Cut to Culture

P ROFILE

THE HENDRIX COLLEGE

VOLUME 107 ISSUE 3

Cut to

Culture

THE HENDRIX COLLEGE

P ROFILE

Table of contents 3 4 5 6

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Letter from the editor Struggling to Sustain Right to Repeal The Process of Retiring Blue Wave or Red Wall John Mulaney Dispassion Play Thanksgiving at Homedrix Hygge Week How I’ve Changed Modern Loathing: How to Survive Finals Should Celebrities and Politics Mix?

Editor-in-Chief: Marlee Bird Online Editor: Sarah Gilmour Managing Editor: Jessica FrazierEmerson Photography Editor: Alice Fan Copy Editor: Peyton Coffman Layout Editor: Monica Martinez Photographer: Graydon Carter Photographer: Sarah Pickering Photographer: Samantha Huckabay Staff Writer: Trey Dyer Staff Writer: Kaitlin Lowe Staff Writer: Alyssa Jones Staff Writer: Julia Kraus Staff Writer: Monica Martinez Staff Writer: Indigo Kroll Videographer: Mary Katherine Nail

ADVISOR Dr. Alex Vernon

MISSION STATEMENT As a student-run and student-funded newsmagazine, The Profile uncovers the smart edge to campus culture: the people, places, ideas and trends that curious, confident students and faculty want, need and ought to know. By critically examining issues important to the Hendrix community, The Profile aims to act as a catalyst for change, a tool for transparency between the student body and faculty and a source of inspiration for its readers to begin thinking globally and acting locally.

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

MARLEE BIRD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Oxford English Dictionary defines culture in many ways – fifteen to be exact. Here are a few of my favorites: “The cultivation or development of the mind, faculties, manners, etc.; improvement by education and training;” “The distinctive ideas, customs, social behavior, products or way of life of a particular nation, society, people, or period;” “The artificial propagation and growing of microorganisms, or of plant and animal cells, tissues, etc., in liquid or solid nutrient media in vitro.”

Obviously, we don’t all have the same concept in mind when we talk about culture. The Profile, like many news publications, has a section titled “Culture” in each issue. We tend to treat culture as if it is something different from everything else we write.

This issue discusses culture in many ways, although I will admit we still kept our “Culture” section. In these next pages, you’ll see that we cover Thanksgiving traditions for international students as well as current issues with recycling, the retirement of a beloved professor—who has put his own spin on saying goodbye—and the way in which Hendrix students complicate the well-known Passion of Christ. In the same vain, we highlight the visit of John Mulaney, a highly successful comedian from the East Coast, to the

University of Central Arkansas. We talk about Lance Kramer, an award-winning filmmaker, who visited Hendrix this past October and shared his insights with Hendrix film classes.

I write this knowing that culture is a touchy subject. What culture means, whose culture is whose, and when we share or separate from culture are all questions we’ve been tackling for years. We will undoubtedly continue to wrestle with these questions, but if there’s one takeaway from this issue it’s that culture itself is never an island; it is a conglomeration of histories, interpretations, and individual experiences. The categories that we as journalists tend to make (news, feature, culture, etc.) are reflective of the wider tendency in our society to create boxes that, in truth, don’t exist.

Sincerely,

Have a question, response, or inquiry? You can reach us anytime at thehendrixcollegeprofile@ gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on the latest stories.

NOVEMBER 2018

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NEWS

STRUGGLING TO SUSTAIN

Photo by Sarah Pickering

Hendrix finds itself failing to support sustainability and recycling efforts on campus Trey Dyer| Staff Writer

In September, Facilities Management Director Skip Hartsell spoke to Student Senate about recycling on campus.

“People finally asked [Hartsell], ‘Is the recycling being thrown away?’

And he said that some of it is,” Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) Chair Megan Cassingham said.

This revelation from Hartsell came to the surprise of many, including Cassingham. She explained that she and ECC were aware of small issues occasionally plaguing campus recycling efforts, but Facilities left ECC in the dark about how bad the problem had become. “It was never brought directly to us as a committee,” she said.

According to the notes from the Sept. 18 Senate meeting, Hartsell explained that cross-contamination, when trash and food waste end up in the recycling bins, is the main problem with recycling on campus.

The city of Conway has warned Hendrix that there could be fines in the future if the problem persists.

When asked what was at the root of the issue for Hendrix recycling, Hartsell pointed to two complicating factors: resources and culture.

“From a financial standpoint, we just do not have the finances to hire someone to do nothing but a recycling program,” he said. “And as I shared with Senate, the challenge is developing the culture inclusive of the entire student body to make these [recycling] efforts fruitful. Those that are passionate about recycling are good at recycling. Those that are not quite as passionate don’t always participate in the manner that we would like them to.”

Hartsell continued to describe the severity of cross-contamination on campus, citing data from April 2017 to March 2018. Of the 174 “pulls” of recycling in the exterior recycling bins located across campus, 128 of them were deemed contaminated and discarded with general waste.

That means almost 75 percent of outdoor recycling is not recycled and is instead shipped to the landfill.

These figures might be shocking to many, but Allison Monroe, former ECC Chair and current Chair of the Campus Sustainability Fund Committee, has understood this problem for several years now. “It was 95 percent [cross-contamination] when we first put them on campus,” she said.

It’s clear that students need to be educated on proper recycling practice, but as Monroe explained, most students—including herself— have to prioritize their education as a student first. “I didn’t have the time or capacity to teach every person on campus how to recycle, and I don’t

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think anyone on ECC does this year either.”

Monroe began a project that allows students to sign up for their own recycling bins, but she expressed worry that even this program is in jeopardy. “There is a very high chance that it will not continue once I graduate, and that’s just how sustainability things happen on this campus because [Hendrix administration] refuses to hire someone who actually handles those things,” she said.

She understands that the college is under financial stress, but Monroe thinks that the consistent calls for a sustainability officer are ultimately being ignored. “This has been something students have been pushing for 10 years at least,” she said, “and we still don’t have that.”

Monroe warns that the longer these calls for an established sustainability officer go ignored, the less effective current student-run sustainability efforts become. “It’s so hard to face these battles continually and not see any progress,” she said. “I’ve been working for ECC for four years, and I’ve only seen less and less progress.”

Pointing to other institutions like the University of Central Arkansas and John Brown University, Monroe says there is support there that we simply do not have at Hendrix. UCA has recycling and food waste disposal programs, reducing general waste.

