Brustein On Stage

In the fall of 1968, Robert S. Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama, showed up in Cambridge with the wife and kids to root for Old Eli in the Harvard-Yale game. But the Brustein family found the Cambridge fans' enthusiasm more to their liking and ended up waving a Crimson pennant instead.

Brustein can officially cheer from the Harvard bleachers now that the Board of Overseers approved his appointment as director of the Loeb Drama Center, starting in the fall of 1980. Both the Corporation and the Overseers voted Monday to appoint Brustein director, allowing him to lead an undergraduate drama program and base a professional repertory company at the Loeb.

About 25 members of the Yale Repertory Theater will follow Brustein to Harvard to join his company. The company plans to perform seven shows annually, plus a Christmas show, on the mainstage.

Meanwhile, as professor of English at Harvard, Brustein will teach two undergraduate courses on drama for credit. Brustein is also considering 16 other non-credit courses, run by his company and staff at the Loeb, as part of the undergraduate program.

Reaction to Brustein's appointment ranged from high praise by President Bok and Overseers to uneasy acceptance by the board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC). Some HRDC members said Brustein's "professional approach" might discourage all but the most serious theater students from working at the Loeb.

Brustein replied that he wants to promote, not stifle, undergraduate drama. He also has publicly committed himself to pushing for an undergraduate drama concentration at Harvard.

The Faculty Standing Committee on Drama met with Brustein yesterday and offered its support to Brustein's plan to improve theater-for-credit.

In the coming year, before his appointment takes effect, Brustein will move to Cambridge to observe student drama and make plans for the Loeb ... and, of course, plug for Harvard at The Game.