Calvin College - Prism Yearbook (Grand Rapids, MI)

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The Emperor's New Clothes The stuff of which fairy tales are made, taken from the page, and put on the stageg costumes, colorful, ex- citing: this was the 1983 Thespian Children's Produc- tion of The Emperor's New Clothes. Director Loren Gunnink, Calvin alumnus and Gezon Auditorium Manager, created happiness and fun for children of all ages as he staged this familiar story written by Charlotte Chorpenning. With the help of twenty Thespian actors, twenty Thespian crewmen, and two Thespian designers, the tale came alive. And the children laughed! The children in the story laugh But why? asks the Emperor fDavid Van Dykel. He does not understand, for he believes he sees what in fact he does not see: that is, his clothes. So he prances about in his Hundermost garment of all, admiring his non-attire. His royal Weavers, with the help of two energetic vagabonds QMary Boerman and Tom Leenstral, have played a great joke on their Emperor. In doing so, they've also tricked his right-hand man and their most bitter enemy CJeff Nyhoffl, finally putting him in his place. Good humor rules the day - even the Empress fDawn Langejansl is amused - and the vagabonds have shown that even people in high places put their pants on one leg at a time. ...4 The E1nperor's New Clothes 19

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The Childrens Hour Dealing with lies and rumor is a timeless problem for man. The Children's Hour, written by Lillian Hellman, directed by James Korf, and presented as the 1983 Spring Thespian Production, captures and examines this con- flict. The play illustrates through the lives of teachers and their students how the careers, hopes, and lives of individuals can be destroyed simply by the viciousness of the tongue. In the story, two young teachers, Karen Wright fAnn Primusl and Martha Dobie CHeidi De Stigterl, begin and run the Wright-Dobie School for Girls. While they were excited about education and were 18 The Children's Hour good to their students, a new girl, Mary Tilford CKaren Erskinel who hated school and teachers, came to live at the school. Mary's hate made her vicious and made her tell lies. So little Mary made up stories about Karen and Martha because she wanted to hurt them. She told these stories to her grandmother lSusan Gortl who was a wealthy, well-respected woman and an in- fluential supporter of the school. She believed the lies that Mary told her. Because of her influence, the Wright-Dobie School for Girls closed, and the lives of Karen Wright and Martha Dobie were destroyed.

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I? 'Ng 20 Spring Arts Feslibal