University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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The quality of the One Act productions belied the modesty of a festival titled It Ain ' t Shakespeare ' It wasn ' t Shakespeare but it was JNA theatre at its finest. The 1984 Spring production left ts impression on everyone involved, in- :luding actors, audience and especially he student directors. Robert Allen Holders ' directing ;lass planned and successfully held one Df the most memorable play festivals jver. One of the most impressive of the slays was graduate student Grant Lo- ;ett ' s choice of The Exhibition. This A ork by Thomas Gibbens is an adapta- :ion of the famed Elephant Man j ' iewed by many on stage and screen. The one act play was a moving exam- ple of writing and thoughtful direction :hat was characteristic of the entire fes- :ival. Blane Knoble ' s portrayal of the physically twisted but emotionally seautiful John Merrick was amazingly sensitive. The most controversial of the plays was Sister Mary Ignatius Ex- plains It All For You by Christopher Durang and directed by Suzanne Tid- well. Anna Eastep gave continuity and realism to the role of Sister Mary. As Sister Mary, Eastep tells about heaven and hell, life and death, immorality and the more godly way of living. Several scenes were offensive to some; howev- er, in the words of Todd Beene, a nine year old who played Johnathan, We made them think. by Molly Pettis Bill Cofield directed Sorry, Wrong Number which was written by Lucille Fletcher. This was an interest- ing mystery with a suspenseful build up to the death of a lonely sick woman, Mrs. Stevenson, played by Mari Mat- teis. The audience responded with sur- prise and shock to the performance. Comic moments were provided by Steve Sparks, who played Sgt. Duffy; James Hannay, the assistant; and Mol- ly Pettis, who played the nurse. Matteis directed The Footsteps of Doves by Robert Anderson. This was a light hearted play with a deeper emotional statement. Shawn Leary and Valerie Tomlinson portrayed a couple fading away from one another after several years of marriage. Jeff Kelsey directed a light heart- ed one-act entitled, Three ' s A Crowd which was written by Sara Sloane McCarty and Clayton McCarty. It was a sweet, funny story about young love and discovering the truth about peo- ple. James Hannay, Paula Redmond, Tesa Sides, Scott Biss and Ben An- drews were the cast of highschoolers that everyone has known. Membranous Croup, an adap- tation by Mark Twain, directed by Van- nie Voorhies, was a hilarious account of UNFOLDING THE EPIC. Richard Welborn enthralls Noel Gartman and Elizabeth Ragsdale with the tale of his deeds in the war. a hysterical mother and a frustrated husband. Richard Welborn played a sarcastic character lost in his wife; Gayle McRae, who believed in ever- pending doom. McRae provided hilar- ity and a bit of slapstick that kept ev- eryone on their toes. Am I Blue? was directed by An- gela Romine. This play by Beth Henley is the sad account of two young lives that cannot get things together. Jeffrey Furno and Jessica Taylor play charac- ters lost in strange times with strange people. Lu Anne Hampton Laverty Oberlonder by Preston Jones and di- rected by Suzie Shoemaker was a non- stop, laugh provoking act. Elizabeth Ragsdale, Richard Welborn, Noel Gart- man, Mitch Florer and Tonya Russell were funny characters that made slap- stick and one liners come full circle within a story. Joy Johnson directed the wonder- fully funny play, The Dear Departed , that not only added comedy to the se- ries, but also brought a needed partici- pation of black actors into university productions. Hopefully this participation COMPLETE WITH CAMEL, Steve Sparks and Pam Thompson perform the Christmas pageant as written by a nine year old. The fundamental mistakes of the nativity ' s plot were a reflection of the somewhat eccentric views of religion that Sister Mary Ignatius instilled in her pupils. One Act Play Falnti 23i

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VEILING HIS GROTESQUENESS. Blane Knoble moved the audience to tears with the beauty of John Merrick ' s nineteenth-century life. Stricken with a bone deformity, Merrick was forced to travel with a carnival side-show to earn a meager living. FIELDING QUESTIONS from the audience. Sister Mary Ignatius is portrayed by Anna Easlep. Several people were upset or insulted enough to leave the performance of the play which had a remarkable scope of emotions and ideas. tdu rd Thomas LOSING HER ONLY real friend, Jennifer Katechis strains for a final reassuring touch from Steve Richerson before she leaves for a new life far away from her cruel surroundings. HER FIRST FLATTERY, Jennifer Katechis blushes as Steve Richerson tells her of a different life outside the confines of the small Texas-town setting. Hello Out There dealt with the prejudices resulting from a lifetime of stifled emotion. Pntrlck Hood

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It Ain ' t Shakespeare will grow. Johnson and Valerie Trimble were wonderful as two sisters, each fighting for the belongings of their fa- ther whom they mistake for dead. Perhaps the most dramatic of all the plays performed was Hello Out There. Michael Campbell directed the William Aroyan play. It is a moving tale of a drifter played by Steve Richerson. Jennifer Katechis played the self-con- scious girl who befriends him while in jail. Katechis played her role with depth and emotion. Hello Out There was a strikingly simple but moving drama. The plays may not have been Shakespeare, but they were very im pressive. THE FOOTSTEPS OF DOVES was a pro-| voking comedy of what happens when a young couple disagree on the size of their new bed. Shawn Leary and Valerie Tomlin- son played their marital problems on a mat- tress in Michael Campbell ' s shop. TERRY PACE portrayed Dr. Treves in this moving scene where he recalls his first encounter wit h John Merrick, the Elephant Man. 24