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T EM MICHIGAN DAILY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1953
lAG! SIX THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1955
ACTING, A PERSONAL ART:
Eva LeGallienne Sees Need for Theater in America
f. -
By HARRY STRAUSS
"I'm not one of these actors
who eats, lives and breathes
greasepaint-there are other things
that matter."
And, unusual for an actress,
Eva LeGallienne means this. Ap-
pearing in Ann Arbor in "The
Southwest Corner," the first play
of the Drama Season, Miss LeGal-
lienne held her Yorkshire terrier,
Miss Midge, on her'lap.
"I hate dogs who don't have good
manners, and I force Midge to be-
have. She resents it." And with a
deep laugh, she added, "I think
she's a bit like me."
"The theater is such a peculiar
place," Miss LeGallienne said,
"that you need real things to keep
your balance. I like gardens, ani-
mals and birds."
Began at 15
The theater has been home to
Miss LeGallienne since she was
15 until today when she is con-
sidered a leading lady of the Amer-
ican stage. She has not only acted
in the classic plays but in modern
works. She has also directed some
of her own plays.
Speaking about her present play
now holding forth at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre, she said
that while realizing the play has
weaknesses, she was attracted to
it because the leading character
of Marcia Elders "represents the
best of this country. The highest
values are in the staunch, old lady.
That's the real reason I did the
play.",
From 1926 to 1934, Miss LeGal-
lienne headed the Civic Repertory
Theater. "It folded because it was
subsidized and all those I knew
with money lost it in the depres-
sion."
Needed: New Theater Group
The youthful-looking actress said
a new people's theater repertory is
needed, a group with very high
standards and very low prices.
Stubbing out a cigarette, she re-
called her recent visit to Denmark
("I'm half Danish") where the
state does underwrite theaters. "I
found out that last year one thea-
ter that does classics and moderns
received 5 million kroners, that's
"I have no theory or method for
acting. No such thing exists. It's
a personal art, the only thing to
use is yourself.
"I plan to direct the classes in
parts and scenes from plays. They
will thus work under a director
who will open doors for them, crit-
icize, help-that's all you can do.
You can't learn acting except by
acting. Schools are apt to make
people self-conscious. I've seen
some people ruined by acting
schools."
"I don't think that television can
impinge on the theater as a me-
chanical thing cannot take the
theater's place. The contact be-
tween actor and audience makes
the living performance-the ac-
tor, after all, does not perform in
a vacuum. TV may be a stimulus
to the theater."
The Only Film
Referring to the recent "Prince
of Players," the film for which she
served as technical advisor, she
said she was "horrified" at the fi-
nal product. "To me, it was noth-
ing," she exclaimed sadly.
"I don't believe in democracy
in the arts," Miss LeGallienne
commented. "I hate committees
and boards. Great things aren't
done this way.
"There must be one vision and
one mind: right or wrong," she
concluded.
Alumni Plan
Out-of-State
Conferences
District organizations of the
University's A l u m n i Association
have an active program schedule
this week.
Robert O. Morgan, assistant gen-
eral secretary and field secretary of
the Alumni Association, returned
yesterday from a second district
conference of University clubs at
Puerto Rico.
It was only the second such con-
ference held outside the continen-
tal United States.
The first district will meet this
weekend in Swampscott, Mass.,
where the Alumni Association's
General Secretary, T. Hawley Tap-
ping expects a gathering of 100
alumni.
Alexander G. Ruthven will at-
tend the conference with Alan Mc-
Carthy representing the Develop-
ment Council and Tapping, repre-
senting the Alumni Association.
University clubs of southern
Michigan will also meet this week-
end. The Ann Arbor club will be
the host at Barton Hills Country
Club.
Judge John P. O'Hara of De-
troit, national Alumni Association
president, will attend with Mor-
gan, Regents Roscoe O. Bonisteel
and Charles S. Kennedy.
Overly Colorful Writing
A ttacked by Arne in Talk
Associated Press reporter Sigrid
Arne blasted the coloring of news'
stories in a lecture here yesterday.,
Speaking at the invitation of the
journalism department, Miss Arne
called slanted news stories "inso-
lent."
"The intelligent citizen is the
strength of America," she said. "If
you direct his thinking, you are
hurting the United States."
With Washington Bureau
Miss Arne, who has been with
the Associated Press Washington
Bureau since 1932, emphasized "a
basic reporting axiom getting all
sides of a story."
She also called for greater ac-
State Education
Groups To Meet
The Adult Education Associa-
tion of Michigan will hold a con-
ference in Detroit on Friday and
Saturday.
Emphasizing the theme; "Under-
standing Our Changing Age,"
scheduled speakers include Michi-
gan Lieut.-Gov. Philip Hardy and
Prof. Henry Steele Commager of
the Columbia University philoso-
phy department.
Following the speeches, various
discussion groups will discuss and
compare the adult education pro-
grams in Michigan.
curacy and simplified writing style
as aids to the newspaper reader.
"Headlines as well as news copy
can color the news," Miss Arne
said. "Tired people scan head-
lines. They don't read stories."
Latinized words, Miss Arne
claimed, confuse and frighten the
reader.."Why utilize 'utilize' if you
can use 'use'?"
Discussing security measures in
Washington, Miss Arne spoke of
"creeping secrecy." Congress can
hold closed executive meetings, she
said, there have been more of these
recently than in the past.
