tugless, gougeless, scratchless, matchless. Personna Super Stainless Steel Blades come in Double Edge or Injector style and are made only by the makers of Personna Super Stainless Steel Blades.)
But I digress. Back to the history of Puerto Rico. The island was discovered by that popular discoverer Christopher Columbus. Incidentally, considering Columbus' popularity, it's odd we know so little about him. What do we really know? Only this:
He was born in Genoa on August 25, 1451, the son of Ralph T. Columbus, a knee-cymbal vendor, and Eleanor (Swifty) Columbus, a low hurdler. He was an only child except for his five brothers and eight sisters. From early childhood he was an avid reader and spent all his waking hours immersed in a book. Unfortunately, there was only one book in Genoa at the time—Care of the Horse by Aristotle—and after 18 years of reading Care of the Horse, Columbus grew restless. When rumor reached him there was another book in Madrid, off he ran as fast as his little fat legs would carry him.
Disappointment, alas, awaited him there. The only book in Madrid was *Cuidar un Cáballo*, which proved to be nothing more than a Spanish translation of *Care of the Horse*.
Then one day Columbus heard from a traveller that there were millions of books in India, and he was instantly ablaze to set sail. Off he ran on his little fat legs to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella (Columbus, though more than six feet tall, was plagued with little fat legs all his life) and, as we all know, he persuaded the Spanish rulers to outfit him with three stout ships, the *Flopsy*, the *Mopsy*, and the *Cottontail*, and the rest is history!
Well sir, now you know all about the origins of Puerto Rico. So get packed and get going! You'll love it! Stroll the beaches, swim the coves, breathe the fragrance of hibiscus and bougainvillea. And remember always that the friendly Puerto Ricans are delighted to show you their customs, teach you their language. Why, I'll wager you'll soon know far more Spanish than the three basic phrases. You'll know "Hasta la vista" which means "See you later." "Por favor" which means "Please," and "El tren se paró en las estación" which means "Your llama has eaten my passport."
Gracias from the makers of Personna for giving our blades such a cordial reception, and, por favor, how about trying another of our luxury shaving products Burma Shave, regular or menthol?