THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1969
or ema Depicts. Hillbilly Life
By DENISE DEMONG
Collegian Staff Writer
The semi -starvation, shift
lessness and squalor of a
Georgia back-woods family
are dramaticized in "Tobacco
Road," the second production
of the Pennsylvania State
Festival Theatre season. The
famous comedy-drama will be
presented July 16-20 and 22-
26 at the Playhouse Theatre.
The current production,
T h,o r ton Wilder's "Our
Town," will continue through
this Saturday.
The two are among, si x
plays to be presented during
the 1969 season, based on the
theme, "Made im USA. A
Summer of American Dra
ma." The plays, which include
a series of old favorites and
one group of avant-garde pro
ductions, have been selected
for their historic, geographic
and thematic diversity.
Introducing the season in
the theatre playbill, William
H. Allison, head of the De
partment of Theatre Arts,
writes, "A recent Theatre
Conference report stated that
an indigenous American thea
tre does not exist, since the
main body of our theatre is
derived from European thea
tre. We hope that this sum
mer's selection of plays in
professional production will
prove a pleasant contradiction
of this indictment."
"Tobacco Road," Jack Kirk
land's dramatization of th e
Erskine Caldwell novel, pre
sents what director Perry
Bruskin terms "a uniquely
American character" the hill
billy. The central figure is
Jester Lester, the lazy, flea
bitten, turnip-chewing Geor
gia farmer.
He a n d his degenerating
family are portrayed in their
indifference to their sur
roundings and in their inef
fectual struggle to hang on
to their property. Originally
inf , nripd as a romnassionate
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social document, the play has
long been appreciated as com
edy by audiences unprepared
for the speech and attitudes
of the characters.
Bruskin intends to combine
theatrical realism and natur
alism to help the comic re
quirements of the play, while
maintaining the "truth and
beauty" of the characters.
The play, a slow-starter in
New York in 1033, went on to
a then record-breaking 3.180
Broadway performances dur
ing seven and a half years.
Its success was increased
tremendously when road
company productions were
banned or censored in Chi
cago, Detroit, St. Paul, Ra
leiah, and Boston. Eminent
writers, including Edgar Lee
Masters, supported the play,
and Mrs. Franklin D. Roose
velt endorsed it as "a play
for sober-minded people in
terested in better social con
ditions."
Max Gulak, who plays Mr.
Webb in "Our Town," will
appear as teeter Lester in the
Festival Theatre production.
Gulak is a bi-lingual a ct or
who has performed on the
French stage, radio, and
screen as well as in numerous
off-Broad way produc
tions and Festival Theatre
shows in 'previous seasons.
Kate Wilkinson, Mrs. Gibbs
in "Our Town," will portray
Ada Lester, Jeeter's wife.
Christopher Murney will be
seen as Dude Lester, Ellen
Greenfield as Ellie May, Gra
yce Grant as Grandma Lester
and Paul Villani as Lov Ben
sey. Also returning from "Our
To wn" are Joseph Warren,
Leslie Cass, Barrie Younfel
low, William Swetland and
Jim Hummert.
The Festival Theatre, now
in its twelfth season, is the
Equity stage company opera
ting during the summer un
der the sponsorship of the De
partment of Theatre Arts.
Sears
THE DAILY CrLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
I J• ,
All productions by the 100-
member company are pre
sented at the Playhouse and
Pavilion Theatres. Until six
years ago, they were present
ed in a nearby barn play
house.
The rest of the season's of
ferings include ''Collision
Course," which consists of
twelve playlets by contem
porary playwrights; Richard
son and Berney's fantasy,
"Dark of the Moon;" Kauf
man and Hart's comedy, "You
DCC Reassures Parents
It's almost like saving "yes" to the old
USO poster with the wide-eyed young soldier
sitting in the fox-hole pleading: "Does Any
one Knov I'm Here?"
The University's Division of Counseling
has devised a special program designed to
assure parents watching their sons and
daughters go off to college for the first time
that. "Yes. there is someone who knows
they're here."
