UDK Review
Oh, what a lovely satire!
"No—Not Again!"
By GARY MITCHELL
Oh what a lovely satire!
The Experimental Theatre has a crowdpleaser on the boards—a brisk, bright and biting production of Charles Chilton and John Littlewood's satire on World War I: "Oh, What a Lovely War."
ONE CANNOT ATTEND IT without being impressed with the even talent and the great spirit of the 15-man ensemble. Director Jack Wright deserves perhaps the highest praise for his excellent casting. All members of the company are top-notch as singers, dancers, entertainers, and actors.
Several of the members stand out as particularly unforgettable. Jack Oblak as Sir John French; Pat Royse as Mrs. Pankhurst; Judy Howell as Mrs. Haig and the nurse; Cindy Brown and her inimitable dead-pan, Kip Niven as Haig; Phil Grecian as the spy and as兰rezac; Lance Hewett as the Kaiser; and Ken Marsolais as the barking drill sergeant were all standouts.
"Lovely War" is in two acts. Act I conveys the high school pep club atmosphere of Europe and Great Britain that preceded the war. Act II deals with the war itself.
NOW THE FIRST ACT was peppy enough, but energy tended to blur focus, often making it difficult (especially in some of the full-company numbers) for the audience to know what they were supposed to follow. In places too many gimmicks gumed up the gist.
Act II contained a great deal of variety in mood, in meaning, in pacing, and tended to be more satisfying. I caught myself wishing Paul Hough would play the C.O. with more bombast and less syrup, and Ken Marsolais" "I Wore a Tunic" was disappointingly flat and uninspired, unlike his other songs.
Most of the musical numbers forcefully conveyed satire and character. Pat Royse's "Make a Man" was deliciously seductive and satiric. Sheri Romeiser had a beautiful torch-song quality in "Adieu La Vie." Cindy Brown put her considerable singing talent to hilarious shame. Shirley Williams delighted the audience with slippery "Sister Susie," and Larry Rigler handled his tenor solo with feeling.
CERTAIN GROUP NUMBERS deserve special mention, also. "Row, Row, Row," "They Didn't Believe Me," "We Don't Want to Lose You," "The Bells of Hell," and Christmas on the western front dealt with different aspects of the war and each aspect carried.
Paul Hough, Rich Brady, Richard Harrison, Holmes Osborn, and all the members of the company handled their many roles with confidence and ease. Accents (French, Irish, German, Serbian, Russian, and various English dialects) occasionally got lost in the shuffle, but characters and costumes managed to stay consistent and on top.
"Oh, What a Lovely War" must be experienced. If you have to, stand in line for a standing-room ticket. It is well worth the wait.
ON THE BALL
SAN ANTONIO, Tex.—(UPI)
—Lawson Little, playing in a snowstorm on the Willow Springs golf course here, shot a 62 in 1941.
Letter to the editor...
To the Editor:
Your editorial of February 8. "Kerr and Cal—Peaceful Education?" has set me to thinking. (Score one for you.) It was a good editorial, but it seems to me that there are some important aspects of the problem that you did not examine.
First of all, Governor Reagan called for a cut of 10 per cent (not 20 per cent) from nearly all state departments, including the university. This cut was necessary because Reagan took over a state which was facing a financial crisis—a deficit of roughly $473 million. The Brown administration had accumulated this deficit even though California had the highest taxes of any state in the nation.
HIGH TAXES and higher spending constituted a very important issue during the 1966 campaign. By electing Reagan by a nearly one million vote majority, Californians were showing that they wanted cuts in taxing and spending.
However, I fail to see how you can have education without peace. In 1965 the university experienced a 20 per cent drop in undergraduate applications. Professors were
Of course, besides the general issue of taxes and spending, California University was a specific issue by itself. As the editorial stated, many Californians were far from pleased by the civil disturbances which have rocked the Berkeley campus for the last two years. You seemed to feel that Californians could have their choice between peace and education, and that they had chosen peace.
leaving the university at a rate three times the normal turnover.
I BELIEVE that the real controversy is far deeper and more important than the administration of one state's university. I see the issue as whether or not taxpayers are to have a significant voice in how their money is to be spent.
An AP story of February 12 said, "Gov. Ronald Reagan shouted into the disapproving roars of thousands of protest marchers Saturday that the people have a voice in the higher education they provide for California students." He pledged "'... to represent the people of this state'.' . . . The marchers broke into a chant, 'We are the people.'" (This contrasted with an orderly demonstration the previous Thursday, when Reagan spoke to about 3,000 attentive students, and then had an hour-long private conference with eight student leaders.)
pledges he made to the electorate during the campaign. Recognizing that Californians were disturbed about the seeming inability of the administration to control the university, Reagan said, "As governor, and in cooperation with the Board of Regents, I will ask a non-partisan panel of California's leading citizens, headed by John McCone [Kennedy appointment as CIA director] to investigate all aspects of the situation at the university."
Californians echoed this lack of confidence in Kerr when they voted for Reagan. As the Governor said after the firing, "The people of this state have lost confidence in the university," and "people involved in that controversy have lost their usefulness—rightly or wrongly."
Thus a headline on November 9 that would have been both alliterative and accurate could have read "Reagan Receives Million - vote Mandate to Can Clark Kerr." Do the taxpayers have the right to order this? I believe they do.
Kent Dannen
However, they are not "the people." For the most part they neither pay taxes nor vote.
College Conservative Council St. Joseph, Mo., junior
NOTHING REAGAN has done
has been inconsistent with the
The people say ...
To the Editors:
Mr. Dennison's careful eye for detail, as demonstrated by his observation of the co-eds' miniskirt legs, greatly assisted him in making his brilliant analysis of the decline of college student morality, as reflected in the University of California.
Kansas is indeed fortunate in having such an enthusiastic champion of morality as Karl Dennisen. A man who will so unselfishly endure the rigors of California in January, in order to bring back the lurid story of the degeneracy of its University, is to be highly commended.
If Mr. Dennison feels that he can bring himself to leave Kansas again this winter, an excellent place to conduct his researches might be Miami Beach. Some of the swimming suits there are simply shocking!
John J. Mason Salina freshman
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
Thieves at an inventors' show in California yesterday stole a $300 surveillance device designed to protect an entire store against shoplifters.
I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE PRETTY HARD TO KISS ON TH' FIRST DATE."
Daily Kansan
editorial page Tuesday, February 21, 1967
Official Bulletin
TODAY
Experimental Theatre, 5:20 p.m.
"Oh, What A Lovely War."
Business Wives, 7.30 p.m. 1007 Mmss
Humanities Lecture, 8 a.m. Dr Jinho Pelikan, Yale U. The Ioyo of the Reformation." University Theatre.
TOMORROW
Lecture. 3 p.m.; Martin Ni-
troter, Germany. Methodist Stu-
dent at
Psychology Colloquium, 4 p.m. Dr. Joseph Lyons, KU. "Palab el b.
Joseph Lyons, The Psychology of P. Hireo,
Case Inst." Illustrated. Forum Room,
Union.
**SUA Travel Forum**, 4:30 pm DST in SE AS at pathway, Roog, Ungar.
Carl'ell Recital, 7 p.m. Albert Gerken.
Classical F'fm. 7 & 9 p.m.
Freshman Basketball, 7:30 p.m. Missouri at Columbia.
Lecture, 8 p.m. Gunnar H. hri m.
and Scenes of Norway, 426 Univ.
and Scenes of Norway, 426 Univ.
Experimental Theatre, 8 p.m. Oh.
What A Lovely War."
Little Symphony Concert, 8 p.m.
Swarthatch Rescat Hall.
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