John Brown is a “zero landfill” campus, meaning that all waste is diverted from the landfill. Recyclable materials are sent to recycling plants, nonrecyclable food materials are given to a local hog farm, kitchen grease is converted to biodiesel to power lawnmowers, and anything that cannot be sold to local vendors is compacted and incinerated in a non-pollutant incinerator.

Stating that both Housekeeping and Facilities at Hendrix are “overworked and underpaid,” Monroe says that campus sustainability is ultimately disheartening when there is no support from administration.

Monroe also sees a sustainability program as beneficial to more than just students—or even the planet. “I think that if sustainability was well-handled and an educational program was established on campus,” she said, “that would make the jobs and lives of a lot of these [Hendrix] workers easier.”

RIGHT TO REPEAL

As President Trump suggests repealing birthright citizenship, students discuss the potential outcomes Monica Martinez|Staff Writer

Just before this year’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump announced his intention to sign an executive order repealing birthright citizenship for children of non-U.S. citizens. Since his announcement on Oct. 29, discussion has risen about what this executive order could mean for immigrant communities across the country.

“I think he is using [the announcement] as a tactic,” president of the Organization for Latino Expressions (OLE) Nancy Velazquez said. “He announced this right before midterms not only to get people scared but also to [appeal to] his supporters. I don’t think he is going to get anywhere with it.”

“The right for a child to be a citizen is not one that should be earned,” OLE vice president Inaya Molina said.

“There is nothing a newborn child can do to prove themselves a citizen. A child born in the United States from immigrant parents should be treated just as any other child born here.”

Since President Trump’s announcement, popular Latinx and immigrant news outlets have reported on a growing sense of fear among immigrant communities.

“I think what the president is doing is dangerous,” Velazquez said. “Parents of birthright citizens don’t know the constitution for the most part. They think that because he says it, he can do it. In most cases, that is not true, but they don’t know that.”

Velazquez is interning at an immigrant resource center, El Zocalo, in southwest Little Rock, which has exposed her to efforts directed towards helping immigrants put plans in place in case of emergency.

“One of the things the organization focuses on is power of attorney for the parents of U.S. citizens,” Velazquez said. “These documents give immigrants a plan in case they get deported or have to return to their home country.”

Immigrant communities and families are growing concerned for the potential uncertainties that could come from the repeal of birthright citizenship.

“One of my biggest worries is having my brother face

the same uncertainties and fears I faced now that he is getting closer to the end of high school,” sophomore Victor Gomez said. “Throughout high school, I had no idea what college I would go to because I was undocumented.

Because my brother is a citizen, he has the benefits that I did not. The executive order could potentially prevent him from obtaining any resources and put him in a situation like mine. I would hate to see him struggle because I know how difficult it would be for him and our parents.”

Gomez, who works closely with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), acknowledged that the executive order would decrease educational opportunities for immigrant children.

“Repealing birthright citizenship would be devastating to many immigrant families in the United States,” Gomez said. “This executive order would strip millions of children of their rights and of opportunities they can only obtain in this country. What President Trump is trying to do is not only unconstitutional but also inconsiderate of the future of many children and families living in the U.S.” On campus, students of immigrant parents are working to share their experiences and represent their cultural backgrounds.

“The Organization for Latino Expressions has been a wonderful way for me to express my Latinx descent on a campus that is not very diverse,” Molina said. “It has been a way for me to show students on campus my roots and who I am in a positive way, which is in contrast to how the media has recently shown my country of Panama and other Latin American countries.”

It’s unlikely that President Trump will sign the order because it directly interferes with the 14th amendment.

For now, students and citizens will continue discussing the future of immigrant communities in the country.

“Children are the future and will shape what this country becomes and what it stands for in the next century,” Gomez said. “Depriving them of their inevitable rights to citizenship is something that not only impacts them and their families but will also impact this nation as a whole.”

NOVEMBER 2018

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THE PROCESS OF RETIRING

Dr. Jay McDaniel leaves behind a legacy 39 years in the making Kaitlin Lowe | Staff Writer

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Network (GAIN). GAIN’s programs include Rumi Tuesdays, held in Ellis Hall, which explore the spiritual significance of music and poetry.

Retirement will allow Dr. McDaniel to devote more time to his website, OpenHorizons.org, which has a national and even international reach. This website provides a platform for atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim writers to explore religion, justice, ecology, music, art, and more under a loose framework of process theology.

Dr. McDaniel will also continue his work with and in China through organizations such as the Institute for Postmodern Development of China and the China Project of the Center for Process Studies.

Dr. McDaniel’s retirement plans reflect a lateral rather than vertical trajectory, and he seems to reflect on his career in a similar way.

“Some people think you’re supposed to follow the call of the career, the call of prestige,” Dr. McDaniel said. “I don’t think that life is about upward mobility. I think it’s about integrity and soulfulness.”

To live with integrity is “to care for people and do good in your local setting as best you can,” Dr. McDaniel said. Despite a wide-reaching range of interests and projects, Dr. McDaniel stayed at Hendrix for 39 years to keep doing good things.

“I had opportunities to leave,” Dr. McDaniel said. “But I have a family. I have two sons, and they grew up here, and my wife’s from here. I think you need to understand where you’re nourished. I don’t think the so-called perfect places are always places to bloom. I think it’s the nittygritty of a concrete place, with real people, who have real struggles.”

While Dr. McDaniel felt his own life and career was nourished at Hendrix, he also did the same for students like Tristan Norman, ’20.

“His openness and authentic interest in students will be missed because he embodied these two elements in everything that he did,” Norman said. “Dr. McDaniel convinced me that I have the potential to do great good in the world and that, because of that potential, I am good.

That has done wonders for my self-confidence and has propelled me in all the work that I do.”

A major part of every professor’s legacy lies with the students they’ve deeply impressed. Writing his own reflections on retirement for his website, Dr. McDaniel discusses a concept called “middance”— “the tranquil pleasure… of feeling blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together and everyone is okay.”

He writes that he leaves Hendrix with a feeling of “good middance.”

For Dr. McDaniel, leaving his fellow faculty and students behind, is “like chatting outside a party while others dance inside.