"A major concern of these parents is
that their children will become just another
number or statistic among 25.000 numbers
and statistics." reports Dan T. Peterman, as
sistant director of the DOC and coordinator
of a recent survey seeking to evaluate the
role of counseling.
To offset this concern, Penn State de
cided the only way was to let the parents
see the University "as it is," to counsel par
ents as well as the students.
So, each summer, each parent is given
the opportunity to come to Penn State for
one day prior to his offspring's first term
and examine the University from head to toe.
"I think our greatest success in this ven
ture is showing the parents that someone
cares about their youngsters at Penn State,
that the University isn't just a dehumanized
diploma factory, but a place where a student
can have someone to turn to when he's hav
ing troubles," says Peterman. "I think the
parents leave Penn State with a much more
comfortable attitude toward the University."
Peterman bases his conclusions on a sur
vey of 214 families who accompanied their
youngsters to a pre-registration testing and
counseling session last summer.
$2.21
230 W. PHONE STORE HOUR:
Mon. and FRI. 9:00 to S 9:00 P.M
COLLEGE AVE , . 238-2451 TUE., WED., THURS. and SAT
—9:00 to 5:30 P.M.
Can't Take it With You" and
"The Drunkard," an 1844
temperance melodrama by W.
H. Smith and an anonymous
"Gentleman."
University students arc en
titled to a special 5.50 admis
sion to "preview nights."
which are the night preced
ing each opening. The dates
for the remaining previews
are July 15 for 'Tobacco
Road." July 22 for "Collision
Course." Aug. 5 for "Dark of
the Moon," Aug. 19 for "You
During their visit, the parents met with
representatives from the staffs of DOC. Of
fice of the Dean of Students, and the Deans
of the colleges to which students were ad
mitted.
In addition to information on the aca-1
demic organization and the social milieu.
of the University, each parent received data )
enabling him to compare his youngster'sl
standing with the rest of the freshman class.
i
An interest profile and a prediction of aca-1
donne performance was also prepared for,
each student.
Response to the program, Peterman
found, was overwhelmingly favorable. Fol-1
lowing the counseling day, both mothers and
fathers reported feeling increasingly corn-I
fortable in their role as parents. and more
confident of their children's capacities to deal]
successfully with college.
In the area of educational performance,
parents indicated that counseling had helped
them adjust to the idea that their children
were likely to earn lower grades than they,
had in ,high school. 1
Fathers also became less inclined to view!
interruption of college as an effective inter-'
vention for a student in academic troubles,'
possibly because of their increasing confi
dence that their children would seek help if
problems arose.
There was a strong shift among parents]
toward a greater tolerance for program:
changes of their sons or daughters, along ;
with less concern about the job-getting po-1
tential of their children, even if they should'
shift toward liberal arts types of programs.
1.75x14 Tubeless Blackwall Crusader
Can't Take it With You" and
Sept. 2 for "The Drunkard."
Student admission to a 1 1
other performances is $1.50.1
Ticket prices for others area
$2.75 Tuesdays through Fri-,
days; $3.25 Saturdays, an d:
$2.25 Sundays.
Curtain time is 8:30 p.m.
for all performances. Reser-'
vations may be made at the
Festival Theatre Box Office,',
103 Arts Building: or by i
phoning the appropriate thea-;
tre.
Sears
3 DAY SALE
• THUR.
• FRI.
•SAT.
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$2.20
F.E.T.
Lt. •
Summer Human
- Relations Lab To Be
4- 1 -
;i. Held July 18-20 1969'
-
Human Relations training (also
known as sensitivity or t-groups)
is designed to improve the partici
pant's awareness, communication,
and leadership skills through a
group experience. It provides an
opportunity to increase self-aware
ness, awareness of other people,
practice new ways of behaving, and
learning how to learn with other
students, faculty, and staff.
• Applications may be
obtained at
202 Hetzel Union Building
*Lab conditional upon student
response.
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