Rehearsals are nearing the F'ne Arts Council and the opening of “The Amen exudes excitement as they shout to the Lord under the
finish as the Gaston College Drama Program prepare for Corner.” The all black cast bang their tamborines and tutelage of Sister Margaret
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Alexander and under the
watchful eye of director Jay
Rogers. The spring produc
tion is in full swing as this
tremendous play by James
Baldwin, author of Go TeD It
On The Moantain and Notes
of a Native Son, prepares for
opening night.
“The Amen Corner” is the
moving story of a Harlem
storefront church and their
spiritual leader, Sister Mar
garet, played by Gaston
College student, June Reid.
Sister Margaret has rejected
her husband and dominated
her son in order to answer
what she believes to be the
call of the Lord. With
dramatic eloquence, Mr.
Baldwin shows how the
poverty and frustrations of
life in black ghettos cause
many of their inhabitants to
turn to religion as an evasion
of reality. Sister Margaret
harangues her flock and her
family but gradually they
turn away from her and in
the end she loses everything.
The closing scene is one of
the most daring and effective
in American drama, com
bining, as it does. Sister
Margaret’s desperation and
tears with the recognition of
her farcical pretense. She is
left disillusioned but joyously
fortified. A beautiful play
both visually and musically,
that should be seen to be
appreciated.
The production itself
should prove to be highly
stimulating. The setting,
designed and constructed by
Chris McKinney, will consist
of various levels which,
though giving no specific
information about the time or
locale of the play, heightens
the mood of this serious
drama. This type of setting
has not been used in this
area to any great degree, and
it should prove to be highly
interesting.
The cast of “The Amen
Corner” includes, in addition
to Miss Reid, Vivian Avery
as Odessa, Cynthia Harring
ton as Ida Jackson, Linda
Neely as Sister Moore,
Delouise Barringer as Sister
Boxer with Robert Wilson as
her husband, Brother Boxer.
Davis, Sister Margaret’s
eighteen-year-oId son, who
plays the piano for the
church but wants to be a jazz
musician like his father will
be played by Darryll Howell.
Other members of the
congregation include Cynthia
McClure, Lorain Adams, and
Jessie Adams.
This will be the fourth play
to be produced in the Myers
Center Auditorium since its
opening last year. Each one
has been an enjoyable seeing
experience with all the
production being artistically
successful. However, at
tendance has been at a
minimum. The arts must be
supported if they are to
succeed and flourish. There
is a magic in the theatre that
can be experienced by all, at
a cheaper cost than you can
see a motion picture. And
seeing a live play proves to
be much more exciting.
Support the arts, the things
that make man great, on
Gaston College’s campus.
Amen