The Great Speckled Bird Nov. 29, 1971
Kelly
Morris came to Emory two years ago as the first full-time director of the Emory
Theatre since 1957. His experience with experimental theatre had been considerable,
and he came with a list of credentials and contacts as long as your arm. One of
his first projects was to organize a guerilla theatre troupe, "The Asa
Candler Memorial Marching Atrocity Band," which played highly visible
roles in events such as the October and November Moratoriums of 1969, the
ROTC-off-campus demonstrations in April, 1970, and the Cambodia-Kent State
uprisings in May.
With
his wife, Le,slie Morris, who trains and choreographs the Dance Unit (see
following story), Kelly began to build a remarkable theatre. He has produced
modern playwrights whose names are well-known in theatrical parlance, but whose
plays are rarely produced; has premiered several plays, and, in general,
created a unit that would be (and is) considered formidable in any part of the
country. He and Leslie have brought to Atlanta major theatrical events, such as
the Bread-and-Puppet Theatre from New York, who time to play a significant role
in the May demonstrations of 1970. Their unorthodox approach, and their capacity
to involve, has drawn a broad spectrum of the Emory Community into the Theatre
to make it now, undeniably, one of the major student activities on campus.
These
accomplishments have been made against staggering obstacles, primarily, the
gross mishandling of the Theatre facilities by the administration. The
makeshift , theatre (once a cafeteria) that has served since the 1950's has
been torn down for renovation. The Fine Arts Building, which Emory has been
planning since the forties, has been discarded. Requests for the abandoned
railroad station and for a storage shed, which students have volunteered to fix
up themselves out of Theatre money, have been turned down by the Vice President
of Student Affairs, Thomas Fernandez. The Theatre desperately needs space,
because its operations and audiences are large. But it has, in effect,
literally been driven underground.
Kelly
Morris was fired in September this year by Fernandez. This action was protested
strongly by both students and faculty, in resolutions passed by various bodies,
in confrontations and consultations.
The rationale for his
action is budget-cutting. The strange thing about this is that students last
year anticipated budget-cuts and set up an Economics Priorities Committee,
which was accepted enthusiastically by Fernandez.