Morehead State University - Raconteur Yearbook (Morehead, KY)

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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 -

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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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Roof. PHOTO BY: Kevin L. Goldy ?With the pistol and 274 left alone. The most noticable aspects of this play were the charace ter contrasts and the set : ' which was bare except for the controlleris dusty and clut- tered desk and the drivers steering wheel. These gave the play a de- ceptively simple appearance, while also enforcing a dis- turbing contrast between a glaring, turbulent inner world and a dark outer world, other of them sharing the stage but each of them alone. , One for the Road, directed a by Tara Lail, a senior speecht i theatre major from Cynthi- ana, moved around imprison- i merit and torture. The torturer was Nicholas, an Ll ' rmy general played by :Kelyin Amburgey, a senior heatremajor from Litt Carr. : e tortures Were a family been captured. lay began in an uns H iiiaquisition cham- i , '--the victims stood ; m teization until called iquieholas, who made a gectacular entrance by he- ; mgi'lowered onto the stage 'ifrom above. Nicholas called I Vietor first, played by David Dunaway, a freshman from , LHakrrison, Oh. During Vic- toris inquisition, Nicholas planted doubts about his wifeis faithfulness. Nicholas also revealed that he loved the death of others. Gila, When on stage your emotions must be present in every part otyour body Big Daddy tTom Yancey, assistant IVTV professed unleashes his anger toward Big Mama tKaren OlBaker, senior from Geneva, OhJ in one at their many arguments in Cat on a Hot Tin played by Donna Ison, a sophomore from Mt. Ster- ling, had been raped repeate edly by the soldiers. Nicholasi inquisition of her was a mental rape, where he battered her with words until be dragged out her shame and made cherished memo- ries, vulgar, such as how she met her husband. Nicky, Vic- tor and Gilaia son, played by William Ditty, a freshman from Paintsville, was ques- tioned about why be resisted arrest, kicking soldiers, and the significance of his child- ish games, playing with model airplanes. When Vic- tor was brought back for the final inquisition, he asked to be killed, which angered Nicholas. Nicholas finally told him that he would re- lease him and his wife. When Victor asked about his son, Nicholas merely told him that his son was a prick. The play ended with the characters frozenyon stage, with Nicholas and Nicky facing- each other to form a unity in identity. The most noticeable aspect of this play, besides the Vet's bal torture, was the bloody appearance and tom clothing ofVictor and Gila. This, along with the barbed wire that sur- rounded the audience, gave the idea that everybody were prisoners, subject to the tor- ture of having the mind exe posed and played with. H'Ciemedksg , f also unawiare of her hus- The tone of isolation and things not being quite right in Other Places was introduced in the lobby, designed by William Ditty. It consisted of a sofa where people, repre- sented by dummies and pota- toes, stared at a television set that was not turned on. There was also a chess game set out that was not being played, but some of the pieces had been moved or knocked over. A strobe light was placed on steps that led upstairs which resembled a huge eye that looked over the lobby. This design, along with the plays, and small fenced in seating area; left; the autiience eon- fused and feeling disturbed, enfotcing the idea of disori- entatioh and diserepencies in relationships, internal and external. - By: Teresa Johnson Cat on a Hot Tin Roof For its last production of the year, the department chose to present Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. The play, which takes place in the bed-sitting room of a plantation home in the Mis- sissippi Delta, is an intense drama encompassing several story lines. The family is brought to- gether to celebrate what will most likely be the last birth- day of their patriarch, Big Daddy. Big Daddy, who does not know he is dying of can- cer, was played by Thom Yancy, an assistant radioetele- vision professor. Big Daddyis overbearing, oyer-con- fegyr'Big Mama is bandfs disease. ' Their elder son, Cooper, a lawyer who, has come from Memphis with his pregnant, society wife, Mae, wants to be the one to inherit the plan- tation upon Big Daddyis death. Their younger and favorite son, Brick, is an alcoholic, ex- football player who lives at the plantation with his catty, frustrated wife, Maggie. The play is a series of con- frontations. Big Daddy is forced to confront the fact that he really is dying and that his family has lied to him about it up until that night. Brick and Maggie must confront Brickis alcoholism, his guilt over and her involve ment with, one of his friends death, his reasons for drink- ing and their strained rela- tionship. All of these problems re- volve around Brickis rela- tionship with his old school and footbal buddy, Skipper. During Brick and Skipperis friendship many people be lieved that their relationship was homosexual. Maggie decided to prove Skipperis manhood by sleep ing with him. Unfortunately this plan backfired and Skip- per began to believe that he might be a homosexual. With this thought, Skipper began drinking heavily and eventu- ally drank bimselfto death. After Skipperis death, Brick began drinking and quit sleeping with Maggie. During the course of the play, Maggie tries to get Brick to open up, but he refuses to. He does eventually discuss his friendship with Skipper and his feelings with Big Daddy. It is during this conversa- tion that Brick tells Big Daddy that he really is dying and that the entire family has been hiding the truth. As the play draws to a Close, Maggie tells Big Daddy that she and Brick are expectv ing a baby, to make him happy. Maggie then hides Brickis liquor until he agrees to make love to her. The intensity was amplis fied by the small size of Kibbey Theatre where it was presented. In fact, during one of Brick and Maggieis fre- quent fights the front row was hit with the liquor from Brickis glass as he fell. Kibbeyis small size allowed the entire audience to be- come wrapped up in the char- acteris emotions and actions. -- By: Christie Sheppard . Sgring Theatre 199