Faculty May Direct Plays at Loeb In Spite of Committee Opposition

Despite the strong opposition of many members of the Loeb Advisory Committee, faculty members may soon direct productions on the main stage of the theatre, Stephen A. Aaron '57, Assistant Director of the Drama Center, told the CRIMSON, yesterday.

The question of non-student direction of plays arose at a stormy session of the recently enlarged student-Faculty Advisory Committee held on Tuesday. The meeting was originally called to consider the choice of plays and directors for the 1961-62 season but developed into an argument, described by one member of the Committee as "vicious," on the actual purpose of the theatre.

Student members of the Committee feel that the directors of the theatre are attempting to force their decisions on the Harvard Dramatic Club and run the theatre themselves. The officers of the club feel that they, not the professional men who run the theatre, should make the final decisions about the choice of directors and plays.

According to Aaron, Robert H. Chapman, Director of the Loeb, has complete responsibility for running the theatre. He said that Chapman created the Advisory Committee on his own initiative and therefore has the right to make all final decisions about the operation of the Loeb.

HDC Stresses Fun

The members of the HDC are concerned with the entire question of "what the Loeb is in terms of the students at Harvard." They feel that the theatre should provide "fun and experience" for those interested in dramatics. Its use as an "academic building with faculty direction of plays will dampen the enthusiasm of student actors."

Aaron claimed that "the matter of enthusiasm is used by the HDC and the student members of the Advisory Committee as a smokescreen of confusion." Any student can learn and have fun at the same time, he said, and "there must be something wrong with students who don't want to work under more experienced directors." A university theatre theatre should be an educational facility, he concluded.