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PAGE TVC THE DAILY TAR HEEL TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1953 Human Rights Toiiiouow tiutks the beginning of human ' lights week. It is a week that should not he ( chbi.ilccl. It should not ho celebrated because there should he no need to acquaint people with the coiuept ol human rights, nor should there he a need t make them aware of the rights ol other individuals and how these rights are being ioliteil in the United States and thmugliout the wot Id. Yet, theie is a teason for having a human lights week and its teason is that the people ol Amciica and the wot Id have largely no c oik i -1 t ion ol the lights they should have, ami. in some cases, do have. There is less of ,'. a ualiation ol rights of other people and how otheis should he treated. I heir is no empitical justification for hu man rights. One cannot look at the speci men man and deduce from the specimen man that he should be accorded such and such lights. Indeed there arc no ahsolutes operat ing in the human lights situation. One can not (oiKirlely astertain what rights man po ssesses hy any absolute ciiterion.. One nuist derie his concept of individual lights horn the individual's view on man, and one of the most unfortunate conceptions in the wot Id is the all too prevalent one of man as ; n almost worthless commodity. Tntil people begin to realie the potcn tialitN for gtcatness that man possesses, and until thev ate awate that the climate to best eultiv.iie this greatness is ftcedom, human tights .111 only he a live concept in a small segment the woild. The pill tli at man has a great potentiality lor wd is a hitter one lor many to swallow. It desttoys their illusions, turns over lives huih on the clepiavity of others, and makes people who ate secrue in their own goodness and the ci!ncss of others feel insecure in their own value system, if they have one. Thev do not seem to realize that the hu man tights upon themselves in order to he sale do not apply to others until the hereto fore sale a timis ate no longer safe. And then it is too late. I lit le seems to he no 1 esjxuisihility on the p. ri nl the people, no concern, and the tesioiisihilit and concern needed extends hesoiid the home to all the people in the wotld. until this type of concern is accom plished hope of individual lights for all the people ol the world is an impossibility. T 1 1 1 ix. a human lights week is necessary to . i 1 1 1 . i m I man with man, and to make man italie his lesponsibility to man. Iheic must he an acquaintance with the idea thai liccdom oilers mote to individual development lit; n slavery or servitude. There. ihunI be an acceptance ol the basic equality ol potential ol all men and a constitution oi so ielv with the lealiation of thi manifest ed in its legal siiitctuie.. Theie must above . !l be a tacit acceptance of the individual as 41 mm I. so that in the tribunals whether con giessional or judicial, the individual is grant ed icsepc t and c tedeiic e. The concept of human dignity has been lost lor too long in the pious, paternalistic outpoiuiugs horn the mouths of those who piolit bv being lather. It is time for the con cept to be a reality. Why Why is it th;vt in some fraternities and soioiitiis it costs much more not to go to a patty than it does to go to one? Could theie be an element of financial compulsion? Election TJie lac t that theie will be only three items on, the ballot today should not completely piohib'u students from voting. One import ant oi l ic e Woman's Honor Council is to be voted upon. One lesser office sopho moie class president and an amendent to the constitution taking head cheerleaders I10111 the tanks of elected oflicials are also on the ballot. The amendment is an uuimjHirtant one, it is still one that should be approved. Un less the c heel leader gives a cheer in each door, it is impossible to tell his competence. I his, is one olfice that would be better select ed .by a boa id of his peers. IJie turnout is not expected to be large, but .maybe, for once, the student body will siupfise the predictors. T ije JDmty nr Heel Tli official student publication of the Publication Hoard of the University of North Carolina, where it N publisher! daily O j li I Anthony Wolff sriewara, . - ' r r r f - 4 otes In Review Arirhui: Lessing rxcrrt Monday an.J i-xaminatinri periods im snrnnirr trrmi. Kntrrf.I in second clasi jmattrf in the pct office in Chapel Hill, N. C, under thr-tct of March 8. I.T70. Subscription Tit'-;j $..r0 per so mrshr, $.150 per 1 Editor t -.. .:. ) Xw CURTIS CANS Managing Fditors CHARLIE SLOAN, "In the original 'Caesar and Cleopatra' I hadn't been able to change Shaw, but I certainly al tered his intention by making the words fit what felt most com fortable to me. The second time, despite the agony, I dug inside of myself and rid myself of every personal reaction until I found ex actly what that character felt I discarded my intention for that of Shaw - and worked to create his Cleopatera, not mine." In these words , from aa article in the De cember 7, 1958 NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE) Helen Hayes ex presses her conception of the per forming artist's responsibility to the work being performed; and this is a great actress writing hon estly from fifty years of experi ence. Miss Hayes description of the primary requirement for artistic honestly is doubly applicable to the recent LOOK HOMEWARD, AN GEL: it applies to both play and production. Ketti Frings, the play wright, can be held to this hon esty because her play makes no pretense to original vision. The play takes not only its inspiration, basic plot, setting and names from Thomas Wolfe's novel, but also most of its very language. Every major speech (with one or two exceptions problematically admit ted due to hazy recollection and lack of research) is taken word-for-word from the original text, as is most of the relatively inciden tal dialogue. By anchoring her play so deeply in the novel, Miss Frings com mits herself to its vision. Her play must stand not simply by itself although it must be able to do that, too but it should also stand comparison with the novel. If, having taken so much from Wolfe, she refuses to accept the essence. Miss Frings is something of a plagiarist and worse, despite the approval of the Wolfe estate. And, if this be the case, then the Carolina Playmakers underwrote b moral hazard in producing the play, especially as a tribute to Thomas Wolfe on the anniversary of his death. If it should turn out. quite apart from this first consider ation, that Miss Frings' play is in consistent within itself, that' its vision is unclear andor untrue, then the hazard is compounded: the Playmakers then had the dif ficult task of making sense out of nonsense. And if, finally, the re cent production fell short of the play, failed to realize whatever depth the script admits, then there is a third charge. This is an inquiry, then, on three counts. The first question, although per haps not the most important, is that of Miss Frings' felicity to the novel from which she so heavily borrows. Here, again, the question splits, and there are two consider ation. First: in those instances in w hich she has used Thomas Wolfe's dialogue in the play, has she vi olated the sense or spirit of the original words in lifting them out of the source and placing them in new contexts and original juxta positions? Second: does Miss Frings wholly original contribution to the play complement the rest. ! The answer to the first question is a qualified "yes." to the sec ond "no," Certainly Miss Frings has been judicious in her selec tions from the novel, and in bend ing her carefully culled fragments to the uses of the play she has done most of them no noticable harm. In most cases the replaced fragment retains Its original force and meaning, sometimes gaining potential in the new context. (At least one notable exception to this is Miss Frigs' use of the final benediction after Ben's death, in the novel a part of Wolfe's inter ior monologue which is woven through the narration, and given in the play to the doctor, whom it ill befits.) The playwright makes few sign ificant additions to the play aside from the uninspired but structural ly adequate variations on Wolfe's depiction of 'Gene and Laura. Miss Frings' creation of Ben's quasi reconciliation with his mother in the moment before his death is, on the other hand, unjustifte'd violation of the novel; like wis?, the complete invention of 'Gene's reactions to Miss Brown's attempt at seduction and to his first meet ing with Laura are seriously out of character with the 'Gene of the novel and the rest of the play. The play as a work of art in its own right, is strongest when it sticks closest to the novel and disintegrates rapidly as its inde pendence increases. That is, where Wolfe's words are used in their "Is This An Early One Or Is It Left Over From Last Summer?'! ; - realizes that he is alone in the world and that he must in some sense create himself and his world A frequently interesting and frequently boring if there is to be any order in evening of modern compositions featured the work chaos. This is at least one co- of Thomas N. Rice and Peter Ford, both students herent structure in the play, and in the department of music, and provided the au certainly! the most obvious one; dience with a mixture of emotions, ideas, sounds, out it was not expressed in the simple noises, laughs that made for confused opin-Playmaker- production. The mo- ions, impressions, and conclusions, ments were there, but tty existed ' The concert began fifteen minutes late, with as distinct moments rither than alI the lights turned out in the hall forcing' mem as crucial ; points: in; a continuous bers 0f the audience to light matches in order to line. : ; : read their programs. The visual effect was inter- Ironically enough, 6a this rath- esting, and the whole thing perhaps symbolic of the er weak . conception of the play musical content of the concert. were lavished three - magnificent . ,. , . . performances- in