UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, February 3, 1997
3A
Celebrating the Chinese New Year
Dancers perform at the Chinese New Year celebration, attended by about 2,000 people. The event was presented by the Chinese Student Scholar Friendship Association and the Hong Kong Macau Student Association Saturday night at the Lied Center.
Plays by, for students
Two new student shows hit Murphy Hall this week
By Amanda Arbuckle
Kansan staff writer
Two original plays written, directed and performed by students will breathe life into the still, tiny black-walled Inge Theatre of Murphy Hall.
Will Averill's Tales From the Wasteland and Don Schawang's Communion will be performed throughout the week as part of the Original Play Festival presented by the University Theatre.
Averill, Lawrence senior and playwright of Tales From the Wasteland, said his play was somewhat autobiographical.
This dark comedy showcases a day in the life of several twenty-somethings. The characters confront their fears and try to find direction in their lives as they attempt to get out of a post-college rut
The story takes place in a filthy apartment where countless pizza boxes, old underwear and beer cans completely conceal the floor. Confronting parent-child relationships and a general fear of the future, Tales was written with a college-aged audience in mind. Averill said he had had a difficult time keeping Tales from becoming a cliché.
"It's a borderline Generation X piece, and I was trying to shy away from that stereotype," he said. "It's not meant to be a microcosm for an entire generation."
Cast members of Tales said they had enjoyed working with a student playwright and a student director.
"It it was really interactive," said Matt Chapman, Wayne, Neb., sophomore and *Tales* actor. "It doesn't happen often that the playwright works with the actors. And
Don Schawang's Communion is the story of a dysfunctional family that was traumatized by the death of the father. The children scattered and the mother became an alcoholic after the death. When they discover that the youngest brother has the same cancer that killed their father, the older siblings return home and find a recovering mother who is trying to keep what's left of her family together.
since the cast was't very big, there was a definite camaraderie."
Schawang, Kansas City, Kan., graduate student, said he wrote the dialogue between the two brothers for a theater competition in 1981. Three years ago, he added more characters into the mix, creating Communion.
"It's really a fairly dark play, and it's very unrelenting," Schawang said. "I want the audience to feel connected to the play, but I don't want it to lose its harshness."
Schawang said he did not use real-life models when creating his characters.
"I look at certain facets of myself that could be exploited and enlarged," he said. "I try to have a conversation with myself."
Schawang said he especially enjoyed writing Communion because the characters were so strong.
"I want the audience to think they have met and had a very close encounter with human beings they have compassion for," he said. "They've seen something they can think about and analyze."
Schawang said that being a student playwright was difficult.
"Trying to find the time to write is almost impossible," Schawang said. "But if you love it, you'll find the time."
tates will be performed Feb. 4, 6 and 8,
and Communion will be performed Feb. 3,
5 and 7 in the Inge Theatre. All of the plays
will start at 8 p.m.
Star Wars tickets sell at light speed
By Paul Eakins
Kansan staff writer
Star Wars fans flooded Hillcrest Theater this weekend as more than 4,000 people attended the movie's first showing in 20 years.
"We had a couple of calls from people asking if we had a policy about camping out, so we knew they would come early," she said.
Hillcrest, Ninth and Iowa streets, began selling tickets at noon Friday. But some moviegoers had been there since 7 a.m. waiting for the box office to open, said Stephanie Wachs, assistant manager.
The 4 p.m. show was about 80 tickets short of selling out, Wachs said, but the 7 p.m. show sold out at 12:42 p.m., less than an hour after going on sale. Tickets for the 9:55 p.m. show sold out at 2:55 p.m.
The theater has a little more than 500 seats, which amounts to more than 1,400 tickets sold on Friday.
For the dedicated fans in attendance, it didn't matter that they had seen the movie countless times before.
Eric Parks, Great Bend senior, said that he had seen the movie more than 100 times but that he still watched the movie on the big screen with anxious anticipation.
"It was really weird because I still found myself tensed up in certain parts," Parks said.
Hasek, who saw the movie on Saturday night,
said that many children had been at the show.
"It's nice to see kids there. It's sort of passing it on to a new generation," he said.
wachs said that she expected the crowds to slow down during the week but that next weekend would be just as busy.
"I heard some people talking today," she said. "They said it's the third time they saw it. And it's only been out for three days!"
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Tenth Annual James E. Seaver Lecture ON CONTINUING ISSUES-IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Ethics and Moral Sadism: The Problem of Community Discipline and the Experience of Pacifist Anabaptism
THOMAS W. HEILKE
Assistant Professor of Political Science The University of Kansas
February 10, 1997
8:00 p.m.
Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union
Reception Following
Sponsored by the KU Western Civilization Program