THE N. C. ESSAY
NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS APRIL 12, 1971
Mitchell Costelloe Commissioned
VOLUME V, NO. XV
Viewpoint
D & P Dileimna
The issues and events
surrounding the plight of the
school’s Design and Production
Department came to a firey,
emotional peak recently,
resulting in a memorandum
being sent from Dean Ron
Pollock (of the Drama Dept.)
informing faculty, students and
staff of certain distinctions in
productions and the
requirements for such. And from
that, two productions have been
cancelled, feelings are tattered,
and questions remain unan
swered.
There have been many
elements at play in this drama. It
has been no secret that the dean,
faculty and students of the
Design and Production Dept,
have been overworked, under
taught and quite dissatisfied with
the operation of their School. And
rightfully so. The department,
out of necessity, has been a
makeshift operation at best all
year; students are receiving
inadequate instruction because of
the heavy work load and both
faculty and students have
become increasingly frustrated.
Like the Drama Dept, earlier this
year,they finally decided to take
action.
Document
The first signs of open
disgruntlement occurred during
the production of “John Brown’s
Body” (although Pollock told The
Essay t^at many of the problems
encountered with the production
were inherent). It was mostly
talk, students and faculty
reciting their dissapproval of the
system under which they were
trying to teach-receive an
education. Then, a group of
students (with faculty
assistance), drew up a lengthy,
multi-facted document, outlining
their grievances. It was then
presented to the SCA, where
students withdrew the document,
decided to re-think the issues,
and have just recently completed
what they feel is a stronger and
more complete statement. (This
document will eventually go to
President Ward, Mr. Hall, etc.).
In the meantime, there had
been great difficulty wiUi the
Drama Workshop productions of
“Landscape” and “Endgame,”
both directed by Barry Boys. At
the same time, the Copland
Festival was on the eve of hap
pening. In the middle of all this, a
major equipment break down
jAreatened to halt the Copland
Festival entirely (this was
blamed on old, hardly func-
tionable equipment) and was
solved only after emergency
funding was granted for equip
ment expenses. But the im
pressions of the near breakdown
were deep.
Directives
Although the next series of
events may not be directly
related to the proceeding, it
would seem that there is a link.
On March 19, Dean Pollock
issued a statement to Barry Boys
(who at this time was planning
“Uncle Vanya” as a Level Six
workshop production and who
maintains that such plans were
announced in January). The
memorandum was the result of a
meeting between Boys Level Six,
Pollock, Dean John Sneden of D &
P , and Agnes Lattack, D & P
faculty. It referred to six major
points concerning workshop
productions;
1. The Workshop will be
presented on the campus of
NCSA.
2. Costumes in stock and or
rehearsal clothes may be used. If
stock costumes are used these
may have size adjustments only
and these adjustments are to be
made by the cast. Nothing is to be
built. The only assistance
available from the School of
Design and Production costume
staff will be in pulling the stock
costumes.
3. Scenery, if used, may be only
minimal, neutral, modular unite
to be designed and prepared by
the School of Design and
Production. The scenic running
crew shall be the cast supervised
by one student to be assigned by
the School of Design and
Production.
4. Of the $250.00 total assigned
budget for this project $50.00 will
be reserved for the use of the
director in securing necessary
furniture and properties.
Assistance in this will be
provided by one student assigned
by the School of Design and
Production.
5. The “Children’s Show” lighting
show package will be made
available after April 18 (all other
dimming ^uipment will be in use
or is not in useable condition).
6. The following definition of
“workshop” is to apply;
“a latter stage rehearsal with
invited audience.”
Boys responded to Pollock’s
memorandum with a statement
of his own, a sometimes searing
account of what he though of the
initial directive. It is essentially
an attack on what Boys calls “the
logic of failure,” which he feels-
fears stalks the NCSA campus.
His statement is a defense of his
own artistic criterion, a defense
of what he considers professional
attitudes and a stern denoun
cement of what he sees as blatant
mediocrity.
This was foUowed by another
statement from Dean Pollock, in
which some of Boys’ arguments
are refuted and alternatives are
offered:
1. Accept the limitations and
proceed with the project.
2. Offer reasonable alternatives
which, I am sure, will be met by
reasonable and thoughtful
consideration.
3. Choose an alternative project,
alternative material, or an
alternative teaching approach.
