 | The Cavalier daily Friday, February 5, 1971 |  |
Non-Use Of Amphitheatre
Draws Attack By Visitor
By Peter Shea
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer
Photo by Rick Smith
Beneath The Airplane's Heavy Roar
Greek Drama Here Survives No More
A visitor from New York has written
Governor Linwood Holton, Senator
Harry Byrd and President Edgar Shannon
deploring the non-use of the Greek
Amphitheater here and asking that the
theater, now serving as a faculty parking
lot, be re-converted.
Poem Sent
Daniel J. Di Cioccio, who visited the
University in November described the
cause of his chagrin in a poem he sent to
the three officials entitled "Ode to the Greek
Theater at Charlottesville." The poem reads:
No dancers prancing to sweet vibes,
No flutes or lutes,
No trumpet toots,
But four-tired-tin mobile
Auto-cars drear and still,
Like tombstones in an ancient burial place,
A mild disgrace.
Right now, a parking lot.
Also, this eloquent plea has gone for naught.
President Shannon in a letter to Mr. Di Cioccio,
explained that, although the amphitheater is
intact, there is no longer any demand for its
use. "The last Greek drama produced there was
more than 15 years ago," Mr. Shannon said.
The reason why the amphitheater is no
longer used, the University's President
exclaimed, is that it is "unfortunately located
in an area directly below the approach to the
Charlottesville and Albemarle Airport. The
aircraft noise renders the theater useless, a fact
that saddens us all," Mr. Shannon said.
Additional Touch
Adding his touch to Mr. Di Cioccio's ode,
Mr. Shannon suggested adding these two lines
before the final stanza to express the difficulty:
Greek drama here survives no more.
| The Cavalier daily Friday, February 5, 1971 | |