Faculty Theatre Report Proposes Committee to Approve Productions

Full control of plays in the new Harvard Theatre should rest with a permanent director and a standing committee of the Faculty, according to a report released yesterday.

The report, titled "Preliminary Statement of Purposes--The Harvard Theatre," was written by Archibald MacLeish, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, for the Faculty Committee on the Theatre.

Approval by Committee

The Committee would be given the right to "approve plays for production when it is satisfied that the plays proposed meet the standards this University should maintain, and that the proposers, when the proposal originates with student groups, are ready and able to carry their plays through with such aid as they can be given."

Such Faculty control is in conflict with the resolutions adapted unanimously by the Student Council Drama Committee last month. The Council resolution calls for "complete aesthetic autonomy" in the new Theatre, with undergraduate groups having "complete control over the selection of their productions, directors, and the rest of their personnel."

Report a General Statement

Robert H. Chapman, associate professor of English and a member of the Faculty Committee, emphasized earlier this week that the report is a general statement and is subject to revision. He noted that the Committee has not met to consider the Student Council resolutions.

Faculty members have expressed "general approval" of the "Preliminary Statement of Purposes," according to Harry T. Levin '33, professor of English and of Comparative Literature, a committee member. Since the report originated with a committee appointed by the President, however, it requires no Faculty legislation.