wednesday, march 3, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Play explores spiritual themes
By Dave Nobles
nobles@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Playing the part of Lorriane in the play Thirst, Wendy Lynn Casebier, Topeka senior, and Carter R. Waite as Aaron Cable, Falmouth, Maine freshman, discussed the effects the dust bowl had on the people in the region during the dress rehearsal in the William Jorge Memorial Theatre in Murphy Hall on Monday night.
Theatregoers can drink in subtle religious themes in an experimental new play at the University of Kansas.
Thirst, a play written by Kevin Mayer, opened at the William Inge Memorial Theatre in Murphy Hall last night.
Unlike the graphic religious messages of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, Thirst takes a more passive approach to spiritual reflection, according to director Danon Park.
"There's lots of spiritual issues," Park said. "But it doesn't beat you over the head."
bear you over it. The play is a parable set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression of the 1930s. It explores the times of a small town in the midst of a drought when relief comes from the government.
conference. Park, an Olathe graduate student, said that the idea behind the play was to give people a way to deconstruct their own views of spirituality.
spirituality Park saw the play performed at the Heartland Community Church in Overland Park more than two years ago and thought that he could interpret the text in a different, experimental way.
In its natural state, the play is a work of realism, but Park uses expressionism to convey his interpretation.
predation. Works of realism keep elements such as set design and costumes realistic, while works of expressionism take a more interpretive
approach to these elements.
Park said that the experimental elements of the play would have been difficult to achieve had it not been for his assistant director, Jessie Jo Cook.
The Topeka junior was asked to help with the play last semester and said she jumped at the opportunity.
said she jumped at the opening. Cook said she was a second set of eyes for Park.
"Sometimes, when you're in real deep, you don't see everything." Cook said. The total budget for the play was $500, but the crew only used about $200 of it.
Thirst is the first play to use the 40 new lighting instruments that the Theatre and Film department received as part of a grant.
received as part of a grant.
Robert Sturmer, Overland Park
sophomore, is the lighting director.
He said that being able to use the
new system gave him more options
Matt Toplikar, Lawrence junior, is in a video production class and has been assigned to create a documentary based on the production of the play. Toplikar said that the play's spiritual elements made the documentary process challenging.
mentary play. Wendy Caseibier, Topeka senior, plays the part of Lorraine in Thirst. She said that the moral foundations of the play influenced the way the story was told.
"There's so much to be told in an hour and a half," Caseier said. "It's amazing we can do it."
There are seven remaining performances of Thirst, ending on March 6.
Edited by Robert Perkins
By Marc Ingber
minger@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students who buy soup today in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall will be filling more stomachs than just their own.
The Center for Community Outreach will be selling the bowls of soup this afternoon for its annual Empty Bowls Project.
The project is a part of the center's Into the Streets Week. The proceeds made from the bowls, which will be sold from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m., will go to the Jubilee Café to help feed the homeless.
The bowls for the project were supplied by Sun Fire Ceramics, 1002 New Hampshire St. Volunteers paid $8, and decorated the bowls.
$3.
Katie Weil, Golden Valley, Minn., sophomore, said she heard about the project through the Blue Prints Leadership Conference. She said part of leadership was helping people out.
The Kansas Union Catering Service will vegetable soup and chili for $5 and cinnamon rolls for $3.
"It feels good to help others because it's my hope that if I ever needed help in the future, they would help me,"she said.
The Empty Bowls Project ties in with the themes of Into the Streets Week, by a educating and empowering students through community service. Lawrence, said Jill Evans,
Empty Bowls Project
What A decorative bowl of soup sale, sponsored by the Center for
Community Outreach When: 11:00 a.m. to 1
p.m. today
Where: The Stauffer-Flint Lawn
Lawn
Cost: $5 for soup and $3
for cinnamon rolls
Colby senior and co-coordinator or into the Streets Week.
Kaelyn Fox, Pittsburg senior and co-director of the Center for Community Outreach, said the program was able to raise money in two ways: by selling the bowls at Sun Fire Ceramics to students for them to paint and by the profits from today's soup sale.
She said the program usually makes about $500 for the Jubilee Café.
"In past years we've gotten anywhere between 75 and 100 bowls," she said. "We'll sell all of them that we have."
The Center for Community Outreach is also holding other events this week to benefit the Jubilee Café, including serving food at the First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St., on Friday morning and hosting a sleepout for homelessness in Burcham Park, located northeast of 2nd and Indiana Streets, on Friday night.
Edited by Paul Kramer
News. Now.
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Mathematics Prize Competition
KU Math Department is hosting a math competition open to all KU students.
Both exams will be given on March 10 7-10 pm 306 Snow Hall
To participate you must register in 405 Snow by noon, March 10.
Copies of last year's competition are posted outside 405 Snow.
Junior Level:
Junior Level:
Open to all undergraduates of non-
senior standing. Assumes knowledge of
first year calculus.
First prize - $300
Second prize - $100
Senior Level:
Open to all undergraduates. Includes a range of standard topics of undergrad math.
First prize - $450
Second prize - $150