Photo courtesy of Hendrix College

Though Dr. Jay McDaniel, Professor of Religion, will retire from Hendrix College at the end of this fall semester, it may not be the last time his students see him around town. One might run into Dr. McDaniel at the Islamic Center of Little Rock, the Ecumenical Buddhist Society by the state capitol, or at Señor Tequila in Conway on Thursday nights, playing with his Fat Soul Band. Dr. McDaniel also plays with a second band called the Four J’s at assisted living centers in Conway, covering throwback hits like the Beatles in the hopes of bringing a moment of nostalgic joy to elderly residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“For the record, I’m really interested in electronic music too,” Dr. McDaniel added when explaining the musical stylings of the Four J’s, seemingly concerned that he’d painted his own music taste with too broad a brush. It would take quite a while to capture the complexities of Dr. McDaniel’s diverse interests, accomplishments, and beliefs, which aren’t contained by the parameters of Hendrix.

Still, Dr. McDaniel’s contributions to Hendrix are substantial, as he leaves the Religious Studies department at Hendrix much different and larger than he found it in 1979. At that time, few, if any, of the religious studies classes gave much attention to religious traditions or texts other than Christianity and the Bible. Dr. McDaniel took on a new role at Hendrix, teaching Asian religions and newer forms of theology. He developed courses such as Contemporary Islamic Thought, Leadership in a Multi-Faith World with Dr. Robert Williamson, Ecotheology, and Religion in Popular Music.

“On all those fronts—Islam, interreligious dialogue, ecology, and popular culture,” Dr. McDaniel said, “I’m personally convinced that there is a whole lot of religion that is now occurring outside the mindset of people that think only in institutional, tradition-centered terms.”

In Ecotheology, Dr. McDaniel helps students recognize that “the earth itself is not simply an issue among issues, but a context for all issues which are part of a larger web of life.” And in Religion in Popular Music, Dr. McDaniel encourages students to value emotional intelligence and learn through an exploration of sound, dance, and film “The divide between reason and feeling, the intellect and affect, I don’t accept,” Dr. McDaniel said. “When I look at what’s happening in film or music—you can’t divide those. People know something through film. They’re moved by the stories, characters, and music. They form their identity that way.”

In addition to diversifying the class offerings of the Religious Studies department, Dr. McDaniel also developed Hendrix’s first interchange with a university in China and helped demonstrate a need to start a Chinese language program. The motivation for these efforts stemmed from Dr. McDaniel’s own interest in China, Buddhism, and process theology, which is based on the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and a conception of a constantly-changing God. Dr. McDaniel has visited China over a dozen times in the past decade, most recently leading a workshop at an eco-village outside of Shanghai. And among the six books Dr. McDaniel has written or edited, the most recent is in Chinese—On Whitehead’s Process Philosophy, coauthored with Dr. Fubin Yang.

Dr. McDaniel conceptualizes his post-Hendrix plans in terms of four paths. He’ll continue to play music with his bands. He’ll also work with religious and interfaith organizations like Greater Arkansas Interfaith

BLUE WAVE

OR RED WALL?

Midterm elections results show Democrats gain ground in House, Republicans fortify position in Senate

Trey Dyer | Staff Writer After the midterm elections on Nov. 6, the Democrats succeeded in flipping 32 House seats across the country, giving them a majority of 231 seats, while Republicans bolstered their control of the Senate, gaining two seats.

This shift of power, albeit slight, was fairly unsurprising.

Forecasts from FiveThirtyEight and The New York Times showed Democrats gaining House control. Several analysts saw slim chances of Democrats winning a majority in the Senate, and those chances proved to be much too slim. Republicans managed to flip seats in North Dakota, Missouri, and Indiana. A Senate seat in Nevada shifted to the Democratic side of the aisle, giving Republicans a net gain.

The race for governorships favored Democrats, who picked up seven states. The races for Georgia’s and Florida’s governor’s mansions took almost two weeks to reach a final tally, but Republican candidate Brian Kemp, who had a slight advantage, claimed victory. His Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams, who would have been the first African American woman elected governor in the country, ended her campaign claiming that “democracy failed” Georgia. Andrew Gillum (D) of Florida conceded his race to Republican Ron DeSantis shortly after Georgia’s race ended.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was re-elected for another four-year term, defeating the Democratic challenger, Jared Henderson, by a hefty 34-point margin. The race for Lieutenant Governor also went to the Republican incumbent, Tim Griffin.

Arkansas held on to all four of its Republican congressmen.

The closest race, between Rep. French Hill (R) and Clarke Tucker (D) in District 2—Hendrix’s district—ended with 52.1 percent favoring Hill and 45.8 percent voting Tucker. The heaviest gains for Democrats in the state were found in Northwest Arkansas where Greg Leding was elected to the State Senate in District 4, Denise Garner to the State House in District 84, and Megan Godfrey to the House in District 89.

All state ballot initiatives up for adoption, Issues 2, 4, and 5

were passed. Issue 2, passed by almost 80 percent of the vote, gave the state legislature more authority in shaping Voter ID law.

Issue 4, passed by just over 54 percent of the vote, approved casino gaming licenses to specific counties. Issue 5, passed with nearly 70 percent of the vote, initiated a minimum wage increase to 11 dollars per hour by 2021.

As for the most contentious local race, that for Senate District 35, Republican incumbent Jason Rapert held on to his seat. Rapert bested his Democratic challenger, Maureen Skinner, with 55 percent of the vote.

Democratic candidates fell to their Republican counterparts in both the Attorney General and Secretary of State races. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge defeated Mike Lee by 30 points.

Former Commissioner of State Lands John Thurston beat Susan Inman by 27 points to become Secretary of State.

Democrats and Republicans both claimed their own victories after the results were tallied. One thing is certain: at just over 47 percent, midterm voter turnout was the highest in 50 years. Half of eligible voters cast a ballot. In 2010, that number was 41 percent, and in 2014 it was 36.7 percent. Most analysts agree that when turnout is up, Democrats win more often than not.

That being said, Tuesday’s results, which were in many ways seen as a referendum on President Trump and his performance, showed signs that the energy Trump brought with him in 2016 still exists in many parts of the country.

With the majority in the House, however, Democrats can now slow the President’s agenda and potentially keep his power in check. Although Democrats flipped House seats in areas that overwhelmingly voted Trump, optimism is tepid. Republicans still see this as resounding support for their party and the President’s message. With a firmer majority in the Senate, the GOP has the ability to keep confirming federal judges and approving trade deals. President Trump himself deemed the midterm results a “big victory.”

