Actors, Directors Strongly Criticize Loeb's Administrative Organization

Some small progress has been made towards making the Loeb Drama Center a gathering place for the theatre community--but not without difficulty. "We practically had to riot to get a Coke machine," Mark J. Mirsky '61, an active performer and director, recalls.

And clearly, Coke machines will not solve everything. Undergraduate dissatisfaction with the administration of the Loeb has been widely and bitterly expressed.

Advisory Committee Role

Productions for this year were chosen by the Advisory Committee after the various student organizations had nominated directors along with detailed production plans. The Faculty Committee held and still maintains veto power over the Advisory Committee's selections.

Among resons for choosing this Spring's plays were a desire to encourage classicists--which led to Ajax--and fear of incurring criticism from outside groups--which caused the Faculty Committee to veto The Jew of Malta in favor of The Alchemist.

Under the new system, shows have been selected from a long list made up by the Advisory Committee, and directors have been nominated along with a number of plays. But students see no reason for such a list, especially in its present form. "Half the plays on the list are unperformable by the present student body," Mirsky says. "How can they object to The Tempest and then put the Shakespearean plays they have on the list?"

Student Questions

Students question the Loeb's entire administrative structure. It seems paradoxical to them that the undergraduates should be responsible for productions that the Faculty in effect selects.

And, they say, Loeb Director Robert H. Chapman is in an impossible position. Answerable to both the students and the Faculty Committee, he has been forced to walk a tight-rope all year. As a result, he has had to adopt a conciliatory, rather than positive, attitude. Students were not happy to see spats between Chapman and eminent visitors Eric Bentley and Lillian Hellman, and they fear that other New York theatre personalities may now hesitate to come here.

Few can bring themselves to regret the departure of assistant director Stephen A. Aaron '57. Students felt that his indefinite status--halfway between that of a student and that of a professional--and his career ambitions only complicated the Loeb situation.

For instance, students resented it when Aaron claimed credit for directing the Cambridge Teen-Age Theatre production of Trouble in Swanson's Alley. They say he had little to do with the production, until it was publicized.

Aaron also offered unsolicited advice. He was ejected from rehearsals of Caucasian Chalk Circle several times, once forcibly