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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1983)
aDuep puB Disniu |bdoa A look at theater, art. Theater program still somewhat unknown by Bonnie Langford Battalion reporter With the start of a new sea son, members of the theater arts program are looking forward to a good year, but few other stu dents at Texas A&M even know the program exists. "I always think about 'Horton Hears a Who,'" says Vicki Anderson, a senior theater arts major, "but we're the ones on that fluff yelling and no one at A&M knows we're here." The theater arts degree is rela tively new. The English depart ment did not offer the degree until 1977, but interest in theater has been with Texas A&M since its beginning. In 1893 the first group of stu dents interested in theater orga nized the College Drama Socie ty. Interest in drama never waned, but groups changed. Play groups lasted only from season to season until 1946, when the Aggie Players formed. And with Aggie Players came a desire for theater courses. "The demand began for (theater arts) courses in the early 1950s," says Robert Wenck, associate professor of English and faculty adviser for Aggie Players. The Aggie Players and the theater arts courses offered by the English department even tually evolved into the theater arts degree. So, two outlets are available for student involvement in plays: through Aggie Players and through the theater arts program. The Aggie Players' first production — "Cowboy Mouth" by Sam Shepard — will be presented Oct. 8 and 9. The theater arts program's first pro duction is running now. Non-theater majors who want to participate in produc tions may do so through Aggie Players, which is now the stu dent organization for the theater arts program. But the theater arts program also allows stu dents in other majors to work with productions, says Mary Anne Mitchell, assistant profes sor of English who is in charge of voice, acting and directing for the theater arts program. Stu dents may audition for parts or help with the sets and costumes, she says. Anderson says in drama, stu dents have to be involved. "You have to be dedicated," she says, "because it takes a lot of time. We're supposed to spend 30 hours a wee* on pro duction." Mark Mitchell, another stu dent in the program, agrees that it is very time consuming. "This is your life," he says. "It cuts into your study time and your social life. Practices are held for three hours every night of the week except Wednesday." Anderson says with four pro ductions this school year, the theater arts program doesn't waste time. Tryouts for the first play, "What the Butler Saw," by Joe Orten, were held the first week of school. The play opened Wednesday night and runs through Saturday, The other three pays to be produced in 1983-84 are: "Sum mer and Smoke" by Tennessee Williams, "Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare and "Death Takes a Holiday" by Alberto Casello. Mary Anne Mitchell says stu dents will compete in the Amer ican College Theater Festival in October with "Summer and Smoke.” The competition allows students to see what other schools are doing in dra ma, she says. Texas A&M stu dents will compete at the area level at Lubbock in acting, set design and costuming. Anderson says acting is not the only thing students in thea ter arts learn. The department produces everything from cos tumes to sets for the plays. "The degree isn't too special ized," she says. "We're sup posed to do everything. We nave the facilities to teach all the areas of theater. We even have a sewing classroom with six sew ing machines for costuming. The only hassle is not having the facilities close to the theater." Wenck, who does most of the directing for the productions, says Rudder Theater's distance from the theater arts facilities is a problem, as is having to share the theater with other groups and events. "It's not like when we had Giuon," Wenck says. Giuon Hall was the first audi torium at Texas A&M. It was built in 1916 and housed the Aggie Players' productions and practices. The building was razed in 1971 to make room for Rudder Theater Complex, where the theater arts produc tions are given now. Mitchell says the money to fund all the theater productions, which provides practical experi ence for the students, comes from the English department, season subcriptions, advertising sales and University Bookstore funds. Season subscriptions offer four productions for the price of three. Subscriptions are: $9 for students, $10.50 for facul ty and $12 for others. Texas A&M students may also become a patron for $25, a sponsor for $40 or a benefactor for $60. Enrollment in the program has doubled in the past three years, she says, and this prob ably will continue. This growth has been a factor in wanting a separate department, she adds. "There is a proposal to origin ate a department of speech com munications and theater arts for next semester," she says. "It is currently being reviewed by committees for approval." A college of fine arts may even appear in Texas A&M's future, Mitchell adds hopefully. Already, she says, little pockets of fine arts courses have appeared. It looks like Texas A&M may soon hear WhovvVle. Lack