The Lance
Page 5
'Night Mother presented by students
Marsha Norman (foreground) and Tifani Christensen reparse a
scene from '"Night Mother".
A student production of ‘Night
Mother, a Pulitzer-Prize winning
drama about suicide, will be presented
at St. Andrews College Thursday and
Friday, November 19 and 20.
The play, written by Marsha
Norman, will be presented as an ad
vanced acting project by Tifani
Christensen, a theatre major from
Raleigh, and Lauren Schumacher, a
theatre and politics major from At
lanta. Both students received Creative
Arts Scholarships to attend St. An
drews.
Christensen, a sophmore,
chose ‘Night Mother for her acting
project because she wanted to do a
serious drama, yet keep the cast small.
‘Night Mother has only two charac
ters. Beverle Bloch, chair of St. An
drews theatre department and direc
tor of the production, recommended
Schumacher as a good actress.
Schumacher, a first-year student, was
recruited by Christensen for the play’s
second role during her fourth day of
classes at St. Andrews.
‘Night Mother revolves
around the relationship of a mother
and daughter during the two hours
prior to the daughter’s suicide. Be
cause of the play’s serious and con
troversial content, Christensen and
Schumacher plan to hold forums for
the audiences both nights after the
performances conclude.
“ We hope that by having
discussions at the end, we can show
the character’s decision to kill her
self was a wrong one, so that nobody
will go away thinking that ‘maybe I,
should do that,too’” Christensen said.
The students also caution that
anyone who might find the topic of
suicide upsetting probably should not
attend the play, which reveals both
the tensions and the love in the mother
and daughter’s relationship.
Both Christensen and
Schumacher are intrigued by the psy
chological depth in ‘Night Mother.
They do not think that playwright
Norman was trying to make a state
ment about suicide, but instead wrote
what Schumacher describes as “a
character study of twobeautiful, well-
fonned characters.
Airband Tradition continues
A member of the Lovely Ladies of Concord rouses the ^
joyous excitment, during the groups turn on stage. The ladies finishea
third during the competition.
Lance photo by Jerome A.Baker
The St. Andrews’ baseball
team sponsored its 6th Annual
Airband two weeks ago in Farrago.
The event, which is held every year
at this time, soon turned the night
into a roaring goodtime.
Students danced to the tune
of Garth Brookes, AC/DC, Guns and
Roses, Billy Joel, and many others.
The performers on stage which in
cluded the coaches from the St. An
drews’ athletic department produced
a thrilling and exciting show for all
the onlookers.
The judges for the night’s
festivities were chosen fn>m the fac
ulty and staff of the college and
alumni. The judges seemed to have
had a hard time distinguishing from
the dozen or so acts to determine
which ones would become the night ’ s
winners.
Each act was allowed a limit
of three songs to perform on stage.
The performers could use all neces
sary means (within college rules) to
entice the final victory from the
judges, and to draw joyous cheers
from the crowd of student specta
tors.
Starting the night was Tyler
Coming and Eric Mertyl. This duo
ignited the stage with the songs I’m
Too Sexy for Love, Fight for Your
Right, and the unforgettable theme
of the Love Boat, in which Tyler and
his lovely accomplice. Willow
Brunswig, danced seductively to the
music. With such a fabulous begin
ning the other groups that followed
knew that they must tum up the vol
ume, which they did, and make the
students scream for more.
At the end of the exciting
night, the judges responded by de
claring the winners. Third place went
continued on p. 6