Ohio Northern University - Northern Yearbook (Ada, OH)

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r Artist Series The Artist Series opened with William Stafford, a lead¬ ing modern poet, reading poems from his three collec¬ tions. As he read, the poet gave himself away - his early boyhood experiences with nature in Kansas, his years as a farm taborer and as a trail crew member for the U.S. Forest Service, his feelings about death and those traces of human existence which live beyond it. The Mask and Mime Theatre delighted its ONU au¬ dience, children and adults alike. Two very talented students of Marcel Marceau used their bodies, not their voices, to establish characters, tell stories and evoke warm laughter. Who can ever forget ’’Frog Lake,” the ballet satire they danced? Noel Lee appeared on campus next, a native returning from concert tours across the United States and Europe. The son of Dr. Charles O. Lee, a former professor of pharmacy at Ohio Northern, Noel Lee specializes in mod¬ ern rather than a classical piano repertoire. Lee is also a composer and rendered some of his own works at his ONU concert. The National Shakespeare Company performed “The Miser”, Moliere’s incomparable classic comedy, in De¬ cember. As the play unfolded, revealing the frustration of the hero over his children and their various lovers who threatened his fortune, the crisp characterizations and flawless timing of the professional troop gave Ohio Northern playgoers another night to remember. Plum Creek Symphony, a chamber ensemble, made its first appearance on ONU ' s campus in January. The unique small chamber group drew from 17th century to present day composers for their performance. Another poet, another view of life. Denise Levertov moved her audience with her subtly skillful reading of her own profound, compassionate poetry. She had a style of delivery which matched her poetry: sparse, immediate and vibrant. The woodcuts of Sidney Chafetz, the internationally- acclaimed artist, educator and critic of American higher education, screamed indignation at viewers on campus in February. Chafetz pictured pudgy professors in academic gowns wearing Mickey Mouse hats and bloated teachers carrying lollypops or pennants inscribed with the school moto ‘Mediocritus’. But it wasn’t all that bad: Freud, Frost and Whitman were some of the greats he also portrayed. The New York Theatre Company presented “Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill in March, dispelling the gloom of a gray month with an exciting review of the German composer’s songs. The audience recognized mu¬ sic from “Lost in the Stars” and the “Three Penny Opera”, as well as music from ballet and straight theatre back¬ ground music. The Amati Quartet appeared in April. The group, founded in Amsterdam eight years ago, smoothly worked through difficult string quartets by Bartok, Schubert and lutoslawski. The Cultural affairs committee sponsored movies throughout the year. They were free, as were the artist series performances, and students took advantage of showings of cinema classics “Darling”, “Knife in the Water” and “The Shop on Main Street” among others. Above: William Stafford Below: Noel Lee 24