f AOE TWO
THE DAJLY TAR HEEL
THURSDAY, MARCH 5,'15
Prestige
In .1 Icita lei The D.iily Tar I led two days
aii. Dr. John J. I louiitianii, piolosot of
aiu!uojM-loy, eitul A. Whitney (ii isxvold's
kccIi on athletic scholarships and used it
as .1 text for pointing i 1 1 that the Unixcisity
hen anil education in general needs a re
examination of its allies before the mone
t.ux appiopi ialions w ill do any leal good.
He Hinted out that this i eexamiu.ition
is inoie impoi t. 'lit in many ways that the
ipiestion ol whether the University will win
money ftom "donors or legislators".
A similai tack is taken by a Yi Ten school
iepiesrntatie waiting; in this week's issue of
the Satiudav 1 ening l'ost when he asks
w bethel the colleges ol the United States
aie be in '4 tinned i 11 1 playgrounds. In a sense,
playpens would be inoie appiopriate.
Not too m. n weeks ago. the Ikiptist Stu
dent I'liion held a disiiissioii on campus
values, .uid one of the major ipicstious that
w.is biou;ht out in the discussion was the
motion ol i Ik iiiteiia lor piestige on this
ampus.
It in uuloi lunate that the ciitcria are m
low. As Di. Iloniginann pointed out one of
these oitiri.i is athletic piowess, and this can
e.iilx be .w c i Mined when one sees how
many students listen to the ball game and
how mans attend a budget meeting or a hu
manities let lure.
Ilaxing a liicndly peisonality is a-uother
eiitcti.i lor piestige. while in the male group
U ing able to tell the tallest story about what
one did with what gills on the weekend is
also an iuiMrtant piestige laitor. It is the
411 1 who has the sweetest smile or who can
keep up the best t omcrsr.iion, no matter how
inane, that wins the plaudits of her jxrrs.
It is the student leader who can best mouth
the platitudes that all candidates are mi
Ncd to say that will win the votes, although
in laie decisions this rule of thumb does not
woi k.
It is the pai tv that takes picicdcnce oxer
the diss or the liln.11. It is the gxmiiasium
that takes ptc c c di ne e oxer the books, the
daosiom building, or even a student union.
It is the Tempo Room 01 the Rathskellar
tint takes the plate ol the discussion table
01 dcbile lloor. and it is the movie that ta-kes
the plat e ol thought.
iWlo. c the editor gets accused by some can
didate miming for election as being opposed
to Iipioi. sex. athletics, social activities, and
eiiieitaiument. it must be said that each ol
these h. e a place in Unixcrsity life, but all
aie suloiilinaie to the pursuit of knoxvledge.
In other xvouls theie needs to be a reori
entation ol people to different goals. Onc
ol the ptesent iials to be shattered is the
xex.moii. Armiier is mjovmciif. Another is
cst.in-. All ol these at some time or another
at r fo be counied in. but none of these can
Ik- loiisidcicil a substitute lor woik in the
pi itii.it v . . cas ol college lilt the academic
.11 eas.
Not to 1 loir.; ago. two to tluee years at the
most, .1 I'liixcMsitv ollicial stood befoie a
gioup at an oiientation meeting and said that
be lilt th. not mote than half the student's
waking bonis should be spent in jvuiMiit ol
knowledge in a vigorous academic sense, and
peili.it this has validity in that theie are
many other intellectual outlets on campus
and within the t'nixersity community. Tak
en in its context, hoxvexcr, this statement xvas
almost an incitement to riot, and riot in a
minoi hum is xvh.it students have done.
1'iiless thr solid academic linden oating of
the rnixeisity is iccmphasicd, the t'nixer
sitx xvill be lar Irom a community of individ
uals committed to the putsuit of truth. Un
less the attainment of knowledge is the pres
ide I. . toi in this University, it xvill be ex
teitnelv cliHeult lor it to justify its own
existeiic e.
Vocational lactones aie a dime a doen.
Athletic piowess can be had comparatively
eheaply. Hut an academic reputation is hard
to attain and exen harder to keep.
In whatever f unite planning the Univer
sity might want to do. it might keep these
goals in mind xith the added footnote that
hugeness max xery well make the solution
more difficult.
The official itude si publication o( the Publication
Board of the University of North Carolina, where It
U published daily
rxcrpt Monday and
examination periods
and lummrr term.
