University Daily Kansan
Thursday, September 27, 1973
-10
Comedy, Tragedy Mixed in Plays
By CHERYL CROOKS Kansas Reviewer
Kansan Reviewer
Situation comedy, social comment and impressionism are three of many elements present in an evening of three one-act plays by the University of Kansas Experimental Theatre.
The first productions of KU's theater
theater are an audience that filled the
small theater.
The three plays were produced from original and, unpublished scripts, Both Jack Gilhooley and Dan Dulling, playwrights, were present for opening night.
Throughout the evening, the comic elements are shaded with realistic tragedy.
we a snapped with realistic tragedy. Better, we could have music be heard faintly in the background, which helped to set the forthcoming mood, or at least provide some noise.
'The Last Act'
Bruce Jones as John LaSalle and Barbara Dearduff as Hilda
Sound effects have been used to make soft, smooth music on Robb Kunkel's album, "Abyss," recorded on the Tumbleweeds Records label.
Sound Effects Used in Music
Kunkel isn't a well-known musician. However, he is a good one, who plays many instruments and has written almost all the songs on the album.
Kunkel combines jazz, blues and a little rock in a more unusual way than most musicians. A wider variety of instruments is used to create some variations. Varied. Besides the usual guitars, pianos and percussion instruments, Kunkel uses keys, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet and bass clarinet.
THE ALBUM opens with the sensuous sounds of ocean waves and sea gulls. The music that follows is just as sensuous. "You are the morning of a thousand separate seas" are the opening words. The sound of the ensemble of four singers is tight.
Windchimes highlight the second cut, "Whispermuse," probably the best cut on the album. It's a love song in which the words are almost whispered, Kunkel uses a series of its in a Beautiful Day. The sound of wind is generated with the cymbals.
Diana Lee, vocalist, echoes the piano in a song, "Playa de Badagad," on side two of the album. The Flute joins the duet to make a trio of echoes. In the central section of the song, the violin and piano engage in a faster version and the song returns to its beginning theme.
"Turn of the Century" is the last cut, highlighted by a good guitar and jazz piano section. The song begins with a rock theme, the music duets and, then, returns to the first theme.
THE WORDS of the songs are difficult to understand at times. Either the mixing wasn't right or the singers didn't finish their phrases properly.
Students in all CWC's Education, LAS, Social Welfare, & the Grad School
THE FALL ELECTIONS ARE COMING
If Interested Pick up applications in Student Senate Office 105 B Union
Filing due by Oct. 3 — 5 p.m.
$5.00 Filling fee
However, good music is plentiful on the album. Kunkel should keep working with this group of musicians because their promise is good.
$5. $filing fee
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reviews
But the music of the first play, "The Last
by Jack Gilooldy, goes even further with
his lyrics."
"Will you love me when my fiver's a week?" goes the verse of the vaudeville
No longer in the limelight once commanded by them, they struggle awkwardly to escape.
"The Last Act" takes place in a retirement career where three actors find themselves in danger.
Even some of the names suggest years gone by—Lily White, a sort of Lilian Gish, played by Chandler, and Spots McCallison and Davidian trooper played by Norm Callison.
From Hilda, who is full of marionette-type facial expressions and represents pure innocence to the badgering bastard character of John LaSalle, the characters are consistent, except for the occasional loss of a dialect. Miss Garland, a nurse, Cathy Corum, is consistent, although she may put too much antagonism in the part.
Although the comedy dominates the action, moments of sadness seep in as the characters move through a saudeville act, trying to relive events, that never were.
Does anyone even know that they are still alive? Does anyone care?
Dan Duling's play, "All Singing and Dancing," has the initial impression of an enginished void, which demands thought. Its action follows a sequence of events in the life of Teddy, a struggling young actor whose identity has such a marked effect on his character.
Action, more than dialogue constitutes the hummer of Dulung's work. Director Rupert Lomann was the director of *Dulung*.
Of the three productions, the characters of "All Singing and Dancing" are the weakest, possibly because of the short lapse in timing. The songs slows little time for character development.
Rumor mongers, this is the play where Wise dren his drawers.
Another Gilhoyle play, "The Entrepreneur of Avenue B," is a choice way to open up.
Entrepreneur's action revolves around the conversation between a New York City social worker and a Puerto Rican junkie, who is working in her employer's apartment, with intentions of robbery.
Donald Bachmann, director, has kept the pace moving, giving little chance for a fatal silence, which indeed could be fatal to a company or play such as Entrepreneurs.
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Black furniture on a black stage with a backdrop makes the light effects
Fortunately, Gilboole hasn't become so bogged down with social comment that the humor is lost. Also, fortune for the production are the convincing characters created by Kay Harper and David Cox. Cox and Harper have a very naive vassar grad.
The sets were only suggestive in nature, requiring the use of audience imagination. The realism went only so far as a few peices of furniture.
Entrepreneurs seemed to evoke more laughter from the audience, which all to often was laughing at a very common, realistic social situation.
Continuing is not elaborate but pleasingly appropriate. Most of the actors are clothed.
The Experimental Theatre is the correct place for the production of these three operas.
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