theater
Heather Lofflin / KANSAI
James Wallert, Omaha, Neb., sophomore, plays the character of Tom Joad, and Tim Wiler, Overland Park freshman, plays the character of Jim Casey. They practiced the first scene of Monday night's dress rehearsal of "The Grapes of Wrath." The play opens this weekend at the Crafton-Preier Theater in Murphy Hall.
Portraying a bitter vintage
The University Theatre's production of "The Grapes of Wrath" offers
a new twist on a popular classic.
By Kevin Hoffmann Kansan staff writer
Jim Wallert's worried that he will be compared to Henry Fonda when he takes the stage this weekend as Tom Joad in the University Theatre's production of "The Grapes of Wrath."
"I've seen the movie, but I'd rather not compare myself or worry about his performance," the Omaha, Neb. sophomore said.
Instead, those involved with the production of Frank Galati's award-winning stage adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1939 novel want to add a unique twist to a classic American tale.
Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning work portraying the hardships of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression remains popular, and many people are familiar with John Ford's 1940 movie version. But director Steve Grossman, Chicago graduate student, said the University Theatre production was different.
One theme the KU production emphasizes is the role of Native Americans in the Midwest.
To tie Native Americans into the production, Grossman invited Jennifer Attocknie, Pampa, Tex., senior,
to translate the entire play into Native American sign
language.
19
"Ihope the audience will see that the issues raised by the play, including forced homelessness and the exploitation of migrant workers, are as much a problem today as in '39," Grossman said. "These problems demand social attention and a remedy."
"The Grapes of Wrath" centers on the plight of the Joad family. Forced to leave their Oklahoma home during the Dust Bowl, the Joads head for California in search of work and the American dream.
But the Joads encounter hardship along the way.
"It becomes a struggle against nature," Grossman said. "It becomes a struggle against the wind, against fire and against water."
When the Joads fail to find wealth in California, the family's spirit becomes a central theme.
Maureen Boyd, a Lawrence graduate student who plays Ma Joad, said her character held the Joad family together.
"She carries the weight, the emotional burden of the
family, "Boyd said. "She has to deal with everything the family goes through."
Grossman said that, although he hoped audience members would be touched by the issues in "The Grapes of Wrath," he also hoped that features like original music performed by the local band, "White Trash Express" would entertain them.
Wallert said he hoped that the University Theatre's production of "The Grapes of Wrath" would inspire people to live in harmony.
"We as humans are all in this world together," he said. "And we have to help each other out. The play helps convey that."
"The Grapes of Wrath" will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and March 10-12 with a 2:30 p.m. matinee Sunday at Crafton-Preyer Theater in Murphy Hall. The March 11 performance will be signed for the hearing impaired.
Tickets are available at the Murphy Hall and Lied Center box offices and all TicketMaster outlets. Prices are $8 for the public, $4 for KU students and $7 for senior citizens.
Reality has a bittersweet bite
Some students see graduation as a godsend. They've spent hard-fought years in academia anxiously awaiting the chance to begin their personal quests for the American Dream. Others, like the chronically misdirected characters in "Reality Bites," see graduation as the Angel of Death, an ominous specter looming nearby wielding the scythe of reality.
"I see it as a time to finish college."
"No problem."
"Now that you mention it, I have a definite plan all laid out."
Speaking of graduation, Sludge, what are your plans for life after the University? (How that you mention it.) I have a
Oh, really? I can't wait to hear this.
"For exactly three months after I graduate, I'm going to drink Moleson Golden, watch TV, sit around in my boxers and eat nothing but burritos and Cheerios."
Isn't that pretty much all you do anyway?
"Okay, what brilliant plan do you have, smarty?"
I'm going to travel, see everything. I'll sip cafe francais along the Riviera. I'll watch the sunrise over the Himalayas while wearing goatskin robes. I'll join the Peace Corps, change the world!
"Great. Why don't you get back to reality? You're never going to do any of that garbage."
Reality is different for everyone, Sludge. For instance, reality for the sprawling, confused mass of layabouts that the popular media has tabbed "Generation X" rudely interrupts a highly intricate system of
ob-avoidance, "veg-ing," drinking, smoking and vampire-esque sleeping habits. It's this disillusioned bunch, raised on "The Brady Bunch," that "Reality Bites" pegs on target.
However offended those of us in college who actually have aspirations and goals may be at this slovenly stereotype, director Ben Stiller and writer Helen Childs know the art of slack inside and out. They hit the pop culture idiosyncrasies they aim with startling accuracy. Life for Generation X is a world of reruns such as "One Day at a Time," defining shows such as "Melrose Place," AIDS tests, unemployment, broken hearts and confusion. It's a world in which bitterness and Big Gulps are aphrodiacias.
"I personally prefer Slurpees when I wine and dine."
Then it wouldn't be wining and dining,
would it, Sludge?
"Its just a phrase, Mister Literal!"
