Page 58 - TheGoldBug1970-71

The Gold Bug Page 10 December 14 1970 bobby's REVIEWS "Marat-Sade" at Center Stage hobby Jobby By Keith Thurlow needlessly long and large speeches between the Center Stage's production of Peter Weiss' play, protagonists were drawn out nearly to eternity. The The Persecution' and Assassination of Jean Paul songs weren't enough to carry the pace smoothly. 65 east main st. 848·4350 Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum At the time I sa w the play, I wanted to see the in- of Charlenton Under the Direction of the Marquis mates engage in some motor activities to animate ARTS CRAFTS MODELS De Sade provided a competent audience with a themselves while the action was centered fairly MODEL CAR RACING challenging evening at the theater and very specif'icly in one place. I felt most of the time they contemporary comments on today's socio-political could have cleverly been done away with and not condition, The play itself is basicly a criticism of missed. But after the show Center Stage made a the radical revolutionary ideas of Jean Paul Marat point to inform me through an impressive sounding the by the pessimistic nihilist, the Marquis De Sade. psychiatrist that the behavior of the inmates was To achieve the atmosphere of uncertianity and very realistic because most inmates in mental top hot ambiguity which exists around any discussion of hospitals have a tendancy to be catatonic. I pass the how societies should be changed, Weiss carefully information on because it could definitely add to the drive in sets the Marat/ Sade dialogue within the walls of an enjoyment of the play. of an acceptable insane asylum where all of the ignorant and con- . was generally The acting tradtctory thoughts of people's collective mind professional standard, Peter Bailey Britton lacked DINING ROOM COFFEE SHOP manifests itself, and where prevailing social at- the intense focus of power and the aura of keen FOUNTAI N SUBS titudes and thought evolution are made apparent articulateness that he later said Jean Paul Marat through speeches and the structure of the asylum had. The part was very much a voice part since open 24 hours men-set itself. The key note of this particular production is most of the time he was enclosed in a tub. Britton clOsed sun. 3a~ ', 11pm subtlety. The script calls for obvious references to didn't have the necessary power but, then again, he route 140 phone 876·1030 various social institutions such as religion and the played the part with enough ernisty that I had no upperclass conception of its own self perfection. desire to get up and leave. Hurd Hatfield was more Director Peter Culman made the various idealy suited to the Marquis de Sade and I found references less subtle and more open to audience myself enjoying his performance. The awards for The Esquire Barber Shop ~ interpretation. The Nuns who helped care for the best acting, however, should go the very goodsup- patients are supposed to be played by athletic porting actors. Carolan Daniels super-impressed looking men, but Mr. Culman played them as me with her Charlotte Cordey. Somnambulist haircuts & hairstYling I , averagely muscled, not over trained women who Charlotte demonstrated the power of her sex and tried to keep things going fairly orderly. These nuns the fierceness and clearness of her purpose very ... Ie h. brewer appeared as many people appear today. They were smoothly as she fell in'and out of her sleepy state . & • fairly nice until an inmate did something that the Mathew Anden as Herald, the show M.e., did a nuns unquestionably assumed to be wrong. Thus respectable job of portraying a patient drawing rn e rvrn I brewer making the nuns ignorant, more than ruthless. This upon his every source of concentration to hold the subtlety helped to develop the endlessly complex show together. Herald had to cue line forgetters, world that Mar-at and De Sade were trying to argue maintain order, and sooth the angered upperclass into order. spectators who often saw and heard things they ~s:!=$ direct and perform. Mr. Culman's basic approach keeping in the character the cyclic, descriptive routine have missed. Bert Houle and his would rather The play is a very heavy play and difficult to crew mimi did some work really of the abnormal people of to the play was sound but he wasn't able to unifiy the language of the play with his subtle conceptual Their gillotine asylum. the Charleton designs. The play had a slow and awkard pace as a self consuming captured especially "Under-Milkwood" open 7 days 3 week result. Some pauses after segements of action were nature of the French revolution. The story of a small town sun to thurs-f O tc II fri,&sat 10to I 29 east main street 848-6070 past. Theirs is a world