Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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' Mr. Theater of Mary Baldwin Fletcher Collins, Jr., was o monoge- menr englrieer with Republic Aviation before he come to Mory Baldwin in 1946. That wos just the background he needed to manage the incredible coreer metonnorphosis which hos pro- duced Fletch the teacher of dramatic arts, the founder of theatres and the Virginia Alliance for the encouragement of new playwrights, the director of so many ploys he hod to stop count- ing. And, Dr. Collins, the scholar, author of three works, editor of a fourth: composer of mony songs for Shokespeore ' s ploys and for Yeats ' Words for Music, Perhaps; tronslotor of French dromo; arranger of medieval music-dromos. And, crusader for historic preservation as a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation and director of Historic Staunton Foundation; collector of folk songs; former, father of four sons, and husbond of another creorive genius, Morgoret Collins. For oil of these roles, Fletch has speciol qualities of faith and joy — faith in the ability of students and teachers, amateurs, and professionals, women and men, to tockle demanding projects, and joy, not only in the work itself, but also in doing it with others who love it, too. In the classroom Fletch proceeds upon the faith that students ore equolly copoble with their teachers of engoging in inquiry. Thus he rarely delivers a lec- ture. Instead, he poses a tantalizing question — or even on outrageous one — and encourages students to think with him, rother than memorize the facts or porrot scholarly assumptions. Fletch ' s alternate teaching strategy, perhaps even more successful, is the challenge in which students ore invited, or coerced if necessary, to take on projects presumptuous in dimensions and implications, and to take them on not alone, but in cooperation with him. Would you be able to work with me on . . .? he asks, fully owore that the challenge thus phrosed is difficult to scope, and that the student will learn in He established ' equal rights ' decades ago. the process of meeting it a variety of things in addition to the material being attacked; the savor of a terrifyingly dif- ficult challenge met, the joy of working cooperatively on o task of some significance, and most importontly, the confidence that is the product of achievement. Fletch ' s challenges demand the most: design and moke umpteen Sixteenth Century courtiers ' costumes; transcribe into modern notation the music of a Twelfth Century church drama and direct its first production since the Middle Ages; build a replica of o Seventeenth Century wove machine. Moreover, Fletch assumes thot his women students ore perfectly capable of dong anything they wont to do, including operoring power tools and manipulating electricol circuits. He established equal rights decades ago. In his work as founder and director of theatres, Fletch has extended to the Siaunron-Augusto community ond beyond his willingness to join in the pro- ject, his commitment to learning while doing, and his faith in the abilities of others. It was in this creed that he founded the Oak Grove Theater in 1954.

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Lucy Locklf (Cyndl Weeks) reflects on fhe deceprlon of her love, Mocheoih, ond the revenge she must toke to rid him of his other wife directed by Dr. VIrginIo Fronclsco

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gave it o home on his Pennyroyal Form, end direcred its early seasons. The theater continues for those who love theater work and those who enjoy the performances, and, likely as not, become involved in the work. Fletchs understanding of the nature of theater as a shared experience has been extended from the Oak Grove by the Waynesboro Players and by Theater Wogon of Staunton of which Fletch hos been president and co- producer with Mogoret, since its found- ing in the 1960s. The Wogon has as its mission the presentation of new plays, fronslotions, and orrongements of ploys by Virginia playwrights Under the Col- lins ' s direction. Theater Wagon has spread its creed from The Studio of their Beverley Street home to the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Abbey of St. Denoif-sur-Loire. The proof of its founders ' faith in the ability of Virginia playwrights to produce good plays (and of a compony composed of students, teachers, formers, and engineers, among others, to present them worth- ily) comes in the enthusiastic response of audiences and critics wherever Theater Wagon performs. In the books Fletch has published and the theaters he has founded, the significance lies beneath o surface glance at the numbers of copies ac- quired by libraries, or at the numbers and names of his successful productions and companies. His two books on medieval music-dromo have guided modern productions of a form of theater that hod olmsot entirely left the stoge for the library. His theaters in col- lege and community, and his understanding of what theoters con be, hove challenged audiences to new ex- periences in form and content; united love for old forms with eagerness to ex- plore new ones; and created and developed new talent in actors, ploywrights, technicians, and scholars. Above all, Fletch has stood for, and helped others to realize, a vision not on- ly of that uniquely social art form, the theater, but also of a life beyond the theater, composed of an ever-changing balance of the antique and the new, work and rest, laughter and music and wine and song, well-contrived buildings and uncontrived groves, art and craft, and books and friends. Virginia Francisco THE VISIT CAST Blind Mon, Athlete. Truci Driver Michael Lafferty Dlind Mon, Doctor Pat DiFlorio Frou Wechsler Ellen Sotterwhite Frou Durgomoster, Frou Vogel, Morgoret Stiffler Reporter Robin Williams Pointer Shoron Monger Burgomaster Fred Hays Teocher LeAnne Williamson Anton Schill Robert Jobin Pastor Phil Moron Stotion Moster Chorles Culbertson Claire Zochonossion Corolyn Bennett Pedro, Comero Man Nick Argos Policeman Bob Wright Moxine Beth Briggs Frou Schill Trudy Rickmon Charlotte Schill Cyndi Weeks Ottilie Schill Suson Seymour Claire Zachonossian (Corolyn Bennett) and Anton Schill (Robert Jobin) spend o mornen discussing old times before o useless life will come to an end. ' Directed by Dr. Fronk Southerington