Friday, February 21, 1975
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'Madwoman' painfully relevant
BY ANGELA POTHETES
5
University Daily Kansan
Kansan Reviewer
Although Jean Giardoux wrote "The Madman of Chawalil" in 1943, some of the stories are very vague.
Big business, inflation, political corruption and even a search for oil are scrutinized. The Ralph Nader of the play is a pasy-faced old lady who knows more about dealing with criminals than Judge John Sirica.
As the play begins, some big business oil mongers decide to destroy Paris for the oil industry.
When an optimistic madwoman bears of the plot, she still believes that the world is beautiful, except for the oil managers. She doesn't expect the inspector stole her feather her five years ago.
The madwoman doesn't want to believe that anyone would tear down a city for oil, but her friend, the rapgicker, jolts her into reality with a speech about the pimps of the city.
THE RAGPICKER doesn't talk about the Arabs or import taxes. He talks about a simpler time when a cabbage could sell itself by just being a cabbage. But now there is nothing that is free to sell itself or give itself away, he says.
The madwoman listens to his lecture as a small child listens to an older brother explain why there is no tooth fairy. Then she decides to rid the community of evil.
She calls her friends to act as judge and jury at a trial that prosecutes the big business boys. This trial is quicker than an across-the-border divorce and the convicted villains are sent to crawl around in the sewers of Paris.
ELIZABETH GREEN, assistant instructor in speech and drama, who played the Madwoman of Chaillot, was a delight to watch. She brought depth to a character who could merely have been portrayed as an eccentric old lady.
One of her best scenes was with Pierre, a bad man turned good played by Paul J. Gaffney, Lawrence senior, in which she talked about her lost lover.
junior, as the president could vie with the
professor, and it would be ultra-businesslike and ultra-desiccable.
In the first act, Kirby Kemble, Wichita
Joe Watson, St. Kilogue, Tex., graduate student, as the prospector reminded me of the villain in a melodrama. When he made his curtain call I wanted to hiss. In the second act, when he slithered on to the ground, he was caught and could be confined to the bowels of the earth.
THE SECOND ACT WAS MY favorite. It was off to a good start when the curtain came up and a the set designed by Steve Meriwether, Mission senior, was applauded. His designed the madwoman's suit, which reflected her personality. It was full of surprises.
The acting in the scene was crisp and buoyant. When Lambrinvy Helen Hedge, a well-known voice actress, Gabrielle totered on stage and spoke in a squeaky pitch about the voices in her hot water bottle, I wanted to bug her. She was quiet, and everyone lady everyone wishes was his grandmother.
Constance, played by Maureen Hawley,
Wallingford, a graduate student, was
the only one of the 10 to be named.
HELEN THOMPSON, Shawne Mission senior, who played Josephine, and Steve Bernstein, who played the rappicker, led a team that is interesting than that of the Chicago Seven.
quarrelsome and difficult Hawley was when she talked about her dog. Dickie was when she talked about her dog. Dickie
There were many memorable performances from the 32-member cast. Darcy E. Schild, Lawrence senior, as the servant girl Irma, was careful not to become too sentimental in her love-at-first-sight for Pierre.
There were only a few things that bothered me about the production. First, I wished director Tom Rea, associate director in theatre, would have worked with the crowd scenes a little more. Many of the people were like cardboard cut out on screens.
SECONDLY, THEE WERE some technical problems when I saw the production last Saturday. Once during the first act, a light flashed on then off as if someone in the lighthod had hit the wrong switch.
Eugene Wilson Pinder, Lawrence graduate student, as a rookie policeman, and Charles Dedmon, as a sewer man, also played their parts well.
We are now accepting applications for SUA board and officer interviews. Officer interviews will be held Thursday evening, February 27;
TO: All University Students
FROM: Student Union Activities
But those complaints are minor and don't seriously detract from the over-all entertainment.
MEMO
"The Madwoman of Challier" will be at 8 p.m. tonight at the University Theatre.
board member interviews will be
held Saturday, March 1. Applications may be picked up in SUA office and are due WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25.
STUDENT UNION ACTIVITIES
This adorable glass can be yours for keeps. Just buy a 16-pen cup. It'll save you $2 in Drive-in. And remember, it's one of a whole set of 'carbon character' glasses you've offered in stores.
FOGHORN LEGHORN
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"Dustin Hoffman again asserting his claim to being today's great character leading man. What is awesome is the range of emotions he commands in the intimate scenes. HE ALONE MAKES 'LENNY' WORTH SEEING!" — Richard Selticket TIME Magazine
"A BRILLIANTLY CONCEIVEED AND EXECUTED FILM. Directed with stunning style by Bob Fosse"
Marvel Workforce Film *A Bob Fosse Film* Dustin Hoffman *Lenny*
*Valerie Perrine* David V Picker *Julian Barry*
Dustin Hoffman "Lenny
Showtime 7:30-9:30
Sat.-Sun. Mat. 2:00
ROBERT ALTMAN
who gave you such
pictures of
long, long doodle,
"images,"
McCabe and Mrs.
formia Split," now
unfolds a tragic romance
in the perfect
slice of the American life. Brave Allman!
Robbing 36 bunks was easy.
Watch what happens when they hit the 37th.
Hillcrest
"THIEVES LIKE US"
Eve. at 7:35 & 9:50
Sat.Sun. Mat. at 2:10