April 21, 1969 N.C. Essay
APOCALYPSE: Artists and Presidents
Page 2
by William Baskin
Artists and Presidents might,
on first glance, appear to be incom
patible indeed. On closer examina
tion, perhaps they are not. At
least this is the opinion of one
critic who recently reviewed the
off-Broadway production by the The
atre Company of Boston by James Leo
Herlihy's Stop, You're Killing Me
NEWSWEEK, 31 March 1969, p. 105).
Among other comments were these:
"The sense of apooatypse hangs
heavily in the aiVj and plays such
as Jules Feiffer's Little l^rders^
Ronald Tavel's Boy on the Stvaight-
Baak Chair....(ana) the three short
plays that constitute James Leo Her-
lihy 's Stop, You’re Killing Me a:re
all about the drifting malaise of
our timej the insidious genocide
that is infiltrating the flesh and
soul of the body politic....Roohelle
Oliver as the girl in the motel
makes silence frighteningly elo
quent. And as Terrible Jim, Larry
Bryggman gives a maxn)elous perfor
mance ^ combining relentless intens
ity ^ absolute emotional accuracy
and perfect technical control to
create a memorable character—the
strong young American boy with no
bearingSi a malformed soul in a mal
formed culture whose urge to destroy
is the central problem that artists
and Presidents will have to solve if
apocalypse is to be avoided."
In the not-too-distant past
there was much said and written a-
bout the compulsion to confess and
the syndrome then was to bare the
soul and to unburden the "guilt."
In more recent days, the compulsion
to violence and destruction both
Physical spiritual seems to
have replaced the "old" compulsions.
The Presidents (both of our country
and of the greater universities of
our land) are beginning to take more
courageous and positive, construct
ive stands in regard to the manifes
tations of violence and destruction
which fall within their provinces.
The exchange of letters recently
between President Hesburgh of the
University Notre Dame and President
Nixon are an example of this new
trend. Closer to home, at Chapel
Hill similar positions are being,
solidified. The threats to the free
atmosphere of the university commun
ity are being met more openly and
are being solved more quickly and,
hopefully, with less lasting damage
to, and destruction of, excellence
in the instruetional-learning pro
grams .
And now, so it seems to me, the
creative-performing artists must
come into the picture. In spite of
the very negative review that ap
peared in these pages of the address
by Mr. William Glenesk, pastor of
the Spencer Memorial Presbyterian
Church of Brooklyn Heights, New York
(^.C.ESSAY, 3 March 1969, Vol. 3, N.
23, p.l), many of Mr. Glenesk’s re
marks touched on the role of the ar
tist in contemporary society and on
the extraordinary potentialities for
the artist to contribute meaningful
ly and excitingly to the building of
the physical and spiritual worlds of
each of us and of all of us. If So
ciety can be educated to these po
tentialities and make their realiza
tion possible, the future of the ar
tist is secured and will be reward
ing. This places upon the artists
(as it has upon the Presidents) a
responsibility and a challenge. It
now appears that the Presidents are
beginning to assume their responsi
bilities for leadership by recogniz
ing the need to build rather than to
destroy and to assure us that the a-
pocalypse does not come in our time.
Can and will the artists do the
same?
m
"NORTH
'.CAROLINA
SCHOOL
r ARTS
ihe N. C. ESSAY
STAFF
II I
NCSA
Editor Tony S&nter
Co-editor Lyrm Bemhardi
Feature Writers. . .Kathy Fitzgerald
Robert Lingelbaoh.
Dance Editor .... Sandra Williams
Political Dennis Williamson
Typists Fat Yancey
Carol Johnson
Business Manager. . . . Tess Morton
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Art David Wood
Lorma Fi^ady
Advisor Anthony Fragola
Dear friends - wonderful people -
How can I say what you have
meant to me? You've given me happi
ness, tears, and meaning while I was
here. I'm leaving now and although.
I'll be very happy, a part of me is
left behind. I love you all.
I pray that we will meet again
someday - tomorrow.
Thank you.
Amy Wood
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