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Friday, March 24, 1978
University Daily Kansan
Director brings'Comedy of Errors' into 20th centurv
William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors" was written in the late 18th century, but C. William Keeler, assistant professor of theatre, thinks the ideas in the play speak to the 20th century as well.
indies in the park, is directing the University Theatre's production of "Comedy," said the Shakespearean force of misidentification related to problems that plagued modern society.
When your office loses during enrollment, when Macy's sends a $150 bill for your $15 purchase, when the earth moves under your feet, you get angry, or confused ("Kelsey said," the response will
"THE COMEDY OF ERRORS" involves a merchant whose twin sons, both named Antiphon, were separated as infants. Each has grown to manhood without knowledge of the other's existence. Fate finds
them in the same city, where their identical looks and names lead them into confusion and a series of misdurantees. To complicate the situation, each Antiphosphatase has two antitopes, and that only adds to the problems.
a50wfdf The criticisms of the play, Keeler said, is that One of them based on total contriavance. Only human beings who were completely stupid could ever get themselves into such a predicament.
And, unlike other Shakespearean comedies, the work has no central character who understands the complications that are at work within the play and who can help the audience follow the action.
TO SOLVE these problems, Keeler has added four divs to the play. A div is a mythical creature, half man, half animal that has its origins in the religion of early Turkey. The religion believed in deities that
represent good and evil-and divs represent the darker, mischievous forces of the world.
"The divs are really medieval morality figures in a different cultural context." Keeler said. "They help us understand the nature of human beings."
"The Christian world of the play is a world filled with superstition. An attempt at exorcism falls flat—and that's an indication that there are other forces at work somewhere."
The divs were incorporated into the production, Keeler said, because, although the play is usually thought of as an Elizabethan work, the action takes place in Ephesus, which is in Turkey. The play will reflect its locale in other ways as well. Some of the lines will be in Turkish dialect, and the set is reminiscent of another Turkish legend—the flying carpet.
THE IDEA of the carpet was conceived by Keeler and designed by Delbert Unruh, associate professor of theatre. The dshape carpet in various configurations to create the playing areas for the production. Keeler said that moving the carpet was easier than moving the speed with which the changes had to be made.
"There are about 40 things to do each time the carpet is moved—and they've all got to be done as soon as possible."
The carpet is an outgrowth of Keeler's concept for the production of the $300 production budget he is working with.
"When you don't have the money, you use your imagination and a lot of other things," he said.
Although the production is somewhat unorthodox
for Shakespeare, Keeler is not worried about the reactions he may get from the audience members.
"THERE ARE SEVERAL forces at work in a play," he said. "One is the author's mind, his intentions for the work. Another is the play itself and the tensions that are created in the production."
"And there's nothing I can do about that."
"The third is the audience and how it will react to the play. The audience may respond to the words and the action they see before them—or they may come to see them with a preexisting idea of what they expect to see.
"The Comedy of Errors" will be presented at 8 p.m. March 30 and 31 and April 1 and at 2:30 p.m. April 2 in the University Theatre in Murphy Hall. KU students are admitted free with current ID cards.
Staff Photo by RANDY OLSON
Who's who
Steve Mokofsky, Lawrence senior (left), as Dromio and Mark Robertson, Prairie Village senior (right), as Antiphus lept to discover why their plans are not going well. They are surrounded by their students and staff in the field of robotics.
of misdentures in William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors." Stephen Landes, Prairie Village special student (center), is the troublesome div whose actions contribute to the problems. The production opens Thursday at the University Theatre in Murphy Hall.
Hamill not starrv-eved over acting
By JERRY JONES
Associate Entertainment Editor
Luke Skywaker, right? The super-
cinematic hero of "Star Wars," right?
**
If we buy that, we can swallow this: Luke Skywalker is a "dumbbell kid on a sand planet," he doesn't know what to do; he has no idea or anything else, but he beats the bad guys."
Sacrilege! Who could dare spout such blasphemy about the greatest hero since Davy Crockett was resurrected by Walt Disney?
Mark Hamm, that's who; the fellow who broke into motion pictures as the interstellar here doing his skywalking "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
But don't misunderstand Hamill, who was in Kansas City last week to attend a motion picture industry convention. He enjoyed "Star Wars" as much as anyone else who has seen the film more than once. It's just that Hamill tended to be uninhibited and proud of his role in an art portrait of himself, the work he does and the people around him.
HE CONTINIED his "dumbbell kid" analysis of Luke Skywalker: "Why should he have been so stupid? Because he believes in himself. He doesn't know anything; not of the Dath Star, of the Princess, of space pitae." What does he mean by "the girl who leaves his home and he wants to be good."
So Hamil the actor is somewhat enraptured by Luke's heroes, after all. But if he is complimentary about the character he has portended than pleased with him, or his profession or his profession
In fact, his admiration for the character of an officer must not be construed as apathetic for the role.
"I'm a good actor," he said. "I'm a good actor." He isn't not a good actor, but a good actor. Gillett, 'gillett, 'gillett.