NOVEMBER 2018

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KID GORGEOUS STAR PERFORMS AT UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS

John Mulaney charms Conway, pokes fun at UCA Sarah Pickering | Freelance Writer On Nov. 1, John Mulaney was nice enough to come visit our little town of Conway—or as he described it, the place that “desperately wants to be adorable but you know something’s wrong”—and perform at UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall.

Tickets went on sale for UCA students first, with a limit of two per student, but the general public wasn’t able to get many seats because they sold out almost immediately. While not getting tickets must have felt unbelievably disappointing for some, I wouldn’t know, because I wasn’t one of those people.

Of course, I would’ve preferred orchestra rather than balcony seats, but the venue was small enough that, no matter where someone was seated, everyone could see the stage without Mulaney looking like an over-dressed ant.

It seemed like every single one of the comedy-show-goers stared intensely at the red-lit, empty stage in hopes of being the first one to see him in his gray suit and green tie (which, interestingly enough, had a warrior on it. Just kidding. It was a tiger.

Hendrix was never mentioned). And when his voice bellowed in the performance hall as he announced his opening act, the crowd began to buzz. Soon enough, John Mulaney took the stage and did what he does best.

The 36-year-old comedian, actor, writer, and producer has spent the past year touring the U.S. In September, he won his second Emmy for John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City.

He’s a former member of the Saturday Night Live writing team and returned during the 43rd season to host the April 14, 2018 episode. But he’s most likely best known for his stand-up specials—New in Town, Kid Gorgeous, and my personal favorite, The Comeback Kid—and his voice-acting on Big Mouth, the Netflix cartoon he produces. Mulaney also starred in the Broadway hit, Oh, Hello on Broadway, and his semi-autobiographical, short-lived (and failed) sit-com, Mulaney.

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Despite his success, Mulaney believes himself to be a little bit bland, like a Saltine cracker topped with American cheese or the popular singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. While yes, he is an upper-middle-class white kid, and yes, Cardi B told him that he “[looked] British” on The Late Night Show with Jimmy Fallon, his stage persona is everything but the way he describes it.

Whether he’s talking about his experiences while on tour, his somewhat religious upbringing, or his interactions with workers at Best Buy, Mulaney’s well-delivered observational and selfdeprecating humor can make almost anyone laugh out of the sheer force of will.

You might think that he’d think he was too cool to perform in our small college town, but, fortunately for us, that didn’t seem to be the case. When he was asked where he really, really wanted to go, he said it was so far-fetched that his managers thought he wanted to perform in the Long Lost City of Atlantis. But obviously, he was talking about performing at UCA, or rather, what he referred to as “the school of Scottie Pippen and no one else.”

In fact, he spent a lot of time talking about UCA, most of it stemming from the school’s unbelievably long Wikipedia page. He told the history of its school colors, its mascot’s name change, and its original founding as the “Arkansas State Normal School.”

He had a few repeated jokes, which can probably be found on his most recent stand-up show on Netflix, but lots of his original UCA-related content came from poking fun at the university and from reading its newspaper to distract himself, as well as the audience, from the “actual bad shit happening now.”

However, he did get slightly political, and I loved it. I don’t think Mulaney said we can’t quote him on this, but he hates Trump.

And while interacting with the crowd, he was asked if he’d been to college. “Yes,” he answered, “I went to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. But not the Georgetown that Brett Kavanaugh

FEATURE went to. I want to make sure that’s on the record.” So I hope it’s safe to say he doesn’t like Brett Kavanaugh very much either.

John Mulaney is definitely one of the greatest comedians of this generation. His many exchanges with the audience, his way of dealing with well-meaning hecklers, and his satisfaction for performing make him appear as one-hundred-percent genuine, and that’s exactly what we need now. He discussed controversial

topics, compared current Jim Carrey to Jesus Christ, said, “our pope today is like a sophomore that just discovered ‘shrooms,” and claimed that meditating is worse than ISIS. He joked about mundane topics, like zoning out, the Beatles and their mustaches, and Ray Lewis. His show at the University of Central Arkansas—and everything about him in general—was like nothing I’d even seen from him, or any stand-up comedian, before.

NOVEMBER 2018

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Hendrix students reinvent the well-known production Julia Kraus | Staff Writer

Passion Play Part I: a play about a play beginning with an opening number about how it is, in fact, a play. Such was my complete knowledge of the show five minutes in. If I’d had more background knowledge, I would have known that the play within the play is a passion play, traditionally performed by the same cast of villagers every year. The centuriesold tradition depicts the dying moments of Christ.

Passion Play Part I is the first of three parts directed

by Tony Horne performed by the Hendrix Players.

The play’s cast included John the Fisherman (Sam Gibson), who plays Jesus and is beloved by the townsfolk; Pontius the Fish Gutter (Michael Crippen), who plays—as it might be assumed—Pontius Pilate; Mary the Virgin (Peyton Barrow), who is boy-crazy; and lesbian Mary Magdalene (Ebony Ivory). The play began with a messy love triangle, wherein Pontius loves Mary the Virgin, who loves John, who in turn loves a visiting Catholic friar (Avery Kennedy) running from the law. Of course, Mary Magdalene is also in love with the other Mary. However, the business of preparing for the play gets more complicated after Mary the Virgin becomes pregnant with Pontius’ child and convinces the friar that the pregnancy is the result of immaculate conception.

What ensues is bitter, fishy, and topped off with a deus ex machina brought about by the queen of England (Jackson Sims). On the upside, the Village Idiot (Marlee Hoggard) could turn the sky red.

Crippen’s portrayal of the Fish Gutter was passionate and momentous. At random moments

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fish popped up, bowing to him. I was later told by assistant director Danielle Carney that the fish were worshiping him.

“We joked about him being the fish king, so there were different parts of the choreography with the fish puppets where they would circle his head and that was a crown,” Carney said. “That was our poster as well, a dead fish with a crown of dead fish.”

Carney also told me that the homoerotic tension between Kennedy’s and Gibson’s characters was a “definite actor choice.” Gibson delivered a performance as engaging as Crippen’s. Barrow’s portrayal of the Virgin Mary was believable, as was Ivory’s portrayal of Magdalene. However, I was disappointed that the script didn’t allow either female leads to be as flamboyantly self-righteous as the male leads.