The last in these series of ex
changes came from Boys. It
began;
This is to inform you that I have
abandoned the above-named
production (“Uncle Vanya”)...
Also cancelled, out of
necessity, was another
production, “Little Foxes.”
The two remaining spring
productions thus, are “The Last
Sweet Days of Issac” (directed
by William Dreyer) April 24 and
25, and “The Just Assassins”
(directed by Donald Hotton, May
10-15.
Workshop
One of the major [Mints of
contention in all of this is the
definition of a “workshop”.
Pollock insists that the definition
provided in his March 19
memorandum has always been in
effect, if loosely applied. Boys
maintains that there has never
been a certain guideline for
workshops here, stating that the
first play he did at NCSA, “Mr.
Roberts”, was listed as a
workshop and yet, received full
financial and departmental
assistance. He also maintains
that he had announced plans for
producing “Uncle Vanya” last
January and wonders why these
In Concert
Majorie Mitchell, concert
pianist, presented , a faculty
recital, Friday, April 9, in the
Main Auditorium of the North
Carolina School of the Arts.
Her recital, titled “A Program
of American Music,” included
works by Edward MacDowell,
Charles Ives, Charles T. Griffes,
and Sameul Barber.
Miss Mitchell has been on the
faculty at the School of the Arts
since September, 1968.
She has been playing recitals
and orchestral concerts in
Europe and America since 1953.
She has been a regular performer
on BBC and in Hamburg, Berlin,
Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam and
Zurich with radio symphony
orchestras.
Miss Mitchell studied for four
years at the JuUiard Graduate
School under fellowships and
taught piano there. She made her
Carnegie Hall debut in 1956.
“A veteran concert pianist of
tremendous virtuosity” (Erie,
Pa., Jan. 27, 1970), Miss Mitchell
leaves April 11th for radio
engagements in Vienna, Han
nover, Zurich and Frankfurt.
The Sonat No. 4 “Keltic,” by
Edward MacDowell, was
published in 1901 and dedicated to
Edward Greig.
The First Sonata, by Charles
Ives, begins majectically, im
mediately complex in its use of
rapidly shifting dissonance, with
no sense of any tonal center. The
second movement, a snycopated
scherzo in the form of a verse and
chorus begins with “How Dry I
Am” and interweaves with many
quotes of “Bringing In The
Sheaves” . The third movement
is rhapsodic and romantic in
concept. Derived material in
cludes primarily “What A Friend
We Have In Jesus.”
The Sonata by Charles T.
Griffes, an early twentieth
century work, is characterized by
broad powerful themes. It is
spiritually a bitter expression; its
tragic message colored by harsh
dissonance.
Dancer Joins Co,
David Graniero, an eighteen
year-old college freshman
majoring in dance at the North
Carolina School of the Arts in
Winston-Salem and the son of
Mrs. Margaret Graniero of
Tampa, Fla., has signed with the
Le Grande Canadien Ballet
Company of Montreal.
Graniero, who was recom
mended for the company by
Robert Lindgren, Dean of Dance
at the School of the Arts, came to
NCSA as a high-school junior in
1968. As a member of the Dance
Department, he has appeared in
several productions, including
Duncan Noble’s “Flick Flack,”
Job Sanders’ “Summer Night,”
the world premiere of Agnes de
Mille’s “A Rose for Miss Emily,”
and the School’s traditional
Christmas performance of “The
Nutcracker Ballet.”
The Le Grande Company,
under the artistic direction of
Ferdinand Nault, is currently
embarking on a tour which will
feature the first ‘rock ballet,’
“Tommy” based on the rock
opera of the same name com
posed by Peter Townshend and
originally performed by The
Who. Also on the program is a
ballet titled “Hip and Straight.”
Graniero will appear in both
productions.
The seven-week tour will in
clude week-runs in major cities
across the U.S. and conclude in
Canada.
Students of Clifton Matthews,
pianist, will present a complete
performance of J.S. Bach’s Well
Tempered Clavier, Volume 1, on
Sunday afternoon April 18 at 2; 30
p.m. in the Main Auditorium of
the North Carolina School of the
Arts. The work consists of
twenty-four Preludes and
Fugues, one in each of the major
and minor keys. Published in
1722, it is one of the monuments of
the keyboard literature, the
fugues being consummate
polyphonic compositons, the
preludes a compendium of
keyboard techniques, both the
preludes and the fugues en
compassing the entire range of
Donald Hotton, of New York
City, and Paul Meier, from
England, have been appointed to
the faculty of the North Carolina
School of the Arts School of
Drama for the second semester.