"YOU KNOW *STAR WARS* is not an actors' movie. It's a set piece. We all did our part fine, but it's certainly not something I can do without," she said and say, "Can we hire you for this movie?"
Hamill has a plethora of acting credits that belie his 26 years. He was 24 when "Star Wars" was made, and he continued to complete another movie, "Corvette," has provided voices for a cartoon series and has more than 140 television credits, including the Hallmark Hallmark series.
"YOU DON'T WANT to be an actor," he said. "I think it's probably one of the most degrading professions available. It's horrible; it's self-destructive. Do you like it?"
"I've had just jit, mostly," he confided. Part of this coarsely pessimistic viewpoint may stem from his sour viewpoint on stem aging and desire to move behind the cameras.
Hamill did not mince words. During the course of the interview, he called a famous big budget producer a "bleeping bleep-hole" and said the proposed sequel to "Star Wars" "might be bad, it might be bad, it really might be bad." In fact, when he characterized the big-budget producer in the series, he closed and said "Write that down." It was unnecessary; actually, the entire interview was being recorded.
ON THE SURFACE, Hamill's remarks reveal a depressed attitude about his work and his industry. However, given that context, he is at the same time a very warm, welcoming man, comfortable to be around. He posed for dozens of pictures with small-town theater operators, signed dozens more autographs, warmed up a high school press conference and hosted a banquet all in the span of a day, and not once did his friendship evaporate.
get whipped during sex? That's for you, then. Be a actor.
For instance, most actors are paranoid about being overly identified with one role—"typecast." Outwardly, Hamili showed no interest in the fact that he would him to instant fame and recognition; instead of wincing at the mention of "Star Wars," he pursued the subject entirely.
"I'm definitely (going into production). It's too degrading being an actor."
This Week's Highlights
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE YOUNG OF THE ISLAND, SWEET 16, LATE HOPE STREET, THE NELLO JAMES FILM AND SENIORLY ITS A ENYER LIFE, five films by the group, will be presenting, will be featured Tuesday, in the Forum Room.
ANNE HALL the Academy Award nominee starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, will be featured
Special Events
IKRU, the Japanese classic, will be shown Wed
needs daylight.
All films will be shown in the Kansas Union's
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday
at the Kansas City Center, 215 W. 4th St.
Lectures
The ICE CAPADES will perform through April 2 in Kemer Area. Kansas City, Mo.
A. four-day WEAVING WORKSHOP will begin
next week. You will be given a wide-
side instruction on the techniques of weaving.
Films
"I READ THE SCRIPT," he recalled. "I thought, This is a wonderful movie. I really thought, This is a great movie. This is funny, this is wonderful, this is exciting. It is funny, this is wonderful to the special effects, this thing is going to be fantastic. Mostly because it was funny."
PETER VAN NESS, professor at the University of Denver and author of "Rebellion and Chinese Forced Policy" which speak on China and the Third World at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Room of Counsel at 11 a.m.
FURROWS (EKAYAVATIONS ON A PRAIRE), an
performanced Saturday and Sunday nights at the Law
School.
The UNIVERSITY SINGERS will perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Swainthorpe Rial Hall in Murhayb Hall.
Theatre
THE 11:30 TUESDAY AND THURSDAY JAZZ ENSEMBLE, directed by Jay Wanmiller, will enthrall the crowd with a tribute of love.
Recitals
Shakespeare a COMEDY OF ERRORS will be presented at p.m. Thursday in the University
He mimicked Hans Solo: "‘Hey, kid, I’ve been from one end of the galaxy to the other and I've seen a lot of strange things.’ I mean, that made me laugh!
Tolkien also did not use the simple style that was so effective in the four novels. Instead, he tried an elevated style, probably hoping to match the grandeur of his material with the grandeur of his prose. The greaterever, only increases the reading difficulty.
The book will be a disappointment to the Tolkien readers who were thirsting for another "Lord of the Rings." It lacks the humor and whimsy that made Tolkien's novels so marvelous. The temptation to skip many parts of the book also hurts it; it is so easy to forget about all the names, the hundreds of names, although Tolkien admittedly was a master of them.
YET THERE ARE some engaging aspects of the book. In places, particularly in the story of the creation, the prose is so smooth that it becomes poetry and allows the reader to flow along its current. Readers of other Tolkien books should find some happiness in common with characters charged with desire. After all, the way to satisfy one's curiosity about the world Tolkien created so vividly in the novels.
"I always thought this could be a great movie. It was hilarious! You should read the screenplay, you know, like, 1,200 flambeids of Zorac appeared over the horizon. And you know, I don't want to be the director and director," he said. "I'm sure a flambeid of Zorac." And he says, "I'm not sure. Basically, what I thought we'd do is take an orchid and put a rubber mask over him." He's wonderful. You know, if he writes 'flamebirds of Zorac', the studio goes, "Well, what do we use?" He asks the audience. "What's going on here? He says, 'Why don't we dress up an ostrich?' He says, 'Why don't we dress up an ostrich?'
And if the disappointment threatens to become engulfing, just remember that the book is Tolkien's painstaking love song to his invented world, a world where fantasy is less essential and less lessoned as Middle-earth once again unfolds to reveal its very special character.
the response to the picture, emanating even from within his own family.