Josh McNair’s joyful and expressive Machinist pulled the play forward. The script wrote deeper meaning into the Village Idiot than was easy to interpret as an audience member, but Hoggard’s performance offered relief from the intensity of some scenes. When asked to step into a starring role, Hoggard brought her chaotic glee to the center of the production. As Uncle Vanya, Hoggard provided a sorely needed element of joy to the Hendrix Players’ fall drama.

Part two of Passion Play will be performed in the spring. All roles will be recast, and auditions will be held in January.

Photos by Dr. Danny Grace NOVEMBER 2018

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FEATURE

THANKSGIVING AT HOMEDRIX Students and faculty share what happens on campus during the break Monica Martinez | Staff Writer As campus parking lots empty and the burrow lights are dimmed on the day before Thanksgiving break, many students will stay behind because of jobs, extracurricular activities, or distance from home. This year, around 50 students will remain on campus.

Student Outreach Services (SOS) provides information about open activities and free meals to students staying on campus.

“We try to set up some kind of network for students during break before everyone leaves campus,” director of Student Outreach Services Christy Coker said. “We are making all the SOS games and movies available for students to bond during the break.”

SOS also finds host families for students who would like to spend the holiday in a homey environment. The week before the break, faculty sign up to host students.

“If students want someone, they are matched through the system,” Coker said. “Not all students want to be involved but we strongly encourage them to reach out.”

Some students who can’t make it home spend the holiday with the family of a fellow student. Sophomore and international student Carmen Meijer spent last Thanksgiving with her roommate Veronica Ibanez’s family.

“I spent the holiday with Veronica at her family’s place in Oklahoma City,” Meijer said. “We don’t really know a whole lot about the Thanksgiving tradition in the Netherlands so [the visit] got me my first insight. It was really fun.”

For many international students on campus, the week-long break is an opportunity to further immerse themselves in common American traditions.

“Some students have never had turkey or dressing,” Coker said. “They get to experience a whole cultural exchange of learning. Students I have hosted before are fascinated by the rural area I live in outside of Conway and the way we celebrate Thanksgiving. I have so many fond memories of

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students’ reactions upon staying with me. It’s incredible.”

Sophomore Andrea Stitt will be the only resident assistant on campus during the break and will oversee all students remaining on campus.

“Because I live only twenty minutes away, I wanted to give resident assistants who live far away the opportunity to see their families,” Stitt said. “Hendrix does a good job of providing resources for students that are staying. The downside is the cafeteria won’t be open, but I’m hoping to bring as many students together to cook a few meals.”

Coker views the break as an opportunity for students to become closer during their stay.

“When we can get students who are staying on campus to come together, they bond and create new friendships, and to me that is awesome,” Coker said. “That is one of the things that I really like about this part of the program. There aren’t a whole lot of people, it’s not intimidating, and there aren’t many [big events] to compete with. There are just people, personalities, and wanting to do things together.”

Though organizations like SOS are working towards providing activities for students on campus, students often use their days off to leave Conway.

“I’m kind of an introverted person and am happy to just relax and enjoy some days off on my own,” Meijer said. “Most days are going to be sleeping in and watching movies. Basically, I’m having a nice, relaxing vacation.”

For those who have no plans for the break, the campus works towards providing as many meal opportunities as possible for them.

“Some students have no place to go, and those are the [students] we work the hardest for,” Coker said.

Photo by Alice Fan

HYGGE AT HENDRIX Psychology students, professor promote wellbeing on campus

Alyssa Jones | Staff Writer

Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) Week made its first-ever campus appearance last year. It reappeared for a second time on Nov. 12-15. The week included a movie screening, free depression and anxiety screenings, a studying/coloring session, reading and poetry-writing sessions, and a nice hike along the Hendrix Creek Preserve.

“People really do want to see a push for more conversations about well-being, talking about mental health, and talking about mental illness,” Junior Zach Gray, a member of the Hendrix Well-Being Coalition, said.

Hygge is a Danish word that suggests coziness, comfortable togetherness, wellness, and contentment. It gained popularity after Meik Wiking published The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, which provides tips on how to incorporate hygge into daily life.

“I personally hope that [students] learn more about hygge and how to incorporate it into their lives,” Junior Hannah Henderson said. “People forget to appreciate the simple things and how important it is to curl up in a blanket with tea or hot cocoa and be with friends.”

The past two years, Hygge Week has arrived as the semester nears its end, finals approach, and students’ stress levels rise.

“We pick this week because it’s the week right before Thanksgiving, and I know that a lot of people get stressed out going back to family sometimes, and it’s right before finals,” Henderson said. “It’s a good time to just come back to coziness.”

Dr. Lindsay Kennedy helped conceive of Hygge Week but insists that the program is completely student-run.

“The Well-Being Coalition’s general purpose is to promote people thinking about their own well-being and to coordinate well-being programs across campus,” Kennedy said.

Director of Counseling Services Dr. Mary Anne Seibert encourages students to understand that stress and anxiety are parts of academic life but that help is available to students who have trouble managing stress.

“It is really important to remind ourselves to take care of ourselves,” Seibert said. “Hygge Week is all about nurturing yourself, taking some time to focus on your well-being, and recognizing that we put so many demands on ourselves. We can identify our sources of stress, try to minimize them, and do our best to manage stress with self-care.”

A major focus of Hygge Week is redefining happiness.

There’s a misconception that happiness means being constantly happy, and people often try to force themselves into happiness.

“People seem to think the only way to be happy is to get material things. Those things will make you happy, but definitely not in the long run,” Gray said. “Incorporating these little things like drinking a hot cup of tea—that will make you happy in that moment. As long as you keep doing that, your happiness can increase over time.”

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HOW I’VE CHANGED

An excerpt from openhorizons.org Dr. Jay McDaniel | Professor of Religion

I’ve changed. When I first came to Hendrix thirty-nine years ago, I was asked to teach all the Asian Religions as well as contemporary Christian theology, with a special focus on process theology.

