Broad Review of ART Nears an End

A new concentration in drama and a full-time liaison between the Faculty and the American Repertory Theatre (ART) are two proposals under consideration in a broad review of the theater company's relationship with Harvard.

The review, by the Faculty's 10-member Committee on Dramatic Arts, is the first official examination of the relationship between the Faculty and the ART since the acting company moved to Cambridge from the Yale School of Drama in 1979.

The committee will submit its report to the Faculty Council in mid-March. The review was mandated in Harvard's original contract with the ART.

Although committee members interviewed this week refused to comment on the exact nature of the recommendations, they are taking into account proposals from student drama organizations and the ART itself.

ART Director Robert S. Brustein said yesterday that one proposal he has made to the committee was to create a drama concentration.

The concentration would emphasize reading dramatic literature, rather than aspects of production.

"From there it would spread out to include experience in production, directing and acting," he explained.

Brustein said he has also proposed to the committee that a liaison between the ART and the University be hired. Possible responsibilities for such an official would include "going to see every undergraduate production at the Loeb, being in charge of the experimental theater and teaching a course, preferably a Core course," Brustein said.

A member of the Committee on Dramatic Arts, Brustein has, for the most part, not been participating in its ART review.

The committee oversees courses in dramatic literature and production which are offered for credit but not as part of a concentration.

Student Voice

The committee is also considering proposals from the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC), which is responsible for all student productions at the Loeb's Drama Center's main stage and experimental theater, and for coordinating campus-wide drama activities.

HRDC President Nicholas J. Wyse '84, who has been sitting in on the Faculty review committee's meetings, cited the establishment of a Faculty-appointed liaison as the most important change that should happen to the ART.

"We feel that somebody of considerable standing should be appointed by the University to tap the resources of the ART for students," he said.

By coordinating ART activities with student activities, and planning ART-sponsored workshops and seminars, the liaison would be an answer to students' interest in more exten- sive contact with the repertory company, Wyse said.

Wyse agreed with Brustein that Harvard should have a drams concentration, but he added that it should be established "extremely carefully."

If not administered carefully, a drama concentration might "squash the healthy amateurism" of undergraduate drama. Wyse warned, adding. "Non-concentrators might feel inhibited by competing with concentrators."

Wyse called the lack of a drama concentration a long-standing gripe among undergraduates, noting that students' complaints on the subject intensified when the ART moved to Harvard four years ago.

But Jurij Striedter, professor of Slavic Languages and Literature and a member of the committee, said that in the past. "The Faculty was not interested in training undergraduates to be professional actors," he said.

Stredier also said that HRDC"s support for the creation of a liaison represents a complete change in student opinion. When the ART first came to Harvard, undergraduates interested in drama were afraid that their needs would he sacrificed for those of the ART, Striedter said, adding. Now the feeling is that students would like to have more intense contact the ART."

Brustein said he is unsure whether the committee would endure any of his proposals, "We can't talk about any changes until the committee makes its recommendations. If they're positive we'll go on from there," he said.

Wyse expressed doubts about the financial feasibility of establishing a liaison "Unfortunately, the Faculty is reticent to commit any more theory to the ART then they already have," he said.

In addition to the free one of the Lorb Drama Center, the ART currently receives $225,000 or about 11 percent of its budget from the Faculty. The Faculty also covers any deficit the ART might incur, with the understanding that the money will be paid back