1981_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1981

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Hye Sharzhoom
December 1981
Interview with Professor Bryon
Jeanette Bryon has been a professor
of Theatre Arts at CSUF since 1956.
She has studied drama, design and
directing children's theatre in Maine,
North Carolina, Yale, and London. She
became the director of the CSUF Child
Drama Center in the fall of 1979.
During the Saroyan Festival that took
place on the CSUF campus this fall,
Prof. Bryon directed the Child Drama
Center in the production of Saroyan's
first play, My Heart's In The
Highlands. Prof. Bryon was also
enrolled in Dr.Kouymjian's class on
the theatre and films of William
Saroyan. Recently Hye Sharzhoom
conducted the following interview with
her.
Hye Sharzhoom: When and why was the
Child Drama Center established and
what are its goals?
Prof. Bryon: The Program was established 23 years ago by Dr. Janet Loring
and named the Child Drama Center by
Douglas Briggs, its director for four
years. The goal was to establish a center
for the study of Theatre as a art form for
children, for university students. It
is an adjunct to the Theatre Arts
program. Four    productions    are
presented each year one in the fall on
campus, two in the spring on tour in the
schools and one production featuring a
guest artist or professional touring
group. The plays chosen are the best
available literature which we can
produce with our somewhat limited
production support. As to the future I
am frankly worried, I think children
should be introduced to children's
dramatic literature and theatre art early
in their lives, but there seems to be very
little support financial or otherwise for
children' s theatre.
Hye Sharzhoom: Why did you choose to
produce My Heart's in the Highlands
this fall?
Prof. Bryon: I chose My Heart's in the
Highlands by William Saroyan as our fall
production for the following reasons: 1) I
have loved the play since the first time I
saw it in production at a summer stock
theatre in Maine in the early 1950's and
have been a great admirer of William
Saroyan's writing ever since. 2) I
wanted the children and young people of
this valley to know Saroyan's work on
stage. (Saroyan himself when he
directed and produced Beautiful People
in New York had three full performances
before opening and one was for children
only.) 3) Saroyan writes wonderful roles
for children, especially little boys. I
think Johnny in My Heart's in the Highlands is one of the special roles for a
child actor. Johnny is the lead in the
play, and in addition there are two other
feature roles for children. 4) I picked
the play before Mr. Saroyan' s death as a
part of the CSUF 70th year celebration.
It became an especially poignant and
meaningful experience for me as I very
much felt the loss of the very special
writer. I think the cast also felt this
poignancy. It was a wonderful cast to
work with.
Pat O' Connor as Johnny' s grandmother and Brian Shuster as Johnny in William
Saroyan's play My Heart's In The Highlands. The play was presented by the
CSUF Child Drama Center
Hye Sharzhoom: Professor Bryon, do
you plan on presenting any of William
Saroyan' s plays next year?
Prof. Bryon: We will not be presenting a
Saroyan play next year, but I hope to do
another Saroyan play at the Center in the
near future, perhaps The Oyster and the
Pearl. I wish the theatre arts area on
campus would produce Beautiful People.
I worked on the play when I was at
Stanford, and it's a good play for
university actors.
Hye Sharzhoom: What was your impression of the William Saroyan Festival
at CSUF?
Prof. Bryon: I thought the Saroyan
Festival was wonderful. The symposium
which Dr. Kouymjian conceived with
Aram Saroyan, Aram Kevorkian and
Gene Bluestein was so special. I was so
impressed by the quality and learned so
much. I also liked the reminiscences by
friends and acquaintances. The art exhibit a revelation to me. I had not known
that Saroyan was a serious and dedicated
painter. My only dismay was the fact
that though attendance was good,
not enough faculty and administrative
though attendance was good, not enough
university faculty and administrators
were present.
Hye Sharzhoom: Is the Fresno community ready for a heavy dose of
Saroyan?
Prof. Bryon: I don't know about a
"heavy dose" of Saroyan, but I would
love to see the University and community Combine to do a Saroyan play
once a year, at the Warnor's Theatre
downtown. For me it's the only
"theatre" in town, and I think Saroyan's
plays could be done well in that space.
My second choice' would be the Fresno
City College Theatre. I would love to
see an annual Saroyan Festival, but I
think it should be in May. I do think the
professional repertory theatres in this
country should be doing some  other
Saroyan plays besides The Time of Your'
Life which is often produced. I think
Saroyan is an important American playwright.
Hye Sharzhoom: What are the difficulties in producing Saroyan plays?
What is    intriguing about his  plays?
Prof. Bryon: Saroyan's plays are very
difficult to produce . They are easily
spoiled. They require a delicate touch,
and you have to know a lot about Saroyan
as a writer and an artist to do his plays
right. People keep trying to do "things"
to "improve" the plays, and it doesn't
work. You have to let a Saroyan play
happen to you and do them honestly the
way he wrote them with real respect for
their very unusual forms. I think
Saroyan's theatre is intriguing because
it is ambiguous. You have to bring your
mind with you when you come to a
Saroyan play.
Hye Sharzhoom: What have you a
theatre professor learned in an Armenian Studies class on William Saroyan
and his theatre? Do you think the
English Department could have done a
better job in offering such a class?
Prof. Bryon: I have thoroughly enjoyed
Dr. Kouymjian's class on Saroyan. I
have tremendous respect for Dr.
Kouymjian as a scholar and as a teacher.
He is dedicated and gifted. No, I don't
think the English Department could have
done the class better, because Dr.
Kouymjian was a personal friend of
Saroyan, so that added to his scholarship
brought a wealth of personal insights to
the study. It's been a wonderful class.
I only wish we had had more time for
more plays. And I would love to study
some of the unpublished works.
r
Saroyan I Shakespeare
The following is a portion of an editorial that appeared in the Fresno
Bee on November 14,1981.
The program for Fresno State University's current William Saroyan
Festival says it clearly and truly: "Through his writings Fresno has
become known throughout the world."
This talented man deserves an appropriate honor in the city of his
birth and death, the place from which he drew so much of the material of
his art. Mayor Whitehurst's proposal to name the Convention Center
Theatre for Saroyan is the most fitting honor we can think of.
It's not just a matter of looking around for a civic building to bear
Saroyan's name. He was, among other things, a man of the theatre, a
prodigious writer of plays, published and unpublished, performed and
unperformed...
So that portion of the Convention Center complex which houses the
performing arts is the right place to name for Saroyan.
The Fresno Bee editorial of November 14 concerning the naming of
the Convention Center Theatre after William Saroyan makes us wonder
whether it truly is a honor for a dramatist to simply have his name on the
facade of a theatre.
We believe that in order to truly honor the man who introduced
Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley to the world, we should establish an
institute for the study and the regular performance of his plays.
Such an institute could integrate into the world of William Saroyan the
worlds of other dramatists, such as that of the most prominent playwright of all times, William Shakespeare. Since all artistic endeavors
need strong financial support, an institute which incorporates the works
of two universal writers would attract a larger spectrum of people, and
consequently financial backing.
With the moral and financial support of the community, this institute
will facilitate the understanding and the appreciation of Saroyan's
Theatre.