Reunion
Former high school teammates
reminisce in Repertory drama
By M.A. MATHIE
In a region where athletics tend
to be highly valued, sports en
thusiasts are invited by Oregon
Repertory Theatre (ORT) director
George Lauris “to come and laugh
at themselves.”
Not that sports fans will be the
only ones interested in ORT’s
That Championship Season,
opening tonight. A triumph for au
thor Jason Miller, the play has
numerous awards to its credit, in
cluding a Pulitzer, a Tony Award
and the New York Drama Critics
Circle Award for best play of the
1972 season.
As material for this critical suc
cess Miller uses a nostalgic reun
ion of four former high school bas
ketball teammates. Once the
Pennsylvania State champions,
they meet twenty years later at the
house of their coach. They all
have arrived at some sort of fixed
place in the social world, and to
varying degrees their careers
clash with their high school
dreams.
Director George Lauris (who
recently impressed Eugene with
his production of The Belle of
Amherst) sees the play as “the
last hurrah of a vanishing
species,” the proponents of the
“win-at-all-costs syndrome.” The
former sports champions — now
the town mayor, a school princi
pal, his alcoholic brother, and a
modern businessman — frankly
review their lives.
The play’s forced exposure of
emotions makes it, according to
Lauris, “a powerhouse of a story
about small town friends who hold
on to fraudulent dreams which
have poisoned their present lives
and have robbed them of the fu
ture which was once so rich in
promise.”
The candid language and ac
tion prompts ORT to warn viewers
that "the play is recommended for
mature audiences.”
The characters of That Cham
pionship Season are portrayed by
actors well known in Eugene and
Lane County. John Descutner, the
former champions’ coach, has re
cently played Macbeth and the
role of George in Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf, both University
Theatre productions. John
Freeman, who played Willy
Loman in ORT’s production of
Death of a Salesman, appears as
the mayor. Will Emery, the lion in
Photo by Adrienne Selnger
Bill Ritchie and John Descutner have a very potent reunion in “That Championship Season."
Androcles and the Lion, portrays
the school principal, with Bill
Ritchie, Scrooge in A Christmas
Carol, as his brother. The “ag
gressive businessman of waver
ing loyalties” is performed by Bill
Geisslinger, who also played
Happy in Death of a Salesman
and Albert in A Thousand Clowns.
George Lauris, besides his di
recting accomplishments, has
many roles as an actor to his cre
dit, including the portrayal of Sir
Thomas More in Lane Community
College s production of A Man
for All Seasons. Both Lauris and
Descutner worked on the produc
tion of Luv at the Eugene Hotel,
and Lauris describes the five men
appearing in That Championship
Season as “good actors” who are
“fun to work with.”
The stage crew includes Diane
Mundt, in charge of costumes;
Andrew Traister, set designer;
and Jim Robinson, who arranged
the lighting. ORT is located in the
Atrium Mall downtown, where
they have, incidentally, just instal
led new cushioned theater seats.
During intermission beer will be
sold; anyone planning on drinking
had best remember their ID.
That Championship Season will
be played at both evening and
matinee performances. The even
ing performances are at 8 p.m.
Feb 16-19 and 23-26, and March
2-5. Matinee performances are at
2 p.m. on February 18, 25, and
March 4.
The ticket price for Thursday
and Sunday night shows is $3.50;
Friday and Saturday nights,
$4.50. Matinees are $2.50. Dis
counts are available to senior citi
zens and students as well as
groups. For information and re
servations, call the Oregon Reper
tory Theatre box office at
485-1946.
Cultural trio combine to launch symposium
Bennie Yee and Nobuko Joanne Miyamato
Foreign culture. You won’t have
to travel far next week to get a
healthy dose of it.
The Second Annual Multi
cultural Historical Symposium,
scheduled Feb. 20-24 in the EMU,
will feature music, dance, food,
films and lectures with one goal in
mind — to introduce and em
phasize the histories and cultures
of Asian Americans, Afro
Americans and Native Americans.
The University’s Asian Ameri
can (AASU), Black (BSU)and Na
tive American (NASU) Student
Unions are jointly sponsoring the
event.
The week’s festivities will cul
minate in a multi-cultural
dinner/show Friday, Feb. 24 at 6
p.m. in the EMU Ballroom. Poetry,
songs, martial arts and Native
American and Japanese dancing
are featured in the show. Tickets
for all events are available at the
EMU Main Desk. The dinner is
$2.50
Kicking off the week at 8 p.m.
Monday in the Ballroom are
Nobuko Joanne Miyamoto and
Bennie Yee of Warriors of the
Chinese Students Association proudly presents
CHINA NIGHT
You'll experience a touch of elegance in this unique
cultural event featuring an authentic Oriental
banquet and traditional folk dances.
Sunday, February 19th, 1978
6:00 p.m. EMU BALLROOM
$3.50 per adult
$2.00 per child under 12
Tickets available at EMU Main Desk
Rainbow, nationally known Asian
American movement band. Tick
ets are $3.
Miyamoto, a dancer, actress
and singer/lyricist, is noted for her
production of A Grain of Sand on
Paredon Records. Yee, keyboard
artist and composer, is a former
member of Hiroshima, one of the
first A-sian American jazz-rock
groups.
Roger Broer, a Sioux Indian and
an acclaimed artist, will speak on
Native American art Wednesday
from noon to 2 p.m. in the EMU
Forum Room. His works will be
displayed also, with no admission
charge.
At the Time of Whaling, an
award-winning film, will be shown
Wednesday at 7 p.m. also in the
Forum Room, free of charge. The
movie tells about whaling from the
viewpoint of the Eskimos and exp
lains why whaling is an important
part of their culture.
AASU members will combine
poetry, history and commentary
with judo, kung fu and karate in a
martial arts demonstration Wed
nesday at 7:30p.m. in EMU Room
167 with a $1 admission.
Jerome Hall, internationally
known black poet and writer, will
lecture on black expatriates in
Europe and will lead a workshop
during the week. For exact times
and dates, call the BSU,
686-4379. Hall, also an instructor,
teaches courses on racism in
Spain and the United States.
gsglgp
doy of
TICKETS: Everybody* to Corveihs,
Sun Shop, SSttj Main Desk.
Everybody's to Eugene
ftecftKMitorOmSiv
M - ~-« l,JfcL
• IWTtWRw MP9W> • nOltoRv ve*w