them it least it '. Rice's ' accomphshment in composition wai was obvious that the play could Jately evident in the first workof the even- , . , - . i 1 xU ing, the 'Bachanaal and scene at the Medusa Rocki have been done1 in full, strength. ' r. . n t - , .1 . . - . . from the opera "Whatever Passes Along The Paths The reference is to -Fester and . , TT . ... , , . ui iuc oca . ixc lias a suiiu sense wx ucitiuuitui Marion Fitz-Simohs:(Ir: and Mrs. Gant) and Tommy Rezzuto (Ben). of full ; and .' transparent - depth which gave the play what little grandeur it achieved. All three original sense and force, and in contexts which approximate the original, the play is most power ful; where Wolfe is adapted to uses which are more or less not his own, the play is weaker; and in the few instances where Miss Frings' is completely on her own the play is flimsy and shallow. . Sa much of the play falls m the first category and retains the qual ity of Thomas Wolfe's conception that the rest must follow Wolfe's intention or run the risk of mock- , ing its own depth; As the char acters identify themselves and their situation through Wolfe's words the play becomes Oneillian in-its stature and implications. Her original contributions seem to indicate that Miss" Frings is un willing to allow the words which she so skillfully borrows to achi eve such full signification through the play. Thus she requires 'Gene to be something of a buffoonr. inr the two instances mentioned above, "Goodyado" good God! and Ben to die with a certain satisfac , tion after making a couple of wry jokes; and in the heavy moment of 'Gene's grief after he has lost; Laura Miss Frings tosses in a standard television joke from Hugh, who has been sitting un obtrusively on stage for the whole scene just to deliver that unfor tunate bit of comic relief. The : playwright also creates a number of structural difficulties by including too much of Thomas Wolfe. The epilogue, whatever its value in the novel, certainly . has no purpose in the play and it is a dramatic failure. Mr. Gant's two veiled references ' to the malignant cancer which is killing him are rather meaningless when his only disease in the play is alcoholism. More serious in terms of the play's meaning is the liberal . sprinkling of existential problems ("arNatan son's dozen" is an irresistable temptation) which Miss Frings leaves posed and unexplored. ' Certainlys if ' she had remained true to Wolfe's 'Vision' instead o violating it, Miss Frings - could have produced a play with some thing of the stature of LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO, NIGHT. As it is, it is considerably less, but the essential depth and pow er are still there, no matter how violated . and dissipated they may be.. The end result is that no matter how LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL is played it will not be completely successful. There are, it would seem, two possibilities: to play it as, lightly, as- possibly in which case the depth of the play is skimmed over and' subordinated to its superficial astpects ' with" " re sulting meaninglessness "'or the play i;s done with all the passion and intensity and transparent depth with which it has been en dowed, in which case a few ele ments will be jarringly inconsis tent with the bulk-Of the play but the rest of it may reach full sign ificance. . - Unfortunately,- the Playmakers chose the former alternative.' The whole first act was ' played 'as though the real play underlying the words was- an embarrassing scandal which had to be hidden by a light touch and some broad slap stick comedy. Ben's violent out bursts seemed more melodrama tic than true, and W. O. Gant was just ui paranoid drunkard who make his wife suffer terribly. It was almost that bad. But almost from the beginning of thc second act the truth be came impossible to hide. The open enmity between Mr. and Mrs. Gant., Ben's death, and Laura's defection could not be , treated Iightly although they were never giveri their due weight. The Ma dame I Elizabeth scene, was Ihe final abortive attempt at comedy. By that time, however, it was too late to undo the damage; instead ' of unfolding as a coherent struc ture,' the play was one of moments. If the play has any central theme, it is thei unfolding of 'Gene's con sciousness to the point where he which makes the composition distinctly controlled artft Tmis5rnllv incHfiort in ttc nrntrps P.th its These three provided the: moments ... ' , . . , ... " . . ... . , beginning and end were certain, holding between them music of defined intent and shape. If this, composition is his latest work (the entire opera is nrnmisprt in hp nprfnrmart in Anril 10.0.1 it in- had the means of communication, dicates a developing taleDt, for the rest of his work the skill, in such seemingly un- seemed to me inBrio song cycIe 0f "Love limited abundance (Piirticularly Lyrics that followed lacked musical substance in Mr. and Mrs. Fitz-Simons) that al- general andj alth6lJgh again RIr Rice's talent for most anything