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Street theater, 1970

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Staff

A Thousand Words
By Jock Lauterer

Here’s a revealing look back in time submitted by Dr. Bill Burlingame, a resident of Orange County for 40 years and retired faculty member from the UNC Department of Psychology. Along with his photo, he sends this narrative: “The story is of high school student activism and street theater in Chapel Hill in the tumultuous days of 1970. The production was staged on blocked-off Henderson Street in front of The Record Bar … the mainstay for audio for at least 15 years in Chapel Hill. The play was a student creation that railed against racism, the Vietnam War and the evils of the military industrial complex. See the banner in the front window of The Record Bar and the T-shirts with their iconography speaking to corporate greed and American jingoism … it was an original drama created by students, but I have no idea whether it emanated from a class at the high school or a club or whatever. Representing the voices of youth, 14-year-old Lynn Vandiviere stands on the white street line. Lynn graduated from Chapel Hill High School and UNC, but is recently deceased …” When he made this photo, Bill was a 31-year-old clinical assistant professor of psychology and avid photographer. A friend of the Vandiviere family, he made this photo using a Minolta SRT 101.

A THOUSAND WORDS
Do you have an important old photo that you value? Email your photo to jock@email.unc.edu and include the story behind the picture. Because every picture tells a story. And its worth? A thousand words.
More “A Thousand Words”

1 thought on “Street theater, 1970”

  1. Randy Barrow says:
    March 11, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    The play was “Viet Rock”, written by Megan Terry. It originally ran off-Broadway in late 1966.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=5oK9FuKUjH4C&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=viet+rock+play&source=bl&ots=x4SqdEQzPB&sig=hMswakRXKoPcib5uE_BGJmWYkf0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=F8JcT4CiO4rY0QGBwpXFDw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=viet%20rock%20play&f=false

    Presented by Chapel Hill’s Everyman Company, this was the second production under the direction of Virginia Hill, who we lost last fall. Although some students (including me) were among the cast, it was most definitely NOT a “student production”. I would love to see any photos of this show or any other related production photos.

    http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2011/12/15/obituary-virginia-lahiff-hill/

    Lynn Vandiviere was a childhood friend of mine, her dad Stuart was one of my teachers at CHHS. They were both avid photographers. Her obituary may be found here:
    http://mobile.leaderherald.com/page/wap.detail/id/76/Patricia-Lynn-VandiviereSvolos.html?wap=536323

    Thanks for sharing this memory, as it is the only photo I have ever seen of these plays.

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