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STUDENTS
LOCAL
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Liberal Arts
Lecture, panel, screenings part of Horton Foote events
Discussions and viewings of the Texan playwright’s work expound
on his legacy.
The Shorthorn staff
Celebrated playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote’s campus
appearance Oct. 18-19 is preceded by lectures, a panel discussion featuring
actors and directors of Foote’s plays and films, and screenings
of three of his films.
Foote, a major force in writing for more than 60 years, has won awards
including two Academy Awards for his To Kill A Mockingbird and Tender
Mercies scripts, a Pulitzer Prize, numerous lifetime achievement awards
and an Emmy. He continues to write.
English professor Laurie Porter, who wrote Orphans’ Home: The
Voice and Vision of Horton Foote, will give a lecture Wednesday, “Quiet
Power: The Films and Plays of Horton Foote,” which will explore
this year’s OneBook theme of power through Foote’s work
as part of the Conversations Program.
“I think Foote has a quiet power,” Porter said. “He
writes about ordinary people in the language they would use. In creating
these small lives of ordinary people, the cumulative power is immense.”
She said Foote’s visit provides a rare and unique opportunity
to see one of the greatest living American playwrights in person.
Theatre arts professor Andrew Gaupp directs three scenes from Foote’s
plays to be performed by faculty and students at a gala in Foote’s
honor Oct. 18. Gaupp said the events are excellent opportunities to
interact with a prize-winning writer of Foote’s stature.
“He is one of our greatest living American playwrights and screenwriters,”
the department associate chair said. “We are thrilled that we
are able to meet with him, to talk with him about his work and how he
approaches his work.”
Theatre arts senior Clarissa Betts, who performs in some of the gala
scenes, said Foote’s work is important because it explores the
human elements of the characters.
“His work is more based around people he knew, people he grew
up with and the psychological development of characters, and less based
around events,” she said.
Betts thinks Foote’s work is underappreciated, especially in his
home state of Texas.
“I think [Foote’s work] is important because it’s
part of our own Texas culture,” she said. “He’s from
a small, country Texas town, and it’s important that we know what
kinds of artists come out of our own people.”
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Horton Foote,
playwright |
