University Daily Kansan
Friday, October 2, 1970
9
Student Plays Seen as Bizarre
By MELISSA BERG Kansan Reviewer
The atmosphere bordered on the bizarre with the opening Wednesday night of two one-act plays by student playwrights in Swarthout Recital Hall.
"The Strange Circumstance Surrounding the Letting of the Back Bed-Sitting Room" and "Marshall McLuhan, What're You Doin?" marked the beginning of this season's Experimental Theatre Series and both displayed excellent technical effects.
Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find he has become a beetle in "The Strange Circumstance Surrounding the Letting of the Back Bed-Sitting Room." Stu Cledland as Gregor skillfully adopts the scratching kicking motions of a bug as he under goes this inexplicable metamorphosis.
A gray garbed chorus utters Gregor's thoughts of guilt after he is reduced to such a pitiful state, and creates the rubbing, ticking sounds of an insect with wooden blocks.
Overall, the use of the chorus exemplifies the excellent directing of Francine Casassa and technical directing of Phil Ryan. Their innovations make up for what is lacking in Billi Dawn Schoggen's script.
A particular instance of implausibility in the script is seen in the reaction of Gregor's family to his metamorphosis. They accept it mildly and as a matter of fact. Even though they have never appreciated his care, it would seem more logical that their initial reaction to his transformation would be closer to shock than nonchalance.
'Soldier Blue' Grotesque
By CHIP CREWS Kansan Reviewer
As most of us already know, the time-honored image of the American Indian in movies, a whooping idiot uttering atrocities like "how" and "white eyes," is false and insulting.
In an attempt to correct these and roughly half a dozen other injustices, Hollywood now offers us "Soldier Blue," a picture that is at various times funny, honest and interesting.
The story centers on events leading up to the infamous Sand Creek Indian Massacre, of 1864. Honus, a young soldier (Peter Strauss), and Cresta (Candice Bergen, by far the smartest, sassiest young actress around) are the sole survivors of an attack on his battalion.
Before the film ends, the two characters endure probably as much hardship, pain and gore as the rest of us might expect to face in this life plus our next two incarnations.
The picture is primarily about the Sand Creek Massacre. The relationship of Miss Bergen and Strauss is presented for human involvement against the larger, more impersonal background of history. Again, it's an old technique, but like many elements of the picture, it is effective.
"Soldier Blue" is billed as "the most savage film in history." The film employs many new techniques to accurately depict the mayhem it exploits. Whatever you may go for—decapitation, dismemberment, or just well-placed bullet holes--you're sure to leave the theater happy. All removed limbs and their respective stumps are quite graphically presented.
Although this makes for some pretty hideous viewing, to omit much of it would seriously hamper the film's impact. The opening battle, in which rampaging Cheyennes obliterate Honus' batalion, does not particularly horrify us. We've seen all that before.
Yet later, because our cultural values deplore the needless slaughter of women and children and because the killing is being done by American troops, we
feel utter revulsion at the sight of it.
Director Ralph Nelson has put the film together with a few deft touches. One technique that works very well in getting his point across is blending the picture of one shot with the dialogue of the next. For example, hearing the beginning of the army commanding officer's speech proclaiming the day of the massacre as "a glorious one for America" while the camera lingers upon what remains of dozens of Indian bodies produces just the right effect in the pit of one's stomach.
The script makes several attempts to draw parallels between that era and ours. Some of them are effective, some only annoying. The most annoying is the commanding officer's reaction to an argument he has had with a shrill Miss Bergen: something about "the way young people act these days . . .." It's just a mite contrived.
Historically, the film is fairly accurate. The massacre really did happen, complete with the horrifying tactics depicted. The character of Cresta is of doubtful historical origin, but the role is so essential to the format (and she plays it so deliciously), that the picture should be forgiven for its indulgence.
One glaring inaccuracy concerns the calendar. The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in 1864. Honus' father is bitterly reported to have been killed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. I felt downright sorry for the poor kid until I remembered that the Little Bighorn took place in 1876. It is ludicrous to include reference in a picture that is selling itself as history.
The acting is quite good. Bergen and Strauss are always believable and interesting. And in the role of no-good Indian trader Isaac Q. Cumber (get it?), Donald Pleasen is superb.
The picture generates a lot of sympathy for its characters through the easy identification process. However, the obvious comparisons between Then and Now lead nowhere once the conclusion is drawn.
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Another shortcoming of the script is a failure to communicate what Gregor believes to be his sister's concern for him. It is she who advocates getting rid of him so that the family can return to normal function.
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A combination of directing and lighting techniques strikingly convey the distance between Gregor and his family. A spotlight follows Gregor as he crawls
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around his room, while the family members maintain a frozen position in the other room.
The drab brown and gray garb of the family members, designed by Chez Hachl, are particularly effective in their contribution to the overall theme of the degeneration of a man.
One would have to be extremely familiar with the works of Marshall McLuhan in order to extract the full substance of his message, which is dissected and sometimes rejected in Steve Reed's "Marshall McLuhan, What're You Doin?"
Director David Vargas realized this and provided the audience with director's notes on the program. However, even without these directions, the talents of Vargas and Reed capably treat the absurdities of McLuhan, and hurl them to the audience with an unmistakable effect.
One sequence brings an assorted managerie of people running onto the stage; football players, firemen, a flapper and an acrobat, who launch into diverse activities creating a chaotic scene, strongly supporting McLuhan's contention that today's youth want roles, not goals.
It illustrates the varied assaults the media makes on the public today; the blaring and insidious plays for acceptance of Glad Bags and Salems. But with another volley from the shotgun, a very effective technical addition of director Vargas, the chaotic scene ceases instantly as the group faces the unrealistic nature of their media imposed roles.
Conscious of the heavy nature of his play, Reed has inserted some humorous sequences, which have no apparent connection with the rest of the episodes—a rousing rendition of "Tiptoe through the Tulips" and a gangly bird-watcher's frustration over his inability to capture two titmouse.
The technical effects of Phil Ryan and John Dasta are again a major component in the play's effectiveness. The entire show is an audio-visual presentation with slides, electric music and videotaped TV sequences which illustrate the bombardment by today's media.