Lelaina (Winona Ryder) is an aspiring documentary filmmaker whose videos of her and her friends are sprinkled throughout "Reality Bites." The result is a semipoof of MTV's "The Real World" and a "Sex, Videos and Videotape" for the '90s that is at once philosophically true and ridicu
"It's just a phrase. Mister Literal!"
lously random.
After she is fired from her job as a production assistant for an area morning program, Lelaina meets Michael (Stiller), a well-meaning yuppie video executive who falls in love with her and her work. In the background are her roommates, Troy (Ethan Hawke), who is grungy, bitter and aimless, and Vicki (Janeane Garofalo), an unscrupulous Gap sales clerk who keeps a written tally of her sexual endeavors.
"That girl Vicki was lousy. Low rent."
Troy and Lelaiana fade in and out of love, friendship and hatred throughout the film, creating a Generation X-style love triangle that, for all its formulaic aspects, manages some spark.
Well, Sludge, this is how people see our generation. We're sex-crazed, lazy, grimy, misdirected waifs without any kind of work ethic, unable to complete a sentence or have an original thought.
"I didn't want Troy and Lelaina to get together. I mean, Michael was pretty much a geekbang, but Troy was definitely a punk snapperhead."
"Yeah, you know, brown clothes, never bathes, long hair, smokes enough cigarettes to light up New York. Man, my lungs are black just from sitting in the audience."
What was that, Sludge? What did you think of the movie? Sludge...?
"Yeah, um, I agree...but..."
Let me know when there's a commer-
Snapperhead, Sludge?
"Wait, shhh! Beavis and Butthead's on."
film
Popular films often denied Oscar honors
By John Horn The Associated Press
From "Return of the Jedi" to "Batman" to "Jurassic Park," the Academy Awards consistently refuse to honor some of Hollywood's most popular releases.
In an about-face this year, the box-office hit "The Fugitive" is nominated for best picture and in six other categories. Even though "The Fugitive" is a longshot for a best picture win, Tommy Lee Jones is a favorite for supporting actor.
These movies draw the longest lines, ignite the hottest buzz and deliver the heaviest repeat business. They're the movies everybody loves—except Oscar voters.
The film's inclusion in top Oscar categories says as much about the broad appeal of "The Fugitive" as it does the Academy's biases.
Simply put, the voters don't like thrill-a-minute Hollywood blockbusters. The balloters prefer "important" films about social and personal issues, even if they're comparatively slow-moving accounts of Indian pacifists and Chinese emperors.
"They are concerned with more than entertainment, which is not an improper priority," says Andy Davis, who directed "The Fugitive" but strangely was not nominated for best director.
See FILM, Page 10.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MARCH 3,1994
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
PAGE 9
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
NIGHTLIFE
--web wilder, 9 tonight, cover charge
The Ksafest with MU330 and The Pacers, 9
p.m. tomorrow, cover charge
Benchwarmer's Sports Bar and Grill 1601 W. 23rd St.
Michelle Malone, 8 tonight, cover charge
Allgood, 8 p.m. tomorrow, cover charge
Wake, 8 p.m. Saturday, cover charge
Dave Mathews Band, 8 p.m. Monday, cover charge
The Hard Soul Poets, 8 p.m. Thursday, cover charge
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
Sinister Dane with Low Life and Motherwell, 9
n.m. Saturday, cover charge
Jawbow with Girls Against Boys, 9 p.m. Sunday, cover charge
Redd Kross with Kill Creek and Dandelion, 9 p.m. Monday, cover charge
Dead Milkmen with Possum Dixon, 9 p.m.
sunday, cover charge
Chris Duarte, 9 p.m. Wednesday, cover charge
Blue Dixie, 9 p.m. Thursday, cover charge
Full Moon Cafe
Tim Cross Jazz Trio, 8 tonight, free
Ry Brown and Clark Jamison, 8:30 p.m. tomor.
row free
The Jolly Ranchers, 9 p.m. Saturday, free Jazz Brunch with Michael Paull, 12-4:30 p.m. Sundav, free
Tom's Tuesday Thing Blues Show, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, free
Acoustic Juice, 8 p.m. Wednesday, free
Tim Cross Jazz Trio, 8 p.m. Thursday, free
Liberty Hall
- CAMBRIDGE • WOOLRICH • BOULEVARD • RIVER CITY •
642 Massachusetts St.
The Brazilian Carnaval, 8 p.m. Saturday,$5 advanced tickets,$7 at the door
The Foundation Follies, 7 p.m. Tuesday,$25 tickets
Application now being accepted for 94-95 residency in the HILLEL HOUSE.
Applications available in the
Hillel Office (864-3948)
Strict deadline for application:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9!
See NIGHTLIFE, Page 10.
• CAMBRIDGE • WOOLRICH • BOULEVARD
LOURS • EAGLE'S EYE • JJ FARMER
- HENRY GRETHEL • C.J. COTTON • CALVIN KLEIN •
...