I reported some tough remarks yesterday by Arkansas Tech president Robert Brown in defense of the university’s closure of a theater workshop. They drew tremendous response in our comments thread from supporters of the theater program and, today, an update from Ardith Morris, a full professor at Tech and director of the theater program for 29 years.
Good news (UPDATE: a full news release is on the jump). She said space had been found in a vo-tech facility owned by the college near Russellville High School as alternate workshop space while solutions are sought for the crowded workshop closed after a fire marshal’s inspection. It should suffice for this semester’s stagecraft class and to meet needs of a coming production of “Candide.” I learned a bit more about, but not the specific objections to, an agreement on use of “Candide” delayed in the university’s review of the contract. Morris said, in case these were the problems, that no one appears nude in Bernstein’s musical and it requires no weapons. Arkansas Tech, it turns out, has banned use of weapons in plays since a dustup several years ago over use of a prop pistol in “Assassins.” Brown wanted to prohibit production of the play. The ACLU intervened and it eventually was performed.
Brown, while insisting his only interest was student safety in the workshop action, still seemed to hold some hard feelings over the “Assassins” controversy. He said he’d been targeted unjustly for criticism that he meddled in theater content. He also declined in the interview with me to express confidence in the theater faculty.
Morris took the high road today. She said:
I don’t want to engage in blaming anybody or name calling or dsparaging the intentions of the university. If there’s going to be a resolution to this issue it has to be between two groups of people who know and trust and have mutual respect for each other.