Overseers Like Design For Proposed Theatre

The Board of Overseers' Committee to Visit Harvard College joined with leaders of College dramatic organizations yesterday in praise of the projected plans for the revolutionary Loeb Drama Center. The tentative model and drawings of the "dream theatre" were the center of interest in yesterday's conference on the state of undergraduate drama.

Hugh A. Stubbins, Jr. '35, architect for the new Center, presenting his conception of the ideal theatre, asserted, "I think we've solved a problem that the drama people in New York said couldn't be solved. We were foolish enough to try it, and we have succeeded." Stubbins has designed plans for the first theatre to contain both a proscenium and a theatre in the round.

"This is the ultimate answer to a problem that has plagued dramatists since time immemorial," declared Walter B. Farnham '59, president of the Opera Guild. After seeing the projected image of the Drama Center, James E. Stinson, Jr. '59, President of the Harvard Dramatic Club, added, "We seniors are sick over the fact that we have to graduate and miss this theatre."

Stubbin's plans include an ingenious device by which 13 tons of seating area can be moved in 30 minutes. The first 140 seats are on motors and can be shifted to one side when the stage is converted. The drawings also show permanent lighting fixtures, costume rooms, and a spacious shop.

Remarks by John Mason Brown '23, enlivened the meeting's proceedings. Brown, in a semi-serious proposal to add $10 to every student's tuition in order to procure funds for student drama, noted, "The University spends over $100,000 a year on athletics; the teams have shown that this is unrewarding. Why not spend a few dollars on the theatre?"

After lunch with the final club presidents and a meeting with members of the Student Council, the Committee visited WHRB, and also heard various talks, including a survey of Radcliffe's role in student activities. A trip to Adams House ended the day for the visitors.