Local Critics in HDC Symposium Suggest Goal for Student Drama; Discuss Problems, Role of Critic

Four drama critics agreed last night that the function of undergraduate theatre at a liberal arts college is to provide for the student body plays not produced by commercial groups.

The four speakers at a symposium sponsored by the Harvard Dramatic Club in the Kirkland House Junior Common Room were W. Elliot Norton '26 of the Boston Record, Lyon Phelps '46 of the Boston Herald, Henry Popkin of the Kenyon Review, and Gavin Scott '58-4 of the CRIMSON. Gaynor F. Bradish '52, instructor in English, moderated the panel.

In addition to producing new plays and those rarely seen except in college theatres, Norton said that drama groups should give those interested in acting and backstage work "an opportunity to test their talents."

"When I come across the river," Norton added, "I expect the students to know what the author's interpretations were. I don't believe in patting students on the head." He also commented that the production "must be on the professional level as far as the general spirit goes."

To this point, Phelps suggested that there is often a freshness in student productions lacking in professional ones,

In the first part of the symposium which was devoted to a more general discussion of drama criticism, Norton suggested three questions that the critic should answer: "What is the playwright trying to do, has he done it, and was it worth doing in the first place."

He said that the newspaper critic must be a reporter and a judge, and Popkin added that he should "try to win an audience for something that's new."

Scott, however, commented that "a review is a commerical proposition," and "reviewers tend to string together quotable phrases." He called reviewers "leeches on creativity," denounced the use of "absolute standards," and concluded that he always used a "personal approach."