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Official Name
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En-US
INGE 228 - 25th Tribute Ralph Voss
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Description
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Ralph Voss Professor of English University of Alabama
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Internet Media Type
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video/mp4
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YYYY-MM-DD
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En-US
2006-03
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ISO or Range
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En-US
2006-03
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transcript of
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Margaret Gohane met me uh answered my questions,
took me around town. Uh I was working on my
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dissertation on uh at the University of Texas
at the time. Margaret uh was very gracious. She
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took me out to the cemetery. It's the first time I
saw Ing's grave site and he been gone only about a
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year at that time. And uh I'll always remember
coming to Independence uh on that occasion. On
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another occasion that's important in my memory,
uh the festival had just gotten underway by this
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time, but it was about 1981 and Paul Fry, who
was the media person at uh Independence Community
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College. Uh one summer that summer I visited
he showed me Mike Wood's documentary uh from
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Penn Avenue to Broadway uh and that was fine
documentary. It's still a fine documentary and
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uh that was another time when I came early
to independence and I cherish both of those
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memories because people in independence went out
of their way to help me uh with my scholarship.
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What's one of your favorite stories about one
of the honored playwrights? I'll never forget
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1989 when Horton Foot uh was the honore. And uh
I mean this is the man who wrote Tender Mercy's.
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This is the man who wrote the screenplay for
To Kill a Mockingbird. And that was the year
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that my biography of William came out. And uh
I was thrilled because Hortonfoot wanted me
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to autograph a copy of my book for him. Uh he
knew the they knew each other back in the 50s,
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early 50s in New York. And I I think that was one
of many highlights uh about uh a playwright who
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was honored. important foot was a gentleman
and gracious and one of one of the finest
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uh the group that's been honored. How has the
festival been important to you as a theater
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scholar? The most important thing in independence
for me in the festival is the William collection.
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uh it is the world's largest uh depository of
ine materials and it was a gold mine for me
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as a biographer. I came here and uh in one room I
was able to learn an awful lot about William Ming
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uh because of the collection. Another important
thing about the festival to me as a scholar is
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that it gave me contact uh with some people who
knew William in wor with William in playwrights
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like Jerome Lawrence and uh Robert Anderson
u William Gibson u directors like Daniel man
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and performers like Shirley Knight. uh I met
these people and was able to talk with them
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uh in a leisurely sort of way uh at the at the
festival. So the inj festival has always been
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important to me as a scholar and every year the
scholars conference uh is a important highlight.
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What do you look forward to each time
you return to Independence? I like the
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ambiencece of this festival. It is a small
town and there are good people who work hard
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to make this a successful event. Um, I really
like being in Independence uh every April.
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I also enjoy the scholars conference. As I
said, it's always great to see Jackson Brier
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uh and uh appreciate all the things that he has
done for the scholars conference of this festival.
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What's unique about the festival? Robert
Anderson put it best. He said that uh the
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only other hometown that honors its native
son playright with a festival in his name is
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Stratford on Avon. Um it's a great little festival
with some some really important memories. Who are
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the locals you've gotten to know over the years
and what did they contribute to the festival?
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There are so many people that have contributed
over the years. Margaret Gohane who really uh
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was the energizing force at the beginning of this
festival. uh Jody McDow, Jill Warford, Ken Brown,
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Tim Emir, uh the Roth Gibbs, the Allison's, uh
Lois Lesman, Peter Ellenstein, Bruce Peterson,
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uh Hannah Joyce Hovind. Uh there are so many
people. This is really a great community effort.
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What is your first remembrance
of coming to Independence?
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First time I came to independence was the
summer of 1974. I was uh working on my PhD
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at the University of Texas at the time and um I
wanted to see hometown and I was put in touch with
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Margaret Goheen who was my host that afternoon.
She took me around town, answered my questions,
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very, very gracious uh woman, very dedicated to
William Inge and what he meant to this community.
