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
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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.
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“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
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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
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4-7pm
EMU Dining Room
I.D. Required
A FESTIVE FIESTA OF FUN & FRENZY!
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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
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with balloons
from
FULI. OF
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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
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11:30-Midnight, Mon.-Fri.
3:30-Midnight, Weekends
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,, 686-9598
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The toughest job
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We admit it. It takes a dif
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the satisfaction and rewards are im
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You’ll also discover that prog
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Such as health clinics established in
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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
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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.