Morehead State University - Raconteur Yearbook (Morehead, KY)

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VOICES IN THE RAIN drew on actor's true emotions. Laughter to Tears Laughter to Tears JOHN FLAVELL he 1985-86 theatre season a MSU featured a comedy, . musical, a Tony award winning drama, and a collec tion of short plays by Edwar Albee. Also, there was a col lection of plays written and directed by MS theatre students and implemented by Dr Travis Lockhart, theatre coordinator. The season opened with GREATE' TUNA, a satirical comedy about the politica and moral discrepancies of a fictitious smal town in Texas. The play revolves around . day in the lives of the citizens of Tuna Texas. This town consists of conservativ. citizens participating in activities rangin from book-burning to the Ku Klux Klan. GREATER TUNA ran seven nights, one night as a special performance during homecoming activities, in the Kibbey Theatre. THREE BY ALBEE was the second serie of plays to be performed. Written by Ed ward Albee, these plays dealt with the ver abstract and proved challenging to unders- tand. Each was directed by a different stu- dent director. The first, HSandbox, centered around a family's day at the beach. The characters Mommy and Daddy, pro- trayed by Kelli D. Whitt Callahan and Doug Salisbury, deposit Grandma in a sandbox while they talk of nonsense. Grandma, por- trayed by Antoinette C. Marshall, tells the audience her life story while a beach bum flexes his muscles in the background. Over-bearing Mommy and wimpy Daddy then announce that it is Htime for Grand- ma. She then buries herself in the sandbox while the beach bum acts as the angel of death. iiZoo Story, which is the longest of Albeeis creations, is a story about two men - Jerry and Peter - engaged in a conver- sation on a park bench one Sunday after- noon. Jerry tTom Staffordi is crazy and wants to tell Peter about his trip to the zoo. Jerryis mind wanders, however, and he winds up telling Peter tJeffrey C. Caswelli his life story. Peter is unattentive and quite irritated by Jerry's manner. In the end, Jerry picks a fight with Peter and Peter is forced to stab Jerry. HAmerican Dream was the last of the Albee stories. Once again, Mommy, Daddy and Grandma were featured. Kelli Callahan portrayed Mommy and Edward Figgins played Daddy. The feisty Grandma was played by Angela Portman. Tara Lail played the seductive Mrs. Barker and David Souder played the American Dream. This play was perhaps the most difficult to understand. The actors and actresses were superb in their presentation of the American dream gone sour. THE ELEPHANT MAN, written by Ber- nard Pomerance, was set in Victorian Lon-

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EDITORiS NOTE: All quotes are from private interviews with people on cam- pus. The views stated here do not necessarily reflect those of the RACONTEUR staff. There are many lifestyles that we are unaware of and don't know much about. College life at Morehead State University opens doors to many new experiences such as meeting new people, becoming a mature, responsible adult, establishing your independence and discovering and ex- ploring your identity. Every individual ex- periences these and many more during their stay at MSU. Every individual chooses a different lifestyle such as being sup- ported financially by parents, or moving out of the house and supporting themselves during college. Some people marry before or during their years at Morehead while others date informally and create many lasting friendships. Others form relationships with people of other cultures, races and religions while some Choose strong friendships. Still others prefer relationships with people of the op- posite sex while some choose relationships with the same sex. This last Choice in lifestyles is, perhaps, the most controver- sial today and is based on an individualis perception of the nature of relationships. The emphasis in this last lifestyle, as in all, is choice. The preference for a homosexual or heterosexual relationship is entirely the individuals choice. As with many colleges and universities across the country, Morehead State University has in- dividuals who have made both of these choices. The heterosexual relationship is chosen lter', ati ' e Li Eestyle by a majority of people at MSU and since the homosexual relationship is chosen by a minority of people it is perceived in many different ways by the campus community. If people knew I was gay, society would punish me by treating me differently, and that would hurt the people that really love me. Many homosexuals feel that society is not aware of the gay population, only individuals. The heterosexual's view of homosexual relationships usually differs from the homosexual's. Hl think it is wrong but I'm not going to condemn them lhomosexualsl. I feel a lot of them have double standards. They can have rallies and speak out against the heterosexuals but at the same time condemn us for holding our own opinions. Whose perception is right when dealing with the lifestyle of an individual? The choice is a personal one and every person makes their own decision. There are differ- ing views on both sides of this issue con- cerning homosexuals here on campus and throughout the Llnited States. Some gays feel that homosexuality is innate and takes years to discover. Others feel that being gay is a conscious choice that each in- dividual makes for himself. Contrary to this, heterosexuals who are deeply religious feel that Hlt's a wrong lifestyle and never was meant to be, because, in the begin- ning, God made them male and female lAdam and Evel with their mission being to replenish the earth. Unless they change their lifestyles, they will never be pleasing in the eyes of God. Other heterosexuals feel that Heveryone has a choice. They lhomosexualsl can make their choices and so can I, but even though I don't condemn them, my religious convictions tell me that its wrong. Friendships between homosexuals and heterosexuals have developed here at MSU and have taken many different paths. Some gays feel that llmy friends can't ac- cept me for what ll have decidedl I really am. But in another setting, some gays feel that there are a small number of heterosex- uals that will tolerate friendships and relatively few more who will engage in friendships that recognize both lifestyles. In the same way, there are some heterosexuals who feel that lla lifestyle is an individual choice that creates an identi- ty in a person. Friendship is an uncondi- tional acceptance of a person for who I see they really are. In contrast, there are heterosexuals who feel that even though friendship involves accepting the whole person, Han individual's belief must be upheld above all else. If there is any doubt in the mind about the homosexual lifestyle, the friendship cannot have unconditional acceptance. As individuals we have to realize that there are choices. The choice in lifestyle we make for ourselves will not be the same choice that another will make, especially on a campus with so many different peo- ple. As we travel down the path of discovery of our own identity, this philosophy of individual personalities mak- ing independent choices will hold true in all of life's experiences. Each personality here at M80 is unique in its development of values and we must all be responsible for the choices we make for our own lives while we're here. John Flavell

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GREATER TUNA stars Edward Figgins and Greg Leslie ham it up for the audience. don. This play won a Tony award and eight Oscar nominations in its rite. The story re- counts the life of John Merrick tBob Staf- fordt who was grossly deformed in figure. However, Merrickis beautiful spirit made his predicament even more tragic. As on Broadway, Stafford wore no make-up in his role. The play relied only on background slides and the actors mannerisms to por- tray Merrick's bodily deformities. Dr. Frederick Treves Ueffrey CaswelD saved Merrick from carnival side shows only to realize in the end that it may have been the wrong choice. THE FANTASTICKS, written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, ran in New York for more than 26 years. The story focused on two lovers, Luisa and Matt tJulie Bigham and Tom Staffordt who are forced to meet secretly because of their feuding fathers tEdward Figgins and Ralph WalD. In actuality, the whole feud was a bogus psychological game played by the fathers who really wanted the twosome to i , A , , marry. In order to progress with the mar- 8mm ? comb , , withicmgr . to make 'The Fantastlcks one ' riage, the two fathers staged a phony rape of me many successful plays 0er in hoped that Matt would be the hero. the season i y , They hire El Gallo tTerry Caint along with two others tTracey Dunn and Chris Mar- shalD to form the mock battle with Matt. They allow Matt to win Luisa. At the realization of their fathers plot, the two part and each ventures on his own. After both experience a different life, they even- tually reunite. A NIGHT OF ORIGINAL WORKS was three short plays written by members of the MSU theatre troupe.