of visual arts studies a'disadvantage' by Robin Black Battalion reporter Student interest in art at Texas A&M has grown rapidly in the last few years, as indi cated by enrollment in visual arts classes and participation in student art organizations. But some professors involved with art-related classes see a need for much more. Environmental design pro fessor Joe Hutchinson says he feels that the lack of visual arts classes at Texas A&M is a dis advantage to the University. "There is a need for a visual studies program here," he says. "Visual arts is a natural out growth of an environmental de sign program such as the one here at Texas A&M." Hutchinson says the Univer sity is losing potential students because of the lack of a visual studies program. "I've received many letters from high school students who want to come to Texas A&M," he says, "who are interested in a visual studies program. Since we don't have one here, the only thing I can do is recommend to them one of the other universi ties that does have that kind of a program." Dr. John J. McDermott, dis tinguished professor of philoso phy and medical humanities, who teaches a course entitled the Philosophy of Art, says he deplores the lack of arts courses offered at the University. "A University like Texas A&M should have an arts prog ram," McDermott says. "Arts should be the at the center of a university. A university without the detail of art is not a universi ty at all." Among the art classes offered at the University, which Hutch inson desribes as "very li mited," a student may choose from such topics as art history, painting, photography or philo sophy. Most of these courses, Hutch inson says, are "sandpaper" courses — they tend to take away students' rough edges and deal directly with their feelings. In the courses, he says, a stu dent learns about other people and their differences. "To survive in this world," he says, "we must understand how other people live, and that they are as rich and varied as we are." The type of visual studies program needed at Texas A&M, Hutchinson says, would be ab out 50 percent technical, with courses in such areas as compu ter graphics and the general technical courses required in the environmental design curricu lum, and the other part of the program would deal with sub jects Such as painting and art history. Several attempts have been made in the past to implement visual arts programs at Texas A&M, all of which have been University-approved but were turned down by the state Coor dinating Board for colleges and universities. The reason for this, Hutch inson says, is Texas A&M has always been primarily a technic al school, noted especially for its engineering college. Any kind of arts program probably would be thought of as incompatible with the University's technical curriculum. "Since similar programs already exist at the University of Texas and some of the other state institutions," he says, "the Coordinating Board sees the ex tra cost of implementing a visual studies program at Texas A&M as unnecessary." Hutchinson says some stu dents begin undergraduate study in the University's en vironmental design program and end up transferring to another university because Texas A&M does not offer the visual studies courses they need for their future careers. Of the arts classes offered now, Hutchinson says most of them fill up during spring regis tration. Enrollment has ex panded to about 65 students per class in some courses, he says. That is encouraging, he says, because the University only be gan offering courses in visual studies about seven years ago. Hutchinson says he foresees Texas A&M adopting some kind of visual arts program in the near future. "If A&M is ever to become a world-class university," he says, "we will have to imple- flftent a visual studies program. And now would be the perfect tune to do so, because right now A&M has the money, the strong following, and a more sophisti cated student body." Until more arts courses are available at Texas A&M, stu dents will have to be content to take what is offered. For those who are not able to take a formal art class, however, involvement with art still is possible. The MSC Arts Committee, an organization that works to bring visual arts to the University, is open to anyone interested in working on the committee. Arts Committee chairman Wendi McDonough says the organization's primary goal is to increase student awareness of art by bringing art exhibits and collections to the University, sponsoring student art contests and bringing speakers in to talk about art and related subjects. McDonough says she feels that the exhibits increase stu dents' insight on people and cul tures outside their geographic area and helps them to appreci ate different ideas and opinions. Student interest has increased in this organization, also, and membership has grown to about 30 students. Outside interest in the com mittee also is growing, McDo nough says. "We have people calling in frequently from places like Houston who want to know what kind of exhibits we have planned," she says. Other arts-related organiza tions include MSC Town Hall, MSC OPAS, MSC Basement, MSC Camera Committee, MSC Aggie Cinema and MSC Cepheid Variable.