Hotton is teaching elementary
acting and Meier is an instructor
in speech.
A veteran of stage, screen and
TV, Hotton has appeared on
Broadway in “Mother Courage,”
“Malcolm” and “Lute Song”. He
toured nationally with “Luv” in
the role of Harry Berlin and “The
Andersonville Trial,” both of
which played in the Piedmont
area.
Hotton, who has appeared in
over 200 plays, was a speech
major at the University of
Wisconsin and studied acting
with Herbert Berghof and Mira
Rostova. He has served as
Orchestra
Emerson Buckley, Music
Director and Conductor of the Ft.
Lauderdale Symphony Or
chestra, will conduct the spring
concert of the NCSA Orchestra.
The program, which will be held
in the Main Auditorium on April
16 at 8:15 will feature works by
French composers.
A specialist in French music,
Buckley received the Chevalier
de rOrde des Arts et des I^ettres
from the French government for
his work in this field. He also
received the Ditson Award from
Columbia University for his
contribution to contemporary
American Music.
Buckley, who is at present
conductor of the Opera Guild of
Greater Miami, has conducted
the New York City Opera, the
Central City Opera Company in
Denver and companies in Seattle,
Duluth, the Temple University
Music Festival and the
Manhattan School of Music.
Robert Costelloe, an instructor
in NCSA's high school Visual Arts
program, has been com
missioned by Burlington In
dustries to do a sculpture for
Burlington’s New World
Headquarters in Greensboro.
The sculpture, which will be 12
ft. high and composed of cadmium
steel, will be a part of a $40,000
art collection featured at the
Headquarters. Costelloe’s
creation will be the major
sculpture on display, situated in a
closed courtyard. It is expected
to be on display by mid-May.
Costelloe, who was com
missioned after architects from
Odell Associates in Charlotte saw
models of his work and projected
ideas, said of the conunission
that it was the “most important
I’ve received so far.”
Bach’s imaginative and ex
pressive genius.
The performers will be Lynda
Fowler of Miami, Florida;
Nicholas Smith of Chattanooga,
Tennessee; Robert Sherman of
Norfolk, Virginia; Jane
Stuckenbruck of Johnson City,
Tennessee; Charles Jones of
Roanoke, Virginia; David Carson
of Fuquay-Varina, N.C.: Jeffery
Anderson of Pittsburgh, Penn
sylvania; Rieko Nakashima of
Miami, Florida; Sharon Moss of
Burlington, N.C.; Sally
Steinhardt of Roanoke, Virginia;
Drucilla Hennig of Winston-
Salem, N.C.; Benjamin Bradham
of Greensboro, N.C.
director for the Inter-American
Players and directed “The
Recluse” at the Cafe La Mama in
New York.
A graduate of the University of
Kent, Canterbury, England,
Meier also holds a diploma in
speech and drama from the Rose
Bruford College of Speech and
Drama in Sidcup, Kent, England
and a first class International
Phonetics Association degree. He
comes to the school from La
Center, Ky., where he was head
of the Speech and Drama
Department at Ballard Memorial
High School.
In addition to varied acting and
directorial experience in
England, Meier is a playwright.
He is the winner of the 1970 Best
New Play competition in Kent,
England and wrote and directed
“What’s Going On Here,” which
was produced in England in 1969.
Concert
He was the conductor for the
World Premieres of “The
Crucible” (N.Y. City Opera) and
“The Lady From Colorado”
(Central City Opera Company),
both of which were composed by
Robert Ward, President of the
School.
The spring program includes
"Divertissements,” by Jacques
Ibert; Poem for Flute and Or
chestra, by Charles Griffes, with
I^ura Dietz, flutist; Symphony in
B flat major, by Ernest
Chausson; and the Piano Con
certo in G, by Maurice Ravel,
Earl Myers, pianist.
In discussing the program,
Buckley said that although
Griffes is American, “he is of the
French school of music.” He said
of the Ibert, “This is con
temporary music, but it is fun. It
is an entertainment.”
Buckley’s son, Richard, is a
student at the School and plays
bass trombone in the NC^
Orchestra.
Students Perform Bach
New Drama Faculty