Entered as second
class matter In the
pest office in Chapel
N. C, under
the act of March 8
1870. Subscription
rates: $4 50 per e
mfitrr, $350 pel
ThelUilyTarlhrl
Is printed by the
Newa Inc., Carrboro. N. C
M
o
Russell B. Graves
(Dr. Ktisscll K. Craves Is a
visiting member of the faculty
of the Department of Dramatic
Arts. He directed the Haymak
er production of "The Would-Be
Gentleman in a style strange to
the sensibilities of most mem
bers of his audience. In the fol
lowing article he discusses his
intention.)
A number of members of the
audience at the recent Playmak
er's production of The Would-Dc
Gentlemen expressed curios
ity about the style of production
employed. Questions about the
songs, the projections the settinj
the style of acting, costuming, and
make-up have been asked. It is
in order to clarify some of there
Issues that tiiis article has been
prepared.
There are several possible ap
proaches to the production in the
modern theatre of a great classic
from the past. vc can attempt to
recreate, in so far as possible, the
original .production; or we can
"stylize" (weasel word! our pro
duction; or we can bring the
whole thing up-to-date, going un
der the assumption that once
bright ideas and theatrical devices
have lost some of their sheep and
that it is up to us to rcfurbuLsh
them for the modern audience.
For our production of The Would
Be Gentleman we selected a fourth
alternative: we assumed the vali
dity of Moliere's insights for our
own time and place 'otherwise
why do the play at all! , and
further we assumed a particular
theoretical approach to realism in
the theatre. The approach we se
lected was that of Bcrtolt Rrecht's
epic realism 'or epic theatre or
narrative realism!. The selection
of this particular approach to pro
duction grew out of our study of
the organic nature o( Moliere's
play; we particularly wanted to
avoid the imposition of a mode up
on a piece for which that mode
was not appropriate.
Here Play Style: Eoic Meal
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ism
or the Dancing Master or Nicole;
the interruption of the proceedings
by songs, which served as inter
polations which commented upon
the play rather than as exten
sions of the emotion embodied
within the scene; the calling upon
Letters
Editor:
"Practice what you preach." An old saying but
an appropiate one.
I quote from your editorial of March 3, 1939:
". . . how you as a student spend your money is
something that is a purely personal decision, and
not something that somebody else can say how you
ought to do it."
Yet the title of your editorial is "DON'T CON-
the actors to perform at their own TRIBUTE". That sounds like an order.- Aren't you
chronological age rather than to dictating to the students how they ought not to
feign the supposed age of the char- spend their money? Have you any more right to
acters; the elimination of wigs; decide for the students than has the Campus Chest?
the introduction of slides, which Moreover, the pleas of Campus Chest collectors
called attention of the audience to will be: "Would you like to contribute . . ."; not
the point of the scene; the use of "DO CONTRIBUTE-" Contributions will be volun-
highly artifical methods of shift- tary. No one will order a student to contribute,
ing scenery etc H yur implications of discrimination against
Many other elements were used the Negro are true, why weren't the GotUngen Ex-
to force upon the audience an
acknowledgement that they were
indeed in the theatre and not in
At
every point the measuring rod
against which we evaluated our
change Scholarships dropped this year? Surely the
Editor recalls an item in last week's DTH an
nouncing the award of a Gottingen Exchange Scho-
Orange County is a more needy organization than
lMitor
CURTIS CANS
Man.iins ICditor
Business Manager
SporU ICditor
RUSTY HAMMOND
Advertising Minajer
FRED KATZLN
Briefly stated, Brecht maintained
that the theatre can best speak to
its audience when it does pre
ciscly that. He rejected the hypno
tic effect sought through the mod
ern technique of empathy, and
turned instead to his conception
of the sources of Greek. Eliza
bethan, and Oriental theatrical ef
fectiveness. Basic to his conception of epic
realism were two dicta of parti
cular significance for this produc
tion: first, the theatre is most
realistic when it acknowledges
that it is a theatre and when the
audience is encouraged to partici
pate in the performance as a ra
tional entity rather than as a
group of hypnotized individuals;
second, drama functions most suc
ces.slu!ly when it takes as its
point of departure some attitude
toward rwn as a social being.
