Theater department resists last curtain call

The University of Maine may dump a program that generates dynamic drama programs in schools in Maine that has been in existence since the university began. It has been the crown jewel of theater programs in New England and I was going to bequeath funds to it after my demise.

All but the last are terribly important to our youth, our rural areas and the constant elevation of artistic and cultural awareness in our population. As an example: When I started teaching French at rural Katahdin High School, one of the first plays the kids and I produced was “The Mikado.” We started with a drama club of five people. Thanks to the department that is now in trouble, I had the tools and experience to work with and the help I needed when we had problems.

I was able to borrow materials and costumes not available in the area, and with their return went the thanks and heartfelt gratitude of the children and their parents. I know for certain that more than one or two drama teachers and coaches received their experience the same way: cross-training between the departments of education and theater. I thank you both.

Without the One Act Play Division contests given yearly at the university by the high schools in the state and judged by instructors in the theatre department, the building excitement and constant drive of these young people would never have been demonstrated and their talents showcased. Some of my participants went on into the theater program here at the university and a couple of them later went on into professional theater.

Is this the dumbing down of rural Maine? Is this an anti-cultural movement aimed at killing anything theatrically educational (read intellectual) north of Portland? Is this a way to frighten parents and children into expecting a rise in tuition coupled with a loss of programs? It won’t work. Cutting funds and staff of the theatre department has been going on for so long that the department is running on fumes now and people know it.

Now, back to the bequeathing of funds: I ain’t gonna. No theater department to give funds to, no bequest. I hope I’m not alone on this.

I’ve graduated from the University of Maine more times than I want to remember. I’ve worked there, developed programs there, taught there, started the University Volunteer Ambulance Corps (UVAC), trained EMTs and had a one-act play produced there.

I love the University of Maine; I don’t love what a few mindless pedagogical administrators are doing to it.

Gus Bombard lives in Old Town.