Newspaper Page Text
DECEMBER 12, 1968
WOLVERINE OBSERVER
PAGE 3
M.B. Makes
Comeback
By Elelene K. Franke
The Morris Brown Players
successfully placed Morris Brown
back in Atlanta’s theatre district
with an exciting production of
Edward Albee’s “The American
Dream” on Monday and Tuesday,
November 18th and 19th. The
controversial and often shocking
drama, which has been described
as a “comic nightmare,” was
justifiably received with
memorable cheers and applause
by an opening night audience of
about four hundred.
The American Dream is in the
contemporary tradition of
theatre of the absurd which, as
the phrase suggests, attempts to
recreate the ridiculousness of
daily modern life, its
superficiality and hypocrisy, and,
beneath all, its horror.
Under the direction of Mrs.
June Yoder, the Morris Brown
production expressed ably the _
comic side of modern
middle-class America. The play’s
potential for humor was realized
fully by the exaggeration or
caricature rendition of each of
the five characters. What made
the play work so well was the
strength of each of the actors in
his role, and the simple existence,
on one stage, of five such
contrastingly absurd characters as
Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mrs.
Barker and the Young Man.
Since “The American Dream”
focuses on human relationships
and is limited in time, place, and
setting, it calls for fine and
balanced acting. In spite and
perhaps because of the
inexperience of the cast, each
actor had something fresh and
stimulating to bring to his role.
Sandra Jackson as Grandma
and Rose Marie Walton as
Mommy were particularly
outstanding in their grasp of their
characters and in their ability to
convey the absurdly comic. Miss
Jackson created a sense of old age
with a naturalness of movement
and voice control of noteworthy
quality. Miss Walton’s strong
voice, striking facial expressions,
and apt movements captured the
audience immediately and
suggested an instinctive feeling
for humor.
In sharp but revealing contrast
to Mommy’s matronliness is
Angelia Mosley’s sustained
portrayal of the sexy, chic and
civic-minded Mrs. Barker. Miss
Mosley must be particularly
commended for the poise and
grace she displayed in playing
almost the'entirety of her role in
a mini-slip. Jesse Franklin as
Daddy and Joseph Vining as the
Young Man presented interesting
interpretations of two clearly
differentiated emasculated men.
Mr. Franklin’s Daddy was a
believable butt of Mommy’s
cynicism, and Mr. Vining’s stage
presence and dashing manner
created memorable moments for
the Morris Brown audience and
brought new dimensions to the
character of the Young Man.
W orking with considerable
limitations in finances and
physical plant, the technical crew
for “The American Dream” did
an outstanding job with set,
costumes, lighting and make-up.
_ Although one might question
choices in costuming and
make-up, the technical fluency of
the production was professional.
To say that the Morris
Brown’s production of Albee’s
“The American Dream” was
exciting and successful does not
mean to imply that it was
flawless. Several times, due both
to poor acoustics and lack of
projection, speeches were
unheard by the audience. Those
who have read the play may well
question whether character
interpretations were totally
appropriate and whether the
horror of the drama was fully and
clearly expressed. All in all,
however, this production does
reestablish theatre at Morris
Brown and should commit the
college to continuation of this
newly-revived tradition.
DEADLINE FOR
ARTICLES FOR NEXT
ISSUE JAN. 10.
Morris Brown Players in one of the tense scenes in the “American Dream’
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