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Show ; ,--. ... y m - - i - - ' ' ' " : . V- : r.r '). ' ', i - i I - ' ' j ! ' .S" - : fc. ,-., . KZ&k j.,.. .... Stanley Kaufmann, guest speaker at Thursday's Contemporary Issues class, was optimistic that resident theater will experience new life soon. Actor promotes theater BY HELEN FORSBERG Chronicle Staff Stanley Kaufmann, author, actor and drama critic expressed hope that resident theater will come alive, especially on the university uni-versity level and that performance will not be lost in the theater. He was the guest speaker at the Contemporary Con-temporary Issues class on Thursday. Thurs-day. Mr. Kaufmann compared the theater of the fifties with that of today, citing change in the attitudes atti-tudes of the children of the established es-tablished middle class, and the new intellectualizing of the middle mid-dle class. The theater was very active in the thirties and forties, but then hit a great standstill after World War II and came alive again in the late fifties. Mr. Kaufmann pointed out the off Broadway plays are no longer a testing ground for potential Broadway plays, but rather an extension of the same kind of plays being produced on Broadway. Broad-way. Now one must go "off-off Broadway" to find experimental theater. The Matrix theater has evolved from the lull in the fifties and places more emphasis on theory and acting rather than the play itself. A new field in dramatic production pro-duction is the recent establishment establish-ment of the Black Theater. This is, said Mr. Kaufmann, a goal on the part of the members of the Black Dramatic groups to establish estab-lish Black identity in the theater. As it is now the Black Theater is a totally separate area, but Kaufmann Kauf-mann hopes in the future that both' black and white dramatic talents will be incorporated. Mr. Kaufmann supports government govern-ment subsidizing of the arts in theory, but believes there are many problems involved specific to this country. But there is no alternative and even though it might be slow, there must be a change. |