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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1973)
I a r w 4 pZ;. , . .: , ;, ,.- -, : . , . if ii i i&si on BVS7B (LCLg Wiro Ui terrifying, funny theater production Review by Nelson Potter The University Theater's production of Bertold Brecht's The Rcsistahle Rise of Arturo Ui is a play that, amazingly, manages to be terr.'Vying and very funny at the same time. This superb production of one of the great Brccht's more effective plays may be seen at the Howcl! Theater through Oct. 20. Brecht didn't want the aud'ence just to be entoitained by his plays; he wanted to teach thorn, and he wanted them to bo moved to action. The p'.:y tcils the story of Adolf Hi tic-1 ai d vs honchi-n as a story about how gangster In C-.-'c-go took o.v the vc-geable trade (spt c;o!;,:i,--j If. CJulifio. '.el f roil "leg;t:!T;,-te" business in toasts. in case ci'-'vone misses the parallels, (and much cf today's uud-"ncp might), from time to time actorr carrying po---b;e screens march onto ft .vie and historic.il (.' :...jgraphs and brief d'.'sciipt'ons of tir events aw flushed onto them. Characters in the play exactly correspond to their Nazi counterparts. Ui wears a Charlie Chaplin mustache. Emanuele Giri (Goering) is fat. Giuseppe ("The Florist") Givole, like his counterpart Goebbels, looks like a slick, skinny undertaker. Dogsborough, an old-time politician whom the gangsters corrupt, is Hindenberg. Ernesto Roma is Ernst Roehm, one of Hitler's closest friends and associates until Hitler had him and about 2,000 of his followers killed on June 30 1934, afte; ho lost out m a power struggle with Goering. In the play, tws is clone as a St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The Reiclistofj r., which Hitler used as an excuse to move f :n ::,: w.nstUu 'zn?. head of government to d crwo: , ;. j fi. e m a cauliflower warehouse. Wn:.n Ui yu owner ambi tions, he decides to move into nwnnnp. 0io.ro (Austria). To become a more effective M-.---3k-i, U- L; did Hitler) hires an actor to coach hi'" U;'s h;;r,-1 -iw i mynier persons who know too nu.:h, ond ?;'.-! Hi ,p. speeches decries such crime in the i-t.ccts :;r,ci p-or.ics to provide "protection." A v.'U-n'n'ver IC riru-ni't) victim of a gangster-set ; oh.': i'-,r, c.i.-.vs tor I'f'p; Gibola (Goebbels) come c'.'i, 'u-;ks iv-' :r, the sioniach, and says that she is 'discmsting" cid that she gives him the "bwljie-ieeb'es ' 1 "' P '' h-T.t instance is about Hitier, of ccui-i', ix! : ,.-.t and those who created the present ;;;ou;jc' on, : - .!;! a ,iio-.ider reference to any .rc.npt. vl ;,., w y tyi.i". Ui in defense of the cot rur.i po!i':ci.ii' Uogsboi ouyh, notes his honest look, Uco, and csks ' Is this the face that could rwvu luu.iched a thousand dirty tricks?" The gangs!.. Gin i..owci to ths viewer not only like the he,,on(.c' Ui; ine out also like the historical John !v I chm.-:.n. U ' o' ; denounces "Jews and b!:yc:i:,ti." Piano recital At the end of the play Donald Johnson, who plays Ui, comes forward, now without his mustache, and tells the audience that it should learn to "see the horror in the heart of farce," and wains "Don't yet rejoice in his defeat, you men! Although the world stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." The performance of everyone in the large cast set a high standard; no one was noticeably weak. Roger Johnson in the title role was especially fine; he underwent a transformation from a down-at-the-heels gangster at the beginning to a sometimes powerful demagogue in the latter part of the piay. His main sidekicks, Ernesto Roma (Roehm) (George Hansen), and Giuseppe Givola (Goebbels) (Donovan Diez), Emanuele Giri (Goering) (Jerry Homan), had the movements and manner of gangster down to terrifying and amusing perfection. All of the technical theatrical elements the use of slides, lighting, sets and costumes-effectively contributed to the production without being obstrusive. What brought all the elements of this complex play together and gave it direction and inspiration was the direction of William Morgan. One expects inspiration and excellence from a Morgan production. For power, for humor, for effectivenss, this production matches Morgan's finest accomplishment of recent years, the summer 1072 production of House of Blue Leaves. "Le Festin d'Esope," a piano p i e c e by Charles-Valentine Alkan, will be featured Tuesday in a recital by Thomas Frit, UNL instructor of piano. This piece is a series of variations representing different animals from Aesop's fables, such as barking dogs and bunting horns, 8 p.m. in Kimball Recital Hall. roiK singer esaer Monday-October 15 9:00 P.M. PEP RALLY and SNAKE DANCE (Introduce candidates) Burr-Fedde Hall East Campus Tucf day-October 16 All DAY OFFICIAL GO BIG RED DAY '.Everyone wear red.) Cather-Pound. Wednesday-October 17 9:00-12:00 P. M. Flicks (MOVIES) to per . ?HF -"" v yv"' - n ! - y i By Diane Wawek "Some songs nmiy help tropic ior(,..:t tlwi; troubles. Other songs help popie w k W : us; d their tioiiokis. A few songs in spin- people to do w)if,et!'ww ;Wo;:t t!-tr t'Oi.bles." Pete ')(. jc i . " T:v. !