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She took me out to the cemetery and I got to see
his grave site. Uh Inge had been dead only about
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a year at that time. It just meant a lot to me
that someone in the community cared that much and
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uh and was willing to give me a kind of
personal tour. A couple of years later,
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I was u in town a hot summer day. I
needed to see Mike Wood's documentary
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uh Pen Avenue to Broadway and Paul Fry, who was
the media uh expert at the college at that time,
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uh set me up in a room, air conditioned room,
and I got to watch that wonderful documentary.
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Uh and both both cases these were local people
who took time uh to answer my questions and
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accommodate my interest in William and I'll
always be grateful for that and that's come to
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emblematize the whole city of independence for me
over the years. People being friendly and helpful.
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What's one of your favorite stories about one of
the honored playrs? Well, there are many great
0:06:55.680,0:07:02.480
memories I have about honored playwrights, but
the one that sticks out for me the most in 1989,
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the the honore was uh Horton Foot, and this
man who had written the screenplay for Tequella
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Mockingbird had written Tender Mercy's uh
asked me if I would autograph a copy of my
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book on William Ming for him. Uh that was a
great honor for me and I'll never forget it.
0:07:27.280,0:07:32.320
How has the festival been important to you as
a theater scholar? Well, the most important
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thing about the festival is the William Ming
collection. By coming to the festival every year,
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I get to revisit the collection. uh the the
collection is the single largest depository
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of William material in the world and it was
invaluable to me as a biographer of William
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and over the years uh it has continued to grow
and another thing about the festival I have been
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able to meet and talk with other playwrights
directors performers people in the theater
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who knew William Ming uh Jerome Lawrence, Robert
Anderson, and William Gibson among playwrights,
0:08:16.080,0:08:22.480
uh, director Daniel Man, uh, and, uh, the
actress Shirley Knight. Being able to,
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to talk with these people in a sort of relaxed
atmosphere at the Inge Festival was very valuable
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to me as a scholar. What do you look forward to
each time you return to independence? I love to
0:08:38.400,0:08:44.480
return to independence. Uh the festival ambience
is wonderful. It's a small town. Everyone is
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really friendly, really helpful, and there's so
many things going on. Uh a real highlight for me
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each year is the scholars conference and being
able to see and hear Jackson Brier again and
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appreciate all the things that Jackson has done
for the festival and the scholars conference.
0:09:08.080,0:09:16.800
What's unique about the festival? Robert Anderson
put it best. He said that uh Independence is the
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only uh place that honors its native son
uh playwright with a festival in his name
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other than Stratford on Avon. Words to that
effect. Uh it's a very special community,
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a very special festival, and uh anybody who
comes here once wants to come back again.
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Who are the locals you've gotten to know over
the years and what do they contribute to the
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festival? There are so many people who have make
this festival important in the past and and in the
0:09:55.040,0:10:02.400
present. Uh in the past, people like Margaret
Gohane, Jodie McDow, and Jill Warford uh did a
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wonderful job of keeping the festival started
up and going along. local uh community people
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like Ken Brown, Tim Emer, the Roth Gibbs, the
Allison's, Lois Lesman, um wonderful people who
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have contributed and uh Peter Ellenstein and Bruce
Peterson and Hannah Joyce Joyce Hovind are still
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keeping that tradition alive. What's unique about
the festival? It's the only uh Robert Anderson
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said it's the only uh other home just forget about
it. What's unique about the inch festival? Robert
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Anderson said the only other hometown that honors
its native son playright is Stratford on Avon. Uh
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I don't know whether that's actually true or not,
but it it embodies how great this festival is.
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Who are the locals you've gotten to
know over the years and what did they
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contribute to the festival? There's so many.
Margaret Goheen and Jody McDow, Jill Warford
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uh among of the folks who uh started
the festival up and kept it going.
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local uh citizens like Ken Brown, Tim Emmert,
the Allison's, uh the Rothgs, Peter Ellenstein,
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Bruce Peterson. Um these are these are all
people who continue to make contributions.
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