seemed- possible, development showed itself, there did not seemed and the inadequacy of the interpre- to be enough musical1 material to work with. The tation (or lack of interpretation) performance incidentally, was excellent by Ray becomes -all -the more lamentable. mond McGuirej tenorf and Michael Cordovana, It is doubtful that Bob Ketler piano, was capable of playing Eugene with equal fullness- his skill, al- 1 Personally was bored throughout the "Suite though ccmsideratle7'seemd less Ant;?uf Pour la guitarre". Again there seemed to than that of the other tliree lead- be Iittle real musical mjiterial to work with. The ing players; but he proved with- Performance- furthermore, was so lackadaisical out a doubt in the last scenes that music contained any spirit at all it was he was capable of better, more lost' The Pavane movement has some moving music honest sutff than the idiotic clown: in outer parts, but the middle section seemed ing with which he was occupied muddled and out of wit-hm the movement. -for much of the play and the dull, The "Nocturne" and "Petit Suite for Flute and halting speech which : rendered him Strings" were, from a point of view of musical unable to read bis own'betry with craft, most accomplished. Mr. Rice has a nice sense more than fourth-grade fluency. of orchestration, seems inventive in the art of Unfortunately, . there was . not a counterpoint, and is frequently able to work with single performance of similar ex- his instrumental voices so that they take on fresh cellence in a minor role. Betty ness and delight. In the Nocturne movement of Green's characterization of Laura the Suite, for example, I was struck with the beauti was perfectly' adequate until she ful setting of mood that opens the movement, but sobbed her way through her big disappointed again with a lack of musical ideas in scene in which she was supposed the 8010 flute to iultm the promise of the setting, to achieve . honesty and strength. The March has an interesting development but no Miss Green in no sense, however, melodic content worth speaking of. I also failed to deserved such an exit line as understand the closing section of this movement "Goodbye, little room. I've been wmch is completely out of step with the overall happy here" character of the movement. The Dance movement Patricia Llstoo. as -Fatty," and T" f",". d" Ellen Dennis, as Helen, were quite f Xtr':- 1 Uunk- for U? ' . , o musical material which the composer can work adequate; particularly Miss Den- with The c moveirent was ?a cIever satire nis, who at moments gave promise 0n the popuIar du UchcT A of a richness of characterization which was never realized. T sum up my impression of this more than ' ' Carolyn Marsh was1 capable, if generous amount of Mr. Rice's music is a bit dif--uninspired, as Madame Elisabeth. ficult- He is, as 1 said eirlier, thoroughly accom From all appearances, she was Pllshed in his craft. What is needed now is more unsure of her function-whether imaginative musical material to provide his corn she was comic reflef. or genuine Psltln with a thematic solidity that was lacking grief. She may well have been throughot most of the work played. What is most up against an irresolvable dilem- Pfaiseworthy in his work is a real feeling of mu jj, sical motion, the result of a careful concern with i u ui development composition wise. Without musical Douglas McDemott s unbearably ...,, h -... tu- . , , , . . , . stutt , however, this sense of development can lacadasical Dr. Maguire was quite easily become tedious nad bQrin unbelievable; even when there was genuine concern as to whether Peter Ford's art of coriposition is dedicated to the drunken Gant was ill or just the task of "transmuting' other music, poetry (and unconscious, the good doctor was I suppose, eventually painting) into his own kind impossibly- slow in attending to of music. As such, one tioes not "compose" but him; likewise when Ben died, translate" music. Mr. Ford's music, however, docs Whatever tension there was could not seem to achieve what it sets out to do. Em- not but collapse with this attitude. P joying percussion instruments of all kinds in ad- Tarkington, played by Gene Par- dition to such interesting objects as bow-and-arrow, sons, "provided good coriiic relief Sfrbage pail, water pistol; and an uFiide down where it belonged. If Herbert jicycle, he creates sounds which repezi and sweli Drinnon's Will had been more alive in volurae and end at th(;ir height Infrequently, one was able to enjoy the; contrast of sounds or the interplay of different sounds, but, for me, mu- thaa dead, and the odd assort ment of boarders has been some what more active, the Comic re- S1C never came int0 existence by this method of lief might have beeri provided by transmutation. them instead of the main char acters. ' ' , r - ounTor POSST WillTarri Cheney Let upstanding students unite! -.The scourge of the trees must be put down. The trees which litter Carolina's otherwise beautiful campus are a ' menace to the health and safety of the students and faculty. The