"At these executive meetings, re-
porters must wait in the corridor
to button-hole people when they
come out." Miss Arne said this
method, getting stories from a sin-
gle source, makes objectivity hard
to achieve.
Security Requirement
Recently, D e f e n s e Secretary
Charles E. Wilson required all mil-
itary information to be funneled
through his offi'ce before release.
"Constructive contribution to
the primary purpose of the de-
partment" is the criterion for re-
lease of military news, Miss Arne
said.
"For the reporter, the word is
'patience'," she admonished. Cen-
sorship measures ha-ve been used
in the past, Miss Arne said, and
they have disappeared.
Publisher
To Lecture
Here Today
"Freedom of the Air" will be the
topic of Edward Lamb's talk to be
given at 3 p.m. today in Auditor-
ium A, Angell Hall.
Lamb, a Toledo publisher and
radio station owner, presently is
petitioning the Federal Communi-
ti
EVA LeGALLIENNE
.. .dogs, greasepaint but no committees
three-quarters of a million dol-
lars.
"I'd like to see the faces on some
of our Congressmen if they got
such a bill."
Other Nations Subsidized
Most of the European countries
she has visited are government
subsidied. This is probably true,
she noted, because we have no Sec-
retary of Fine Arts.
"But I think there's a stirring
now for some subsidy, though I
doubt it will be federal govern-
ment. I don't care where it comes
from as'long as it comes."
"What I suggest is that big busi-
ness, instead of spending so much
on radio and television advertising,
allocate some money as good will,
to the theater. It would be enor-
mous public relations for them."
Novice for Decades
"It takes years to learn how to
act-you never get to the end of
it. Like Stanislavsky once said, it
takes 20 years to begin to learn
how to act.
"I've been in the theater for 40
years and I feel I don't know any-
thing yet."f
The only clue to the acting suc-
cess of Miss LeGallienne is in her
remark, "I play for the person
who knows the difference" of what
is and what is not.
This summer, Miss LeGallienne
will spend her time at her home
near Westport, Conn., where she
will work on six plays of Ibsen in
her own translations.
At the same time, she will spend
three days a week teaching at the
White Barn Theater near her
home. The classes will be in Ibsen,
Chekhov and Shakespeare.
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 2)
Christian Science Organization Testi-
monial Meeting, 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Up-
per Room, Lane Hall.
International Center Tea. Thurs., 4:30-
6:00 p.m. Rackham Building.
Sailing Club. Meeting Thurs., at 7:45
p.m. in 311 W. Eng,
Workcamp in Ypsilanti this week-end,
the 13th-15th. Cost-$2.00 Make reser-
vations at Lane Hal.
Westminster Student Fellowship spon-
sors mid-week vespers in the Sanctuary
of the Presbyterian Church, Thurs., May
12, 5:10-5:35 p.m.
WCBN-East Quadrangle staff meeting
Thurs., May 12 in Hinsdale study hal
at 7:15 p.m. Election of officers. Atten-
dance is required.
Meeting to activate the Circolo Ital-
iano (Italian Club) in Room 108, Ro-
mance Languages Building Thurs., May
12, at 3:00 p.m. Vote on a proposed con-
stitution for the organization, elect of-
ficers for the 1955-56 academic year,
and discuss plans and activities for next
year's program.
EDWARD LAMB
cations Commission for license re-
newal of his radio and television
operation permits.
The FCC has accused Lamb of
Communist associations.
Lamb, who holds a law degree,
handled many famous civil liber-
ties cases for minority groups and
trade unions during the 1930's.
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Scandinavian Crafts Exhibit
Opens at Art Institute Sunday
Contemporary arts and crafts
from Scandanavia will be on ex-
hibit at the Detroit Institute of
Arts beginning Sunday.
The exhibit will include more
than 706 articles from Norway,
Sweden, Denmark and Finla'..
Titled "Design in Scandanavia"
the show is on a short tour of the
United States and will continue in
Detroit through June 12.
Swedish Ambassador Erich Bo-
heman will speak at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday. Consuls of all the partici-
pating countries will be present
and film programs dealing with
each of the four Scandanavian
lands will be shown during the ex-
hibit's run.
Organized and financed by the
Scandanavian countries at the re-
quest of 20 leading American and
Canadian museums, the exhibi-
tion includes furniture, glass, chi-
na, metal and plastics selected by
design experts.
Stainless steel flatware produced
through the collective efforts of
hundreds of specialists in a Swed-
ish industrial plant will be shown
beside wood and bone carvings by
a Norwegian farmer living within
the Artic Circle.
t's no time to gamble...
ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT
to buy the
1955 ENSIAN
at the
Student Publications Bldg.
Monday through Friday
8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.
Distribution Coming Soon
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Genuine India Madras4
One hunadred and fifty different patterns designed an~
hand loomed by Indian cottagers; tailored for us in Eng~
land by Welch-Margetson. In slip-over rmodel or button
front.
Men's sizes: Small, mediumWmnssze:3-8
medium large, large and extra 5 oe' ie:3-8
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BANK BERLINER, President of S.G.C.
shall be interviewed by Radio Editor,
Joe Frisinger, every Wednesday night
on the Michigan Daily midnight news
over WHRV. The current workings of
S.G.C. shall be discussed. Be informed
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