:THURSDAY. JULY 12. 1962
'swum Behind the News aummnummummunnumummumiumumiumannum
Forces at
In American
By WALTER H. WALTERS -
Head of the Department . of Theatre Arts
It is a paradox that in -most
countilei, usually smaller than
ours, the theatre is relatively
decentralized, while 'in the
United States, one city domi
nates the theatre scene. A se
qUence of circumstances, how
ever, bodes well in our coun
try for more widespread devel-
Opment of theatre, bringing
fine theatre to Many.
Thp various summer theatres,
particularly - those in the East
where most are located,. un.-
doUbtedly had something to do
with the westward develop
ment. Summer theatres are
quick operations in festive sur
roundings •which take advan
• tage-of the off-season in New
• York - for employment of pro
• feisional actors and directors.
'Straw Hat' Treads
J ..
g lln the ear ly . dayi on the
straw hat or citronella circuit,
popular tried and true plays
Which could be prepared quick
ly were' offered. More recently
music tents have•become popu
lar; 'stars are touring in pack
age shows in which sets and
supporting roles are provided
by the various theatres, and
happily, new plays are now
being given a pre-New 'York
•
tearing.
The Broadway- theatre itself
it indirectly responsible for the
rise of the; lively arid vigoi•ous
Off-Broadway movement. In
terms of . unpretentiousness,
Off-Broadway theatres are
Closer to their summer theatre
Cousins. In terms of content
and types of plays, they have
gradually assumed a leader
ship in developing new play
wrights, actors and directors.
Off-Broadway Contributions
1 ! The Off-Broadway theatre
movement represents a trend
I- against the. high cost of Broad
way .productions, against the
nerve-wracking demand for
g hits and against the liMited
E opportunity for actors, direc-
E tors and designers in the rela
€ tively few major Broadway
Itheatres. Probably its most im
portant contribution has been
1 the development - of first rate
= playwrights, whether they are
g new or established writers,
-whose works could not have
'had a hearing in the commer
, - -
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Work
Theatre
cial "framework of the Broad
way
PI
stage.•
Another and- simultaneous Et .
force at work in the land is
the theatre in colleges and uni- &.-
versities. The growth of the
theatre, programs in these in
stitutions
EP.
has_mushroomed• in
to
EE
a large' netittork in approxi
mately 500 colleges and uni
versities. It is here that the best
facilities in the country can be E•E
found, the finest technical re
sources are available and -the =
greatest variety of plays is pre
sented.
=
Regional and community
theatres in Cleveland, Pitts
burgh,:
Dallas, Houslon, San
Francisco and Washington are ES
increasingly influential on the
American theatre scene. Ama
teur productions in high a-*
schools, colleges and commu
nity theatres amount to more ES
than 150,000 productions per
yeak as estimated by one play
brokerniltne l
In addition to the established
programs in colleges and uni
versities,
there are signs of the
merging of professional and
educational interests. Prince
ton University and the Univer
sity of Minnesota will have an g.
affiliation with the new Ty
rone
Guthrie Theatre in Minne
apolis. - •
Penn Stale Developments
Penn State has combined
professional and educational E_
theatre for five summers and
hopes to use guest artists/who El
work with students during the
fall-winter-spring session in P.
the future. Many schools use a
guest or two in a few major EL- -
productions every year, though
not on a regular basis. •
Forces and counter forces
are at work, and while the long
range significance of all this a
hectic activity is hard to inter-
pret, inevitably the economic
strangulation on Broadway, the
increase in physical facilities §
across the country, the irn
portanCe of educational thea
tre and increased audience de
mands and interests will bring EL.'
a need for greater cooperation
of trained professional and stu
dent artists. In turn, this E
growth and expansion is likely
to have profound consequences = _
on the character and content of E•
the theatre of the future in
America and abroad.
SUMMER COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PENNSYLVANIA
Post-Gazette Explores 'Dispute'
A news article on a "potential-'symbolic of an administration thatiG. Brickwedde, dean of the Cot
ly damaging argument over aca-jhas failed to prevent trouble. inilege. of Chemistry and Physics,
demic power" which-is "matching / the physics department and alsoiwha said the argument was over
faculty against administration' ;trouble 'elsewhere, for example inv "whether the dean has the right
at the University appeared in thelthe loss of accreditation of Penn to review 'recommendations - of the
June 29 issue of the Pittsburgh'State's journalism and architec-/department head and make any
Post-Gaiette. tune departments." 'modifications, no matter how rare
The article by staff writer Her- ! The article outlined variousrand how slight."
bent G. Stein said that the argu- ; campus interpretations of these WALKER WAS quoted earlier
ment's dimensions are not yetl academic problems. Discussing the /
clear, iphysics department, the article as saying:
"At the moment," Stein wrote, : quoted Walker: '"lt is characteristic of college
"the center of the dispute is the!
"We have had a dean and a. de-; f aculties that they do sound off.
head of. the physics department,"
:partment head who have been But I don't like people to argue
John A. Sauer, who resigned et
!acting like a pair of angry cats."to the point where they hurt the
Walker referred to Ferdinand University "
fective July 1 as department head. l
President Eric A. Walker ac -:1
cepted the resignation-:of Sauer, ''
who will remain at tli& Univer-1
sity as a professor of physics. /
SAUER'S SUPPORTERS , among:I
the faculty and graduate students!'
are protesting in petitions to the
administration, newspapers and
legislators that he was "fired for
fighting too hard with those over'
him for those under him," the,
article said.
These people insist, the report'
continues, that "this argument is
Drought-
(Continued from page three)
the local area, but some areas
have reported considerably more.'
More than seven inches of rain
fell last month in Philadelphia,.
but much of the land in the north
ern and western suburbs is .
parched dry.
Little or no steady rain is like
ly here during the next four or
five days, but showers are pos
sible today and again Sunday.
Temperatures should remain
warm. It will become somewhat
drier tomorrow, but increasing
:humidity is forecast for the week
end.
A high of 88 is forecast for to
day, and a high of 84ts seen .for
tomorrow. •
John Milton used 8,000 differ
ent words in his poem "Paradise
:Lost." C;.
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