Morehead State University - Raconteur Yearbook (Morehead, KY)

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Juliejones played Dr. Martina Livingstone, the sychiatrist, Karen O'Baker played Agnes the mm and Keih D. Whitt Callahan played Agnes, mother superior in the John Pielmer Eta Agnes 0me1. AH agreed that the play was powerful for ot actresses and audience. PHOTOS BY: Kevin L. Goldy pulled on childreniadults, helped clarify the dance themes. Tone and set individ- uality were further enhanced by lights and backdrops. Theta Alpha ths Night of One Acts consisted two stu- iyrzdentedirected comedies, set fin Texas, Lone Starii and uNice People Dancing to Good Country Musicii. ttLone Star , directed by Carl Curnutte, a senior the- atre major from Ashland, onstage perfor- dealt with the disillusione mance of ttAmazing Grace , , merit of a Vietnamyeteran. sungby-freshman, Holly camp When Roy, playedyby Moree tanzaro. i head speechhheatre major The dance company was John Burchett, went to war creative and practical in the he loved three things: his use of costumes and proper- country, his wife and his 1959 ties. Costumes such as the pink Thunderbird convert- jagged white garment worn ible. In the course of the play by Carmen Johnson, when he reveals bitter feelings to- she represented the spirit in Lward his country, finds out ttAmazing'Graee , allowed iahout his wifeis infidelity freedom of movement and with his brother and that his helped characterize the last link with life before the dancers. Props were carried war, his 1959 pink Thunder. on and off stage by the bird convertible, has been dancers, which allowed indi- wrecked. vidual sets for each dance. The play took place, two Some of them, such as the yearsafter Boy returnedfrom hoops in The Mirror! Looking the war, in the beer canalit- in Looking Back that were tered area behind Angers played With by children and Bar. The bar was represented soul and the tug- of-war between childhood and adulthood. The recorded musical accompaniments L ranged from the top forty ttTime of , My Lifef by Bill; Medley and Item- nifer Warnes, to Handelis music from The Messiah. There was also an MSU Players and Theta Alpha Phi Presentations The fall season ended with presentations from the MSU Players and Theta Alpha Phi, theatre-related organiza- tions, in order to raise money to fund theatre scholarships. The MSU Piayersi produc- tion of Body Language choreographed and directed by senior theatre major Kelvin Amburgey, told of the joys and agonies of life through a series of dances. The dances dealt with the experiences of everyday life, ,, loving, intrigue, dancing and player, the internal struggles and questions that torture the by a door that went back- stage, and provided a back- ground of country music. Roy,s disillusions unfolded in comical drunken observa- tions to his younger brother, Bay tGary Hibbitst, Ray counteracted the bitterness by gulping candy bars and in his contemptuous insults to Cletis tMike Breezet, who contrasted with Roy and Rayis cowboy boots and jeans ruggedness with his loafers, checked jacket and tie. While waiting for the play to begin, Burchett set the tone, entertained the audi- ence, aroused curiosity and littered the stage for the set by visibly achieving the state of drunkenness needed for his charactert Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music was di- rected by Edward F iggins, a communications graduate student from Brooksville. It was about a novice nun tSu- zanne Hartt who has develw oped a fetish for saying dirty words at inemwenient times. She is on retreat because of this problem and finds herself having to cope with the real world. The play took place over the Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music Bar, where the novice is visiting her Aunt Eve tDonna Isont who is helping her lover run the place. Eve can do wow ders with a hammer and nails, but she cannot rationalize an irrational world to her shel- tered niece. The comicat contrast of the noviceis expectations of the world and they'repsentation of the world by people who lived in it was enhanced by the contrast of the novice and Eve. The novice wore a mod- est dress, had a simple hairstyle, had a soft little voice and gave the illusion of a little girl. Eve wore tight jeans, had an awesome hairdo, had a big booming voice that sounded more Texan than a natives and t gave the illusion of having 1 been around forever. Other t members of the cast were Ralph Wall, John Burchett, and Jody Manning. , .... By: Teresa-Iohnson Fall Theatre t 'W. 197 1

