Curtain Time

Harvard's need for a theatre is an old story, but until this year people did little more than talk about it. Now Archibald MacLeish has advanced a plan, based on the Nieman Fellowships, that could be applied to the fields of drama, motion pictures, radio, and television. This fellowship plan could only be carried out if there were a theatre to serve as its center of activity.

Nieman Fellowships have brought the University into association with one major means of communication, the Press. Under the Nieman plan there is no professional school of journalism. Rather, there is informal exchange of ideas among reporters, editors, and publishers. These men are interested in the University's teaching facilities in terms of their own craft, and their mingling with undergraduates has been one of the best features of the system. The success of this fellowship plan has been established; its extension into the dramatic arts would be an appropriate next step.

The fellowship proposal strengthens the argument for Administration approval of the eventual construction of a theatre. Money for building such a theatre is not available now. But an Administration okay would encourage gifts from people interested in drama who would not otherwise contribute to the University's unrestricted funds.