Page 27 - 1968 VES Meteor

Drama Experiment •
atacoiDhs Arena
n
by Richard VVard
Again experimenting in arena
staging, the VES Drama Society presented on Nov. 22, 23, and 27, Nelson Bond's adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
The presentation of this dra- matic reading on the smallest stage in the school's theatrical.
ball history (in the basement of Ran- dolph) is the latest development of a two year digression from the conventional procenium ar- rangement with stage and audi- ence facing each other on one side. Instead Director Gates De- hart has employed a modified arena with the stage exposed on
three sides.
Although he plans to produce
additional plays in the cata- combs, Dehart's use of the base- ment room came about as a re-
tsult of an accidental scheduling conBict for the little gym. Last year Dehart used a modified arena stage for his production of •Aria Da Capo" in the little gym where VES first saw this new theater form several years ago.
Dehart's attributes much of Drama Society's enthusiasm the arena form to produc-
they have seen at the The- Lobby, a small arena stage in Washington. The stage at The- ater Lobby, a former carriage is only slightly larger the new one in the cata-
Impact of Int-tmacy
The problems and assets of close to an audience are almost equally balanced. The in- timacy gives an actor the means to convey extremely subtle mes- sages. Nearness also multiplies the impact of a well-played part and by the same token, of a
poorl}'acted part.
If the director wishes to ma-
terialize a realistic situation, he must pay attention to every de-
ter", Dehart remarked. "I feel that a play area can have a char- acter of its own, and the Cata- combs certainly has a distinct
personality, well-suited for inti- mate theatre." This philosophy of closeness is based on a rapport between actors and audience which seems to be possible in the Catacombs.
No Star Figure
Since Animal Farm was a
modified type of dramatic read- ing, each actor served as a ma- jor character, narrator, and sev- eral walk-cins. Major and Na- poleon, two pig rulers, were per-
formed by Coleman Alderson, Boxer, a somewhat simple, but diligent horse, by Macky Mc- Cleary; Molly, a coquettish young mare, by Mrs. Diana
Scholl; Benjamin, a cynical don- key, by Mike Barksdale; Clover, a motherly mare, by Mrs. Freda Blake; Squealer, an articulate young porker, by Bill Pully; and Mr. Jones, a tyrannical farmer, by Bill Thorp.
EARLY ACCEPTANCE DECISIONS
University of Virginia: Frank Johnson
James Sutherland University of North
Carolina:
Lee Lumpkin Chris McLendon John Pope
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
Ned Cleland
The cast of ANIMAL FARM does its thing in the catacombs arena.
~chool's .urriculuiD Ex '• Three New .ourses ffered
=:r.o:elbr relate. Street.
10me of hb vut VES lmowledp to hll ltudent at
do poorly in academics because
they and their teachers are un-
able to communicate with one
another. Thus, as Palomares
pointed out, the aim of the
group is to increase a child's
ability and learning through a to Snd a peam•=•t uea for personal relationship with him. bridle playas.
jor changes in size and format. With dimensions increased to 8~ by 1H inches, the book will
may substitute informal shots for the usual formal senior pictures. With more formal pictures per page than before, the underclass
by Robert VVise
The current VES curriculum
offers three new courses in the diverse fields of business and the fine arts.
Both Studio Art, an extra-cur- ricular course taught by James Hopkins, head of the English de- partment, and Music Apprecia- tion, instructed by Norman Blake, history teacher and direc- tor of music, are the first success- ful offerings by the school in the
fine arts. In another extra-cur- ricular activity, Robert Lee, math instructor and director of ath- letics, conducts two large sec- tions of an investment club.
Hopkiil's art group were outside almost every session this fall. Each student selected a subject for composition in charcoal or ink. With the changing season they are spending more time in the studio, using water colors and oils. Selected drawiiigs by the group are on display in room
1969 Yearbook To Alter Size, Appearance; Editors Expect Other Changes, May Delivery
The 1969 Vestige, the VES book will occur about May 20. yearbook, will include three ma- Sutherland also said the book
-
in their posts. Godfrey Cheshire, Charles Green, and Tommy Thomson complete the photog- raphy department.
New members of the copy de-
partment include Bill Thorp and
grow to 144 pages. Last year's 7~ 136 pages. Thirdly, the introduc-
tion, conclusion, and senior sec-
tion of the new book will appear
on a different type of paper, current staff has added several kins continues to work as Fac- called "contemporare." new members. Editor-in-Chief ulty Advisor with assistance this
According to Editor James Sutherland, as well as Associate year from Bennett Carr, a new
tail. On the procenium stage the by 1~ inch Vestige contained sections will add more pages of Lee Lumpkin, while novices
problem is projecting the image
to the audience; in the arena one
must guard against the audi-
ence's detecting more than is de- sired.
"The grubbiness of the base- ment room really gives it charac-
Maclison Street Project
candid shots as well.
In addition to a complete car-
Taylor Putney, Fielding Jones, and Steve Johnson. each serve in several capacities. James Hop-
Sutherland, distribution of the
Editor Jeb Brown are veterans
master.
ry-over of last year's editors, the
•• I
Fifteen VES students are tu- toring underprivileged children as volunteers at the Madison Street Project downtown.
The Madison Street House (officially "Kum-ba-yah") is an old home which has been reno- vated into a center for youth in the vicinity. This is the second year VES students have aided
the three-year-old project. Under the direction of Ricardo Palomares, Spanish and history master, the students and Mrs. Diana Scholl, a faculty wife, are instructing fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in either
math, English, reading, social studies, or science. Each tutor spends an hour a week with his pupil.
"Achievement, to say the
least," was Sophomore Mike Barksdale's comment on what the VES boys gain from the
project. "Where else do we get to help someone who really needs to be helped?" he con- tinued. "We also enjoy the inno- cence of the children who are not
yet hardened to the world."
All of the children have had difficulty in their inter - city schools. The coordinators of this project feel that these students
"We have long waited to give
people a chance to express them-
selves in music and in art, and
to receive some knowledge of
the business world," Headmaster M-113. William Wyatt commented, as
he explained the'new addition . The nine boys participating in
· In Music Appreciation, Blake is providing a survey of musical development since the Classical Greek era. In addition to listen- ing to many selections of re- corded music, the students have heard Blake perform examples of Baroque music at the First Pres- byterian Church. Seniors Ned Cleland and Wooty Peebles have
also shown the class the me-
chanics and techniques involved
in playing their respective instru-
ments, the trumpet and clarinet. Continued on pap 4, column 4
Publications Room, Lounge Constructed
by Carey Murphy
A lounge for underclassmen and a permanent publications room are new additions to the basement of Randolph since the term began.
The Administration added the new lounge because they felt the original pool room was inade-
quate and more facilities should be available to underclassmen. The new room, located in the old storage portion of the cata- combs, contains a pool table and a ping-pong table. The old pool table is now part of the senior lounge.
Another addition is a penna- nent publications room. In pre- vious years the production of the newspaper and yearbook came out of classrooms or the base-· ment of the chapel.
Future building plans call for a third pool table and better ventilation for the basement of Randolph, according to Head- master W illiam Wyatt. The school also hopes to weather- proof the rea:eatl.on roam ad