Let's take up the second point
first. In re-reading Moliere's play
many times, and in going through
the process of translating it anew.
we discovered that it was not quite
the epitome of happy delight the
text-books say it is. Underlying the
surface charm of the play is a
hard-core of socio-economic real
ity. In The Would-Be Gentleman
man is not a political animal as
much as he is an economic one.
Every character in the play dem
onstrates some facet of the cor
rosive effect of great inequality in
the distribution of wealth. This is
the theme we selected as our
point-of-departure for this produc
tion. Note particularly the em
phasis on the economic inequali
ties represented by;the kowtowing
demanded by Mr. Jourdain of his
various mentors; note the patches
on the teachers' clothes; note the
bitter economic cynicism of the
lyrics of the songs. These, it seems
to us. arc consistent with the play
handed on to us by Moliere; not
ideas imposed upon it by hind
sight. Now for our first point the
assumption that the only ultimate
reality of the theatre is the real
ity of the audience confronted by
actors in an auditorium Epic
eschews completely the idea of
empathy growing out of Aristotle's
theory of catharsis. In its stead,
it substitutes the principle of alien
tation the putting of the audience
at some emotional distance from
the actors. Rather than calling for
a high degree of identification of
the listener with the actor, it asks
him to sit back and observe, as
a medical student might obserx'e
an operation in the hospital am
phiteatre. In the Playmaker production we
used many dexices to assist the
audience to establish this parti
cular relationship with the actor
the relationship of objective con
templation rather than emotional
identification. Among them were:
the delivery of speeches to the
audience in the character of the
actor playing the part rather than
in the character of -Mr. Jourdain
A Frightening Far Futire Forecast By Frank
CHUCK FLINNER
STAN FISHER
WALK ER ELANTON
March Wind
Last week, you may remember,
I suggested that UNC students
build a small blast furnace. I
thought that thus was one very
practical way that we could learn
what Ls going on behind the Bam
btK Curtain which encloses Com
munist China. This was a kind of
a cute idea, but unfortunately the
gremlins who infest our print shop
garbled the whole piece so that
it was almost incomprehensible.
Well, as Mort Sahl says: "On
ward! Right?"
This week I propose to discuss a
novel from the latest issue of Good
Housekeeping magazine. I don't,
as a rule, read this category of
periodical. However, the work in
question. Pat Frank's "Alas, Ba
bylon!" is just too good to pass
!y.
The intriguing title comes from
an old Negro preacher who alway.s
climaxed his denunciations of sin
with the shout: "Alas. Babylon!"
You can imagine then the pro
tagonist's shock when he receives
a telegram from his brother, a
colonel in the Strategic Air Com
mand, informing him that the
colonel's wife and children are
coming to pay a little visit. The
telegram ends: "Alas, Babylon!"
The protagonist is thus tipped off
that World War III is really com
ing, the balloon is really going up.
Pat Frank is no literary stylist.
Indeed, his "style" if it can be
called that is positively pulpy. The
great merit of his book is that it
makes World War III absolutely
credible. This is precisely the way
it can 'and probably will happen.
And unlike previous novels on this
subject, notably Ncvil Shute's "On
the Beach," Pat Frank does not
exaggerate. World War III does
not bring an end to all life every
where. Life goes on, even in the
United States and Russia, where
isolated little enclaves survive.
The Russian plan is what the
military calls a "TOT" time-on-target
on a world-wide scale.
"They'll use only missiles in the
first wave. They plan to kill every
base in Europe, the U.K. and Afri
ca with their Ills. They plan to
kill every base on this continent
with their ICs, plus missiles,
launched from subs. Then they
use their jet bombers to mop up."
The protagonist then asks: "Can
they get away with it?"
The-colonel, his brother, an
swers: "Three years ago, they
couldn't. Three yeais hence, when
we have our own 1CBM batteries
cmplaccd. a big fleet of missile
toting sulxs, and Nike-Zeus and
some other stuff perfected, they
couldn't. But right now, we're in
what we call 'the gap.' Theoreti
cally, they think they can do it.
I'm pretty sure they can't. But
that's not the point. Point is, if
they think they can get away with
it. then we have lost. The only way
to win a modern war is not fight
one. Our whole raison d'etre was
deterrent force. When we don't de
ter them any longer, we lose.'
