THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502150193
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MURFREESBORO LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
IN CASE YOU don't know by now what it is like ``Growing Up/Growing Old in America,'' the Chowan Players of Chowan College will fill you in.
It can be light, it can be heavy.
The six contemporary, one-act plays that make up the presentation will cover both areas tonight and Friday in the Turner Auditorium of the McDowell Columns Building.
``We went through 60 or so plays - started this past summer,'' said Dr. Joyce Elliott, the producer. ``We found several we liked and noticed a theme developing - growing up and growing old in America.''
It is seen through the eyes of several playwrights including Pulitzer Prize winners Edward Albee and Wendy Wasserstein.
Albee's contribution, ``The Sandbox,'' is probably the most familiar offering.
``Albee calls it his favorite play,'' Elliott said. ``He took some characters from his play, `The American Dream' and put them in `The Sandbox' which he said he liked better.''
Not everyone will like the message, although most people will be able to connect with the story of old age and death, particularly mistreatment of the aged.
Its stars are Chowan faculty members, stage vets Hargus Taylor and Betty Batchelor.
``The Sandbox,'' part of the English 102 classes Batchelor teaches, ``shows how older people are treated in America,'' she said. ``People just wait for them to die.''
Batchelor and Taylor also appear in ``Clair de Lune,'' a Romulus Linney production that looks at two retirees who wonder why their children are unhappy.
Not all the plays are unhappy. Most mix drama and comedy.
``They tell what it's like to be alive in the 1990s,'' Batchelor said.
``The Shallow End'' tells what it's like to be a teen in the 1990s. The Wendy MacLeod comedy concerns the lives and loves of 13-year-old girls.
Another teen tale is ``Tender Offer,'' Wasserstein's story of a young girl who confronts her father's seeming neglect.
The final production, ``Breakfast,'' is about a waiter and customer exploring modern choices and losing control.
``Growing Up/Growing Old in America,'' produced by Brenda Gordon, stars students and faculty members from Chowan College. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by FRANK ROBERTS
Betty Batchelor is the grandma in Edward Albee's ``The Sandbox.''
Behind her is ``Angel of Death'' Calvin Stephenson and musician
Thomas Brede.
by CNB