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FOCUS
Entertainment supplement
to The Battalion
Thursday, August 6, 1981
Dinner theater
starts tonight
By Kathy O'Connell
Battalion Staff
Students and community
members looking for an inex
pensive way to see a play and
enjoy dinner at the same time
are in luck.
The MSC Summer Dinner
Theater Committee is again pre
senting three evenings of enter
tainment. The play is Neil
Simon's "The Prisoner of
Second Avenue."
The play centers around an
upper middle-class male who
loses his job and starts to go
through the woes of the unem
ployed. His wife begins to bear
the burden of supporting her
husband while he struggles
with the frustation of unem-
ploymant, failure and de
pression.
Even though the subject of
the matter seems grim, the play
is actually a comedy. Nothing
seems to go right for the couple,
appliances break down, etc. etc.
The theme of "The Prisoner
of Second Avenue" is not un
characteristic of Simon's com
edy, which is usually set in a
high rise apartment in New
York city.
Committee Adviser Suzanne
Becker said the June produc
tions featuring "Impolite Com
edy" were sold out almost every
evening and she expects this
month's program to be as suc
cessful as the last ones.
Becker said the production is
presented in conjunction with
the theater arts department.
The plays will be held in the
MSC Ballroom (Room 201) on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
evenings. Show time for all
three nights is 7:45 p.m. with
food line starting at 6:30 and en
ding at 7:30 p.m..
The menu for Thursday and
Friday evening is BBQ beef and
sausage with potato salad,
beans, bread and dessert. Price
is $5.75 for Texas A&M students
and senior citizens and $6.75 for
non-students.
Saturday's menu is a buffet
with seafood creole, beef stroga-
noff, assorted salads and vegt-
ables and dessert. Ticket prices
for this evening are $8.75 for
Texas A&M students and senior
citizens and $9.75 for non
students.
Becker said tickets must be
purchased at the Rudder Box
Office at least 24 hours before
the shows.
Texas train runs
through history
"All aboard!"
Only in old movies have most
people heard the boarding cry
for the "iron horse." Not many
know that Texas has its own rail
road with four antique steam
locomotives running on the
rails.
The Texas State Railroad runs
through the East Texas country
side between Palestine and
Rusk, with depots at each end.
The stations feature a gift shop,
snack bar and railroad exhibits.
The restored antique coaches
take visitors back to America's
railroading past. Four steam
locomotives, one each dating
from 1896 and 1901 and two
from 1917, take passengers
through forests and across
streams and rivers on wooden
trestles.
Along the way, riders get
glimpses of wildlife hidden in
the foliage.
The Texas State Railroad is
25.5 miles long. At the Rusk end
Continued on page 3
An old-timer and his horse seem to be invit- Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio,
ing everyone to come to the tenth annual Photo by Cathy Saathoff
SA Folklife Festival
a learning experience
Spectators at the tenth
annual Texas Folklife Festival
in San Antonio can take home
a lot more than a souvenir —
they can take home a skill.
The Festival, which starts
today and runs through Sun
day, is a celebration of the
many ethnic groups that came
to Texas as pioneers. The 15-
acre grounds of the University
of Texas Institute of Texan
Cultures are covered once a
year by the Festival, which in
cludes people from across the
state. The area becomes an
open-air schoolhouse as
craftsmen become teachers
and visitors become students.
Each "class" teaches different
how-to's of pioneer living,
from soap matdng to building
adobe and log homes.
Arts and crafts displays fea
ture lessons as well as goods
for sale. Quilting, ceramics,
calligraphy and whittling are
among the crafts visitors can
participate in.
The arts and crafts displays
are interesting, but the food is
the highlight of the Festival.
Gourmets can enjoy every
thing from turkey legs to
Chinese food to sausage on a
stick. And anything else you
might want, with plenty of
beer, tea and cokes to wash it
down.
And you might want to
learn how to save money on
food by preparing staples at
home. The San Antonio-
Houston Loafers will show
how to bake "Depression"
bread in a coffee can. And
spread that bread with home
made peanut butter and jelly.
One thing you might not
want to try, though, is the
boiled opossum offered by the
people of Gilmer.
In addition to crafts, the
Folklife Festival showcases
entertainment, music and
games from 32 ethnic groups
who helped settle the state.
Nine festival stages feature
belly dancers, Cajun music,
bluegrass and other music
and dancing.
Games include Italian boc-
ci, which is similar to lawn
bowling, and horseshoes, and
of course the ever-popular
berm sliding.
For the uninitiated, berms
are the large, steep hills which
surround the Institute. And
the easiest way to get down a
berm is to slide on cardboard.
So watch for sliding children.
If the summer sun gets to be
too much, the museum inside
is open all day, showing
movies and exhibits of early
pioneer life.
Tickets to the Folklife Fes
tival are $4, $3.50 in advance
for adults. Admission for chil
dren under 13 is $1, and chil
dren under 6 are admitted
free. Park and ride shuttle
buses are available from major
shopping malls in San
Antonio.