8
Campus Extras
A play to catch the conscience of a King
The North Carolina Shakespeare
Festival has returned to High Point
for its nineteenth season. I attended
their performance of Robert Bolt’s
drama, A Man For All Seasons, last
Thursday. The play was first
produced in 1961, but the six
teenth-century costumes, as well as
the tragic political theme, made it
the perfea complement to the
Shakespeare plays that are being
performed throughout mid-October.
The play focused on Sir Thomas
More’s struggle to uphold his
Catholic feith after Henry VIII broke
with the Church in Rome. Graham
Smith, in his eighth season with
NCSF, played the noble More. A
strong aaor was needed to con
vince the audience that More would
give up his career, his family, and
finally his life because he would not
Play Review
Paige Layno
support the king; Smith was per
fectly cast. He filled the role with
honor and integrity and convinced
the audience that More’s convictions
were steadfast.
Opposite Smith was Allan Hickle-
Edwards as the evil Thomas
Cromwell. Hickle-Edwards played a
heanless, unethical lackey to the
king who used deceit and trickery to
finally convict More. Hickle-Edwards
was truly a bad to the bone
Cromwell. When one of More’s allies
told Cromwell that his scare tactics
would never work on More, Hickle-
Edwards responded by snuffing an
open flame with his bare hand.
SGA Corner
• Order your Student/ Faculty Directory today! The directory
includes on and off campus names, school addresses and phone
numbers, birthdays and also faculty and staff campus phone
numbers. This directory will be spiral-bound with a colored cover.
To order your directory, send $4 and your name and phone
number to Amy Harper at 318 Heilman.
• The first edition of the SGA newsletter "Connections," will be
out on September 22. Be sure to pick up your copy and meet
your new SGA Executive Board.
• The first Open House of this semester will be held on September
23, from 1 to 5 p.m. Be sure to invite your friends!
WINGS will be holding a meeting on Sept. 25, at 10 a.m.
14 Harris. All members be sure to attend!
in
• An Ethical Leadership Reception will be held on Sept. 27, at 7
p.m. in Carswell Auditorium. Mark your calendar, invitations will
be coming soon!
• Everyone is invited to join WINGS for an "End of the Summer
Bash on Sept. 29. Come out and join us in the courtyard for
good food, volleyball and a great time. RSVP by Sept 26 at
829-8353. / f • /
• Get ready to "Free Your Mind" at the Student Life Forum on
Oct. 5. Bring concerns, suggestions, ideas and an open mind to
the Chapel from 7 to 9 p.m. You can make a difference! Your
agenda is our agenda!
However, Cromwell’s favor by the
king was short-lived. He, too, loses
his life by the hands of the capri
cious Henry.
One of the most interesting relation
ships in the play was between More
and his ex-employee, the aptly-
named Richard Rich, played by John
Haggerty. When the play opened.
More offered Rich a valuable bowl
that had been an attempted bribe.
Rich lustfully eyed the bowl, and
More curiously asked what he
would do with it. Rich unabashedly
admitted that he would sell it and
“buy some decent clothes.” Rich
left the More household to seek the
first of his ill-gotten gains, and each
time he reappeared on stage he was
dressed finer than before. He joined
Cromwell and lied about More in
exchange for money and titles. He
traded honor for riches and fine
clothes. Meanwhile, each time More
walked on stage, he would lose a
little of his finer)'. He removed his
Lord Chancellor’s medal willingly
but refused to compromise his
morals. The men’s values on worth
showed their different ideas of
morality. As the play progressed,
More and his clothes got shabbier,
but his beliefs held strong.
Other notable performers in this
production were the Common Man,
played by Lucius Houghton and the
Duke of Norfolk, played by Mark
Kincaid. Houghton offered most of
the comic relief of this play with
some one-on-one with the audience.
Kincaid’s massive size and booming
voice commanded attention each
time he stomped on stage. Even
Cromwell shied when Norfolk
addressed him. I’m looking forward
to seeing Kincaid strut and fret his
hour upon the stage as Macbeth in
the tragedy of the Scottish Thane.
By far, the best and, unfortunately,
the shortest performance was by
Andy Paterson as the jolly and
rotund Henry VIII, Paterson’s
energy was boundless, and his
elaborate costume as the Tudor
monarch made him look as if he had
stepped from the pages of an
English history book. He looked
incredibly like the young, beardless
Henry. His jovial manner was not to
be misunderstood, however. His
desire for More’s support was
apparent underneath his playful
facade. The audience, as well as
More, was aware that the king’s
wishes would be carried out, or a
one-way ticket to the Tower would
be issued.
The High Point Tlieater stage was
mostly bare, and the company
carried minimal props onto the
stage when needed. There was a
second level where upon a few
scenes were acted. One that was
especially effective was between
More and Cardinal Wolsey, played
by Mark Lazar. The stage was dark
except for a candle between More
and Wolsey as they sat at the
cardinal’s desk. More was given the
chance to show his support for the
king’s divorce from Catherine of
Aragon and for his break from the
Church. The cardinal’s red robe and
the eerie light flickering created the
feeling that More was being offered
the chance to sell his soul.
The lower level of the stage was set
up like a chess board.
The director, Imre Goldstein, felt
’’that the action of the play is most
like a game of chess...for it ends not
when you get the king, but when
the king gets you, in this case
Thomas More.” To me, the action of
the play was like a game of chess; it
was long and drawn out. While I
enjoyed the actors, the play was
lengthy, almost three hours.
However, the talented aaors are
sure to enchant audiences in “the
two hours’ traffic of our stage”
when they perform Macbeth and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream. Plus,
these plays will offer the women of
NCSF a chance to shine.
Two trips are being arranged by the
ENG 355 and ENG 201 classes to
take a pilgrimage to High Point and
see A Midsummer Night's Dream :
Tuesday, Oct, 3 (tickets are $10.00)
and Friday, Oct. 6 (tickets are
$12.00). Please call Dr. Walton at
8359 by Friday if you’d like to see
what fools mortals can be and what
wonders the liquor of a purple
pansy in a lover’s eyes can create!