According to Dunn, this plan is working. "People who came to the dance program said. 'Oh, the Ex, there's something in it. It's free.'"

However, extending the season also presented the possibility of scheduling problems. Since the preseason events occur during the time regular season shows use for rehearsal, the projects chosen needed to be one which did not require much rehearsal time of then own, Victor said.

Thoughout the season, Gutwilig said, the Ex operates on "a tight schedule, nightly administered that is adhered to." He explained, "A show moves in on a Sunday begins performing on Thursday, closes Saturday and the next show moves in the following morning."

"Unlike any other pace on campus, we do an entirely different project every week for 11 weeks," Gutwillig added.

Jonathan Marks an ARI member who acts as an advisor to Ex said that HRDC's effort to open up the theater to diverse groups has "simply formalized more tentative steps that have been taken before" Marks cited as an example Adams Houses Kronauer Group, which used the space to put on a production entitled "Medea Macbeth Cinderella" last year.

"Previous boards have, but by bit, opened it up to people on an ad-hoc basis," Marks said. "This is an effort to institutionalize this ad-hoc process."

School Interest

This season's "regular" shows will run for seven weeks, starting with Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," which opened last night. The season's offerings include more notable "firsts," such as a weekend of staged readings of original student works and the combination of two shorter plays--Shepard's "Savage Love" and "Touch and Cage Games" by Bradley K. Marshall '85 which address similar themes.

Gutwillig said that the student readings constitute "an opportunity for playwrights in the Harvard community to have their plays worked on by serious actors and directors."

The final production of the regular season will be a fresh version of Sophocles "Oedipus Rev," to be directed by ARI cast member Ben Halley Jr. Halley terms the project "a metaphysical theatrical experienced that is rooted in the community of the human soul."

Gutwillig ascribed a different significance to "Ocdipus." "This is the first time that a member of the ARI--a company that is sitting in our laps--will work this closely with a student project."

In addition to the changes inside the Ex, the HRDC is also transforming the theater's exterior this semester. By making the theater's lobby en-of the ART, board members hope to attract new customers.

Gutwillig said that he is transforming the lobby area into exhibition space for undergraduate artwork. The first exhibition will be photography and, he said. "dont works will rotate with a frequency that reflects the change inside the theater."