-, b::!r~~:~~i~~~:~~~ BY DON GARNER l Editor's Note: This column was writ- l ten especially for the Bison by Don Gamer, who graduated from Harding last spring. Don majored in speech here and was very actiVe in stage work here -directing, acting, and writing. He is now working on his Master's Degree in theatre at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. ' We felt that Don had an excellent op– portunity to compare Harding drama with that at a large University and that the students might be interested in the resuls of such a comparison, so we are giving you Don (taking the place af Eileen Snure's regular column, "Your Screen Reviews.") ·' Don, by the way, was drama colum- , nist for the Bison two years ago, when he wrote "Faces and Footlights." He also served as Compositor of the paper for two years. , "Let's step beyond the proscenium, across the footlights, and into the world of reality" says Gerald Kendrick, form– er Harding student. That is exactly what Eile~n Snure and Editor Kathy Cone would have me do when they ask– ed that I write this column. My very sincere thanks to both of them for giv– ing me this opportunity to write once again for the :{larding Bison. In January twas given the opporlun– ity to report on and compare :ijarding and Kent at the national convention _of the Alpha Psi Omega, national honorary dramatic fraternity. It was an interest– ing task to compare the dramatic act– ivities of two schools so far removed from each other--one southern, one northern; one small, one large; one pri– vate, one state. Kathy has asked that I prepare a similar project for this paper. Here is the program of full length plays for the current year at Kent State University which is located in Kent, Ohio. It has an enrollment of five thou– sand. Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin The Curious Savage by John Patrick _Medea by Euripides As You Like lt by Shakespeare Candida by George Bernard Shaw Following is a list of the producti~ns given during a recent year at Harding. You Can't Take It With You by George Kaufman Othello by Shakespeare Ladies In Retirement Hearts and Blossoms (Operetta) ,Blythe Spirit by.Noel Coward As you see, each school has done five full length plays. B.oth have done a Shakespearean play. Both have done a play by another British author. Both have done two modern comedies. In ad– dition Harding has done an operetta while Kent did an ancient Greek trag– edy. I have seen all ten of these pro– ductions and in my opinion, with pos– sibly one exception, all are plays of ex– cellent quality-both by literary stand– ards as well as from the standpoint of acting. A comparison of audiences, I am afraid, judging from my past experience would find Harding trailing. Audiences at Kent tend to appreciate plays more · and show better manners. This is not saying, howe<rer, that all Harding aud– iences are bad. Some of the most appre– ciative audiences I have ever seen have come from here. The organization of the dramatic so– cieties on the two campuses are some- / what different. Harding has always had a unique set-up for its drama partici– pants. At Harding you work yourself up into. the highest honor by means of the dramatic club, the Campus Players and the National 'Alpha Psi Omega. With an idealistic set-up such as this, there is always an impetus to make peo– ple work. However, at Kent, tn.e im– petus comes from a different source. They have only the Alpha Psi for which to work. The difference is mainly in the students. At Kent many of the actors are actually training for jobs in the theatre while at Harding almost every– one participates in dramatics because he enjoys is. , Since arriving at Harding this last time I have been asked numerous ques– tions such as: "Are they better up then~ than we are?" 01Are their plays better?" The answer in both instances is NO. It would certainly be absurd to say that a place as large as Kent State does not have more talent than a place as small as Harding. They do have more talent, but I sincerely believe that the talent they have is no better than that that cnn bo found r ight herC' in Arknns:1s ott this eamp lts . A compa t·ison of t h e plnys given will show ·that~ neither·school has lleeu slack · in chooslug plays of qu_ality: In A many eases Kent has don e many of the same plays llal'Cling has done and vice versa. Hnrding· is one of th e finest and greatest schools I have eve1· been to. Cfbat's why I nlwuys wnn t to come back.) IIm·ding was founded to be of service to youth and l oclay that is the motto of the Harding Coll ege Campus Players. The d1·arnatic program hns full– fi lled th e needs of the students heJ'e Rnci has given a service that will not be equalled unywhere. It is typical of many people at Harding to think of it ns n place doing inferior -.vork in every field. It just isn't so. So my parting wot•d is take pride in what Hm·cling has nnd does and thank God YO\.t have it. fMrs~-Evan-ulre Heads Aloha Psi Mrs. Evan Ulrey, senior from Searcy, was elected Grano Dlrec· tor of the Eta Omf'gn Cast of Alpha Psi Omega, national dam· matic fraternity, :lt a meeting held Feb. 13. Other officers elected were Ei– let>n Sn ure, junior [rom Hamil· ton. Ont<trlo. Canada, Grand Stag!' Mnnagcr; Audrey McGuire, se ttior fr om Srarcy, Grand Busi– ness Manager; and Professor Evan Ulrey, sponsor. Other business discussed at the meeting included an Alpha Psi tea to be held Feb. 27. The next meeting of the group , is scheduled for Feb. 19 at 4:15 p.m. in the Seminar Room of the library.
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