Contemporary events influence arts
By MARILYN McMULLEN Kansan Staff Writer
Fine arts presentations at KU this year have been greatly overshadowed by war moratoriums, a week of curfew and other displays of students' concern for problems facing the nation. However, many of this season's theater productions have managed to coincide perfectly with the world events which have taken precedence over them.
The theatre season opened with "Summer Tree" the day after the October 15 war moratorium. The play concerned the reactions of a soldier temporarily out of a battle
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situation, and emphasized the futility of war.
Halloween night brought the opening night of "Die Fledermaus," (The Bat) which was the first opera presented at KU to play to sell-out crowds.
Though it was children's performance, "The Snow Queen" ushered in the bitterest weather of the season, which set the stage for "The Hostage" and the latest incidents of conflict between the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland.
"The Country Wife," the first performance in KU history to receive an "X" rating, was criticized for its length, but lauded for director Jack Brooking's successful attempts to lend Restoration authenticity to the production.
Experimental Theatre had a
very strong season with productions such as "A View from the Bridge" and "The Rimers of Elritch," which also played to capacity audiences.
"The Homecoming," an example of Harold Pinter's style of contemporary realism, and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" both had great audience appeal.
"The Three Penny Opera," updated to emphasize its thematic relevance, will be remembered more because it opened on the first night of curfew rather than because it was an outstanding production. Individual performances were good, but the continuity of the play was lacking and the music was far from brilliant.
"Quantrill!" an original script by Stephen Biddle, probably received the widest acclaim of this
season's productions. Based on Quantrill's raid of Lawrence, the musical drew sharp, and sometimes frightening parallels between the raid, the trial of the Chicago 7 and the attitudes of a machinacious Establishment.
International Theater presented an Indonesian dance company, a French play and a Festival of Oriental Theatres which highlighted the bill.
Using authentic Japanese costumes, Andrew Tsubaki directed three Kyogen plays, which represented the comic folk theater of Japan. Two were performed in English by American students, and the third was presented in Japanese by Tsubaki and two Japanese students. A Peking Opera, presented by a troupe from Colorado University, was interesting but tedious, and Won-Kyung Cho, a Korean performer, presented a one-man show which was exotic in its simplicity.
Thomas Ray, professor of speech and drama, said this season has brought more experimentation to the stages at KU than any preceding season. Although a complete list of next season's offerings has not yet been completed, Ray said the opening musical will be "Man From La Mancha" featuring Kenneth Smith, chairman of the voice department.
Jed Davis, professor of speech and drama and head of the childrens theatre program, said this was one of the best seasons he could remember for production and audience reception. Davis recently received the Mary Jane Morgan Childrens Theatre Award
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