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| Title | Houstonian, 1995 |
| Contributor (LCNAF) |
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| Date | 1995 |
| Description | This edition of the Houstonian, published by the students of the university in 1995, is the official yearbook of the University of Houston. |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | LD2281.H745 H6 v. 61 1995 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1158762~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Houstonian Yearbook Collection |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/yearb |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | The University |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | yearb1995049.jpg |
| Transcript | Director of the UH School of Theatre Sidney Berger never learned a word of Shakespeare while he was growing up in Brooklyn. In fact, he didn't become hooked until he entered Brooklyn college and one of his teachers lent him a copy of Henry VI. "I was reading it in the whirlpool bath in the gym and I dropped it in ... I was desperately trying to pull it out... I wrung it out and I read that thing with its wrinkled pages - The poetry just slipped through to me," Berger says. But coming to Shakespeare at a late age helped Berger. He didn't have the "Shakesfear" that many students have as a result of teachers who "shove it down their throats in highschool." "I came to Shakespeare like a baby. I was never mistaught. It was like TV to me. The poetry just became a part of me," Berger said. The Brooklyn College professor who took on this "not so special student" taught Shakespeare's words to Berger in a non pretentious way; in a way that seemed like it should be part of his own vocabulary. And it is in this same way that Berger says he likes to direct his plays as part of the Houston Shakespeare Festival that he founded with the help of UH in 1975 - Twenty years ago this summer. Berger says that Shakespeare in the Park has to be accessible to everyone. The productions should be "unpretentious," he says, so people do not fear them. Berger says that productions should not be "eccentric," but directors should not try to "contemporize" the language because it risks taking away from Shakespeare's rhythm. "Archaic words and phrases are minor," With good acting, he says, anybody can understand that Shakespeare was commenting then on what is going on in our lives now. His approach to his directing, is also how he teaches his students. He stresses that he was not an "exceptional" student by any means. Berger says he teaches his students to feel rhythm and read poetry before introducing them to the plays. If you can feel rhythm than you can read Shakespeare, he said. "I ask students why poetry is natural to them - Why poetry is natural to every human," Berger said. His students tend to learn Shakespeare and truly understand it, the way audiences at the Houston Shakespeare Festival gain a greater love for it. Berger says people must understand that Shakespeare's writings should not be seen as art for the "civilized" - It should be seen as a timeless mirror of life and the problems and emotions we face everyday. "Julius Caesar is already relevant - It's about the misuse of power," Berger says. Houston Shakespeare Festival productions take place in the summer at the Milller Outdoor Theatre and draw up to 10,000 people a performance. This festival is one of the few events that carry on the Shakespeare tradition in Houston and Berger would like to see the festival go on year round rather than just in the summers. As it stands now, in cooperation with UH, the festival shows two productions every summer. Revita Thomas The University 59 |