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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1985)
he director draws j hard on his half ! smoked cigarette then rubs his chin, ▼ | squinting his eyes. Across the room two actors are rehearsing a scene and something is not as it should be. But he allows them to con tinue for a moment while he paces to stage right and leans against a table. He takes another puff and scrutinizes CONTRACEPTIVES The Rubber Tree • Condoms Over 50 Varieties • Foams, Creams, Jellies, Sponges • Books. T-Shirts, and more • 10-40% BELOW RETAIL FOR A FREE MAIL ORDER BROCHURE WRITE ZPG-SEATTLE, Dept: MO 4426 BURKE N., SEATTLE, WA 98103 A Non-Profit Protect of ZPG-Seattle the action. Those actors not in the scene wait quietly. Some study their lines while others watch in tently. They glance up briefly when Joe Sansonese, the direc tor and playwright, stands at front center and stops the ac tion. Maybe the scene lacks in tensity or maybe it’s too in tense. It’s a fine line, but San sonese is concerned with subtleties. -5*r BMBM PMlIM CHINESE RESTAURANT Oriental Buffet Lunch Downstairs & Try Our Dinner Upstairs Hours: Downstairs M-Th 11:00 7:00; F Sa 11:00 4.3C Closed Sundays Hours: Upstairs Su-Th 4:30 10:00 F Sa 5:00 • 10:30 1275 Alder Street • 683-8886 “When you put something on paper it talks back to you,” Sansonese said later. “If it doesn’t give you the feeling that you want, you go back and change it.” In the process of writing a script, Sansonese says he continues to make revi sions until he gets the feeling he wants. Then he must see it performed. “What I do is look at the ac tors and see if that feeling is have fun in the sun with an ODE! GET OFF TO Al GREATSTART An event you won’t want to miss. As part of this campus community, your participat ing Ford dealer will talk with you about the special values available on Ford’s 1985 COSPONSOR model cars and trucks. GET OFF TO A GREAT START WITH FORD ON THE DATE(S) LISTED BELOW! CULTURAL WEDNESDAY* HAY I STH THURSDAY* HAY I6TH Paop iR Tho Friflav Frlitinn coming from them," he says. "It’s not the same thing to have words do it as a person. Generally, an ac tor does all kinds of things that you never expected. That’s the ex citing thing about directing." Although Sansonese is a great believer in flexibility, several of the actors in the play say he has a definite idea of what he wants. But the director doesn’t force his point in rehearsal. He com pliments the actors and suggests subtle changes. "The House on the Point" is one of two plays written by San sonese that he and his wife, Judith Kovach, a graduate dance student at the University, are producing for their Full Moon Festival of the Arts, this weekend at the old Con don School. The festival will feature two of Sansonese's plays as well as a mixed media show. The festival is a work of love for Sansonese and Kovach. Their driv ing purpose is to present a variety of art and local talent to the public: During the day, Sansonese works as a technical editor for Li quid Chromatography, a journal for chemists. Although its content is far from heavy drama, it’s writ ten in Sansonese's second language. He holds a Master’s degree in physics from Brown University. This might seem to be an unusual occupation and educa tion for a literary, but he has a good excuse. "I knew all my life I had a talent for writing, but I was a pro duct of the Sputnik generation,” he says, "... and there was pressure then to go into science.” But through high school and col lege he attended Jesuit schools. "Against your will they gave you a real broad spectrum of lear ning,” he says of the Jesuits. But he is thankful for what they taught him because he developed a deep appreciation for literature. Sansonese began writing seriously while sitting in a guard house in Rhode Island. He worked as a night watchman for $1.85 an hour and out of boredom and a desire, he began writing a novel on a legal pad. The novel was never published, but it spurred him on. He has since had some short stories published and has worked on several other novels. Playwriting came as an outgrowth of these past literary efforts when he realized he had a talent for writing dramatic scenes. the playwright I as director ■ as physicist Photo by Kirk Hirota foe Sansonese (right) and the cast of “The Mill at Tour d'lvior, "are part of the Full Moon Festival of the Arts, which takes place this weekend. “I noticed that I was writing many many pages in the novels that were just dialogue,” he says. ”So (playwriting) served two pur poses: One. as an outlet for this talent, and two. as an outlet for my work.” “The House on the Point” and “The Mill at Tour d’lvior,” the other play in the festival, are loosely based on Sansonese's per sonal experiences. For a time he worked as an orderly in a mental hospital, and some of what he saw there appears in “The House.” To Sansonese, experiences