Saturday, October 27, 2012

Letters from Alvina Krause: Summer 1975

Context
I visited Bloomsburg the beginning of summer 1975.

Letter
David,
I hope your visit was as profitable to you as to me. I can't turn off my think-pot.
Your article is too good for Alumni News -- but turn it in. Then why not extract the best, most pertinent to the teaching of acting and submit it to American Theatre Association or Speech Association or whatever are the big professional organizations. I realize more and more that we need to fight a concept which prevails in colleges and universities: "Acting can't be taught". And your Dean wants you to publish! Well go ahead on your favorite subject!
Think seriously on your new course. Talk to the Dean about it. Tell him you have no intention of forever being a protegé of AK. That you would like to break that tie with a new course -- all yours. Remind him that you all are trying to teach AK courses. You want to break the chain. Be explicit and firm. Tell him that I was forever changing and adding. If I were teaching now I probably would add Acting & The Humanities or something of the sort.
Do understand: I don't want you to exploit me, but use me to write about teaching acting, of a theory of teaching. You do it well, so go ahead and use this material to your advantage -- You might even have a doctoral dissertation it it!!! Learn to play the academic game your way (but don't let anyone steal your ideas.) Publish! But publish what you most like!

Postscript
Eventually I rewrote the Dialogue article as the shorter bio piece they actually wanted.

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