Page 2
The N.C. Esiay
Carolina Theatre Rejected:
Concert - Performance Hall as proposed In 1967
Date For New Performance Facilities Remains A Mystery
Drama
Workshop
Production;
MEDEA
On the 20th and 21st of this
month, the Drama Department
will present as a Workshop
Production, the Greek tragedy,
Medea. The play will be direct^
by Robert Murray and given in
the Drama Theatre. TTie script is
an adaptation of Euripides’
original by Robinson Jeffers.
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) has
been called the first modem
because he developed the human
interest element in theatre. He is
the last, subtlest, and most
controversial of the tragedians of
his time. Of his ninety-two plays,
seventeen of them are tragedies.
Medea (431 B.C.) still ranks
among the most poignant por
trayals of women in dramatic
literature.
Debbie Gordon, a sophomore
drama student, has been cast in
the lead role of Medea. Other
members of the cast are as
follows;
The Nurse...Celia Watson
the Tutor...Chris Lambert
Women of Corinth...Marilyn
McIntyre, Susan Thompson and
Joan Stern
Creon...Fred Serino
Jason...Danny Watkins
Aegeus...David Marshall
Jason's slave...Monte McIn
tyre.
Mr. Murray conunented on the
production: “Our approach to
this strange and violent play is
based on pre-historic saga and
myth. What we have basically is
a melodrama of witchcraft
(Medea is the bloodsister to tte
sorceress Circe), betrayal,
abominable cruelty and blind
murder.”
When asked why the Drama
Department chose a Greek
tragedy as their Workshop'
Production, Mr. Murray
remarked: “It is the director’s
opinion that, in general, the
classicists in great dramatic
literature have too long been
avoided by the American ac
tor....There is perhaps a sub
conscious thought that the work
of the masters belongs to
European Theatre, that it is their
legacy; this, of course, is sheer
nonsense. W, in this country,
have safely niched the plays of
Sophocles, Euripides, Marlowe,
Jonson, Goethe, etc., in an an
tiseptic academic tomb to be
read, dutifully, by sleepy-eyed
inmates of some literature class
or other.”
Mr. Murray added that “we are
dealing with play writes ^who
wrote plays to be played by ac
tors, everywhere, forever.”
■
4
Carolina Theatre, Downtown Winston-Salem, 1971
Administrative Offices
Undergo Changes
Many changes have been
execute in the Administrative
Department effective with the
beginningof the fall term. On
Septemlxr 1, Martin Sokoloff, the
Administrative Director of the
School, was appointed by
President Ward to assist him in
the office of the President. At that
time, Ward announced that he
was “adding to his (Sokoloff’s)
present duties the day-to-day
administration of all matters that
fall within the purview of the
presidency.” Sokoloff’s ap
pointment was a result of other
changes in the restructure of the
admii^tration.
With the retirement of Sam
Dorsett and James Rush during
the summer, William Parrish, a
graduate of the School and
recently a Graduate Assistant in
the Department of Design and
iVoductipn, has begun an 18-
month trainee p«riod as the
Purchasing Officer. Phillip
Chapman is the new Chief Ac-
Though at present NCSA has inq>ressive new dormitories and a
student lounge of which it can be proud, the realization of a per
formance hall for its many productions seems remote. The Carolina
Theatre, rumored as an immediate solution to the college’s nee^, wUl
probably never become the stage from which present NCSA actors,
dancers, and musicians face their early xritics. The Board of Trustees
voted in October against the purchase of the building. Unless other
possibilities similar to ttie Carolina plan appear, an adequate concert
hall and performance center may be as disttmt as 1975.
The idea of purchasing the Carolina Theatre, located in the center of
Winston-Salem’s business district, began several months ago when
President Ward discovered an article in the Saturday Review about
certain colleges that had purchased downtown property for school use.
Martin Sokoloff
countant and Internal Auditor,
replacing Lewis Hawley who is
the new Director of Personnel.
Other changes have l%en ef
fected in the office “of-
registrations. Dirk Dawson has
In the article, there were
examples of downtown
warehouses and hotels that had
been converted into dormitories,
libraries, and classroom
facilities. Mr. Ward, remem
bering that the Robert E. Lee
Hotel was for sale and that there
was a redevelopment plan for
downtown Winston-Salem,
decided to look into the possibility
of purchasing downtown property
for The School of the Arte.
The next day in his office.
President Ward made a few
I^one calls and discovered that
the Carolina Theater was for
sale. At this point President Ward
ai^inted Sam Stone to research
the possibility of purchasing this
property. The idea turned out to
be a good one, and the ad
ministration became very en
thusiastic about it. The best thing
about the whole plan was that it
would cost considerably less than
building a theatre on campus.
After consulting the school’s
architectural firm, they found
that the structure could be
renovated to make two theatres.
After making further inquiries,
they found that tliey could lease
the Woolworth builcQng next door
to accomodate the Tech.
Department. The ad
ministration’s immediate plan
was to move the whole Drama
Department into the Carolina
Hotel which site directly on top of
ttie Carolina Theatre. TTiere were
disadvantages, too. The hotel*
ttieatre complex was an old
building and there were many
unknown facte about construction.
been named to succeed Valerie
Parker as Director of Ad
missions. Miss Parker, in turn,
has been appointed to a new
position. Central Records Of
ficer. Mrs. Irene Nolte will be the
recorder in high school grading.
The purpose of this
rearrangement is to centralize
the office of registrations, since,
in the past, &e work of &e
Registrar had been spread over
these many areas.
All of the changes are part of a
self-study evaluation which of
ficially starte next September
and will run for eighteen months.
This evaluation is necessary for
the School to continue to receive
its accreditation from the
SouthiSrft'Association of Colleges
and Schools.
Also, moving the drama and
Tech. departments downtown
would split the campus.
However, some members of the
administration argued that there
would be advantages in this split.
The proposed r^evelopment of
the block on which the Carolina
stands was an infiuential factor.
Salem Ventures had an option to
buy the Robert E. Lee Hotel
which stands on the north side of
the block. Their intention was to
tear down the present structure
and erect a modem hotel. It was
to be called The Hyatt House.
There were also plans to con
struct a parking deck in the same
block. The idea of operating a
theatre next door to a modem
hotel and some three hundred
yards away from the new Wn-*
ston-Salem Convention Center
was appealing.
Next, during Governor Scott’s
visit to The School of the Arte
campus in mid-October, he
discussed the idea with President
Ward and they both visited the
Carolina Theatre to look over ite
facilities. Governor Scott sup
ported the plan.
After the plan was researched,
it was brou^t before the bo^ of
trustees to be voted on. Hiey
voted against it. The negative
vote was brought about for four
basic reasons: (1) Salem Ven
tures had dropped their option to
purchase theRobertE. Lee Hotel
the day before the vote was put to
Hie School of the Arte Board of
Trustees. The president of Salem
Ventures, Mr. M.C. Benton (a
former mayor of V^^ton-Salem)
said that t^ did not mean that
Salem Ventures would definitely
not buy the property. Yet this
action cast a dark shadow on the
future of the Hyatt House Hotel.
The board of trustees felt that the
doubtful future of the Hyatt
House would decrease the v^ue
of the property. (2) Several
members of the board wanted a
new Theatre. (3) Most of the
board members wanted a unified
campus. (4) There was a
depressing economic factor. The
School of the Arte Foundation felt
there were insufficient funds to
purchase the Carolina Theatre.
At present The,School of the
Arte may have to settle for a new
theatre,but since the legislature
will not vote on such additions
before 1973, the theatre, proposed
as early ^as 1967, may not be a
reality in the next five years; that
is, unless a new plan appears.