This is about as clear an cxpli-
cation of the contemporary mili
tary .situation as it is possible to
get. There is considerable evidence
that the so-called "missile gap"
is at least as much the result of
brilliant Russian planning and de
termination as it is our own lazy
carelessness. It is entirely possi
ble, in other word, that ten years
ago the Russians made a consci
ous decision to "peak" their mili
tary program right now, knowing
full well at the time that a projec
tion of easily visible trends would
catch America in "the gap."
Seen in this light, the ticking
Russian bomb labelled "Berlin"
takes on a new and sinister mean
ing. The Russians know as well as
we do that the cold war cannot
continue indefinitely. Sooner or
later, it must degenerate either
into hot war or cold peace. Wrhat
better time than right now for the
Russians to drive for a showdown?
Well, this is the way that Pat
Frank sees it. And this is the
way that hip Americans like Ache
son and Kennan see it. The feel
ing is growing that this time the
Russians are not kidding. This
time it's either deal or fight.
In Frank's book, there is no
deal. The fight takes place. The
ostensible "cause" is a young
American ensign who is chasing
down a "bogey" that had been
shadowing his carrier in the east
ern Mediterranean. The eager en-
little goof really1 Had noting to
d with "causing" -the war. The
Russians were already far ad
vanced on their countdown. The'
Russian subs were within a day's
run of all coastal cities and tar
gets; the missiles were emplaced
and calibrated. . ;
Along the eastern, seaboard, the
attack takes place at "first light."
The protagonist wakes up, rushes
outside, and "his senses refused
to accept a sun rising and a sun
setting."
The colonel's ten-year old son.
wise and tough in the way that
only ten-year olds have, asks cas
ually: "What do you think they
clobbered." This precocious kid
knows immediately of course that
his dad, back in "the hole" at Of-
futt, has been hit by at least "three
five-meg ICs," and is therelore
vaporized.
ol the social chaos that will fol
low a thermonuclear strike." Frank
touches on this point, but he low
rates it. He shows the social fabric
of American society stretched to
the. breaking point, but still intact,
following the thermonuclear Pearl
Harbor which has taken perhaps
125 million American lives. I re
gard this as wild optomism. In
real life, the fabric of American
society would be dissolved and the
few survivors would like on by the
code of the jungle.
Is this what the future has in
store? Frank's Negro preacher
seemed to think so.
"And I'm te)l you right now,
last vear's scholarship Dro?ram. PcrhaDS the Chest
solutions to various technical prob- feds tWs Uem win bring morc studcnt awMe
lems was that of frank acknowl- ness to the fact tnat there are ncedy pcrsons and
edgement that this was a theatri- organizations in this world. In short, perhaps the
cal production and not a dream campus Chest is not the "moncy-grubbling," glory
of some kind. We pointed up Mr. seeking organizatian that you picture it to be. '
Jourdain's pretensions through the You arc rigM ,n one thing The charitic- ar2
use of fanfares ... but we allowed worthy ones This year,g gQal ig high 0ny c0.opera.
all the scratch on the original rec- tion from a1 tne members of our University Com
ording to be heard to disabuse the munity can assure its attainment. I urge that co
audience of any idea of magical operation.
trumpeters lurking in the flies. r. BUIE COSTEN
We used electric lights, of course,
but we let the audience see the Ed'Tor:
instruments providing the illumi- As a mcmbcr the Campus Chest Board, I feel
nation in order to avoid any sug- compelled to answer your searing accusations in
gestion that they were some kind this mrning's T Heel concerning our work. This
of magical effulgence from hea- asw,fr P"ly personal and is no way a, part of
ven, And we used clear white h,e board s action; but as a member of the board
light to show that our costumes 1 fecl allfl;d' even morc than ou to
. . , our work and purposes,
were costumes; our actors, col- . . . , . u -
, . . ; , . . , First of all you claim that it is "presumptuous '
lege students; and to avoid any - 4. . .. . , . ...
, . . , , f the organization to select the chanties to be
sense of surprise-pink rruraculous- : tn T T n i ji i ,
given to. I say not at all. If you will kindly look
at the organization of similiar charity drives in
The extent to which we sue- the various cities surrounding us, you will see that
cceded inma king our social points in almost every case there is some board which
is certainly problematical, but must determine which charities to give to and how
these are the ways in which we much to give to each one. It would be impossible
attempted to make them. It has to function without some such method. There are
been rewarding for us to make the thousands of worthy organizations in need of money,
attempt . . ; more rewarding we 2nd it is impossible to give to all of them. The Un
feci than the museum-like recrea- must be drawn somewhere; and it must be drawn
tion of a past era or the simper- y People who have carefully studied the situation
ing coyness of a sophomorically Iooked into the needs of each charity, and finally
determined which of the charities are the most
worthy and in the most need. These higher boards
also determine the percentage of money to be giv
en to each charity on the basis of a similiar study.
