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Playwrit By Janet Gibson Wtf? Editor Playwright and director Ken Cameron believes the best way to aid the serious problem of alcohol and drug abuse is to take a comic annrnaph -rrCameron said comedy and satire work best with a variety of audiences. The massive anti-drug movement of the 1960's was actually counterproductive, according to Cameron. "It only turned people on to drugs more," ho cairl IIV OUIVI . Cameron came to USC's Department of Theatre and Speech on a residence grant in 1977. He began writing and directing plays concerning alcohol and drug abuse for a traveling troupe of actors last year. ANSTIE'S LIMIT consists of two graduate siuaenis in me department, a teaching associate and an undergraduate specializing in theatre, according to Patti Gillespie, head of the Department of Theatre and Speech. Cameron derived the name of the troupe after reading an article in the New York Times about a Civil War doctor named Anstie who devised a figure that's still considered safe and valid today one ounce of alcohol a day. I CAROLINA Wfl Fre? Pregnancy Tei Abortion Couns?Nn I -pregnancy can b missing period Birth Control Count Pap Tost and other 2009 Hampton St. Col ' 111i u lalSHi ?? , IfMMKOIB: KJfliHH BS3IBHHBH9I ^*n' PSSS^SilflS^J 933 S.I E323z2l3S39flfl 7991 I;i ; ~ use CLAY A! preset C&wm 8:30 tc I Mon. & Tues. Pickens St. _.^3i ihtusesa "It's a shockingly low figure if you drink at all," he added. Anstie's Limit has been very successful in the theatrical sense "as far as applause, response and Vis far as ao m plause, response and letters go, we bring school audiences in South Carolina what they are starved for.' Ken Cameron letters go," he said. "We bring school audiences in South Carolina what they are starved for." THE ACTORS travel to junior and senior high schools in the state. The group has appeared in parks, prisons, recreation centers and for senior citizens' groups. They will be performing Cameron's adaptation of Joyce R. Burditt's, "The Cracker Factory," ai a conference in irmo tor drug abuse counselors this month. sting f.'i g and Services N \ e detected before l| ?eling and Pills t Female Problems j ! N I- ,j umbio^^^256-0128 jj co s JBEHBE|SQ . , j Vlain St. 3807 BBmaafciL^^ WSSS^BSSSSSSSSSSBSSA j|i w I rjjwTii A^I BIBrolBfliM ITS SOCIETY its 0 Ed Safe t 5:00 Nov. 26-27 Crosswalk omic style < In "The Funniest Joke in the World," one of Cameron's plays, the actors talk to the audience and tell drunk jokes. "It's a very simple little show," Cameron said. "Maybe that's why it's so successful." A VARIETY OF paper mache and plastic masks are used by the lour actors to portray 16 parts, he said. 1 The actors in Anstie's Limit have * a very demanding schedule. "We t travel on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and more often than not, we're up and on the road ~~Z before 6 a.m.," Cameron said. The actors receive a salary. No academic credit is earned, with the exception of the undergraduate actor who receives an established salary and amount of credit hours, he added. In another of Cameron's plays, "Edge of Death," everyone in town is on some kind of drug. According to Gillespie, the play is similar to a soap opera. ; "THE COMMENTATOR in the I play is a heroin addict who's worried about his daughter - he thinks she's too healthy," Cameron said. Two people are "murdered," sexual impotence is suggested and "hi7flrrp rfrilt* llohniinr'' nronnilr. ? - ^ VM waauTlVA picvaiio I in the 35-minute production, he I added. THE1 im 21 rA y uim? I si.Mtlc I, & as drug al Cameron said the play ends with 1 all the characters experiencing C forms of withdrawal. n In addition to writing plays, P Cameron is a novelist. Seven of his 8 novels have been published. Cameron's play series, formally called Substance Abuse Education n Through Theatre, is funded by the f( S.C. Commission on Higher ^ Education, Gillespie said. Support "mm thp r Pnmmiccinn C V/. V/. WIIIIIIIOOIVII Ull Mcohol and Drug Abuse has also " 3een received. n w JACKIE SLIGH, prevention and a ALL YOU 4 SHRIMP & I COMBINJ Theljounty door JP*"Your sli VA Hospital. 78S 0305 BIG O \ ! \\ K \ j W p -*at's Place ;r I.cvcl Columbia it dlsc< in? mi Clip & Save mmmmmmmmmmmmmmma mse aid ntervention consultant at SC!ADA, said although the comlission offers no financial suport, but much moral support is iven. Sligh said SCCADA previewed le program in a general staff leeting before the first perjrmance of "The Funniest Joke in le World." Theatre is a great instrument for hange in a society. Ansties Limit as succeeded because they ealized "regular plays just don't ork" when dealing with alcohol nd drug abuse, Gillespie said. :an eat lounder UTION ust $3.99 lesday Night sr as many times as te your USC ID at the lip has come in... NE! nil 2* k/UUlll/C ;zle the tion n outfit *at's Place, t be caught your rags or thp virtnrn celebration. " I Mall | niflvii i