Appalachian Young People's Theatre brings folklore to stage

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

The Appalachian Young People's Theatre performs "The Fisherman and His Wife" April 20-22 in Greer Arena Theatre.

"The Fisherman and His Wife," written by Larry and Vivian Snipes, is a story of a poor fisherman who catches a peculiar fish. The twist is the fish plays the genie in a bottle and gives the fisherman three wishes for not eating him.

Of course, the wife is not happy with the outcome of her husband's wishing and asks for more wishes until she learns a valuable lesson--that true happiness is never gained through greed.

The cast includes Jeremy Peterson, Daniel Graybeal, Jennifer Bobbitt, Erica Greenlee and Kristy Familar.

The director of "The Fisherman and His Wife" is Teresa Lee, assistant professor of theater, who is the director of the Appalachian Young People's Theatre. The assistant is Tara Blake, who also serves as tour manager.

According to a press release from the department of theater and dance, A.Y.P.T. develops their own scenery, properties and costumes. The group has toured elementary schools in western North Carolina since mid-March and completes the tour the first of May.

The Appalachian Young People's Theatre was started in 1972 and has toured each spring since its beginning.

The mission of A.Y.P.T. is to produce a variety of quality plays with educational value including fairy tales, folk tales, audience participation plays and musicals for elementary school audiences, according to the press release.

Children in the audience are invited to participate in the telling of the story by playing roles such as the wind, water, chickens and servants.

The April 20 performance is at 7 p.m., while the April 21-22 feature a 2 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and children.

Tickets can be purchased in the Valborg Theatre box office Monday-Friday from 2-5 p.m.

For more information or tickets, call 262-3063.

Student literary magazine, The Summit, encourages self expression

Elizabeth Frye - Multicultural Beat

The Appalachian community will soon be introduced to The Summit, the newly formed undergraduate student literary magazine. The first edition, which has been set to run as an insert in the Tuesday, April 24 edition of The Appalachian, will fill approximately "28 tab pages" and have "65 different works" in it, according to David W. Freeman, Director of Student Publications and advisor to The Summit.

"The Summit is all work of undergraduate students at Appalachian State University and is made up of mainly short stories, poetry, and photography," Freeman said. "We did not receive many art entries because art students have been busy with their April art show."

Plans to bring together an undergraduate student literary magazine have been in the works for some time.

"Dino Dibernardi (Director of the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership) and I have been talking about perhaps doing a literary magazine for several years mainly because there previously was no vehicle for undergraduate literature," said Freeman. "The university sponsors the Cold Mountain Review published by graduates in the English Department, which accepts other submissions, but undergraduates find it hard to break in to that publication. There is also the Appalachian Broadsides flier that is put on bulletin boards in the English Department, but it is limited in size and can only promote one to two students usually. We thought it'd be beneficial to see if we could begin a literary magazine for undergraduates, and we hope the magazine will grow in prestige to become a stand-alone publication."

Entries for The Summit were received in February and March. More than 80 submissions were gathered.

"We had a pretty good response, and have tried to use as many entries as possible; the magazine is fairly all-inclusive," Freeman said. Students from the English Department and student photographers chose the works to be printed in The Summit.

"I've been pleased with the work we have received. The quality varied greatly, and the best way to describe it is that it is students' work. This is a way by which the students can put their best work out there and get recognition for it," said Freeman.

The Summit is only being printed one time this semester, and next year's publication schedule is still undecided.

"This first year is an experiment to judge interest in the magazine. A decision will be made over the summer about whether The Summit will be printed once a semester or once a year in the future," said Freeman.

Sophomore Adam Bennett has done much work with the layout of The Summit. "It (The Summit) is interesting, and I think the magazine is something that is needed on campus," Bennett said. "The student body will gain from having a literary magazine, and it's a good outlet for those writers and artists who want to be published."

Those interested in submitting work to The Summit during the next school year should look for fliers, advertisements in The Appalachian, and posters across campus. More information can be obtained from Freeman at 262-6252.