October 13, 1969
The N. C. Essay
Page 5
''B/iB'is mm
As we hope to devote as much
space as possible to the arts (this
is, after all, an arts schooll), we
are looking for good writers to do
reviews. We intend to be as diverse
as possible in our coverage, offering
critical evaluations on all artistic
mediums. If you have critical lit
erary ability and would like to work
on the Essay staff, please contact
Anthony Fragola, Tony Senter, or
Mike Ferguson, Room 101, Boys Dorm.
Thank you.
INNOVATIVE STREETCAR
STflV
HeflLTHV ,
A month has passed at the N. C.
School of the Arts, and faces that,
at the beginning of the year, showed
signs of a restful summer are be
ginning to lose their healthy hues to
other signs of lack of proper rest,
and autumn colds.
Right now, sore throats and loss
of voice is the number one spoiler.
It brings to mind the quarantine of
the first year of the school for strep
throat. The entire campus came down
with it, and consequently the campus
had to be sealed off. In fact, the
Drama School's first production, Cafe
Goldoni andEveryman had to be closed
several days early.
The question of life at Camp
Hanes and the health problem there
has quite naturally arisen. Many of
the girls living there have developed
colds and sore throats. It is spec
ulation that perhaps this is where
the sudden rise of campus illness has
come from.
In reviewing, therefore, the
decision to utilize the Camp Han^s
facilities this question of health
is certainly a major one. It is
just possible that the entire pro
ductivity of the school might be
slowed down at this crucial time of
year when first productions are just
swinging into rehearsals.
While the students would have
naturally been behind in their work,
had school started even later, this
rise in illnesses can do just as
much damage, and infact, be more
frustrating. It's awful to be at a
school and unable to work to the
best of your ability because you are
ill, or someone is out of rehearsal
because of sickness. Might it not
have been better to risk a bit of
catching-up by starting school even
later?
The fact is, we can speculate all
we want to. This illness is real.
It is NOW. Try as best you can to
guard against it. If you begin to
feel the symptoms, see the nurse
immediately.
( Cont. on Tpage 7)
An unusual turn in the cast-,
ing of A Streetcar Named Desire was
for the part of Stanley Kowalski.
Ron Dortch, a Negro Acting major, was
assigned this role for the drama
department's second "work in pro
gress". The director of Streetcar,
Bob Murray, said that he was not in
jecting any racial theme into the
play but that Ron was given the part
because the drama faculty felt he
needed it for his growth as an actor.
Of course, there were some ad
justments to be made in the play.
Kowalski, as written by Williams,
is a brawny factory worker of
Polish parentage. There are a few
lines alluding to his being a Poll
ack which needed to be changed.
"Anywhere the script said
Pollack we changed it to Zulu",
Murray explained. He's not
bothered by the fact that he had a
mixed marriage in New Orleans, a con
troversial situation to say the least.
That sort of controversy is being
avoided. Even much of the symbolism
has been de-emphasized.
"Williams loved symbolism,"
Murray said, "but what I wanted was
to place the importance on the human
drama. I wanted a
very human play."
Murray is very pleased with
his actor's progress. The "work
in progress" are in no way show
case productions, but acting work
shops designed to stretch the
actors' ability by assigning them
parts a little beyond their range.
Take Ron Dortch, for instance.
"He was always a very internal actor,"
said Murray. "Everything was kind
of introverted. By giving him the
role of the physical Kowalski, we
hoped to bring him out more. The
result has been amazing. He's
grown incredibly."
Similar role assignments have
been made in the productions of
Mr. Roberts and The Brick and the
Bosej the other two "workshops in
progress."
The schedule for The Works in
Progress is:
Mr. Roberts - Monday, Oct. 13
8:15 p.m.
A Streetcar Named Desire -
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 8:15 p.m.
The Brick and the Rose -
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 8:15 p.m.
Torr% CcLV'a.nO
Cultural Shock and The Campus
The next door opened to what
appeared to be another closet. It was
not I My old heart went pitty-pat at
the discovery of a student in the room,
a student who had at one time lived in
the old dormitory. She offered me the
chair between the sink and the closet
and clambered over my knees to get to
her bed. We rapped at length.
She said that she was extremely
happy to be on campus again after
living at Camp Hanes although the
rooms were quite small and offered
little opportunity to personalize.
How much can a broom.closet reflect?
I dutifully reminded her that the
rooms exactly met the State require
ments for housing for cubic feet per
person and gently added that therefore
the more time she spent sitting in
the center of the floor, the more
sane she would feel. She nodded
and went on to say that even the floor
space of Studio "A" woulnd't com
pensate for the creeping segrega
tion that most of the students felt..
"Everybody seems so much alone.,
there's no giddiness, smiles become
so important now... I mean it's
strange after two years together...
they are trying to separate college
Transplants ^ ^
^ 1-. ^ (Cont. from ,page I).
and high school, maybe it s to keep
us from being corrupted... I just
don't know..." I left her contem
plating the massive sink and shuffled
on to find more isolated cherubim.
They were all ecstatic at leaving
Camp Hanes, but the feeling of dis
memberment, from each other as well
as from the older students, seemed
prevalent. Most agreed, with a little
prodding, that in time this would all
be overcome in spite of the lack of
any central meeting places since stu
dents rarely ostracize other students
because of age or grade differences.
As I tucked them in, they
whispered their hopeful, children's
prayers, prayers that someday the
spaces between the walls and ceilings
would be filled with paint and putty;
prayers that someday there would be
no mice to eat their soap, and prayers
that..."the new wouldn't smell so bad.."
tomorrow.
I gave them my wizened smile and
raised a hand in arthritic benedictiorj
before shambling off, leaving them to
their dreams.