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Life & Arts

Berger's passion still going strong

School of Theatre and Dance director plans to keep touching lives after stepping down from position 

by MARK SUAREZ 
The Daily Cougar

For School of Theatre and Dance Director Sidney Berger, adding another level of perspective to people's lives -- whether it's children, fans of Shakespeare or theater aficionados -- has been a goal achieved. 

As a child, Berger dealt with shyness and the effects it had on those around him. It was not until a high school teacher gave him an ultimatum -- perform in a school play or risk failing -- that Berger realized his inner strength. 

"I was a very shy kid. I would hide in the closet when guests came to our house," Berger said. "I had a teacher in high school, her name was Mary Wilson, and she literally forced me into a play. She knew exactly that I was hiding, and I discovered who I was." 

Berger remained involved with theater during his higher education career, through his undergraduate studies at Brooklyn College as well as during his graduate studies at the University of Kansas. 

He also performed for troops as a member of United Service Organization tours, where he said he gained his greatest acting and directorial experience. 

Berger co-founded The Children's Theatre Festival in 1978. The event showcases fairytales to children in the manner in which they were meant to be presented -- and Berger wouldn't have it any other way. 

"We've always treated children's theaters as a stepchild in this country," Berger said. "And I think we're making a capital error when we do that.

"So I've tried to go the other way in my own small manner to try and build a children's theater festival that had major writers writing for the child's mind and doing the works honestly … and not trying to sentimentalize them, because fairy tales can be very nasty. … I want to do the fairy tales the way they were written."

Bergers' is currently the acting director of UH's production of Death of a Salesman.

"Death of a Salesman is such a profound play, and I want those audiences to leave that play terribly moved as I have been by what the play has to say to us about who we are and what we value," Berger said. "If I can make them feel that as well as think that, then I think I've changed somebody's life."

After 38 years, Berger will step down as the acting director of the School of Theatre and Dance to focus on teaching the values that were instilled in him as a student. 

"It's so easy to just keep going. I don't feel a lack of energy and all of that sort of thing," Berger said. "I've been working with some of the greatest names in the theater and international theater who are all in their mid to late 70s.

"I keep thinking these men are at the top of their form at that late age … so there's no reason to say, ‘Oh gosh, I've reached this age.' But on the other hand, I don't want to be recognized as the Fidel Castro of the theater world and just hold off for dear life to the remainder of my own life."

His allegiance to the school has always been strong. Berger recalled acting as a sort of ambassador for a recently hired UH President Jay Gogue. 

"When I first met him, I said out of courtesy, ‘Why don't you come by and have a look at the theater when you have a moment?' And he said, ‘I'll do that.' I didn't think he'd ever have the time," Berger said. "And then I came to school one day and there he was wandering around -- he had no idea where he was going. So I took him around the theater and he sat in my office with me for more than two hours just talking."

Stepping down will give Berger more time to focus on the Houston Shakespeare Festival, of which he is the founder and producing director.

"The arts are there to nurture a spiritual side that we all have, and it's not too often cultivated, unfortunately," Berger said. "So when I do Shakespeare at the park and I get a crowd of nearly 20,000, I realize that I'm right."

Berger also hopes future generations will be able to build on the projects he has worked so hard on.

"I hope that what I built here over 30 years will have a lasting place in the city, and I hope that introducing Shakespeare to these audiences in the park means I hopefully added a dimension to their lives," Berger said. 

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