Over the years I realized that there were many people who could do some of what I did, plus more, and often much better! So I helped hire people who could teach in each of these areas, Professors Bill Gorvine and John Sanders respectively, and I found myself needing to adapt and grow in new directions. So I changed. ​Admittedly, my manner of teaching didn’t change all that much. If asked what my method is, I’d say organized storytelling. I borrow the phrase from my cousin, a history professor, and it well captures what I do in the classroom. To my cousin’s phrase I’d add organized metaphor-making, because I’ve wanted to share big ideas with students, but I feel that they are best shared through metaphors. So for good and ill, I’ve been on organized story-teller and metaphormaker who takes delight in improvisational classroom discussion. I’m sure this method worked with some students and not with others, especially those with an interest in systematic note-taking. But I realized over the years that teachers can only do what they do best, even if it does not satisfy all needs.

What did change were my interests.

Culture. I grew interested in the ways in which “religion” seemed to be at work in popular culture, such that, especially for people who were “spiritually interested but not religiously affiliated,” music and film were functioning in their own way as sacred scriptures: that is, as sources of guidance and inspiration for making meaning out of life. Thus I developed a course on Religion and Popular Music.

Spirituality. I also came to better understand that “religion” is by no means reducible to what happens in organized religion. Religion is a verb not a noun.

It is the activity of making meaning and seeking happiness in life, as best you can, in community with others, enriched by rituals, and animated by touches of transcendence, however they come. I realized further that meaning-making is not simply a cogni-

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tive process but also, and perhaps more deeply, an emotional process that is by no means reducible to creeds and doctrines. So I became interested in what, for lack of a better word, some call “spirituality” or “contemplative studies.” And I began to learn that much of this was studied wonderfully and thoroughly in fields other than religion: positive psychology, for example.

The Earth. I also became interested in how, for many people, felt connections with the hills and rivers, trees and stars – that is, felt connections with the larger web of life on earth -- are a primary source for religious self-understanding. And I came to better understand the need for people of all religions, and no religion, to treat other living beings and the earth itself with respect and care. Thus I developed a course on Ecotheology.

Interfaith. At the same time, I became more and more interested in how people of different religions and no religion can, and need to, learn from one another in a spirit of interfaith understanding. And so, along with Dr. Robert Williamson, I developed a course called Leadership in a Multifaith World, which he will keep teaching once I leave. And I began to work in central Arkansas promoting interfaith dialog and understanding, which now takes the form of the Greater Arkansas Interfaith Network.

Islam. All the while I grew more and more interested in Islam in particular, recognizing how important it is in our time for non-Muslims to develop, in the language of interfaith studies, an “appreciative knowledge” of this tradition. Thus I developed a course on Contemporary Islamic Thought, which was one of my favorites to teach.

China. Amid all this I found myself, to my own surprise, very actively involved in a contemporary movement in mainland China aimed at helping bring “process philosophy and theology” into the mainstream of Chinese cultural life, including at the governmental level, which has an already existing commitment to helping make China an “ecological civilization.” Along with others I was marginally instrumental in helping get the phrase into the Chinese

constitution. As best as I’ve been able, I’ve tried to involve Hendrix students in this effort, taking many to China over the years. I never really taught a course on Chinese religion; my colleague Dr. Jane Harris did, and she did it much better than I could. Still, I feel like a large part of my work over the years, in terms of writing, has been geared toward China. Recently I co-authored a book with a Chinese professor, published by a leading university press in China and written in Chinese, called On Whitehead’s Process Philosophy. You can read about it and my work in China by clicking here.

Open Horizons. As my interests changed, my understanding of my contribution to the wider world changed. I turned away from writing for academics alone, which was once part of my sense of vocation, and toward what has come to be called Public Humanities or, more specifically in my case, Public Theopoetics. I decided I wanted to pour my energies into the development of a website that might introduce more and more people, within and outside academia, to process thought as it applies to ecology, interfaith studies, justice concerns, music and the arts. I created the website Open Horizons and enlisted many people, including Hendrix students, to write for it. It is still my passion.

The Future. What will continue of all of this? As a process theologian, I believe that all things change, that novelty is good, and that clinging to the past, no matter how good, is a problem. Of course, all the initiatives identified above matter to me deeply. Some of them are, I believe, critically important to the very future of the world: ecology and interfaith, for example. But I also know that my time at Hendrix is at an end, and that there are many new initiatives at Hendrix that are as important in their ways as are those important to me. I celebrate them.

God. I am a religious person, shaped by Christianity with its idea that God is at work in the world, not only as a prod from the past but also as a pull from the future, and that we experience this pull through fresh possibilities. I believe that Hendrix has some fresh possibilities available to it, quite apart

from my own interests and talents. And, for my part, I have some fresh possibilities, too. I will continue advancing many of these interests in my life after Hendrix, and I’m already exploring new ways of doing that at various levels: doing music therapy at assisted living centers in the area under the auspices of a music group I’m part of; work with the Greater Arkansas Interfaith Network; continued work in China in the summers; work with process theologians around the world, including a Muslim colleague in Norway and a Jewish colleague in Los Angeles who together represent the leading edge of the process movement, namely theology in a multifaith context; writing for, and enlisting other people to write for, Open Horizons, with special attention to the voices of a younger generation; writing a regular column for Spirituality and Practice, and other activities as well. And, very happily, I’ll be able to enjoy new experiences with my wife Kathy and my sons, one of

whom is now married and another of whom is about to be. I’ve always felt that my calling in life is not to be active in the public world alone but also, and often more importantly, to be be the best husband and father I can be. Love is more important than ambition, and often love requires letting go more than holding on. Strangely enough, in the letting go of my life at Hendrix, I find myself excited by what is to come, for me, for my family, and also for Hendrix. ​Hendrix. I often find myself amazed and awed by the talent of my colleagues, my students, the staff and administration. Teaching at Hendrix for thirty-nine years, I feel like I’ve been part of something much more than me, and so much of it is good. I’ve been a wildflower in a colorful field of flowers, all of which have their beauty and their time to bloom. I’ll keep blooming in other fields, but I gain great pleasure in knowing the richness of the field that has nourished me, awaiting the various forms of beauty that will

blossom after I’ve gone.

Good Middance There is a concept I’ve discovered recently which captures how I feel as I leave. It’s called Midding.* ​By no means am I leaving with a sense of good riddance. But I am leaving with a sense of good middance: the tranquil pleasure of being near a gathering I was once very much a part of, but am not quite “in” anymore, but which has a beauty and vitality of its own. Yes, it’s like chatting outside a party while others dance inside. I’ll keep chatting, for sure. And I hope that, if you are one of my former students reading this, you’ll keep in touch, so that we can chat on topics as yet undiscovered. But whatever goodness is possible for us in the future depends on our capacities to let go in the present, making space for what is not yet born. My hope, for you and for all of us, is that the new births can be just and sustainable, creative and compassionate, for all. And fun, too.

