MIDSUMMER NIGHTS: A LOOK AT HRST

Lano Williams '00

Producer, Lend Me a Tenor

This summer sees the welcome breeze as usual of several fine productions put together by the gumption-juicy Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theater crew. The Crimson sat down for an informal incidental chat with a sample member of said theater crew, Lano Williams, producer of Lend Me a Tenor, the uproarious "farcical" that closed this past weekend after a highly successful and critically praised run.

The Harvard Crimson: Identify yourself.

Lano Williams: That's complicated. Raymond Williams, but people call me "Lano." I am the producer of Lend Me a Tenor, the first of three [Harvard-Radcliffe] Summer Theater productions.

THC: How did you get involved in summer theater? Do you do theater during the year?

Williams: Yes. Basically, a group of people get together and decide upon the summer season. They submit the season to the HRDC [Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club] board and, hopefully, the board approves.

THC: And in your case they approved what?

Williams: They approved our idea for the three shows: Lend Me a Tenor, Othello and Slavs!.

THC: Can I interject for a moment? Does "Slavs" really require an exclamation point?

Williams: Actually, yes. But there's more. You can't just say "Slavs"; you have to say "Sluuuu-ahvs!" and make a weird hand gesture.

THC: And the [Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatics] board approved this?

Williams: I don't think they really approve of the content of the season. I think it's more of a staff compatibility thing. The season is pretty stock--we usually do a musical, a play and a Shakespeare.

THC: So do people forge pretty close working relationships during the summer? The program has a long history, no?