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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 1996)
ington’s RFk';! contention afj Americans ne| “ d 1 THURSDAY a late repR npic tennis,, a the third set 0 y against T will likeljj n the doubleij ii Washingtoi. on is hopeliil I berg and teail 118 Olympic J i,k 6-3,7-6(7# ore Americar.;, Martinez of ; j oden. Thebij-; nisevic, ouste: >s Ondruska. ued to leadi:j -3 (10 gold, as Russia wit * (6-3-7) ani July 25, 1996 GGIE Page 3 Ml the World's A (Stage 'Nspiration Station continues its Shakespeare Festival with the production of Hamlet this weekend By Michael Cordova The Battalion een a profet 988. He tetj asses in crt nking. or, a junior| ■oring major] at the Rec [| 1 graduattM aim ... but# md. That'# aid. F or some, the works of William Shakespeare are just a few poetic tions are cc toes.” 3 of the dtt ott & Whit; words from an old writer. But for many others, they kindle a ! romance with one of history’s most famous and intriguing playwrights. In an attempt to recapture | some of the Shakespearean magic, ’Nspiration Academy of Bryan is sion and r j producing a series of plays by the 16th century playwright. The fourth annual Shake- . I hope then /e relations 1 d. “But bast speare Festival kicked off earlier le sand and; I this month, directed by Randy Wilson. The Festival, which has three productions that run until the end of August, will be pro duced solely by Bryan-College Station community members. His productions have required a variety of volunteers and have often had a few unusual twists in several plays. “We work solely from volun teers,” Wilson said. “We are a community-based theater. One time, we had two full families on stage at the same time.” The plays’ casts are mainly comprised of families and individ uals from the community. They have also interested many A&M students and aspiring actors. “We usually take auditions five to six weeks in advance,” Wilson said. “We place ads in the local newspapers so every one who wants to can come out and get a chance to read. The productions usually take six weeks to produce.” The community organization has also helped propel others to greater heights. Three actors who participat ed in ’Nspiration Station pro ductions have furthered their acting careers. “Since I’ve been here, we had one person move to L.A., one who is attending Circle Rep (an acting school) in New York and another who has just been accepted to Cir cle Rep,” Wilson, a Broadway vet eran, said. Wilson, who has been with ’Nspiration Station for the past three-and-a-half years, also directs the other two plays in the festival. Nellwyn Haley of the Brazos Val ley Arts Council said two other plays will be produced to accompany Hamlet in the Shakespeare Festival. “As You Like It — a youth pro duction — and Comedy of Errors will run later this slimmer,” Haley said. “Meanwhile, Hamlet is al ready underway.” Wilson said he enjoys produc ing Shakespeare’s works. “We are doing Shakespeare be cause it is a quality production,” Wilson said. “Also because we don’t have to pay any royalties.” People involved in the plays are not the only ones who enjoy the productions. Many community members are fans as well. Justin Lindley, a junior agrono my major, said he is glad he had the opportunity to attend some of the plays. “Last fall, I went to a couple of plays and I really enjoyed it,” Lindley said. “Hopefully, I can get out there this year and catch a few more.” ’Nspiration Station has also produced other popular plays and musicals. Last season’s productions of Annie, Oliver, and The Sound of Music were all sellouts. The Brazos Valley Arts Council funds ’Nspiration Station and the Shakespeare Festival along with 21 other groups. Later this year, ’Nspi ration Station will produce commu nity favorites like Fiddler on the Roof and To Kill a Mockingbird, and they will end the year with Camelot. Manor East Mall boutique finds use for hemp in shoes, shirts, hacky sacks By Michael Cordova The Battalion Pat James, The Battalion Elaine Banks, owner of Earth's First Farms in Manor East Mall, displays some of the edible uses for industrial hemp. Despite all the negative stereotypes and illegal uses of marijuana, some versions of the drug are used for productive and help ful reasons. With all the negative notoriety accom panying hemp, Elaine Banks, owner of Earth’s First Farms, has seen the plant’s useful side. Her Manor East Mall boutique, sells prod ucts made from the earthy material, has gained quite a following from its customers. “At first I was unaware of what to ex pect,” says Banks. “But so far, almost everyone who has come in has said they like the store.” Her cozy boutique contains various prod ucts made from industrial hemp. Hiking boots, hacky sacks and shirts made from the material adorn the inside of her store. “Our most popular products are our mens’ shirts,” she said. “Guys come in and they want something that will last for five to ten years. Our shirts do that.” Banks envisioned opening a hemp store to combat some of the social ills associated with the material, as well as using her hemp products as an alternative to trees. She said hemp has been given a harsh reputation because of its illegal uses. “Just because marijuana has a negative connotation associated with it doesn’t mean that hemp has to be labeled as a black sheep as well,” she says. “Hemp is a good crop be cause it is drought-resistant and replaces nutrients into the soil.” "So far, almost everyone who has come in has said they like the store." — ELAINE BANKS owner of Earth’s First Farms Banks said hemp is also a sturdy material for products. “The clothes that have hemp in them can be treated just like cotton,” she said. “You can just throw them into the dryer when you wash.” Other than 100 percent hemp clothing, her stores also sell many other items. “We sold out of some things, but along with the clothes we sell a lot of fun items,” she said. “Frisbees with hemp seeds on the edges, baseball caps, backpacks and wallets are also selling.” In order to open and stock her two-month- old store, Banks traveled to Los Angeles to view two new hemp stores that opened earli er this year. She said at times it is difficult to find dif ferent merchandise for her store because of the lack of available products. “The catalogs I buy from have about two or three pages worth of merchandise,” Banks said. During her recent trip to California, she noticed only two out of about 1,500 outfits made from from hemp. For now. Banks who also owns Elaine’s, an ice cream shop and deli, ponders the possibility of moving to a larger, more ac cessible store. She said that she hopes to move some where closer for more visibility. “I want to move to a location closer to the students, but for now it might be better to stay put and establish the business here,” she said. v; . One ,f Pool son i I NEW Motorola | BRAVO PLUS I $29.95* I $4,95 AIRTIME Editor or OR lTHICS Edit 08 , Texas The missing link in your Quest for your first Software Job! Credible Software Training ORACLE™ 7.3 brought to you by Phaedra Software Solutions, Inc. 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