ART Receives $150K Grant

Undergraduates troubled by the complexities of the plays put on by the Harvard-affiliated American Repertory Theater (ART) should have nothing to fear this year.

Thanks to a $150,000 grant from National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the theater group plans to hire expert scholars to analyze and critique each of its productions at the Loeb Drama Center during the next two years.

The scholars, drawn from colleges and universities across the country, will deliver public symposia on each play, the ART announced last week. In addition, the scholars will write articles for the ART newsletter and program notes.

Three scholars will be chosen to explicate each play, ART officials said.

"They're looking at theoretical issues, they're looking at historical issues and they're looking at aesthetic issues," said NEH spokesperson Wilsonia E.D. Cherry.

The NEH awarded 12 grants to a variety of musical and artistic groups, Cherry said.

"We are deeply gratified by the way the National Endowment for the Humanities is helping to validate the intellectual and humanistic aspects of the theater," ART artistic director Robert S. Brustein said in a statement.

ART spokesperson Katalin Mitchell said the grant, which is composed of a $120,000 lump sum payment and a commitment to match up to $30,000, was awarded in September, after the theater company submitted its proposal for the program. A total of 53 groups were competing for the grants, Cherry said.

"People found the intellectual underpinnings of the project strong. The scholars that were involved were strong," said Cherry. "It started with a good premise."

Undergraduates in the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatics Club (HRDC) which also produces plays in the Loeb, yesterday expressed mixed opinions on the idea of paying for scholars to review the ART plays.

"It looks like a great way to expose undergraduates to the academic parts of theater," said HRDC board member Jeffrey S. Miller '90. "I personally admire the daring of starting a new program."

"I would hope that the-scholars would come in not only on the texts themselves but also on the directing, the production, and the design," Miller said.

But Jeremy C. Miller '90 said the ART project might not be the most worthwhile use for the $150,000 grant.

"I'm not certain it's being applied in the most productive manner," said Jeremy Miller, noting that HRDC and the ART must often compete for limited rehearsal and stage space in the Loeb. "[This project] seems to be something supplementary."