friday, may 2,1980
page 10
daily nebraskan
Lincoln's streets to come alive with performers
By Patti Wicscr
Setting up a permit allowing artists and
street performers to perform and accept
donations may be the result of combined
efforts by Marc WiHy, aJca. Marco the
Clown, and officials from the mayor's
office.
Willy, who made a presentation to the
Downtown Advisory Committee, said he
got an endorsement from it to go ahead
with this project and to work with the
mayor's office to set up a permit for artists
and street performers,
Willy said he hopes the permit will be Ma
year permit which would allow performers
to play and accept donations. . , there may
be some stipulations as to places in the
downtown area (where) they can per
form" "Although there's been a lot of support
from city officials, there's been some hesi
tancy from completely opening up the
streets," Willy said. "So there may be some
initial restrictions."
Grant to perform
To help initiate the project of street per
forming, Willy received a grant from the
Nebraska Arts Council and the Lincoln
Transportation System to perform at bus
stops as a mimic and clown two afternoons
a week for four weeks, beginning May 7.
Elaine Carpenter, administrative assis-
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tant to the mayor, said, e're trying to
explore ways in which to accomodate per
formers in the street and still not cause un
necessary obstructions to the merchants.
Some sort of permit will be involved,
she said, but one which would not be nec
essary to obtain each day.
Right now a street performer needs a
permit to perform. The permit costs five
dollars a day and must be approved by the
city council,
Willy said he hopes the permit will be
good for one year, but Carpenter said the
length has not been decided.
Nothing definite has resulted from their
efforts.
Limitations needed
Some compromising as to what will be
allowed will have to be done, said Willy.
For the first year, he said, some city offi
cials feel there need to be some limitations
while testing it out. He said these limita
tions include restricting performing places
in the downtown area.
"One thing city officials are concerned
with is that citizens' private space is not
violated, . . and that's something for per
formers to keep in mind, to respect," he
said.
Willy said the mayor's office is expected
to make a permit available so that anyone
can perform in the streets if they get a per
mit. It may cost between $3-$5 and allow
them to accept donations, he added.
Willy said he started working on the
project because he received encouragement
from students and citizens from his own
street, performances, mimes Wid characters.
These characters include playing Cupid on
St. Valentine's Day, a leprechaun on St,
Patrick's Day and a May Day clown yester
day. He jokingly said he'd like to play a
mummy during dead-week.
Encourage other performers
The main focus of Willy's efforts
towards a new permit is to encourage
artists and performers to play in downtown
Lincoln, he said. He hopes to liven up the
downtown atmosphere by having perform
ers at all times. This would make Lincoln
like other cities that have street perform
ances, including San Francisco, New
A UNL graduate teaching assistant in
theater has been named the winner of
Wichita State University Theatre's sixth
national playwriting contest.
Dale Wilson, who will receive an MFA in
Playwriting in August and is currently
working -toward a PhD. in theater won
$250 for his full-length play "Penny Dread
fuls." j The winner of three earlier playwriting
; awards, Wilson said either his new play or
- the second-place winner will be produced'
j by the Wichita State Experimental Theatre
: in the fall of 1980. ;'
T- "Penny Dreadfuls," which is scheduled
to be preseniecLby the UNL Theatre De
i partment in the spring of 1981, "concerns
I the people of a small and dying community
in southern West Virginia,"" Wilson said.
"The story centers on a young girl who
has a religious "vision only to be propelled
into 'stardom' by the selfish desires of
those around her," said Wilson, who has
been selected the General Manager-Artistic
Director of summer theater activities
at the University of Evansville in Indiana
for the second year.
Wilson has also won playwriting awards
for his "Surprise Party for Mrs. Meeker,"
"And In The Land Of Tyrants," and
"Flight of The Albatross," which was pro
duced in UNL's Studio Theatre in 1979.
He is also the author of "Charles
Dickens-A Christmas Carol," which holds
the record for sales and attendance at both
the Universities of Evansville, and UNLt
OTleans and Boulder, he explained.
"Lincoln is ready for street theater,
street performances," Willy said.
"The main thing I'm really hoping is
that performers will take advantage of this
opportunity and take advantage of the
public areas. . .get Lincoln going ... get
Lincoln alive this summer," he said.
Willy set up a Lincoln Arts Festival
booth and talked -to hundreds of citizens,
and received a "real positive response to
the idea of street performers, he said,
"Some said, 'this is just what the town
needs,' " Willy said, adding that he talked
to poets, musicians, dancers, comedians,
clowns, jugglers and people who just want
creative play and they seemed interested in
his project.
"At this point, (there's) not really an or
ganization of street performers but an en
couragement of individuals to motivate
themselves to perform."
Willy said he got started as a clown "by
just going downtown and doing it."
Some negative response
He has studied mime and acting and
joined a professional theater company, the
Pied Pipers, when he was 15 years old. The
Pied Pipers did children's theater and
comedy theater.
Last fall, Willy also traveled with the
Jungle Wonders Circus through Arkansas
and Louisiana,
Through his years of performing, Willy
said he has received both negative response
and positive response,
"Mainly it's just people looking angry
and ignoring and occasionally calling me
namesverbal abuse," he said. This, is
caused, he explained, by people feeling
threatened by something new.
He said, however, 'The few negative
responses do not even stop my enthusiasm
from all the positive responses."
Willy said he plans to set up a booth in
the Nebraska Union North Lobby, Monday
and Tuesday, to talk to interested per
formers about the project.
This month the project should be com
pleted, he said.
"The mayor is really behind street per
formers," Willy said.
Marc Willy recently has been seen on campus as a variety of characters. On St.
Valentine's Day he played Cupid, on St. Patrick's Day a leprechaun and on May
Day, he was a May Day clown. Jokingly, he said he'd play a mummy during dead
week.
UNL graduate assistant wins
national playwriting contest
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