-,, cmpiecti Folksingcr" Ine I cm i or.fi ol Pete Sceij , brt,;.: : -i to UNL Tuesday. ii the Sheldon Thursday-October 18 9:00-12:00 P.M. Polka Dance Engineering Parking Lot (if weather permits) Abel-Snndoz Friday-October-19 9:00-12:00 P.M. Big Al and the Hi-fis Concert -uuncu SI. 50 Union Ballroom. Yell Like Hell Pep Rally-6:00 p.m. R street side of Union. The li'ipMukuy folk vnew w H Sculpture Gordons at noon. The fofklotists of the ... ;briy;nai catalysts to Seeder's interest in foi- ciur,- ., but it wa", his father, in par ticular, who cpuiked pis entli wi j--.rn. In 1S35, at the aye of 1G, S-'eg,-, .ccoe:;.variit.'d his father, a musicologist at Juiih. id School of Mu ;.c in New York City, on a field trip to North Carolina to rp.-ir loca! folK music. "At the Asnciile :,iU;.i,r d -:: end hallat! fu .lival, I fell in love with the old foshio-.'.-i bv-'d- mi-.o, tippling out a rhythm 10 one- iasr manna, soein ;r.i.;l...i -....Compared to the trivialities of the pop dai so-.g-, n y biothi.is und I formerly hatmonied, the word-; of t!....y t;yp I km) a:l the meat of human life in thi:m. "('!):: ..-i t... n pb.yin.j tenor banjo ir the school jjV banrl prior io 'f'.i "They sang of h'ti-',. o.i:!,,,.,, n...m-. fools. They weren'i a ft an' of !.:(! endai 'j.is tii't.'.vi .;. i giiiijiy or cute. They weren't oin of .b-.i.; ti.rr-. ir;te.. , j.e.t senlimental Above all, l;ey " .-. I t: ..; . , s' w:!. :f: ;i ..-',: iion-'.t." -Ol'' linger Vioc!- C.'l'.'i..- 1-1 ; t leei U,on: VJH i ever more of tbrs I l ;,'l v .--.t of ;.-i lt-.dv..i- "!.te you ough' to see what a big count. it is." Thus began a life of hitenhiking e.nd hopping freights acrosi America. The first train ha ever hitched a ride on was bound for Lincoln. "When we f nail puii 'd in. . ,,.; my bji-ju jumping off. IncAperience. The, put me in ,.i I; .;, , 1 1 t only way I had to make a living," l e ..mi. "I hocked .i wn..'. ran eta I had t a ',:-. dollar guitar and started ph.yinr, in viiooi'-.. bi l.i-':; n'.r:, I v a, -iole to get the cairuja o.il of hoc'' and con' .. . .. "..,?( epluiing one new city after auorh.;r' )-,. 5t!;,j In 1941, he arrived in New Yen. !-!,; met Lee Hays, with whom he and Mill Lernpill sorted '.he Almanac Singers, a group which recorded peace and union songs. "In if,.. 30s many ot us hv. f.t if..; folk music icvival would come Urn;-' tali tin' ;r vli- u. ,Jn move-menr," S'-i-tjer said. "We couldn't mm. beer-, mote w; ong It came tin ough the c.tmpr and .'.i ei;es. liut .t cum- ,.iyw-,y. It was a logical development of pop move." fete S'ie-jc-r aiiributes the popularity of folk music in the Wl" 1 v.- --:. TIK t inith'Hiiliialiar ii i.'uri.nji'i. Folk singer Pete Seeger early 60s to five things: the desire by Americans since World War II to rediscover their roots, a general increase in do-it-yourself activities that included playing the guitar LP records making it possible to hear folk music, being far a'way enough from our past to be able to pick and choose the good folk music from the bad and, maybe the most important reason, it enabled young Americans to make social comments. In addition to work in the antiwar movement he has' Ix-come interested in conservation and ecology during recent years and now is working with the Hudson River Sloop Group a New York-based conservation organization. Sceger's visit is sponsored by the Nebraska Union Concert Committee. In the event of tain, the concert will move from the sculpture Gardens to the Nebraska Union Ballroom or Centennial Room. Admission is free. horeign series offers 1958 Bergman film ne, ,v! k s i on i. r !:, '.iu.. .(I,..,..,. ;. i .. bergman . ,.. M.njich.ti ( fwqman ceitamiy is one of the most d'scu:,scd, y d p.j-.Mbly i analyzed, film directors of the past ?0 years, but a few wouls 0r. him still are in order, Ceicm-.n, wt, m o-.d-n e; 101 H, had a dec-ply religious upbringing as the son o! a Lutheran p e tor. It is U.'cause of his life-long wrangling with theological thought that so many of he; films, especially those- of the 00, deal with religious 'hemes, conflict', between H- sow! and flesh, and man's que-, r huh rig ol ii,,. existence and influence of a god. Unkno ,n to maiiy, Iji.-njma'i ji-.o has Ixm-h prolific in the oWf'disb the,,;,.' i;,.fi on rauio ,yid 'a-li'visiou. He at tended the University of 'it.. Miotm, wbei... ,(. fusi iT.t.ai.d Ihe theater. (i.oly r-ubtuskn He directed his first film, Crises, in 1945 and since then has directed 33 other features. The Magician was the last film he made In the 60s and continues the themes found in Smiles of a Summer Niqht The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. These were made during the years prior to The Magician and were the films that rocketed him to wotld prominence The Magician is the story "of a traveling m tio ,n(J mesrrierrst during the middle 1800, I, deals with sexual and spiritual antics, human foibles and a man's search to make contact with the dark powers. It stars Max Von Sydow, Gunru, njornstrand, Ingrid rhulrn and Btl, Anderson, all of whom were employe extensively by Bergman throughout his caieet. monday, October 15, 1973 f'j'.' o