Of Mice and Men portrays pain and isolation
Tl' ...... . . .
This is a return visit for Guthrie
The.t t re actor Pdul Ballantyne.
Bd'L'tntyne is in Lincoln this week with
the Trone Guthrie Theatre tour of
John Sts-'ntxrck's p'ay Of Mice and
Men.
Before j o n i n q the Guthrie,
Bailjntyne played Lincoln with the
cats of Teahouse of the August Moon
20 ears aqo and Mary Stuart,
Queen of Scots 12 years ago. He said
the town has changed quite a bit.
The tour of Mary Stuart, Queen of
Scots later brought Ballantyne to the
nevV theater in Minneapolis. The
tnater company was founded by the
! jt; S r Tyrone Guthrie, in the early
Si tic-5.
"We were in Chicago and the
roadshow was having problems with
ne light plot fitting the theater. A
i"i i of 'Dr. G.' sent a distress call to
n,m for help. I didn't actually thnk of
working with him until two years later
when got an early morning phone
call in New York," Ballantyne said.
The phone call was from Guthrie,
asking him to join the newly formed
company. Ballantyne said his
involvement with the Guthrie has been
a miracle he hasn't gotten over.
The 10-week tour is a homecoming
for Ballantyne, who was raised in the
Midwest and left his home during the
Depression to work as a linotype
operator in Chicago.
"In Ames, Iowa, we learned to
adjust to a house that the
Metropolitan Opera would be happy
to have. The auditorium there seated
2,649, and the backstage was big
enough to launch ships," Ballantyne
said.
Adjusting from the relative
intimacy of the Guthrie Theatre where
the faithest seat is only 52 feet from
the stage, he said, "we were just happy
to find that we could project enough
to be heard on our own," Ballantyne
said of the large theater.
The six-state tour has taken them
to all kinds of theaters. "It's been a
special treat for us to get acquainted
with new people along the way and to
bring theater to friends that visit us at
the Guthrie.
"People have been hungry to learn
about theater. Of Mice and Men has
bf.-en particularly successful because it
creates sympathy with the audience
immediately," he said.
Ballantyne plays the role of Candy,
an old sheepherder. Candy is afraid of
losing his job because he has only one
hand. He has no worldly possessions
except an old dog.
"The cider people have especially
related to Candy's predicament. He's
an old man with nothing but a dog and
the dog is shot; and a dream is broken.
"Sometime, everyone is afraid. The
show has been successful because
people see in the characters'
alientation and isolation some of their
own pain. A pain to deep they can't
respond to it. Life is frail and
sometimes desolate with the
realization that no one ever gets to
take anything with them afterwards,"
Ballantyne said.
"Audiences have been nothing but
enthusiastic on our tour. That brings a
new challenge every night and marks
the difference that keeps the show
from being routine.
"Part of our art is learning never to
force an audience reponse, but to
intrique them into following. Young
people are a joy to play to as they
respond immediately, but a lot of
older people are still afraid to let go.
An actor can feel the audience hold
back emotion," he said.
"The play has been rewarding to do
and we've never tired of it. Always
finding something in the richness of
Steinbeck's characters has kept the
show new for us," Ballantyne said.
Ballantyne said the image of the
theater and theater people has changed
over the years, but he still finds
individuals who are misinformed about
theater.
"They don't realize the energy that
goes into performing leaves an actor
mentally and physically drained. At
one point, last season I was rehearsing
two shows, performing one and
replacing an actor in another and, by
the end of the day, just happy to go
home and rest.
Shyness has never kept Ballantyne
off the stage. At 12, he knew it would
be his profession. He says he'll always
be stage-struck, as an actor or audience
member.
"The call is born into you. Why my
call was theater I can't explain
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,
Guthrie Theatre actor Paul Ballantyne
man with broken dreams.
plays Candy, a
anymore than why a coal minor might
have 14 children and the ninth one
wants to play the violin.
''Theatre deals in human
relationships, as Of Mice and Men
does, and as an actor becomes mote
and more experienced, he giows
expanding his knowledge and the
audience's realm of expei lence. This is
a great gift theater has to give,"
Ballantyne said.
x X
" Unused tickets for Wednesday
afternoon's performance sponsored by
the Lincoln Public Schools have been
made available to UNL.
Approximately 100 tickets will be on
sale at the door at 1 p.m. Wednesday,
at Kimball Recital Hall.
r
Dance
Smith Hall is sponsoring a
1 950's style dance Saturday
from 9 to 12 p.m. in the
Nebraska Union Ballroom.
Admission is 75 cents. All
receipts will go to help an
oi phanaqe in South Vietnam.
Unvevt IDs will be required
at the door,
II NOW SHOWING
HENRY MILLER'S
BEST SELLER
Representatives
Students interested in being
a University representative to
their high school should attend
a meeting at 4:30 p.m.,
Thursday in the Union.
Auditions
Auditions for the next
University theatre production,
The Memorandum, will be held
Sunday, 7-10 p.m., Monday,
7-10 p.m., and Tuesday, 7-10
p.m.
Sole Power
There will be a film, slides
and discussion on the 1973
Lincoln Walk for Development
Thursday at 7 p.m. in the
Union.
Volunteers
Visually impaired students
at the University would like
readers' help two hours each
week.
For information about
volunteer opportunities
contact the Student Volunteer
Bureau, 200 Nebraska Union.
nebraskan
doiu
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STUDEWTS UNITE!
It is time for us ail to work together for our rights
If your landlord is hassling you and you want to do
something about it, call the ASUN office 12-4 p.m.
daily and help with a telephone survey. The secretary
will ask you some of the following questions; amount
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The results of this survey will help us to investigate the
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page 2
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, march 13, 1973