Without such a method the drive would result in
complete chaos with hundreds of organizations' ap-
nealin? tO a hnvilflfrrr1 mth1i Cnmnnnn 'Vi 4v MX
If there is a technical flaw in tho rhnncincr t,,.- v - . ,
r,. ,. ... ine cnoosing. Just as higher boards are organized
Franks book, it lies m what I re- tor such a purpose in municipalities SQ gm
gard as his great under-estimation chest Board has been organized and approved b
all wife swappers, whisky drink- the legislature for that purpose in our colle-e com
ers, and crapshooters are going munity.
to get it! And all them that come Furthermore, Mr. Cans, I cannot help but be
out of sin palaces on the beach, lieve that your editorial appeared against the Camp
wearing minks and jewels and not us Chest solely because we did not incorporate
much else, they is going to get it! the National Negro Scholarship fund into our pro
And them fast steppers in yaller gram. I happen to know that you offered us good
roadsters, they is going to get it! editorials if we would make it a part of our pro
For it says in The Book that great gram. Denouncing us as you have simply because
city that was clothed in line linen, we failed to consider your own special wishes in
and purple, and . scarlet, and conrast to our feelings after thoroughly, studying
decked with gold and precious the matter is, I believe, an act of exceedingly poor
stones and pearls, that great city sportsmanship on your part. Proceeding along that
was burned off the face of the same Iinc' 1 should like to clarify the board's action
earth in an hour. One hour! Alas, on tfle matter. As you stated in your editorial the
Babylon!'" . World University Service, xvhich helps students all
Oh yes, preacher man. We dig over tne world and the Goettingcn Exchange Scho
"stylized" production.
you bringing the word.
"Ijook Thinks Are Picking Up"
sign goes a shade too far
he
violates the territorial waters of
Syria and when he finally lets
go with a rocket the dammed
thing misfires, blowing up a main
land train instead of the "bogey."
Back at SAC headquarters in Ne
braska, 'the A-2 says: "Worst foul
up on record. Glad it's the Navy,
not us."
.As it turns out, " the ensign
i U ,1 .
I I 1:1 ill
larship, which provides for an exchange of students
between the University and Germany, are an an
nual part of our program. I will not go into the
reasons for this since you seem to have no quarrel
about it. There are usually three organizations
supported by the Campus Chest, and the third
varies each year. This year the home for the men
tally retarded children xvas considered by the board
to be the most worthy of a number of organiza
tions considered including the National Negro Scho
larship fund. First of all, let me point out that
in choosing the mentally retarded children's home
to sponsor we have in no way discriminated against
the Negro. Help to the Negro student is given by
both the World University Service and the Goet
tingcn Exchange Scholarship, neither of which are
discriminatory organizations. Just because the Negro
has not been included in our third project does not
mean that he has been left out. Secondly, it was be
lieved by the board that since the National Negro
Scholarship fund is supported by many other or
ganizations and the children's home by none, th?
children's home is far more needing of our help.
You yourself have recently filled up a great deal
of space concerning our budget disappointment.
Well, this schools' budget has been disappointing
for a number of years, so disappointing, in fact,
that fourteen year old children have mastered pre
primary readers not because they can read them
but because they have memorized them after sever
al years of studying the same books because there
are no funds to buy new texts. I can see no room
for complaint in our choosing to help this organiza
tion which is sponsored by no other group and
which is every bit as worthy, if not more so, as the
National Negro Scholarship fund. Thirdly, let us
look at it from a local standpoint. This home is
rig"ht here in Orange County, and its needincss is
worthy of our consideration as inhabitants of Orange
County. The other two organizations sponsored are
morc on the international plane as is the National
Negro Scholarship fund. Even though any of these
may touch us here at Carolina, as the Goettingcn
very definitely does, they are still more far reach
ing than just at this university. Therefore, why
not be concerned with an organization that is right
here within reach and deserving of our attention?
After all it is better to clean up your own back
yard before you go -meddling; around your neigh
bor's. i. .
BETTY COVINGTON