Committee Will Review College Drama Activity

The Board of Overseers' Committee to Visit Harvard College will hold a conference on Monday to explore the state of undergraduate dramatic activities in the College. The main topic of discussion reportedly will be projected plans for the Loeb Drama Center.

Members of the Faculty Committe on the Theatre and leaders of the major undergraduate dramatic organizations will meet with the 12-member visiting committee, which has expressed interest in the "problems involved in the development of the new theatre." The session is planned for 10 a.m. to 12 noon in University Hall. David Rockefeller '36 is chairman of the Board's delegation.

James E. Stinson, Jr. '59, president of the Harvard Dramatic Club, yesterday offered "an opinion and a suggestion" for Monday's meeting. Declaring that a professional director and technical director were essential to the long-term success of the new theatre, he suggested that the theatre committee "look carefully into any financial arrangements it makes with College drama groups."

Professional direction is necessary to "average out the years between high and low periods of dramatic interest and skill," Stinson explained. "This is hardly a radical move, "since the Glee Club and Band have nearly always done so," he continued. "In this way we can insure that it is never a case of blind leading blind."

Walter B. Farnham '59, president of the Harvard Opera Guild, disagreed, however. "I'm not altogether sure it's too good to have a director at all," he said, "Amateur directors here would not get adequate experience, and, after all, this is one of the main aims of the College's dramatic program."

On the matter of College-provided lights, scenery, and tools, Stinson declared that, though these benefits would enable groups to present shows for less than $500, the University might "be taking too much of a burden, since in effect it would be going into the producing business."