University Daily Kansan / Friday, November 10, 1989
Arts/Entertainment
9
KU presents modern 'Macbeth'
By Jennifer Reynolds Kensan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
but, I say:
Although most people familiar
ut damned spot! out, I say!" Although most people familiar
Marni Wagner, left, and Jeff Orr rehearse for the University Theatre's "Macbeth," opening tonight.
with the play "Macbeth" could quote Lady Macbeth's anguished cry from memory, Ronald Willis, professor of theater and film, thinks that the University Theatre Series production of "Macbeth" will show it from a different perspective.
"You hear things differently," he said. "Lines that the audience could say along with you take on a new meaning. When the context is so specialized, it grounds them in a different way."
The play opens at 8 tonight in Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall.
Willis, director of the play, said the context of the production would change the audience's perspective of the dialogue in the production.
The specialized context that Willis spoke of is the modernization of the set and the costumes.
Willis said the modernization of the play put it in the setting of the spiritual realm.
Chris Hayes, who plays the title character, said the play was not in the traditional Elizabeth style.
"It's a post-modern production," he said. "We use modern-day weapons and dress."
"The central life of the play is not about 17th-century England," he said. "It is about a psychological and social condition that occurs."
The cast is trying to avoid making the modernized version of the play work toward a different goal than the
able to relate the drama's action to their own lives.
original version, Willis said.
"It is an interpretation of the text, not a twisting of it," he said. "We are just trying to be honest and responsive to a different dimension of the play."
"Evil is omnipresent and not something of the past," he said. "It didn't go out of fashion with Elizabethan England. We are trying to seduce the audience into making the connections. We do not want to be a rapist and rip off the text or change it to shock them."
Willis said the audience should be
Hayes, Olathe junior, said the play contained several bloody scenes.
"They made a prosthesis of my head for when my head gets cut off," he said. "They hold it up at the end of the play, and it's all bloody."
Willis said he didn't think the violent scenes detracted from the play.
"I think it draws you into the play," he said. "It is blood in the service of poetry."
Willis decided to keep the play somewhat bloody in order to keep it life-like.
"Theater is the theater because of its sensuous surface," he said. "It goes through your senses and reaches your head through them. If it is not somewhat shocking then you have not experienced the real play but only a gloss of it."
"Macbeth" is KU's entry in the 1990 American College Theatre Festival XXII and will be viewed by regional judges.
Besides the acting side, Hayes said the technical aspects of the play were incredible.
"I think the audience will be blown away by the lights and the sound," he said. "The setting is dark and kind of scary."
Other performances of "Macbeth" will be at 6 p.m.; Saturday and Nov.
16, 17 and 18. Tickets are on sale at Murphy Hall Box Office. Prices are $7 and $$ for the public; $3.50 and $$ for KU students; and $6 and $$ for senior citizens and other students. All seats are reserved.
Theater for the deaf coming to Murphy Hall on Sunday
By Jennifer Reynolds Kansan staff writer
The epic tale of Odysseus and the Trojan War will take on a new interpretation as the National Theatre of the Deaf performs "The Odyssey" at 8:30 p.m. Sunday in Bock Auditorium.
"We use language as an artistic medium," said Dean Carnavino through interpreter Jeff Patrick King. Cannavino plays the role of the carpenter who built the horse. "The sign language and vocal language are performed simultaneously. We don't play the role of interpreter and stand off to the side of the stage."
The production of "The Odyssey" has been adapted by playwright Shanny Mow and is directed by Wlr Shrix.
The troupe of deaf and hearing actors combines spoken language and sign language so the audience can see and hear every word.
"It is not the exact same way as vocal language." Cannavino said. "Sign language becomes the expression for the deaf actors."
The story is set in the belly of the Trojan horse the night before Odysseus and his men attack the city of Troy, said Matt Wilson through King. Wilson plays the son of Odysseus and the cook in the play. The men are scared and find a way to pass the time by telling stories and imagining their voyage home. They end up foretelling their futures.
The action of the play moves from the horse's belly to the men's imaginations and then into the stories, which are both funny and serious. The men do not consider themselves heroes but ordinary men led by the crafty Odysseus, Wilson said.
The Tony-award winning troupe, which is in its 22nd season, is one of the few deaf acting troupes in the nation.
"There is a real lack of them because of the lack of funds," Cannaving said.
The National Theatre for the Deaf is financed by government money and private donations, he said.
Wilson, in his seventh year with the troupe, said the appropriate material for the troupe, which is best known for staging adaptations of the classics in literature and drama, was not difficult to obtain.
"I 'rems every year something comes up that we can do," he said. "We've created some original shows, but not that many."
"Small changes like 'he heard a knock at the door' become 'he saw the light by the door on,'" he said.
Tickets for the performance are on sale at Murphy Hall Box Office. Prices are $12 and $10 for the public, $6 and $5 for KU and K-12 students, and $11 and $9 for senior citizens and other students.
When performing the classics, Wilson said that only minor script changes had to be made.
Allen commits no crime by combining humor and drama in new film
Rv Marc Parillo
By Marc Parillo
Kansan movie reviewer
woody Allen's famous technique is either to colorize his films with deadpan, ironic humor, as he did in "Annie Hall," or dishearten them with dark, almost morbid, thought-provoking drama, best exhibited in "interiors."
Even if you take a liking to only one side of this broad spectrum, Allen successfully blends both of those techniques in his latest writing/directing venture, "Crimes and Misdemeanors."
"Crimes" is actually two isolated mini-stories that link in the end. On one side is Juda Rosenthal, a successful, upper-middle class ophthalmologist played by Martin Landau. Despite his honest and sincere persona, he carries the stigma of an adulterous crime with Deiorees, played by Jonathan Littleton. The scenario similarly shows the man as having everything to lose and the vindictive woman as having everything to gain.
The other side of the plot reunites Woody Allen with Mia Farrow. Allen's Clifford is an unsuccessful documentary filmmaker who
can only boast of a paltry honorable mention at the Cincinnati Film Festival. Halley, played by Farrow, is a dedicated film producer and Clifford's only love opportunity, as he was with him since April 20, which, Clifford remembers with ease. "is the same day Hitler was born."
Stark contrasts between drama and comedy hit you like a brick and cause the film's mood swings to occur with the same frequency as action. We are witnessing the frightening drama between Juda and Delores, and then, without warning, you are instantly shifted to the intelligent comedy of Clifford and Halley.
The stories of love and hate are interrupted with little vignettes featuring cheery '30s and '40s talkies and the frequently visited Professor Louis Levy, a philosopher who has all the profound answers to life's crimes and misdeanors.
These love triangles and tribulations are surprising and a definite delight to watch. Alan Alda is unforgettable as Cliff's vangiorious brother-in-law and successful miniseries director. Their professional battle steals the show with its silver-tongued
sarcasm.
Cunning symbolisms and deep structural meaning give the story an added punch, guaranteed to catch you off guard and leave you pondering all the way to the parking lot.
But if you're a fanatic, like myself, you'll probably want to catch this film for a second go-around. It's an outright celebration of the humor and drama Woody Allen has been giving the public for years.
▶ Marc Parillo is a Lenexa sophomore majoring in English and film studies.
- November 11
- University Inn, 8:00 P.M.
(6th & Iowa, at 'Old' Park Inn, ticket$ at BUA and Spanish
and Portuguese Department; in advance $1/at door $4
Purchased by the Lance Brazil Inn Foundation Inc.
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