Complications Limit Loeb Program

Only two shows will be done on the main stage of the Loeb this term because circumstances seemed to conspire against an undergraduate director.

Paul S. Ronder '62 was approved by the Harvard Dramatic Club last May to direct the show scheduled for this November. At the time he had to submit a list of three plays which he was considering for production. Upon returning in September, however, he had decided to try O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night rather than any of his three initial choices.

After some litigation it turned out that the rights for Long Day's Journey were unobtainable and so on October 5 Ronder began casting for the second production while the play in prospect was still uncertain. When soon thereafter he announced Ulysses In Nighttown as his choice, the Faculty Committee on Drama advised that producing this "blockbuster" with the time and money then available, was unrealistic if not impossible. Ulysses requires an elephantine cast.

While time was running out, Charles W. Hayford '63, president of the HDC, and other club members, still felt obligated to put three shows on the boards, and urged Ronder to attempt a small-scale production. The director then selected Pirandello's Six Characters In Search of an Author, but cancelled his plans as he encountered difficulty in assembling an adequate cast and production staff.