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FALL THEATRE PRODUCTIONS added to the ditticulty of the part. MSU Theatre Fall Season The final character, Mother Miriam, wants to pro- tect Agnes and does not want hertaken away from God. TI enjoyed the rolef said Callahan, ttEvery role is dif- ferent, but this one was really unique. Mother Miriam was The Taming ofthe Shrew A production of William Shakespearezs, T he Taming of the Shrew opened the 1987- 88 theatre season. The main action of the play within a play involves the marriages of the daughters of: Baptista of Padua tEdward Figginsl The younger daughter, Bianca tHolIy Catanzanot is beautiful, tale ented and sweetntempered. She is surrounded by suitors . but cannot marry until her ', older sister, Katherine Oulie , Jonesi of violent temper ant! sharp tongue, is married'off. : Of course, Katherine has aiscouraged any and: 311' suitors, until Petruchio' tTerry Caini, a gentleman of; Verona, comes to town. His friend, Hortensio of Padua tRiehard Blantonh who is also one of Bianca's suitors, con- vinces Petruchio to seek Katherinets hand, with the aid of her sizeable dowry. Katheriha fights Petruchio every step of the way to the altar. But Baptista promises her to Petruchio so they are married ' Starting on the day of their marriage, Petruchio sets out to tame his shrewish bride. He brings her home and does just that by depriving her of food and sleep and acting like more of a shrew than Katherine herself. In the final scene, at Bi- ancats wedding feast, a tamed Katherina gives the other women a lesson in their duty to their husbands. .. By: Suzanne Smith Events 1 96 - 11111111111191 the audxencewh , ticomes to light that; 1111 1111111 an oltdywoman and a mm, which made her a lot diifer- ' ent' from me. I did a lot of research, I read several books to prepare for the part. '1, Through various sessions with Agnes and Mother 'Mfriaem Dr. Livingstone learns that Agnes led a shel- ;;te1'ed life, not even being al- Agnes of God The second performance of the season was Agnes of God by John Pielmer , The play involves 13th three characters Agnes tKaren O Bakeld a nun ac: cused of murder;D1' Martha; Livingstone 01111610111331 the; psychiatrist called in er; the, 115111101 andhthat she was sexu- case andMotherMiriam Ruthgk'ally melested by her aloe- tKeIli D Whitt Callahant 1101113 mother Naive Agnes 15 Ages mother Supenor hot eVen av'vare of how you become pregnant Dr Liv- 111gstm1e else learhs that Ag- has already hegpen y'efioewante tn keep Agnes 0111' beceming worse by makmg her remember the events ef the night of the t-jmurtier knew about Agnes pregi'ya Finally, throegh hypnosis naney and 1111 one knows hoW 131' Liv11'1gst011e diSCOVers it could have happened there was someone else in Agnes 15 a young innoe Agnes teem cm the night the baby was kiiied She 15 very close te her 6116 74' The director sus- ttThe role of Agnes was 116 1:11 M 0 t h e 1' very challenging She was so L Miriam efthe mur- innocent and ignerant 9f: the derra'fter she finds world. It was hard t0 step 1:111- - out that she was of everyday life knowing: : With Agnes that what I know, and become like ' night. 111 their final her? said O,Baker. TAgnes' session, Agnes ad: andI are alike in that We both ' mits that she killed try to help people. God is km the child, to portant to me just as He was Ltfreeh it, while the to Agnes and I enjoy singing mother superior justas shedid. A was out of the Dr. Livingstone is a former room. Agnes then Catholic who has made the sings a folk song mind her god. about a lover who Jones said it was a difficult visits from the part to play. country. In Dr. I had to see my charac- Livingstonets pro- terLs point of view, as weH as legue, she says she that of the mother superior. still did not know Also, Dr. Livingstone who the father of changed from the beginning Agnes child was, basket As the play 120111111 ioWed ,to attend public ' some farmhand, as Agnes, sang, or a priest, or somewhat unknown. Dr. Livingstone goes on to say that Agnes was declared insane and sent to a mental institution where she eventually died. uIt was a very deep playf said Callahan. TI found new, things in it every day. We learned a lot about each other as we prepared for the play? Jones said the three cast members would get together after rehearsals and run through lines and discuss the play. We learned more about the play this way. OABaker said that their dis- cussions helped her to thig- L; are 011? the play. TAt first we didntt understand the meanv ' ings of a lot of things, but to- gether we began to under-1 stand where our director was headed? The play was directed by A Dr. Thomas Van Brunt, thew atre and speech instruction and the priest at St. Albanis Episcopal Church in More- head. The action of the play took place on a single box set; the ' audience was seated on all four sides. '1 Agnes of God was a very i involved play. It was a thought-provoking work of A ifs times. . -- By: Teresa Johnson to the end of the play. That whether it was Edward Figgins a graduate student from Brooksville, played Baptista 0f Padula in the University's production of the Taming of the Shrew. PHOTO BY: Rhonda Simpson:

