6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2010
ARTS
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19.2009
English Alternative Theater to stage final performance
Group closes curtains after 21 years of production
BY ALEX GARRISON agarrison@kansan.com
After 21 years of pushing the boundaries, the English Alternative Theater is closing its curtain for the last time.
The nationallyrecognized group — the only theater production group run by an English department in the U.S. — is staging its final performance this weekend at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. The performance will be a full production of "What Really Happened" an original play by Benjamin Smith, Rosefield graduate student.
WHAT:"What Really Happened" A play by Benjamin Smith, Rosefield graduate student
Paul Lim, professor of English, founded EAT in 1989 as a forum for his playwriting students' original work.
It has put on full performances and staged readings of student work ever since, giving students the opportunity to see their work come to fruition and helping them develop their writing, he said. Many students have gone on to win regional and national awards for their plays.
LAST PRODUCTION:
Smith said EAT became a great part of the University because of its willingness to produce edgy work and its focus on developing up-and-coming playwright voices.
smith pointed to University
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
2:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Lawrence Arts Center,
940 New Hampshire St.
COST: $6 general admission
- The play opens with the man in prison and "has a lot of time shifts"
it and finds his way into this guy's house
- Billed as a "psychological drama" about a man whose child dies in a hit-and-run accident
- Has a lot of mystery and flashes through time
- The man tracks down someone who he thinks did
Uses film-like conventions to make it seem almost like television
- Director finds "camera angles" on stage
Lizzie Hartman, left, and Phillip Shroeder walk along the bars of a prison cell in a scene of "What Really Happened." The full-length play in one act will be the final performance for English Alternative Theatre at the Lawrence Arts Center with performances on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The play was written by Benjamin Smith and directed by Jeremy Rios.
Sources: Benjamin Smith, Paul Lim, Byron Myrick, 1993 graduate
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Theatre's current production of Tennessee Williams' 1944 classic "The Glass Menagerie" as a money-making production that helped students develop as theater actors and producers, but not as writers.
"It's been 60 years since 'The Glass Menagerie.' I love Tennessee Williams, but can't someone else come along?" Smith said. "EAT helps find the new Tennessee Williams."
In the beginning especially, EAT also provided innovative art to the community by producing works written by minority authors.
"We were the only ones doing
it," Lim said.
But EAT's willingness to push the envelop led to a constant struggle to survive economically. Lim is retiring later this year and without him, EAT, which has been funded by small grants and contributions by Lim, will no longer continue.
Because of budgetary concerns, the department will not be hiring another playwriting professor, at least not in the immediate future, said Marta Caminero-Santangelo, chairwoman of the department.
Lim said it was difficult to give up the "extremely rewarding experience" of working with students and EAT, but said that he wanted the opportunity to write plays himself.
"Before 1989, I wrote one play per year, but I've been a one-man band with this," he said. "I've only written two plays since. I want to be able to write while I still can."
Caminero-Santangelo said EAT was a huge part of the department's culture for both students and faculty.
"It's an educational opportunity, but it's so much more," she said. "When it becomes a real production, it's not just a classroom activity anymore. There's a sense of teamwork to get the play shown that's why these elems work on."
— that's why these plays win so many awards."
Byron Myrick, 1993 graduate who performed in EAT productions while he was a student and is now a cast member of "What Really Happened," said that the
loss of EAT would leave a "huge void" in the Lawrence community, but that he still held out hope it could continue in some way.
"It's so sad to see it go," he said.
"I want to try to keep it alive."
Follow Alex Garrison at twitter.com/alex_garrison.
Edited by Alicia Banister
RELIGION
Acceptance of gay clergy prompts split in Lutheran Church
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. The split over gay clergy within the country's largest Lutheran denomination has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
"There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened," said the Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE and a retired ELCA bishop from State College, Pa.
Leaders of Lutheran CORE said Wednesday that a working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination, with hopes to have it off the ground by next August.
delegates voted to lift a ban that had prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian pastors from serving as clergy. The new policy, expected to take effect in April, will allow such individuals to lead ELCA churches as long as they can
snow that they are in committed,
l i f e l o n g
relationships.
At its annual convention in Minneapolis in August, ELCA
Opponents,
led by Lutheran
CORE, said that
decision is in
direct contradiction
to Scripture.
At a September convention.
"There are many people within the ELCA who are very unhappy with what has happened."
and churchgoers prompted them to hasten the process.
John Brooks, spokesman at the ELCA's Chicago-based headquarters, said Lutheran CORE's move was not unexpected. He expressed hope that church members would
REV. PAULL SPRING CORE chairman
ultimately opt to stay in the denomination as it strikes to be "a place for all people despite any differences we might have on any issues."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Neither Brooks nor Lutheran CORF leaders would guess what kind of numbers a new denomination might attract. Lutheran CORE leaders believe there is deep opposition to the new policy among rank-and-file churchgoers, but said some may not be willing to actually depart the ELCA over it.
Lutheran CORE members voted to spend a year considering whether to form a new Lutheran denomination. However, its leaders said Wednesday that a heavy volume of requests for an alternative from disenfranchised congregations
Brooks said the ELCA has not seen significant departures yet, but he cautioned it's too soon after the August decision to read much into that.
So far, he said, five congregations nationwide have voted to leave the ELCA. More have started the process, with 87 taking a first vote to leave the denomination. Of those, 28 did not achieve the two-thirds vote necessary to leave the ELCA. In all, there are 10,300 ELCA churches in the country with about 4.7 million members.
If a congregation passes the two-thirds bar on its first vote, it must then wait 90 days before taking a second, final vote that also requires a two-thirds majority.
Other Christian denominations have seen factions split off over the gay clergy debate. In 2003, the 2 million-member Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly
Ryan Schwarz, left, and Rev. Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran Coalition of Renewal (CORE), talk with reporters at WordAlone Network offices in New Brighton, Minn., on Wednesday. CORE wants to form a new denomination that is not accepting of openly gay clergy.
gay bishop, a move that alienated American Episcopalians from its worldwide parent, the Anglican Communion. The divide has led
to the formation of the more conservative Anglican Church in North America, which claims 100,000 members.
GET INVOLVED
University Women's Club is offering tours of Greek homes in Lawrence to raise money for their philanthropies. The University Women's Club is a 110-year-old organization with rich history of service to many KU women since 1915, and are offering the first opportunity in the history of KU to invite the public to gaze into these historic gems.
Tour De Greek
Saturday, November 21st, 10am-4pm
Got Books?
For info, email TourdeGreekog@aoi.com
http://groups.ku.edu/~univwm
University of Kansas Book Drive
All books will be donated to Kansas City Teach For America Schools
4th Floor of Kansas Union 9am - 4pm, Nov. 19th & 20th
Hosted by Center for Service Learning and Students Tutoring for Literacy
Saturday, November 21-9:30am
The KNI in Topeka works to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities can live fulfilled and individual lives. Alternative Breaks will help with their annual Holiday Luncheon.
Questions?
www.ku.edu/~atbreaks aweb@ku.edu
Guest lecture by Matilde Ribeiro
former Brazilian Racial Equality Minister. She will be discussing race relations in Brazil, as well as the history and her role in the government.
Friday, November 20, 2009
3:30-5:00pm, MRC Classroom
Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center
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