"My grandmother, she's wonderful," he said. "She saw 'Star wars' and she thought the only thing wrong was that I didn't marry the princess."
"Yeah," he recalled, "and she said, 'Easy for you to see you'. I am 89 years old."
Did he tell her about the sequel?
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
JUDGING FROM THE tremendous popular response to "Star Wars," Lucas succeeded beyond his wildest Buck Rogers-style dreams. Hamill, too, is pleased with
MEWWHILE, ONE of the elves, Feanor, captured the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, tree standing in a garden in which the Vallar live, in three jewels can be found. The girl, wearing jewels' creation, stole them, earning the name the elves gave him, Morgoth, the Black Enmor
THEERE ARE THEE other tales attached to the main tale of the book, Quenta Silmarillon—the history of the Silmirials—because of the tales' reenactment to it. They provide supplementary material that enlarge upon the main tale. Genealogy charts a connection between names and an appendix that is a short dictionary also are included.
However, one of the valar, Mekor, was ambitious and wanted to shape Arda to suit himself. In the middle of Mekor's innumerable attempts to corrupt and destroy Arda's beauty, the elves, who are the First Martians, used their wizard powers. Mekor hated the elves because they were favored by Iluvarat, and he waged war upon them in subtle and overt ways.
The remainder of "The Silmarillion" is an account of the war between Morgoth and the middle-earth, led by the elves. Morgoth is thrown into a timeless void by the Valar at the end of the book, but Tolkien presents it in another form, four novels that were to come, warning, "Yet the melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Baughlr, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die until they are born, and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days."
Arts&Leisure
THAT BOOK HAS been published posthumously by Tolkien's son, Christopher, who edited the book, which is entitled "The Silmarillion." The book is an account of the First Age, referred to by the elves as the Elder Days. In those days the world, known as Arda to the elves, was created by the urging of the Godlike Amiar for his angels, the Almiru. The Amiur were sent to protect Arda and shape it. As they did so the Amiur changed their name to the Valar, the Powers of the world.
Book unfolds history, love of Tolkien world
By LORI BERGMANN
Staff Writer
When J.R.R. Tolkien was teaching at Oxford, he once wrote on the back of an exam he was grading, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." That sentence opened a new world for Tolkien, a fantasy world with a language, history and geography worth wonders like elves, owls, bears, dwarfs and birds, the short, fat and furry heroes who want to have only a good dinner, a good smoke and a good night's rest.
Tolkien built four novels out of his fantasy world: "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The novels are filled with legends and myths that are never completely explained, infusing them with a powerful mystique.
However, Tolkien never intended the novels to be the only source of information about the legends that are the fabric of his fantasy world, Middle-earth. Instead, he wanted to write a book that would recount, from the creation of Middle-earth to the end of time, the story of Hobbit" begins, all the mysteries of the world he so carefully created in its all details.
Oriental scenes recall past's quiet
Shimomura is perhaps the better known of the two artists. His acrylic-on-canvas paintings and silkscreen prints are not particularly deep. The works, which are based on ancient Oriental masterpieces, are often as inviting scenes of Japanese life.
Shimomura's compositions are more sparse and the simplicity of them gives the paintings a peaceful air. Previous paints swarmed with the convoluted bodies of women and the pugnacious faces of grimacing actors. The abundance of action in the works obscured the subject, while the paintings were abstract constructions of writings long.
Reviewer
By SARAH ILES
By limiting his subject to a single person, to a blossom-like maiden as he does in this show's "Sachiko," Shimamura permits the princess to be before would have been hidden in the mite.
What happens when geisha girls, samurai warriors and quiet, private Oriental temples are thrust into a world of neon signs, numbered tree numbers and McDonald's golden arches.
The answer is found in a showing of prints and paintings by Roger Shimuram and Norme Gae, associate professors of art, at the 7E7 Gallery. The exhibit will close April
ONE WHO has followed Shimomura's advice some changes in these recent works.
ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC not previously seen in Shimamura's work is the use of shading. In "Fuji" and "Biwi," two landscapes, Shimamura has employed darker tones to imply shadows. The practice is often used to emphasize muscles mostly of flat, monochromatic, puzzle-block blocks of color, surrounded by black lines.
Both American-born artists have borrowed and updated symbols from their Oriental ancestors. They succeed in making an ancient world talk to a modern one.
plexiglas, are lonely and foreboding. To gaze upon them is to feel as if one is invading a private place, clumsily attempting to fit into an alien culture.
Gee's interiors, done in acrylic on glass or
SHIMMURA'S WORK presents a powerfully alluring, sometimes comical view of the Oriental personality. Gee's work views the Oriental, but gives the viewer the opposite feeling.
Much of this foreign feeling results from Gee's use of Oriental perspective.
Oriental art
Staff Photo by TIM ASHNER
Roger Shimomura, associate professor of art, uses the oriental influence in his painting, "Yutaka," speak to American culture. Shimomura and Norman Gee, associate professor of art, will display their paintings at the 7E7 Gallery through April 5.