MODERN LOATHING: HOW TO SURVIVE FINALS Peyton Coffman | Copy Editor

1.

Use a planner to manage your time 2.

Find a quiet space to study or cry 3.

Schedule your study time using the Pomodoro Technique; work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. After four

work intervals, take a 30-minute break.

4.

Clean your room. If you live in Hardin, Martin, or Couch, just leave.

5.

Ds for degrees 6. Exercise?

7.

Try to get eight hours of sleep every night. Sleep is necessary for encoding information into long-term memory.

8.

Don’t waste time on your phone; limit your screen time with apps like Space and Off the Grid 9.

Upperclassmen: don’t down three margs during happy hour at Senor Tequila. Underclassmen: forego the Burnett’s and Malibu.

10.

Wine is acceptable if actually poured into a wine glass.

11.

Visit your professors during office hours. If they sense your desperation, some will have mercy on you.

12.

Use the 4-7-8 breathing technique to counter anxiety.

13.

Why was Kylie Jenner born rich and not you?

14.

Don’t lash out against your incompetent partners on your group project. Don’t be the incompetent partner.

15.

Limit drug use. Never do Adderall.

16.

Take a relaxing bath.

17.

Substitute water for coffee.

18.

Don’t look directly at any one body during the library streak. If you get the proper amount of sleep afterward, what you

see will be encoded into your long-term memory.

19. Relax 20.

But don’t relax too much. Your grades might define the rest of your life.

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SHOULD CELEBRITY AND POLITICS MIX? Indigo Kroll | Staff Writer

Recently, many musicians and actors have taken to Twitter or campaigning to voice their opinions on politics. Entire lists of artists have formally demanded that President Donald Trump stop using their music during his events. A day after the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Trump held a rally, during which he used the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Shortly after, Williams’ lawyer sent a cease and desist letter. Steven Tyler, Adele, Rihanna, and Queen have all had similar objections. Many artists have a rocky relationship with the Trump administration, and these examples are just the start of the controversy surrounding celebrity involvement and commentary on politics.

Celebrity involvement in politics is not a new discussion. Famously, Ronald Reagan worked in Hollywood before his presidency, and Donald Trump was a television personality. While these instances aren’t perfectly representative of the issue at hand, it’s important to note that the fusion of entertainment and politics is not new or unthinkable.

This has paved the way for celebrities like Kanye West to take the political stage. His relationship with Trump is well-known since the president famously tweeted, “Thank you Kanye, very cool!” West also visited the White House to deliver an incompressible rant in the oval office. Recently, Taylor Swift finally broke her silence on politics, and actor Robert de Niro spoke at a campaign event.

Social media offers celebrities a soapbox. Fans get constant notifications and live updates from their favorite celebrities, but people often don’t recognize the influence celebrity has on them. Of course, not everyone who follows Kanye West will buy his shoes immediately just because he said to. Although it’s on a different scale, this same argument applies to politics. There’s no reason to assume that fans are unable to

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differentiate between their own opinions and the ones held by celebrities. Still, many argue that they should stay out of politics because of the platform they have.

If celebrities can comment on culture in general with no objections from the public, then they have just as much of a right to comment on politics. Famous people are people. While I’m not sure how much I have in common with Robert de Niro, I do know that government and policies affect both of us in huge ways. I also know that we get to post and talk about our opinions, whether we’re trying to sway others or not. Even if we are, it is our platform to do so. It’s the responsibility of others to absorb opinions in a logical manner, not follow blindly.

It seems to me that those who oppose celebrity opinion don’t do so because they’re gullible victims of celeb political stances. They might be afraid that others are far more impressionable, but if that’s so, then they must think lowly of them. Most people are not so easily swayed that a celebrity voicing their own views will have a detrimental effect. Another reason could be that they think celebrities should stick to entertainment. This is equally condescending. People are not meant to fill one exact purpose and never have opinions on anything else. Artists and actors are not court jesters who have no say in the world around them.

In short, the right to be involved in politics is imperative to artists whose work is being used in ways they don’t agree with. There is a time and a place to blast “We are the Champions” or “Happy,” and without permission, the creators are entitled to say what goes. As American citizens, they also get to blast their opinions on social media, just like any of us would. Issues in the world affect them just as they affect those who aren’t famous, and they aren’t contained to simply being entertainers.

Photo by Alice Fan

PRODUCTION VALUES

CULTURE

Film producer Lance Kramer on daring documentaries and streaming services

Kaitlin Lowe|Staff Writer

Photos courtesy of meridianhillpictures.com

If Netflix’s “Recommended for You” section hasn’t been delivering lately or your queue is sparse, try adding City of Trees (2016, Dir. Brandon Kramer) to your list. It’s the first and award-winning feature-length documentary from production company Meridian Hill Pictures (MHP), founded by brothers Brandon and Lance Kramer and based in Washington, D.C. City of Trees takes place over roughly two years: the amount of time that Washington Parks and People (WPP)—a non-profit started in Meridian Hill Park—has to spend a stimulus grant received at the height of the recession.

As the country faces a slow and steep climb out of the Great Recession, WPP’s job is to hire 150 unemployed people, train them to plant trees, and hope that something will stick, even though the paycheck won’t.

To make City of Trees, the Kramer brothers had to build trusting relationships with WPP’s employees and ask people already in a position of financial vulnerability to be even more vulnerable in front of a camera.

That can be quite uncomfortable for subjects and a difficult skill for filmmakers to hone, especially if the one asking isn’t comfortable with being vulnerable themselves.

This skill is something Lance Kramer is working on in his own life—and in interviews.

When asked about a moment of his life that Kramer wished for the retroactive opportunity to film, he remembered a period of time surrounding his late grandmother’s battle with cancer.

After her death, Kramer recalled that “it took years for my mom, my brother, myself, my dad, to open up and talk more. We all retreated into our corners, and we probably each suffered or struggled way more than we needed to had we felt more comfortable being open.”

It might seem counterintuitive, he acknowledged, to wish for the presence of a camera in a moment of grief.

“When you know how to introduce something like a camera, a pen, or your recorder,

into the mix, in even very personal vulnerable moments like that—you do it the right way, it can actually be a part of healing that serves the people who are going through something hard even before it might be of interest to an audience,” Kramer said.

