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Show Many roles for founder By Dorothy E. See If you see a man shingling a roof in the area of the Shakespearean theatre and immediately after, you see his double watering the shrubs and right after that you see a third man directing the Festival who looks like the other two, you might be forgiven for concluding con-cluding that Fred Adams mother had produced triplets. He does seem to be entirely too many places for one person. But-the Founding Father of the Festival has to cover a lot of territory. Since the Festival's inception, 14 years ago, Fred Adams has seen a dream grow to a vast reality. Cedar City born, Fred Adams came to teach at SUSC 16 years ago after spending some time in Stratford on Avon and traveling throughout the United States with a Shakespearean group. When Adams produced a college performance of "The Taming of the Shrew" and found that it was better attended than the slick modern comedies he realized that thousands of tourists annually an-nually with nothing to do- in the evenings after sightseeing and local residents would all enjoy Shakespeare's plays. "Of course," Adams says "Our local community cut its teeth on Shakespeare" and points out that Brigham Young had populated early Cedar City with acting families. Three acting families had come to Cedar City within two weeks of its birth and had given a production of the "Merchant of Venice" while Cedar City residents were still living in dugouts and tents. "SUSC President Braithwaite instantly caught the vision of the Festival and opened doors for me. "Says Adams. "It was small at its inception but had all of the augeries of success. It had a receptive community, ready audience and an affirmative administration." "If you just consider the growth of this thingwe now have a permanent structure. Eight hundred people applied to work with the Festival this year and we selected 35 technicians and actors. Think of our National reputation now. The New York Times considers us one of the top Festivals in the Country." Adams says, enthusiastically. "The Festivals over the years have had their bad moments" Adams concedes. "Like an actor going through a plate glass window three days before the show opened. It required 72 stitches to patch him up. He was playing a dueling master in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." "Dogs used to wonder on the stage during performances before safety guards were established. Rain was a hazard. We used to pray hard for good weather but were rained out a few times. Wind was the worst enemy. On one occasion the set was blown blocks away. We spent the night rebuilding it". Adams recalled. "But", Adams said with a broad smile. "When we realized that we could no longer use our temporary structure we received word from O. C. Tanner, a well-known well-known jeweler, that the Tanner family would like to build a new theatre in the memory of her family who were pioneers in Parowan and Iron County." "For each setback we have had dozens of miracles. We have set ourselves impossible tasks and we seem to make it." he concluded. |