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UNL theater professor Baldwin
also award winning playwrigh
Joseph Baldwin is a prolific and
award-winning playwright Two of his recent
plays, A Deed from the King of Spain and
Snow for the Lovers, have received recent,
recognition.
Baldwin is .professor of theater arts at UNL,
instructing introduction to the theater as well
as playwriting. The pi ay writing class is almost a
hobby, he says, since there are so few enrolled
in it. "But playwriting is my main interest," he
added. And the number of plays he has written
proves it. "I always have one or two plays on
the fire," he said. "I am pleased this University
recognizes the value of creative work as
research."
Baldwin has taught here since 1958. Prior to
his move here, Baldwin was associate director
of theater at the University of Mississippi. He
holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English
with minors in drama and journalism from the
University of Texas, and earned his Ph.D from
ths State University of Iowa.
dianewanek
Snow for the Lovers recently won first place
in a national playwriting competition. Snow is a
"sentimental farce," a nostalgic 3-act comedy
about college life in the '40s. '
The contest was conducted in order to
discover better scripts for high school
production. Production dates for the play,
which will premiere at Case High School in'
Racine, Wis., are May 9, 10 and 11. It will be
performed in the new "thrust stage" theatre at
I Case High School.
The thrust stage is becoming increasingly
popular, according to Baldwin, who describes it
as a thrust which runs out into the audience, so .
that the audience is sitting on three sides of the
stage, rather than just one,
Baldwin is currently working on "a couple
of plays," but declined to give information,
about them saying they were still in the
planning stages.
r
Baldwin bs won many awards including the
Theodore Marburg Playwriting Award from
Johns Hopkins University, the Texas
Playwrights' Award and the Festival of Arts
Playwriting Award. '; i '
His Deed from the King of Spain has been
lauded by Howard Thompson in the New York
Times: "Baldwin's fine drama , of a
disintegrating family in the American
Southwest simmers like a Chekovian chamber
work, then boils into a darkly sardonic
symphony."
A Deed is currently included in the
repertory of the American Center for
Stanislavski Theatre Art, playing in the
Greenwich Mews Theatre in New York City.
This group has also chosen the play as their
offering in the Festival of Off Broadway this
May. "I feel pretty good that my play was
chosen, since there were other choices, such as
a Chekov and an O'Neill," Baldwin said.
Prof. Joseph Baldwin
losencrantz, Guiidenstern
reach exceptional rapport
Review by Dermis Ellermetor
The University Theatre production of
Rosencrantz and Guiidenstern Are Dead is both
profound and funny. Director William Morgan
has taken a choice script and approached the
A take-off of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Tom
Stoppard's play probes the anonymous
characters of Rosencrantz and Guiidenstern,
revealing a lot about the predicament of
modern man.
Rosencrantz end Guiidenstern pass through
the three acts in abysmal confusion. The events
at Eisinore, the Danish King's castle, are
without lucidity for them. What they are able
to conclude does not nearly coincide with the
audience perception. "
Asking questions sbout the mm of life
and death, they reach no res! resolution and are
finally extinguiihod with a tragic otmmn.
Guiidenstern: "Uow you see mt now you . . ."
Stoppard's humor is dreary; a guffaw of
ridiculousness that often chameleons into
precise end searing comment
IU has left flosencraritz and Guiidenstern
struggling for, but never achieving, vision or
understanding. Ths Howe!! actors, however,
brim with understanding of their roles.
Rosencrantz and Guiidenstern, played by
Georgs Hansen and Doug Brissey, are excellent.
They art an inseparable pair in the script, and it
is hard to think of one without the other. Like
Tweedledee and Tweedledum, their characters
reflect and magnify each other. Even their
Wednesday, may 1, 1974
physical appearance stresses their sameness.
Near the end of Act I, they play a word
game in the manner of tennis. Questions are
volleyed back and forth with rules limiting the
possibilities. Their performance here is
chsrSFtsr'JtiC &f en iiro snow; timing is
precise and their rapport is exceptional.
While competent as a pa', they aiso
displayed moments of individual power in their
last separate speeches.
With the play buiit on such ' sturdy
foundations, everything else comes off
convincingly.
Donovan Diez, as the Player, and his troupe
of actors present two edged humor throughout.
They are hilarious at times but also serve biting
comment on the action. The troupe was bawdy,
reucous, and well played.
The other characters, to varying degrees,
complement the leads. Among the stronger are
Cindy Willis as Ophelia and Melissa Critchfield
as Gertrude.
Technically the show was well served with
rich Elizabethan costumes designed by Joy
Mtkvicka and the customary fine lighting
designs of Jerry Lewis.
On the whole the show is first rate. One
caution, however. The humor and comment can
be rather cerebral at times, so stay alert. For
extra enjoyment you might brush up on the
Bard's Hamlet before you go.
Rosencrantz and Guiidenstern Are Dead will
run 'through May 4. Curtain is at 8 p.m.
Admission: regular $2.50, students $2,
daily nebraskan
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