Alcala 1958

'

6 M © Vadis? 9 c WJhitlierWhi ther ? 9 By FR. LEO F. LANP H1ER , M .A . Ph ilo soph yDep ar tm en t Col lege fo r Men S IR CEDRICHARD WI CKErece ntly 1 ma de the shr ewd but poi gna nt obs erv ati ontha t wha t we wer e see­ in g in the theatre tod ay was the 'Quo or ' hither ther?' I , . il sophy e artment llege S ICKE tl t ation - ai ent, l , s , le. i nces, , l . ic s s t e. st i s , s, " l t " le. e i te ay l , is logically justed, . ingly poses . ige , s ntly es e ll s, . l • lished l e tly . i s would run ent ert ainment,not of a rela xed peo ple , but of a ten se, tau t pe op le. Au die nc es,he says , must ac he to see some ni ce peo ple who lik e eac h oth er. Si r Ce dr ic mis ses a "sense of ga iety" in the the atr e. The two big ge st hits in the thea tre an d in the mo vie stod ay, he say s, are "My Fa ir La dy"and "Around the Wor ld in Eig hty Da ys. " Bot h abo ut nic e pe op le.

Is col leg e thea tre try ing to emula te the Bro adw ay trend of the ug ly, sordid situa­ tio n? Th is seems to be the era of the psy cho log ica llyma lad just ed,both on Broad­ wa y and of f. Se em ing ly for pur pos es of pr est ige alone, the cam pu s the atre too fre que ntly off ers Ten nes seeWi lliams ,Wil ­ liam Inge or Art hur Mi ller . It wou ld ha ve to be a long- and wel l-es tab lish edco lle ge gro up that cou ld con sist ently attr act audi­ en ces to see thes e pla ys. A new dramati c gro upof col leg ian s woul d run up a fin an cia l de fic it on eve n the best of the se pla ys, a de fic it that would frus trat e the mo st ea ge r of bus ine ss adv iser s. Au die nc es sim ply do no t en joy the unpleas ant, esp eci ally whe n pre sen ted by co llege stud ents , whose lif e and en er gy wou ld seem to warr ant an off eri ng pac ked with Si r Cedr ic's rej uv ena ting"s en se of ga iet y." Audie nce swi ll not retur n to se e fur the rpre sent ationsby a gro up kno wn fo r its ultr a-se riou spsy cho log ica ldrama s. In the firs t pla ce, it ver y rar ely happ en s that a col leg egro up has the talen t or trai n­ in g tha t woul d do jus tice to the for emost ser iou s dram atist s, suc h as An derson , O'Ne ill, Sherwo od. Se ldom, if ever, cou ld co llege acto rs eff ec t the purga tion tha t is the ess ent ial fact or of ev er y tru e tra ge dy . 1 " An Actor Stak es His Claim ," Th eat re Ar ts, Feb ., 1958 , p. 66. 43 - - - ge - atic cial i it , i it te i es i s. i nces l j ant, al y te ts, gy l ing i 's e ating e y." i nces l r ations b -s rious logical s. , el ens e - ti ost i s atists, s , il , od. , l t tion i l gedy. I " , tre ts, ., ,

.

I

FR. LANPHIER