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"Six Characters" a success
"Real" labors rewarded
By BILL MEIKRANTZ
and MIKE CZYSZ
Six Characters in Search of an
Author is the title of the play
recently performed by the Guilford
College Revelers. It is essentially
a play about the theatre: the
problems faced by the actors, their
director, and the characters they
strive to present. The guiding
intention throughout is of course
Center springs alive
The Guilford College Women's
Center is an alive and active organ
ization, full of creative ideas for the
approaching spring. Their stated
purpose is to educate both men
and women, to unify women, and
increase communication.
The members of the center carry
out these goals in a variety of ways,
ranging from political canvassing for
the E.R.A. to curating and organiz
ing art exhibitions. They try and
emphasize the contributions of
famous women in conjunction with
these activities through films
concerning the lives of women
artists, writers and composers.
Coming up in April will be a film
on the life and world of Gertrude
Stein.
The president of the center is
Sarah Taylor, whose academic life
revolves around a humanistic studies
major in Women's Studies with an
emphasis upon Art History and
English. She is currently writing
her thesis on the topic of Women's
Art. Terry Hammond, the vice
president, is an Art major specializ
ing in paper-making. Together
these two women organize and
curate the center's art exhibitions.
Joan Curcio and Amy Steerman
handle the activities surrounding
women's rights as well as prospects
for the upcoming spring publication
of WomansprotUs 1979■ Kathy
Neckerman and Naomi Donovan are
also central figures in the planning
of events.
This spring students can look for
ward to In/Scapes, an exhibition of
- mmsaum -1
The Women's Center plans numerous activities for the upcoming spring.
that of the author. In Pirandello's
play, the characters themselves
appear; they argue, debate, and
probe the meaning of the drama
with the actors who are to portray
them and the director who is to
educe the play itself.
There is a question that arises in
the mind of the viewer as he watches
the plot unfold: What, exactly, is
Pirandello writing about? Is he
self-portraits by the Guilford
College community, a work-shop
on the topic of mother-daughter
relationships, and a variety of films
and speakers all sponsored by the
Women's Center.
Next fall plans are rolling for a
series of forums on women's issues,
to be structured in a form similar
to the current weekly colloquiums.
They will be having a brain-storming
session on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at
12:00 in the small dining room
for those interested in becoming a
part of this cooperative process.
Students are also invited to borrow
from the center's small library
which includes books about
Women's art, literature, politics
and other issues pertinent to women.
It is located in their office on the
second floor of Founders, across
from the Union.
The Women's Center is based
upon a cooperative system which
emphasizes the strengths, interests
and tqjents of its various members.
No one has the final authority
to veto an idea, as projects are
organized on a collective basis.
Men are welcome and involved
in many of the center's activities
as they strive to attain their goal of
increased communication between
the men and women of Guilford
College. The Women's Center is
a varied and creative organization
always open to new members and
ideas.
For further information on the
center's activities contact Sarah
Taylor or Terry Hammond at
855-1253.
Guilfordian
writing just about the theatre, the
problems faced by people connected
with dramatic production ? It seems
that Pirandello in Six Characters is
writing about a bigger theatre: the
drama of human existence.
The play begins naturally. Work
men set the scene. The "real
human beings" the actors and
their director - appear on the scene.
But then there is sudden and
surprising darkness: the nature of
the reality created in the play is
drastically altered. Out of the dark
ness the characters themselves
like the symbols in some Platonic
dream-appear.
Now the real action of the play
begins. The construction of the
secondary play the one with
which the actors and the characters
are concerned is gradually made
known through the ensuing
dialogue.
A few words about the characters:
they are very pure types, and their
drama contains themes that are
inherent to our race: Fears, such
as fear of incest, or of rejection.
There are struggles between father
and son, son and mother, brother
and sister. The story is ultimately
very tragic but I suggest that the
themes developed to such a great
extent in the secondary play are the
themes that run like bloodlines
under the thin flesh of our conscious
ness.
Out of this first question that
of the relationship between the
human actors and the characters
they are to present evolves the
main question of Pirandello's play:
the question of an author. The
director the human director is
respected and obviously learned.
Feeders attract
By JIM HOOD
The past two snows have provided
an exceptional opportunity for
winter bird watching. With snow
covering the ground, many of
Greensboro's winter residents rely
upon backyard feeding stations for
their nourishment. When the snow
comes the birds flock.
Last Thanksgiving a bird feeder
was put up in front of a Frazier
living room window in hopes that a
few stray species would wander up
to it during the winter months.
Surprisingly enough the birds not
only came one by one, but in
droves. Most of the birds who
overwinter in this area are seed
eaters and the combination of sun
flower, millet, and other grains
proved to be the right recipe for
attracting these feathered creatures.
Visitors to the feeder have
inlcuded dark-eyed juncos, chicka
dees, tufted titmice, starlings, blue
jays, cardinals, purple finches, song
sparrows, white-throated sparrows,
• ifINHHHHHHHHHME
The Revelers staged an excellent production of Pirandello's "Six Charac
ters in Search of an Author."
He controls the scene but he
cannot serve as author. He has
not invented (created?) the charac
ters and so even he must serve them
and thus the intentions of the
unseen author.
At the close of the play there falls
again a sudden darkness. The
characters disappear, but there
shadows remain suspended over the
actual protagonist of the real drama:
the actors, the director, and the
audience.
On the whole, the production was
very well done. The acting, stage
direction, and properties all contri-
English Sparrows, and even a brown
thrasher. Mockingbirds, who also
stay in this area over the winter,
are not seed eaters and therefore
don't visit the feeder although they
are commonly seen nearby.
The juncos are the most numer
ous and are easily recognized by
their slate-colored back and head,
the white breast, and the two streaks
of white along the outer edges of the
tail. These birds also seem to be
the least timid.
The tufted titmouse is a temper
mental bird. It hardly ever stops
moving and is always in a hurry to
leave when there is the slightest
disturbance. The tuft on this
sparrow-sized bird is very noticeable
and the rusty-colored patches on the
sides give the mostly grey-colored
bird a little flair. Its voice is a
distinctive nasal peter, peter or here,
here, here, here.
The cardinal and blue jay are so
familiar they hardly need a descrip
tion. The cardinals often come to
February 28,1979
buted to form a complete whole.
Difficult to present effectively to an
audience, the performance was ably
handled by the principals: David
Brown as director, Ray Rinchiuso as
the father, Felicia Ashton as his step
daughter, and Lilli Shacklett as the
mother. Rachel McCaw's brief
appearance as ' 'Madame'' Pace was
quite amusing and thoroughly
appreciated. The actors were
portrayed by Liz Allen, Brian
Beard, Jenny Crocker, David Jewett,
Andrew Millikin, and Lisa Morton.
Credit for this production goes to
Donald Deagon, Director, and
Richard Prouty, designer.
the feeder in pairs showing the strik
ing difference between the coloring
of the male and the female.
The purple finch, though, is cer
tainly one of the favorite winter
birders. The male has been des
cribed as looking like a sparrow
that has been dipped in ras berry
juice.'' Indeed it gives this splendid
appearance.
Actually the finch isn't really
purple at all. The female is duller
with a very distinct streaked breast.
Seen against the background of
snow, the purple finch is a true
delight.
For all its beauty, now can
present a real problem to those birds
trying to find seeds on the ground.
For this reason the backyard
feeder can really help the birds
make it through the winter. The
double advantage of the back
yard feeder is that it helps the birds
and the bird watcher. A small
investment makes for a great deal
of enjoyment.