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SPRING THEATRE PRODUCTIONS The Dining Room The Dining Room was a challenge to the actors and the audience. The play by AB. Gurney, Jr., covers the decline of the white upper middle class family. All the scenes took place in the dining room with only six actors playing the many dilierent parts. The set, complete with china cabinet, wooden chair and table and chandelier, was designed by Karen OiBaker, a senior theatre major from Geneva, Oh. At times the play was con- fusing, especially when char- acters from different scenes appeared onstage at the same time. For the characters, time to change between scenes was limited, so many wore their costumes layered over one another for a quick change. The play was a real pain! It was hard to establish the uniqueness of each character. But it was Challenging, to throw characters on and off like clothing, said O,Baker. To develop each individual part the actors had to find things about each one to make them unique to the au- dience. uWe had to try and find lit- tle things in each scene to make our characters dis- tinct? said OiBaker. Chang- ing posture or hair, for exam- ple, changed the character? The six actors were: OiBaker, Donna Ison, Gary Hibbitts, Holly Catanzaro, Mike Breeze and Terry Cain. The play was directed by two theatre students, Julie Jones and Edward F iggins. 439 people attended the t ree performances in Button Auditorium. ' a ... By: Suzanne Smith Events 1 9 8 MSU Theatre Spring Productions 1 M SU Playeris Other Places The MSU Playeris presen- tation of Other Place con- sisted of three student di- rected one-acts that were written by Harold Pinter. 7i Kind of Alaska, directed by Ralph Wall, a senior the- atre major from New Bern, N.C., moved around the awakening of a woman who was 16 years old when she went to sleep 29 years ago. Deborah, played by Holly Cantanzaro, a freshman French major from Park Hills, awoke in a strange room. She was confronted with Dr. Hornsby, played by Wall, who had devoted the past 20 years of his life to car- ing for her, and a plump, ma- tronly widow, who was her younger sister, Pauline, played by Krys Lyman, a freshman from Sadieville. They were both as strange to Deborah as the place where she has awakened. In the part of the play, Deborah and Hornsby introduce the con- fusion and lack of orientation of a person who suddenly finds herself in a strange place and has no memory of the place she has just left. When Pauline is introduced to her, she begins to notice the change in her appearance and finds out that the world she remembers is gone. Her sister is a middle aged widow, her mother is dead and she is no longer a teenager. Hornsby described the place where her mind was for the past 29 years as ia remote ter- ritory like a kind of Alaska. By the end of the play it is apparent that the physicai world is as remote as the one she had awaken from. PHOTO: BY- Kem'n L. Goldy - As an actor in One for the Road, David Dunaway, a freshman from Garrisoni Oh., must present the feeling ofisolation present in all the plays ol'Uther Places. Dunaway uses makeup as one way the achieve that feeling. He played Victor, the father. The most noticable aspects of a KindsofAiaska were an, exxentiallyrbare set, with: a ' bed that resembled a slab in a tomb, the sudden zombiliza- tion of characters in the mid- dle of conversations and con- versations in which the characters didnit always talk to each other. Those, along with blue light, gave the play a cold and eerie tone that made the audience experi- ence a Kind of Alaska with Deborah in order to appreci- ate her confusion and the sense of isolation of each of the characters, whose lives were tied together although they were strangers. Victoria Station, directed by Terry Cain, a senior thee atre major from Maysville, also dealt with human isola- tion. The story moved around a controller, Darin Black- burn, a sophomore from Elkhorn city, and driver 274, Kenny Leibee, a freshman from Ashlami.,The controller has made contact with 274 to send him to Victoria Station to pick up a fare. The prob- lem is that 274 has been cruising and is now parked in front of a palace that no longer exists and says that hes never going to move from that spot. The con- troller, who drinks heavily throughout the play, be- comes increasingly frus- trated, setting up a beautiful contrast with 2745 increas- ing lethargic calmness. The controller and 274 eventu- ally reach the point where each of them are transmit- ting, but neither of them are really receiving the message. When the controllers drunken frustration reaches 2 the pitch of insane rage, he takes out a pistol, simulta- neously threatening murder to 274 and pointing the weapon to his own head. The a , play ended with the com a tfoiier running from the stage -