Page 3 - 1979 VES Meteor

uary 22
'
February 22, 1979
THE METEOR
3
KHAM
BY T. W . BAUER
The Seminary has a high
nging
!d not, as ol
:lemerit track >demerits
e been in the for several
uld like and wish
~d
•to
eor
for $3.50 and J113il
boarding
some thirty girls present which life and its falsehoods. Albee presentation of excellent works;
•
ishops'
1• n Eating and Drinking
an~
drown in a sewer of irrelevant
information we utterly neglect provide a "civilizing id!:.~ence brings into "The American both by their own company and
From the Cha lain
Albee Directs
Albee
BY jEFF MARKHAM
The curtain falls, the house
lights come up, and a sigh of relief springs from the audience; an Alb~e production has been
presented with unprecedented excellence.
The scene was Lynchburg College, and the occasion was "Albee Directs Albee," easily the
meditation . Gliding bene- volently towards the alien voice, his ankle length cappa nigra ($277.00 at J. Wippel Co., Ltd.) billowed majestically.
"Yes, my dear?" The voice reeked of Christian charity.
nation prefers T.V. nostalgia to
facing squarely its ciritical
problems of racial, economic
and cultural strife; our deepest
religious heritage is neglected by
self-centered pragmatists,
be locked up in there anyhow?" The unanswered question has echoed for twenty years in the
recesses of my memory. Although stude nt s (and
faculty) at VES ask themselves similar questions in humorous cynicism or fits of anti-parental hostility, the shock and humiliation of having an
OUTSIDER ask such a thing would be a fitting laxative for our collective ego. At VES we live in a privileged, fish-bowl world as unreal as that of any seminary. We like to think of ourselves as a spartan citadel where youth is
merchandized as titilating
cultish experience. In summary;
we exist in a moral vacuum; we
though treated as a senile prune,
schools. At Rugby, there are impowers the most insight into reputation through the
Excellence
"Absurdist" works with lines such as "My you look uncom- fortable! Would you like to take off your dress?"
The best monologue in the
play occurs when the American
Dream (the Hollywood "Mid-
western" boy ideal) appears to
explain why he can't love. The
play ends with everyone
achieving satisfaction, but with ••
rum em1nenr.
The second play, "The Zoo Story", (again too lengthy for a plot summary) deals with the middle class' ignorance and indifference towards the down
trodden.
The dialogue between Jerry and Peter is pure genius, dealing with such complexities as love and God. One example of this dialogue is the beautiful explanation by Jerry of the co- existance of love with hate. Jerry also explains how he tried to first
love humanity by trying to love a simple dog. By expressing the cruelty of the anima l, Albee again shows the cruelty of man.
God is presented, in the words of Tennessee Williams, as the "Senile Delinquent" who cares not nor makes the attempt to
help man.
The mood of Albee's plays has
been summed up by Martin Esslin, "For the dignity of man lies in his ability to face reality in all its senselessness; to accept it freely without fear, without
illusions - and to laugh at it!" In closing, all are encouraged
to see the next production presented at Lynchburg. From previously viewed plays at L.C., one can see that their Drama department is building a fine
the deepest feelings of the human and something to strive for Dream" the same modern drama by others.
bred to manhood's full stature; or, in student terms, as enduring indentured servitude leading to
the sportin' life at a choice college followed by guaranteed membership in the Country
Gentry establishment.
We meed a few outsiders looking in to tell us that we are all prisoners serving time; locked up by the narrow conceptions of our socio-economic class viewpoint; imprisoned by the unarticulated demands of national vested interests, family ambitions, and personal fantasies of the "good life." The
"American Dream" excoriated
so deliciously by Ed Albee is,
alas, alive and well at VES,
infecting us with a smug, self- Speaking Union sends us an in every play to (in his words) indulgent arrogance that deludes Englishman from one of the spotlight "Man's attempts to
us into believing that this Indian finest schools in Great Britain- make sense for himself out of his entswas separating the peaceful repose of summer of conservative Rugby. Bill Krarup arrived on senseless position in a world that
wrought iron fence securely
ith a an · the tree lined cloister from the prosperity and repressive the fifth of January to what he makes no sense."
The usuallr clamor of mixed ethnic life on
platitude in which our society considered to be a warm welcome The two productions, "The
>tal dropped
!thing SIU· e happened, !he arrival o1 .'.armey ha~
rn on the •
st, mneteen was adopted on October
of six weeki. s aged to live
weight (~a
rse,
le!ted. Mr. .s his nigh~
mashin g
Manhattan's West Side. The
wide eyed child pressed her
brown cheeks between the bars;
one hand holding a drooling
sibling, the other clasping a
buttonless topcoat against the what that term means, because city wind.
"Hey man!" she said.
One of my colleagues turned
from his post-Evensong confusion and decline; our
here at VES. American Dream" and "The Zoo Bill (age 17 ) is from Story" featured Albee's hand-
currently wallows is something akin to reality.
We are, in Sam Shoemaker's phrase, "Sons of Privilege" who don't have the foggiest notion of
Leicesterchire, England and is
one of three children. He
picked actors, who put across his plays with cruel precision.
our world is so narrow and parochial. Our Western Society is plunging into a period of
squash .
Since his arrival, he has been
followed around by VES students trying to feign an English accent. Bill's response to all this was, "they're getting better, I can almost tell when
they're trying to fake the accent now."
One of the interesting comparsions he has made is between the English boarding
striving for satisfaction. A plot summary would be far too lengthy for the space alloted, however, some of the outstand-
ing themes will be dealt with. Albee's simple dialogue allows the complexities of this play to stand out vividly. The
character, Mommy and Daddy, are the typical WASP couple with the outspoken wife and the reclusive husband. Grandma,
distorted into superficial know- "Hey,Man!Whatyoudotoall nothing chauvinism, or
heart; we doggedly pursue "good old ways" of education, never really questioning their ultimate purpose. Somebody has to ask us why we are in this prison! Are
you and I doing anything more at VES than playing shuffle- board on the deck of the Titanic?
among 400 other boarders." hilarity viewed in other (Continued on page 8)
Since 1977 Established for the Soul
•
Purpose of Nourishing
V.ES
BY WILD BILL FRALIN
VES boys are &$111'•¢!11. Can
this be true? In the opinions of
Seven Hill girls, obtained in a
recent poll, show it must be. The •
responses were m extremes between like and dislike of the VES "studs."
The most popular of the responses centered around the notion that VES boys are "cute, nice" etc. However, many girls stated that VES boys are real losers expressed in their
comments such as "crude, stuck-
up ,
One frequently encountered question by VES boys was "Why do all the Seven Hills girls wear sweaters around their necks
instead of putting them on?" One VES boys' answer was "Its simple; they are too cold
already."
With all this mutual respect,
the only saving grace to be found was one Seven Hills girl's response, "all VES boys are lacking, except for third Jett boarders."
HOW TRUElll
ESU STUDENT
best drama presented to the Lynchburg area in two years.
For those who are unfamiliar This year, the English with Albee's works, he attempts
BY jEFF MARKHAM
The first play, "The American summer", and also enjoys upper-middle class and their
professes to be "somewhat of a
tennis freak during the Dream", deals with America's
schools and U.S.
Seven Hills
VES Poll
illiterate, and
vuglar Knowing that the VES
animals.
opinion of Seven Hills girls
would be equally flattering, this reporter ran a poll to realize just this. Most VES boys agreed that the Seven Hills crowd would make excellent models for L.L. Bean. Other comments ranged from ugly to beautiful, stupid to intelligent, stuck up to flirts.
But, all agreed they are the paragons of prepdom.