This same strategy seems to be at work in a project like The Messy Truth, a 3-part web series in which CNN contributor Van Jones facilitates conversations between a mixed bag of voters—Trump, Hillary, undecided—just before the election. Though many moments are tense or tearful, they’re rarely silent or hostile.

But in a political climate fraught with communication breakdowns, executing a concept like The Messy Truth seemed risky. The project was filmed in a day and edited in less than two weeks—and with virtually no budget. The gamble paid off, and the series was picked up

by CNN and earned over 4 million views. For MHP, the team’s respect for risk-taking strategies is clear.

“Films which often times take the greatest risk—because the filmmaker is putting the most on the line, could also be the films that compose the potential for the greatest reward,” Kramer said.

To make City of Trees, MHP put over $400,000 on the line. In an article for documentary.org, Kramer makes a nearly mindnumbing list of numbers, totaling up the film’s “low budget,” which came from a patchwork of personal savings, loans, and grants. Kramer acknowledges that he and his brother were in a position of privilege to receive $50,000 in loans from family members when they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to pay the company’s bills. Kramer’s article argues that the financial model for documentary filmmaking is broken and marginalizes filmmakers.

“Broken aspects of the system are keeping out exceptional stories from exceptional filmmakers,” Kramer said, “that could have broad reach and mean something to people and also make money.” This system, Kramer argues, NOVEMBER 2018

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shuts out diversity of gender, race, class, and geography from main stream channels.

“Rather than distribute daring and bold work that takes risks,” Kramer said, “there’s the desire to mass market something that is easier to predict potential success and commercial viability. But I hope that’s not the field’s answer to the sustainability crisis.”

Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon seem to think that algorithms are the answer, and that giving audiences exactly what they like is a job well done.

But if plugging data into algorithms becomes “exclusive fuel to drive content and substance, it’s a slippery slope,” Kramer said. “It undermines the way that we value the artist and their instinct, perspective, and what they are seeing in this world that needs to be said.”

Further, Kramer notes that perfectly-tailored recommendations can “deny people the pleasure of being pleasantly surprised”—not to mention preventing any feelings of unfamiliarity or discomfort, a zone of emotion that documentaries often work within and utilize.

Though City of Trees is streaming on Netflix, Kramer still believes the film “hit a relatively small pocket of the world.” Now, his company is looking to balance the desire of “making things that can reach more people” while challenging themselves “to see what feels the hardest right now,

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and work through that,” Kramer said.

Speaking about the issues and ethical compass that MHP aims to follow, Kramer returned to the story of his grandmother and the lessons he’s learning about being vulnerable and uncomfortable.

“I want to fall into that same boat as much as I can,” Kramer said, “and put things out into the world that were the reflections of the greatest lengths we could stretch ourselves. That’s what I want to see from other people, and it’s what I hope we can offer the world.”

Further, Kramer is still thinking about the themes that City of Trees explores in the context of the recession and applying them to his own work in the field of documentary.

“I’m trying my best,” Kramer said, “to participate in part of a movement amongst filmmakers to work on issues of sustainability, equity, inclusion, transparency—all of these structural inequalities and injustices in the field that have held things back, and try to see where I can be an ally, if I’m part of the problem, where I can check myself and do better.”

City of Trees is available to stream, buy, or rent on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Vudu. Visit meridianhillpictures.com to watch The Messy Truth and for more information on previous and upcoming films.

THE REVIEW YOU’VE ANTICI...PATED Unwrapping Red Curtain Theatre’s Rocky Horror Show Indigo Kroll |Staff Writer Just in time for Halloween, Red Curtain Theatre presented Rocky Horror Show, starring several Hendrix students among other actors from the community.

The production became a cult classic after the film version was released in 1975, starring Tim Curry as the mad scientist Frank N. Furter.

My grandmother had a big crush on Tim Curry—she’s the type of grandmother who watched Godzilla, IT, and The Blob obsessively—and my sisters and I spent countless weekends at her house watching the film. The overtly suggestive jokes and themes always went over my head; the only part I cared about was the Time Warp. During Red Curtain Theatre’s production, I finally saw how raunchy, chaotic, and thrilling the production was outside of my grandmother’s living room.

It’s important to note that the plot of the play doesn’t seem to matter as much as its camp sexuality. Brad and Janet, a very vanilla, recently engaged couple, end up at the castle of Dr. Frank N. Furter in time to witness his creation of Rocky Horror, a muscled man

who’s good for relieving Frank’s tension. The unexpected arrival of Brad and Janet sparks a chaotic series of sexual adventures and uncovers galactic secrets.

Most fans agree that Rocky Horror is better watched as a live production, and I have to agree. Audience participation is an integral part of the play, and the fun began before the lights went down in Trieschmann. Hocking apple pies and sweet tea, cast members insulted audience members who were reluctant to buy the concessions. When it got closer to show time, one of them asked an audience member a shocking question: “Are you a virgin?” (I found out later that a virgin meant someone hadn’t seen the show before.) Traditionally, show-goers are encouraged to interact with the play using noisemakers, throwing toilet paper, and blowing bubbles. Audience participation is so embedded in the Rocky Horror experience that it’s customary to shout at the actors between their lines, and many people dress up in their own fishnets and lingerie. At intermission, the audience batted condoms

around in the strangest game of “don’t let the balloon touch the ground” that I’ve ever seen.

A highlight of the production were the phantoms, who acted as part of the setting.

Cast members kneeling on the ground made up the seats and headlights of Brad and Janet’s car. When the couple arrived at the castle, the front door was another phantom, and the doorbell was his nipple. Actors were not confined to the stage, making for an immersive experience. Dr. Frank N. Furter chased Rocky past the front row and ran into the wall of the theater. From the stage, Colombia pointed and yelled at Eddie, who entered from behind the audience.

The cult following of the show is well-deserved, and Red Curtain Theatre nailed it. The cast made it obvious that it’s impossible to act in Rocky Horror without enjoying oneself; each member was thoroughly committed to their strange, corset-wearing, sexually enterprising characters. Any virgin should try to see the show at least once in their life. In the words of Frank, “Don’t dream it, be it.”

Photos by Sarah Wittenburg Photography NOVEMBER 2018

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1600 Washington Ave. Conway, AR 72032