Congregation of the Arts

The Seventh Congregation of the Arts opens in Hopkins Center on June 29 and offers a full program of music, drama, dance, films, and exhibitions of painting, sculpture, graphics, and photography.

Indications are that last summer's record attendance of more than 34,000 visitors to the galleries of Hopkins Center may well be surpassed in the coming months. Some of the distinguished artists-in-residence, visiting artists, and faculty who will be teaching in the studios and exhibiting in the galleries are Dimitri Hadzi, Robert Indiana, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Hannes Beckmann, James Seawright, Varujan Boghosian, William Christopher, Edward Hill, and Naohiko Inukai.

The summer music program of the Congregation is again under the direction of Mario di Bonaventura, Director of Music at Hopkins Center. Weekly chamber ensemble concerts will be pre. sented on Thursday evenings, and on Sunday evenings the Dartmouth Festival Orchestra will perform. Composers-in- residence during the summer will include Luigi Dallapiccola, June 30 to July 13. Roger Sessions, July 21 to August 3; and Roberto Gerhard, August 11 to 23. Visiting composers will be Walter Piston, July 14 to 20, and Gladys Nordenstrom, August 4 to 10.

As its contribution to the Congregation, the Dartmouth Summer Repertory Theatre Company will be presenting seven dramatic productions and three dance programs.

The first of the four major productions in the Center Theatre will be Othello. To be staged by Director of Theater Rod Alexander, who views the play as a study of the "very personal tragedy of a man confronted with the evil of others and the evil in himself," the Shakespeare classic will feature Prof. Errol Hill in the title role. He and Professor Alexander will exchange positions for the company's second major bill, The RoyalHunt of the Sun. This time Professor Hill will direct Professor Alexander in the lead role of Pizarro, the despairing conqueror of the Inca nation.

A Flea in Her Ear, by the French master of the farce Georges Feydeau, moves into the repertory schedule as the third offering of the season. Director Alexander terms the play "unbelievable, a beautifully structured farce" with all the well-worn devices of misplaced letters, unfounded suspicion, and incident upon incident leading to total confusion.

The world premiere of John White's new play Mirage will complete the summer program as the Dartmouth Summer Repertory Theater presents a new play for the first time as part of its regular schedule. Mirage is described by director William Lee Kinsolving as "a fantastic journey into the mind of a dogmatic man."

As an added attraction to the season of straight dramatic fare, there will be three performances of the dance, choreographed by Instructor Ray Cook. The evenings of dance will feature four professional dancers, who will form part of the regular theater troupe. They will be supplemented by members of the Apprentice Acting Company. In addition to working in the professional drama and dance productions, the Apprentice Company will be presenting a series of special theatrical events on their own.