are the best foundation for drama. "I believe that everything that happens to you is meaningful,” he says. “There is nothing chaotic or accidental in your life. Everything is a lesson in a sense.” Although Sansonese considers himself a novelist, he says playwriting allows him to sidestep some of the frustration involved in getting novels published. But he has a second motive that centers on his role as director. “What I enjoy the most since I'm the playwright is not only see ing the words I’ve written coming back. .he says, his voice trail ing off. “You know, it’s like hav ing a child separated from you and then he comes back and you see the resemblance. Sometimes it’s a strong resemblance.” How closely the play reflects the script depends largely upon the actors’ and directors' interpreta tions of it. In the case of the plays being produced for this festival there is a direct connection bet ween the actors and the author. Chris Pinto is a professional ac Continued on Page 8B The Cultural Forum and EMU Food Service join MeCha in celebrating Cinco De Mayo! Beer Garden Today! featuring from Portland Palante (formerly Mantecca) 4-7pm EMU Dining Room I.D. Required A FESTIVE FIESTA OF FUN & FRENZY! =SS3S$SS3SSSS^«^y,'»«S9SSSSSSSS$$S$$SS« May 7 12:30 PM Group Meeting, Forum Room 3:30 PM Film - "The Toughest Job" The Forum Room 7:30 PM "Kenya Night," slides presentation Room 108, EMU May 8 3:30 PM Liberian Slides, Room 101 (By Post Office) EMU 7:30 PM Film, "The Toughest Job," 1st United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive May 9 1:00 PM Film, "In Their Shoes," Celeste Campbell Senior Center, 155 High Peace Corps Awareness Week Events V Call 686-3235 For Information It’s a celebration of art The Third Annual Full Moon Festival of the Arts will take place this weekend at the Center for Advanced Technology in Education in the old Condon School on the comer of East 18th Avenue and Agate Street. The festival originated and has been held for the last two years in Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands under the direction of Joseph Sansonese. When Sansonese and his wife, Judith Kovach, a Posters, LP's and Tapes University graduate student studying dance, moved to Eugene, they decided to bring the celebration with them. “We ran into people with a lot of talent (in Eugene),” said Sansonese, a playwright and technical editor at a Spr ingfield publishing house. The first festival occured during a full moon, which led to it being scheduled during one the second year. There will be a full moon in the area this Saturday morning, accor Remember MOM llns Mother's l)a\ with balloons from FULI. OF HOT AIR 27} Coburg Rd. 342-1194 M"ih» i V D.i\ is m; > Mn\ 12 ★ ding to Sansonese. The festival begins Friday with the performance of “The House on the Point,” a play written by Sansonese, at 8 p.m. The play is loosely based on Sansonese’s own ex periences at a mental hospital. A “potpourri of the arts” is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Perfor mances during this three-hour period will include guitar and Continued on Page 6B Offer good Monday-Sunday 11:30-Midnight, Mon.-Fri. 3:30-Midnight, Weekends 1211 Alder on Campus ,, 686-9598 ■CLIP COUPON mm £ plus New York Pizza r 'I The toughest job you’ll ever love We admit it. It takes a dif ferent kind of person to be a Peace Corps volunteer. We won’t mislead you with glowing pictures of exotic lands. The hours as a volunteer are long. The pay is modest. And the frustrations sometimes seem overwhelming. But the satisfaction and rewards are im mense. You’ II be immersed in a new culture, become fluent in a new language, and learn far more about the third world — and yourself — than you ever expected. You’ll also discover that prog ress brought about by Peace Corps volunteers is visible and measurable: Such as health clinics established in the Philippines; Fresh-water fish ponds constructed in Kenya; roads and schools and irrigation systems built in Upper Volta; tens of thou sands of people given essential skills in larming, nutrition, the skilled INFORMATION BOOTH: Mon.-Tues., May 6-7 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. EMU Lobby trades, business, forestry, and other specialties throughout the develop ing world. Being a volunteer isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t easy, but to the people of the developing nations who have never before had basic health care or enough to eat, the Peace Corps brings a message of hope and change. We invite you to look into the volunteer opportunities beginning in the next 3-12 months in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pa cific. Our representatives will be pleased to provide you with details. PEACE CORPS SCHEDULED INTERVIEWS: Mon.-Tues., May 20-21 Career Planning & Placement Office, Hendricks Hall. Sign up for your interview in advance, bring your completed application to the interview.