Clint McGuire and Jack Benjamin
Recorded
August 16, 2022
Archived
August 16, 2022
43:22 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
atl004680
Description
Clint McGuire (56) continues his conversation with his former professor and long-time friend, Jack Benjamin (70), about Jack's years building and running a theatre department at the University of South Carolina Aiken. This conversation mainly covers the early and mid 1990s.Subject Log / Time Code
Jack (J) talks about the evolution of the theater program in the period from 1989-1991.
J and Clint (C) talk about the Fall 1991 production of "Antigone" and how it was set in 1970 at Kent State University.
J talks about Fall 1992 being a big step in the program's evolution when it staged a play called "Hotline" from an original script from a young playwright, Wes Chick, who was at the University of Texas-Austin.
J and C talk about "Experimental Relief" and how the show helped raise funds for rebuilding from Hurricane Hugo.
J talks about the program beginning to graduate students and getting the official degree program put in place.
J talks about the challenge of recruiting theater students to the program after the first large cohort of students graduated.
J talks about the challenges of casting "Veronica's Room" and also the production of "Steel Magnolias". J also talks about the physical space of the theater.
J talks about the good relationship he had with the local newspaper, The Aiken Standard.
Participants
- Clint McGuire
- Jack Benjamin