trees arc a bad moral influence and are expensive to keep Furthur, they are damaging to the aesthetic values of the student and could be put to much better use. . - , Trees are the cmbodimenV of filth and disease. Innumerable micro-organisms of a malevolent na ture make their homes in trees and squirrels, which arc closely related to rats, abound in them. There is no telling what pestilence may attack the innocent wanderer who ventures into the proximity of these foul, leaved objects. The fact that squirrels can become rabid and render death . dealing bites should be given especial consideration. The sun's light which not only kills germs but provides us with necessary vitamin D is obscured by these umbrella-like behemoths. Thus it can be seen that trees not only foster disease but are actually det rimental to proper nutrition. - ' The eternal twilight into which the campus is thrown by the ungodly monsters must, of its very nature, be a bad influence upon -the morals of the student. Everyone knows that light is the symbol of beauty and truth and that darkness or degrees thereof are symbols of evil and deception. Consider, too, the effect of the trees at night. They transform the campus into a vcritlible Sodom. If the Arbore tum, alone, were to be1 cleared, the moral atmos phere of tLN.C. would be "raised far. above-. its pres ent lamentable level. - . T , . Throughout the Unlled -States the water table is. falling at-an alarming1 rate. Trees use. more .-water than any other living thing. It would be patriotic to Cut them down.-Furthef more, the expense of leaf clearance is quite large.; Surely; the University h;is better-uses for its funds. , It is .generally .believed, that the buildings at U.N.C. are among the most beautiful in the South. This would be hard to pr.ove simply because we eai nbt sec the buildings.; If, as has been asserted, tlte buildings- arc beautiful, the student would benefit from contemplating then,.. This is nearly impossible as things stand at present, Finally an, valuable properties that- trees may have are .wasted when they are left standing. The trees could be made into lumber for, buildings and f urnilureJ They could be used for firewood, tht.s cutting' fUef bills; at the University. Also, they could be used for truly spectacular bonfires sX pep .rallies. In this way school spirit! could be improved. " On tKe basis of the evidence-put forward, t fa:J to see how any but the1 most backward and' irreii , ponsible f people could defend the scourge of the trees. .It may be said tha: the trees 'ha,e a potential for. good but are, at. the moment, the foremost evil to be combatted on our campus.. ' This is not the place to become involved in ob viously different conceptions of what music is and J Arthur McDonald was perfectly should be, but it would seern that if art is symbolic undistinguished but adequate as (as Jlr. Ford might seemed to have perhaps said in the undistinguished but adequate his delightfully clever talk "The New Esthetic") it Hugh; Mr. McDonald cannot be docs not follow that, therefore, one art form can Held responsible ! for Mis:s Frings' be "translated" into another. It may well be that misplaced joke. v !- uniqueness of music is exactly the symbolization Charles Nisbet's portrayal of ?f feelings that cannot be expressed in any other Lufce was wide of the mark. Luke medium or any other way. II not music, Mr. Ford J may well be good-natured and a least demonstrated with considerable success lovable, but he is also a Gant, at theiVsA Ple?surin Jistening consciously to and " something more than one- Just und. And in this direction I wish him all dimensional exhuberance. the success in the world, whether it is art or not. Tommy Rezzuto's sets were ex cellent," particularly the "Dixie- ' -. ... , land" set. ( Perhaps the; back drop in the mable yard scene could have had A touch of realism to be more in keeping with the rest of the play.) The angel looked like genuine Carrara marble,, weighing at leasi a ton. The' cos tumes by Irene Smart Rains and Jim Armacost's lighting were both fine. ' . ... . ... All; in all, the Play maker per formance was at best one of is- Gem3 Of Thought Honestly,' isn't the whitest white lie a mite dingy? Oh y. dear, is it going to be another of those winters? Wonder if folks who plant bombs in finite but unrealized promise; and schools laugh over news like that of the holo- at worst -a sharp disappointment, canst in Chicago. Director Harry Davis might have better used' his four leading per formers and moulded the rest in to a good 'supporting cast The talent was there; , direction would have helped immensly. ' That was a pretty sad "me morial to our famous alumnus, Thomas Wolfe, on this the twent ieth anniversary of his death." 'Bout ready to face another turkey on Christmas Day? Tiance-lationi.Esse quan videri Yes, the widow is calm. "I've really put my foot in it!" said the rat in the trap.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 9, 1958, edition 1
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