of constant nostalgic The blind Captain Cat and Polly are lovers of the art weekend the WMC dramatic '-I)1Y department staged an excellent production of Dylan nagging of the times that made the best parts of This past U A CLEANERS Play For Voices. Milk Wood was a small Welsh Sea their present very differently from each other. their lives. Yet Polly and Captain Cat accepted Thomas' beautifully poetic Under Milk Wood, A Milk Wood had all the people that any other town town with all of the people in the world and the play & LAUNDERERS, INC. developed what people thought and did in a day of ever had: there was the preacher, town drunks, the life of that town. Thorton Wilder and others town organist, gossips, happy people, bitter people, LAU.D .... O' D.YCUA .... have used similar metaphors to talk about the young people, people who loved other people, TAILO.I •• universality of people but few have ever been able people who loved things and people .who loved things they couldn't get or couldn't retrieve again. to achieve the power of imagery that Dylan Thomas achieved through his poetry. Thomas came of All of these people with loves unsatisfied had to live Garment Storage & Linen Rental Service • Welsh background and he was very proud of it. He a world of deception, pretending on the outside a Service for Students in WMC Student Center peace end sociability that din't exist on the inside. Monday through Friday- came to love small villages by the sea, especially Some people had so successfully deceived the world 9:00 O'clock Until 3:00 o'clock Dai1 Welsh villages, so it is not surprising that Milk that they allowed their appearance to take over Wood is a Welsh town. At times he used many Gaelic words which are unfamiliar to us, but even their mind and soul. Poor Mrs. Ogmore-Prlchard with.this handicap we were able to appreciate some had succeeded in out-living both her husbands of the beauty built into his words. The second because she drove them to early graves with her sentence in the play provides a fine example of insistence for order and cleanliness. People just Thomas's unique imagery: "It is Spring, moonless aren't that meticulous unless they have something night in the small town, starless and bible-black, to hide. the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'- Under Milk Wood is the first play that Tim and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the, Winfelt has directed at WMC. As a director he has sloe black, slow t black, crowblack, (@ling-bobbing done well in the department's tradition of sea." His poetry is complex and it treats many producing fine drama. All of his actors handled the facets of our human condition. difficult language very competently and they all acted with s sureness and confidence that is possible only through good directing. His lovely As Judy Biauce told me, she has worked with wife Rebecca designed costumes that were Under Milk Wood for four or five weeks and she is estheticly pleasing in their simplicity and that still discovering the world of Thomas' language. I allowed the actors maximum freedom to play their gu~ss,J.he first thing that impressed me was the. many.roles. Tom Barnes did a fine job adjusting to loneliness of most of the people in Milk Wood. They a new light board so that lights blended easily into Catch a sparkle'--- wanted and needed love but they were unable to the total dramatic picture. The suggestive black set from the morning sun. find it. Polly Garter, a rather lovable town whore, was the creation of John Van Hart, set designer, Hold the magic sang of her dead little Willy Wee and Mog Edwards and show time order was ensured as Johnada Elliot of a sudden breeze. cried out for his love unhad, Myfanwy. And occupied the position of stage manager. Keep those moments alive. Marriage is an institution turned sour when it The actors did very fine work using their voices to They're vours imprisons two people together so that both are establish the different characters they had to play. for a fifetime unhappy. Poor Mr. Pugh, though' he smiles and Special credits go to Elena Constantine and Linda with a diamond says "yes Dear," he wishes he could poison his wife Michaels, two fine freshmen actresses, and to Mike' engagement ring from into her grave. But not all is bleak because there Basile, Cathy VanDyke, Tom Blair and Bob 'Orange Blossom. are those who find happiness in each other. Mrs. Whitney who gave especially impressive per- Cherry Owen loves both of her husbands: the one formances. But it was all of the a£.!:orstogether who Colonial Jeweters that is sober during the day and the one that is made the show and all of theactora together did very 32 West MainSt. mindlessly drunk at night. consistent, impressive _work. .