September 1, 2005

The cast of The Importance of Being Earnest, our 86th season’s autumn show, features Jay Newlon (Twelfth Night, Chicago) as Algernon, Kendall Hodder as Jack, Shawna O'Brien as Gwendolyn, Kristen Dattoli-Osfanos as Cecily, Pamela Dritt (Twelfth Night, Rumors) as Lady Bracknell, Lisa Astbury (Bad Seed) as Miss Prism, Ben Layman (Sunday In The Park With George) as Chasuble, and Bill Maxwell (Our Town, Love Letters, As You Like It) as Lane. We earnestly need an Assistant Stage Manager. If interested, contact producers David Atwood (datwood@att.net), Peggy Elliot (TexasPeg@comcast.net), or Cheri Fletcher (cheri_fletcher@hotmail.com).

Lis Adams and Jackson Royal will be performing in William Inge's “Bus Stop” with the Amazing Things Theater Company, 55 Nicholas Road, in Framingham, September 16 - 18 and 23 - 25. For show times or to order tickets, visit their web site at www.amazingthings.org, or call 508-405-ARTS.

If you missed The Players’ January production of Full Gallop due to the blizzard, you can catch it on September 23 and 24 at The Academy Playhouse in Orleans, on the Cape; Patricia Till will once again be channeling the fabulous Diana Vreeeland, with Birgitta Knuttgen as the never seen but oft heard from French maid, Yvonne. John Murtagh will stage manage and Dick Hatch and Derek Till will recreate their set. For ticket information, call (508) 255-1963.

Don Boroson will be the vocal director for "Merrily We Roll Along" at the Vokes Theater. Auditions are August 28 and 29.

Mikki Lipsey will play Mag, the aging and manipulative mother in “The Beauty Queen of Leeanne” at the Hovey Players in Waltham. Performances are at the Abbott Memorial Theater, Nine Spring Street, in Waltham (just off Main Street next to the library). For tickets call 781-893-9171.

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It is plain that delivery has just as much to do with oratory as with poetry. It is, essentially, a matter of the right management of the voice to express the various emotions - of speaking loudly, softly, or between the two; of high, low, or intermediate pitch; of the various rhythms that suit various subjects. These are the three things - volume of sound, modulation of pitch, and rhythm - that a speaker bears in mind. It is those who do bear them in mind that usually win prizes in the dramatic contests; and just as in drama the actors now count for more than the poets, so it is in the contests of public life, owing to the defects of our political institutions. No systematic treatise upon the rules of delivery has yet been composed; indeed, even the study of language made no progress till late in the day. Besides, delivery is - very properly - not regarded as an elevated subject of inquiry. Still, the whole business of rhetoric being concerned with appearances, we must pay attention to the subject of delivery, unworthy though it is, because we cannot do without it. Dramatic ability is a natural gift, and can hardly be taught. The principles of good diction can be so taught, and therefore we have men of ability in this direction, who win prizes in their turn.

- Aristotle

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The deadline for In The Wings is the third Tuesday of every month.

Thomas Caron, editor