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Show Page The Daily Utah Chronicle Openings 1978 Forty-Si- x S 5QOKS 1 (NEW 'Brigham's Daughters7 selected as University entry in playwrighting contest by MOLLY FOWLER Special to the Chronicle USED) It has taken University playwright Diane Haun an unusually long time to finish her new play "Brigham's Daughters." Fourteen years to be exact, she said. e Her play was recently selected as the winner in the University of Utah RECORDS first-plac- Playwrighting COMICS lie? Festival. CARDS PRINTS AD INFINITUM COSMIC AEROPLANE BOOKSTORE ksi'ast iirst sou su opi: n Contest, and is the University's entry in the original script division of the American College Theatre M 1 .- -- " 'Brigham's Daughters' was my first attempt at playwrighting," explained Haun. "It was begun after I saw a production of Irma La Duce. I felt driven to write the definitive Mormon musical my background. I was aware of the volumes written about the Mormons; most of it ami-- , and much of it uninformed, vitriolic garbage. I was also aware of the tons written by Mormons; all of it preaching their gospel. I almost felt a divine calling to write the balance, the truth, the reality; for Mormon history is fascinating," she said. Haun said her play began as a musical, then went into play form. Through the years she drafted it as both a screenplay and a novel and finally it emerged as a play. It is one of three plays, all award-winninscripts, included in her dissertation for her Ph.D. in Theatre at the University. "Brigham's Daughters" is a historical play set in the Utah territory in 1861 and 1865. Haun described it as "a love story depicting fictitious characters within a historical setting." There have been several problems for Haun to work through in the 14 years she has been writing "Brigham's Daughters." First, she described her play as "in a sense autobiographical." Because she wanted to maintain a balance, she often found it g difficult to woik with characters who reflected her own beliefs about the Mormon is most church. is some and possible exploring important and I think necessary when writing, but too much clouds and muddies and it becomes therapeutic Haun also found herself trapped by research for the historical background of the play. "The information accumulating in my head was seeping into the story as didactic, dull history. I have since learned that it is more productive for me to write the story first, then do the research," she noted. Working from a historic background, Haun said she felt compelled to stick with the facts as they actually happened. In result she found her play stretching beyond the limits of good dramatic structure. "I wanted to discuss polygamy, the Mormon war of 1857, the men who were sent to the territories by the federal government who were opportunists, and I wanted to chart the economic progress of the Mormons. I even considered mentioning the Mountain Meadow Massacre. More than enough for even a novel," she commented. Haun said she learned to take some historical liberties and make them work to her advantage in "Brigham's Daughters." By giv ing texture to the period I was able to retain most of what I wanted to dramatize anyway," she said. "Brigham's Daughters" will be produced in the Babcock Theatre at the University in November. After that show closes she hopes to see a few rehearsals of the Theatre 138 production of her State Playwrighting Contest winner Spiralmg before moving to Spain. There she plans to take two years off to finish a novel "and whatever else." "I'm ready to take some time off for me, too," she said. "Self-understandi- Keeping up with film Woody Allen's first serious dramatic film, e Interiors, has set an opening day 430-seBaronet Theatre in record at the New York. One of the most widely discussed motion pictures of 1978, Interiors has surpassed such previous Baronet hits as Allen's Annie Hall, as well as Semi-TougSerpico, Murder on the Orient Express and Nashville. Heading the cast of Interiors are Diane Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton and Sam Waterston. Allen wrote and directed the all-tim- at iVu h, film. V Clothe 1 Shooting began in Paris last month on Moonraker, starring Roger Moore as James Bond, the legendary British Secret Service created by Ian Fleming. The film super-herwill be the eleventh in the series of Bond thrillers and the fourth to feature Moore as American Agent 007. Moonraker will and the as Lois heroine Chiles actress n Michael Lonsdale as Hugo d Drax. Richard Kiel, the Me Loved Who "Jaws" in The Spy will repeat his role in this new adventure from an original screenplay by Christopher Wood. Film executives have touted Moonraker as "the most expensive and ambitious Bond film to date." The first scenes, which are being filmed by cameraman Jean Tournier, are in the interior of a pyramid, part of the vast Drax Empire and headquarters for a launch program into outer space. It takes place on one of the more spectacular sets designed by Oscar winner Ken Adam. o co-st- ar arch-villia- l & ontiquVx elected fjece Christoper x Cutom ewlng & QlterQtiornp Collectible U Sundrle I 70 w.4tt) so. 322-421- 3 12pm 6pm -- j) Plummer, Born Again, a motion picture based on Charles W. Colson's book, will 24 at Kennedy Center in premiere September film focuses on D.C. The Washington, Colson's years in the White House when he served as Special Counsel to the President, his role in the Daniel Ellsberg "Pentagon best-sellin- g matter, his subsequent Papers" imprisonment, acceptance of Christ and deep involvement with the Prison Fellowship. Dean Jones portrays Colson in the film, which was shot primarily on location in Washington and surrounding areas. The movie's title implies that Colson is a "born-agaiChristian." n stell-toothe- ot JeUjelfy-orjginQ- Marilyn Hassett, Julie Harris, Robert Klein and Mary Louis Weller will star. The Bell Jar, a largely autobiographical work by Plath, focuses on a young woman's attempt to make her life different from those she believed were trapped under some gigantic glass jar. James Mason, Donald Sutherland, Susan Clark, Genevieve Bujold, David Hemmings and Frank Finlay have been signed to. star in SherlockHolmes: Murder by Decree. The big budget thriller has just started production in London and filming will continue for three months. The picture will focus on Holmes (played by Plummer) and his colleage Watson (Mason) in the bizarre case of Jack the Ripper. The story leads to the royal throne and threatens to overturn the British government. Man, a Woman and a Bank, a comedy caper film starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Paul Mazursky, started production last month in Vancouver. The plot involves a love story set against the background of a computerized bank heist. The project involved extensive computer research by screenwriters Raynold Gideon and Bruce Evans. A Avco Embassy Pictures has acquired the United States and Canadian distribution rights to Jules Dassin's A Dream of Passion, starring Melina Mercouri and Ellen Burstyn. Inspired by Mercouri's stage rendition of the classic, "Medea," this updated version is based on a real case of an American woman imprisoned in Greece for infanticide. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, and will premiere in the United States this fall. Links, a new novel by Charles Panati, former science editor of Newsweek Production has started in New York on The Bell Jar, a film based on the highly successful novel by the late Sylvia Plath. magazine, has been acquired by United Artists for development as a motion picture. Links is a story based on the latest research in hypnosis and life after death experiences. |
