Family Affair

Summer Repertory 1980 was by way of being Old Home Week at the Hop. David Birney '61, whose undergraduate Hamlet remains legend among local theater buffs, came back to play a deliciously evil Richard III and to direct Sorrows of Stephen, a comedy by Peter Parnell '74 that attracted favorable attention off- Broadway last season. The College's very newest alumna so new, indeed, that her class won't graduate for another year and a half Meredith Baxter Birney, adopted '82, played the title role in The Country Wife opposite Hopkins Center director Peter Smith, himself an adopted '35.

The Birneys, familiar as a team in the title roles of television's Bridget LovesBernie, as well as for any number of separate performances on stage, screen, and picture tube, made it a summer in Hanover, bringing with them their three children and a governess to look after five- year-old Kate while her parents worked. It was a hectic summer, rehearsing, directing, submitting to a numbing succession of interviews, hopscotching the Northeast recording segments for national TV programs, in addition to 40 performances of the three plays between the mid-July Richard opening and the final curtain on Country Wife in late August.

Looking back from their home grounds in Santa Monica, California, however, the entire household pronounced it a fine summer, albeit a wearing one. For David Birney, it was a warm reception, renewing old friendships, making new ones, sharing with his wife "what was a very important part of my life." Said Meredith Birney, "I met a lot of his fathers during the summer."

"It was splendid for the children," their mother commented. "They've never known such freedom. It was great to get them out of the city." All three were in and out of the Hop constantly, taking in all sorts of activities. "When Kate sees- a movie now," her father reported, "she insists on knowing whether Harold Lloyd is in it." It was particularly good for the youngsters, he added, to be able to drop in on rehearsals, costume fittings, technical runthroughs: "to see something of the process instead of just the finished product." They were so involved that dueling practice was big on North Park Street as 13-year-old Ted and the neighborhood kids performed their own version of the climactic scene from Richard.

It was David Birney's first experience with the sophisticated facilities of the Hop, his Hamlet having created a sensation despite the comparatively primitive conditions in Robinson Hall. And, although they have appeared frequently on campuses, it was the first time either of the Birney's had performed with undergraduates on a regular basis. "We had a very healthy give-and-take with the students," Birney said, "working with them as peers, as fellow actors, as well as teachers and director." The sense of loyalty became so strong, that when outside visitors came for formal critiques "I had to quell a 'How dare you say that?' reaction to adverse comment on student actors," he added. "Meredith had the same experience."

"People were super," Birney said. "One of the interesting things about working in an environment like that is the range of feedback." He cited "an extraordinarily thoughtful, perceptive letter" retired English professor Harry Schultz '37 wrote to director Errol Hill about Richard III. And Mary Schultz "delivered a blueberry pie for Richard, then cookies for Stephen." There was some suspense after CountryWife, the last play to open. "Meredith said, 'I must be a flop. I didn't get any baked goods.' But they came. We got to depend on them even more so, the children."

"That's a kind of metaphor for the response of the community," Birney mused. "A whole range of feedback. Extraordinary. Delightful."

Deliciously evil "in performance, David Birney also directed Sorrows of Stephen