IN THE INTENSE ACTION of "Slow Dance oniho Killing Ground," written by William
Henley, three characters lay bare their dEEpesi“ anxieties. Myron Lowery, a LeMoyne
student who attended Grinnell last semester, and Grinnell students Carli Dugan and

Dale oreytuu acted in the recent production at LeMoyne.

Grimm/I Theater Group .6095
"0n the Road" to let/Mayne

By KRYS NEUMAN

“it was a good experience for
all involved; there Should defi-
nitely he many more exchanges
between Grinnell and LeMoyne
— exchanges or great Variety.“
“It was like a taste or protes-
sional theater — outside the ia—
miliar college context."

These were the reactions of
ltudent director Dennis Rich
and his assistant, Brenda Thom-
as, about their recent tour to
LeMoyne College, Memphis,
Tennessee, with the Grinnell
atudent theater production of
William Henley’s play “Slow
Dance on the Killing Ground."

Dave Duiiy and Bill Raiterty
(technical crew) and Carli Du-
gan and Dale Dreyluss (cast)
also went to LeMoyne for the
three—day round of periorm—
ances and discussions.

The third cast member, My-
ron Lowery, was one of tour
LeMoyne exchange students at
Grinnell last semester. (Le-
Moyne is a private, nonresiden-

tial, Negro college oi about 650
students.)

“Slow Dance” was first
staged by these Students at
Grinuell last spring while an~
ery was in attendance here.
The idea for the LeMoyne pro-
duction was conceived at that
time,

Funds Denied

Rich first tried to get: flnan—
clal backi g trorn Grinnell tor
the expedition but he was re-
fused. “We don’t have funds set
aside tor such projects,” was
the reason given by Associate
Dean Richard H. Winters. In
the past, another theater pro
duction, “The Bourgeoisie" by
Raymund Belts, history, asked
tor support to go on the road
and was also reiused for ”lack
Di funds."

After Rich was tumed down
by Grinnell, he contacted Le-
Moyne which decided to spon-
sor the tour itself.

The “Slow Dance” troupe,
accompanied by this 5&3 re-

porter, embarked on its theat-
rical experiment with an ill-
lariuus 14»hollr drive. Tem-
porarily freed from academia
pressure, animated hy anticipa-
tion of a unique experience and
reiniorced by a commonly—
shared spirit for the dramatic,
the group outdid itself with the-
atrics along the way.

After an entire day of joke-
making the cast was suiiicient»
ly "warmed up” to periorm by
the time they arrived in Mem-
phis, Tuesday night, October
25.

‘Slow Dance" was periormed
the next day in a classroom in
the Basement or the College
library. Working conditions {or
the technical crew were very
difficult because of the lack of
stage equipment. Unfortunate-
ly, LeMoyne has no drama de—
partment although one iaculty
member supervises students in
the presentation of dramatic
readings.

LeMoyne students s h ow e d

 

TWO LeMOYNE sruoams view the "Slow Dance"
marquee in front of their library, Members at the pro-
duetion agreed that the experience et taking a play on
the road was an invaluable asset to their education in
drama, All expenses were paid by LeMoyne College on
Grinpell "he: no funds allocated" tor such enterprises.

 

great interest in the production
of “Slow Dance” and the
makeshift theater was filled to
overflowing. Much of the audi-
ence stayed for discussion aiter
the performances.

LeMoyne Stirred ,
Havord Bishop, a LeMoyne
student who spent a semester
at Grinnell, said in one of the
post — periormance discussions
that this particular play was a
good choice tor LeMoyne due
to its ”pertinence to the mod
ern-day social situation."

The play is a product oi
Broadway and a sophisticated
theatrically - oriented society.
The cast ielt that the general
reaction of LeMoyne students
to the play was related to their
distance trom this society. Le.

DENNIS RICH. Dave Duffy and Bill Raileriy are pictured here with LeMoyne iiudenh in one of Ilvaral lively discus.

limit that followed the performances, At one iuclt discursion. Dale Dreytuu'

characterization of his role (on old

Gormlnl I'tlmulttted romo humoroul controversy. Student: could not gusn Dreyfuu' real ago and wondered if he alwsyr

upolto with an accent.

sou Photos by Krys neurotr-

Moyne almost totally lack:
fine arts facilities, and the Col-
lege has had little opportunity
to expose its students to drama,
including drama of a modern
social nature.

Because of this limited back-
ground in the theater the cast
said the LeMoyne audience took
the play very personally and
“hard." They indicated that
“some people walked out mes-
merized by it."

One LeMoyne professor had
opportunity to talk to a few at
his students aiter the periorm-
ances and all had been enthu-
siastic, “though they tound the
play rough." He indicated that
students reacted this way due
to “narrow religious back-
grounds,” but he added, This
exposure (to the content the
play) was good for them."

Harsh Play

“Slow Dance" does strip life
oi its amenities, for language
and action in the play are raw,
A naive, white college girl is
on her way to an abortion, yet
she blindly thinks she can help
and communicate with a bitter
and Violent Negro youth. An old
German in the play is linked
with the atrocious history of the
Nazi era.

LeMoyne students were tairly
vocal in their discussion of the
play —— freely ottering crin-
cisms. suggestions and compli-
ments, as well as interpreta-
tions oi the meaning of the
play.

Many LeMoyne students re-
marked that they miss the ac-
tivity in drama that existed
while Ned Donahoe, tnculty
member of Grinnell’s (heater
department. was in residence
at LeMoyne two years ago.

The Grinnell students (alt the
touring experience as a whole
to he quire Valuable. Brenda
Thomas remarked afterward,

LEMOYNE—
(Continued on Page 0)

 

