1988 William Inge Honoree

7th Annual
William Inge Theatre Festival
Salutes
Sidney Kingsley

Sidney Kingsley

Sidney Kingsley, "The Statesman for the American Theatre," devoted his playwriting career to the forceful illumination of serious, difficult social issues in American society. At the age of twenty-eight he won the Pulitzer Prize for his drama about the medical profession, Men in White (1934). This was followed by Dead End in 1935, which was the basis for a Presidential slum clearance commission and given a command performance at the White House. Other plays which met with great success on Broadway were Ten Million Ghosts, The World We Make, The Patriots, Detective Story, Darkness at Noon, Lunatics and Lovers, and Night Life. Kingsley served as president of the Dramatist Guild of America and was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1983. Mr. Kingsley received the 1988 "William Inge Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre" during a tribute to him on the stage of the Inge Theatre on April 19, 1988 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Kingsley participated in "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at 12:00 noon in the Inge Theatre. (Deceased 1995)

Schedule of Events

The Seventh Annual
William Inge Theatre Festival and Conference
Schedule of Events
April 9, 10 , 11, & 12, 1988

9:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building.

10:00 A.M. - 3:30 P.M.—"A PLAYWRIGHT’S WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS" conducted by Playwright Jerome Lawrence. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. Registration FEE $25.00 (lunch included)

1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.—SIDNEY KINGSLEY FILM FESTIVAL. A movie double feature: DETECTIVE STORY, Kirk Douglas and Lee Grant; DEAD END, Humphry Bogart. Fireside Room, Student Union, FREE

1:30 P.M.--Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in Foyer of Inge Theatre, FREE

2:45 P.M.—Film, DETECTIVE STORY by Sidney Kingsley starring Kirk Douglas and Lee Grant

7:00 P.M.—DINNER WITH THEATRE, FILM AND TELEVISION VIP’S. Director of Film and Television, HOITE CASTON of Hollywood, California, Independence Country Club. TICKETS: $15.00

9:00 A.M.—BREAKFAST MEETING OF NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD at the Glencliff Farm.

1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. THE WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building.

1:30 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.—SCHOLAR'S CONFERENCE Theme: "The Small Town in Modern American Drama and Film." University scholars presented papers with Dr. Jackson Bryer, University of Maryland, who served as conference director. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FREE

2:30 P.M.—4:30 P.M.—"A PLAYWRIGHT’S WORKSHOP FOR STUDENTS" conducted by playwright Robert Anderson. Room 102, Academic Building. Scholarship Students FREE, all others $5.00.

2:45 P.M.—THE PATRIOTS, a film by Sidney Kingsley starring Charlton Hesston. Fireside Room, Student Union. FREE

4:00 P.M.--Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in Theatre Foyer, Fine Arts Bldg. FREE

7:00 P.M.--SIDNEY KINGSLEY, A STATESMAN IN THE AMERICAN THEATRE. Excerpts from the plays and films of Kingsley with tributes from his associates in the theatre. Presentation of "THE WILLIAM INGE AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE AMERICAN THEATRE" by U.S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum. Intermission: Reception in Foyer hosted by Independence Arts Council. William Inge Theatre - Fine Arts Building. All seats reserved. Students: $5.00, Adults: $10.00

8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Bldg.

8:30 A.M. - 9:15 A.M.—"INDEPENDENCE REMEMBERS BILL INGE." A panel of Inge’s friends and neighbors recall Inge’s boyhood and school days. Al Sewell, Fred Sheldon, Nora Steinberger, Stella Steinberger, Fred Wilhelm, Ken Brown, Moderator. William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FREE

10:30 A.M - 11:45 A.M.—"MEET OUR AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHTS." Playwrights Robert Anderson, Sidney Kingsley, Jerome Lawrence, John Patrick, Garson Kanin, and Robert Lewis. TOPIC: "THE PLAYWRIGHT-DIRECTOR RELATIONSHIP". William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FREE

12:00 P.M.--HONORS LUNCHEON. Members of the Inge family and distinguished festival guests were recognized. Fireside Room, Student Union. FEE: $7.50

1:30 P.M.—"CHANGING STYLES IN AMERICAN ACTING" with Robert Lewis. Student Union. FREE

1:30 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.—SCHOLARS CONFERENCE continued with speakers who addressed the Theme: THE SMALL TOWN IN MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA AND FILM." Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FREE

1:30 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.--"PUBLICIZING AND PROMOTING SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY THEATRE." A workshop for high school, college and community theatre workers. Conducted by Wally Cedar and Rick Miramontez of Los Angeles, California. Music Hall, Fine Arts Building. Free to students. FEE: $5.00

7:00 P.M.—"A SALUTE TO OUR PLAYWRIGHTS." Playwrights shared the stage with actors and read excerpts from their plays. An Inge one-act, I’M A STAR was included in the program. William Inge Theatre. Students: $5.00, Adults: $10.00

8:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.— REGISTRATION in the Foyer, William Inge Theatre.

9:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.—"AN ACTOR’S WORKSHOP." Marian Seldes, distinguished winner of two Tony Awards and instructor of acting at Julliard in New York City conducted the workshop. Open to students of acting from high school through adults. William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FEE: $5.00, (ICC and IHS students free)

1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.—"SULLIVAN’S WORKSHOP IN CRITICAL WRITING." Dan Sullivan, theatre critic for The Los Angeles Times conducted this workshop for students of English, Journalism, and Theatre Criticism. Open to both professional and amateur writers. Room 113, Academic Building. FEE: $10.00, (ICC and IHS students free)

Festival Participants

1988 Special Guests and Festival Participants

Robert Anderson (Inge Award recipient in 1985) presented "A Playwright's Workshop for Students" in on Sunday, April 10 at 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. in Room 102 of the Academic Building. He also participated in "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at 12:00 noon in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Hoite Caston was the honoree at the "Dinner with Theatre Film and Television VIP's" on Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the Independence Country Club. See updated bio in 1997 - Neil Simon.

Wally Cedar's theatrical experience includes summer stock, repertory theatre, and motion pictures. He has produced, directed, and packaged shows for the stars. He conducted a workshop with Rick Miramontez entitled "Publicizing and Promoting School, College and Community Theatre" on Monday, April 11 at 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. in the Music Hall.

Garson Kanin (Inge Award recipient in 1987) is a celebrated playwright, (Born Yesterday, The Rat Race, The Gift of Time), director, (Idiot's Delight, Funny Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank), librettist, (Fledermaus), film writer and director, (Bachelor Mother, Adam's Rib, Pat and Mike, The True Glory, for which he won the Academy Award.) He has written numerous articles which have been published in newspapers and periodicals as well as nonfiction, (Tracy and Hepburn) and fiction, (Moviola, Smash). Along with his colleagues he appeared in "The Salute to Our Playwrights" in the Inge Theatre on Monday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. He also attended "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at in the Inge Theatre.

Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum presented the "William Inge Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre" to Mr. Kingsley at the Tribute on Sunday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

Shirley Knight took part in "The Salute to Our Playwrights" on Monday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre and in the Tribute to Sidney Kingsley on Sunday, April 10. See updated bio in 1994 - Terrence McNally.

Jerome Lawrence (Inge Award recipent in 1983) conducted "A Playwright's Workshop For Adults" on Saturday, April 19 at 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. He also participated in "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1995 - Arthur Miller.

Robert Lewis an actor, director, and teacher joined his contemporaries in a discussion of "The Playwright-Director Relationship," on Monday at 9:30 a.m. in the Inge Theatre. Lewis, a member of the Group Theatre of the 30's was in the original production of Kingsley's Men in White and directed John Patrick's The Teahouse of the August Moon for Broadway. He participated in "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at in the Inge Theatre. He also conducted "Changing Styles in American Acting" on Monday, April 11 at 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union.

Rick Miramontez conducted "Publicizing and Promoting School, College and Community Theatre" with Wally Cedar on Monday, April 11 at 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. in the Student Union. See updated bio in 1989 - Horton Foote.

John Patrick (Inge Award recipient in 1986) participated in "Meet Our Award-Winning Playwrights" and discussed "The Playwright-Director Relationship" with other participants on Monday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1994 - Terrence McNally.

Marian Seldes, a Tony Award-winning actress, conducted "A workshop in Acting" on Tuesday, April 12 from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. in the William Inge Theatre. Miss Seldes' acting credits include The Gingerman, A Delicate Balance, Equus, Death Trap, and, in 1987, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. Miss Seldes teaches acting at Julliard, in New York City. Miss Seldes took part in the Tribute to Kingsley and Salute to the Playwrights.

Dan Sullivan conducted "Sullivan's Workshop in Critical Writing" on Tuesday, April 12 at 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. in Room 113 of the Academic Building. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Conference Scholars

1988 Conference Scholars 

Conference Director:
     Jackson R. Bryer, Ph.D, The University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, see updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Respondents:
     Gene DeGruson, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, see updated bio in 1995 - Arthur Miller.
     Colby H. Kullman, Ph.D, The University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, see updated bio in 1993 - Wendy Wasserstein.

Scholars:
     Judith Babnich, Ph.D, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, presented "Megan Terry's 100,001 Horror Stories of the Plains: Tall Tales and Stories From the People of the Midwest" on Monday, April 11 at 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.
     Kerk Fisher, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, presented "The Small Town and Beyond: Travels to and from Home."
     Jane W. Lange, The University of California-Berkeley, presented "Romance, Realism, and the Small Town on the American Stage."
     Arthur McClure, Ph.D, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, MO, presented "Visions of Salinson: On-Location Filming of William Inge's Picnic (1955)."
     William E.E. Meyer Jr., Beaumont, TX, presented "Bus Stop: American Eye vs. Small Town Ear."
     Mark T. Mitchell, Arkansas State University, Fayetteville, AR, presented "Playwright as Social Anthropologist: Thornton Wilder's Our Town."
     Robert Mossman, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, presented "The Small Town Soda Fountain, Bar and Cafe as American Agoras."
     Christine Urbaniak, Florida State University, presented "The Grotesque in Inge's Picnic."
     Ralph F. Voss, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, presented "William Inge in Independence: 1913-1930." See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.