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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1973)
doilu Time-space warp to frame classic comedy 1 X The situation is preposterous; tvvo sets of identical twins who have never seen each other end up in the same town cn the same day. Of course, William Shakespeare's Coniedy of Errors is designed not to be believable, but to be funny; This week the UNL theater department wil! present the popular old play in a new way at Howell Theater. Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's earliest works. It is a manipulative play, where ridiculous and outrageous things happon regularly. 1 ie main characters are twin brothers, rxith wj.tlt! y young fellows. Having been separated at birth by a storm at sea, they have never seen each other. Incidrntally, they are both named Antipho'us. It just heppens that each Antipholus has a servant named Dromio. Naturally, the two Dromios are also identical twins. People wander in and out of the action at precisely the worst times, with wives, lifelong friends, brothers and everbedy else eventually drawn into a wild mess of mistaken identity, until things are sorted out. The main reason for the events in the play is their comic value, and the characters are manipulated to that end. "I'm enhancing the manipulative part of the script," said David Bell, director of the University production. There will be only six actual characters, Bell saia, the twins, and two women who get entangled in the proceedings. Everything else will be done by thriteen people called roustabouts, who run the play. They are manipulating gods of a sort, turning the action on and off. When a roustabout snaps his fingers, the chaiacters stop until things are arranged, and are then snapped "on" again. The roustabouts fade into the background when they want to watch, but they assume identities. Thev step in to play vanous people, donning appropriate costumes over their usual black-ad-white. The costume? are not from any historical period but are on a time wurp of their own. The designs, by Joy Mrkvicka, induda flowing rcber, in glossy colors, startling hats and big-sleeved whalsits with shiny fringe. The roustabouts will sing pieces by Liz Lewis, with lyrics by Bell. Bell said the material would also include Elvis bits. '50s numbers, vaudeville routines, burlesque and other styles. All will be backed up by a six-piece band behind the stage. The stage will bo the most uncommon part of a thoroughly unconventional production. The set design by Nancy Myers and the lighting by Jerry Lewis are based on a plan in which people come and go at points above and beside and all around the set, instead of stage level alone. The concept is one of ungrounded space. "Ungrounded space is the ability for equal expectation to be placed on all parts of the space for an entrance or an exit," Bell said. By placing entrances over the entire set, vertically as well as horizontally, the audience's view is no longer restricted to the ground. Attention is drawn to all areas of usable set space. The players will move through the complex construction in unexpected ways. People will pop out throuoh hidden doors, climb ladders, slide out retractable stairways, ride elevators from above and below and emerge from reflecting membranes like dividing amoebae. The themes of Comedy of Errors include loneliness and personal emptiness, Bell said. Nevertheless, these should become apparent only after the laughter is over, he added. "I want people to have an incredibly fun time with Shakespeare," he said. Porformances begin Friday, Dec. 7 at Howcil Theatre, 12th and R. The play will run Dec. 8, and Dec. 10-15. Reserved-seat tickets are $2 for students $2.50 for adults. For information, call 472-2073. 'Listen' reflects reactions to war v.. . Listen, the War. When a war produces good poetry, mixed emotions about that poetry naturally arise. Vietnam is no exception. Listen, the War. is a collection of 1 1 2 poems relating to the Vietnam War. The poems were written by "sons, wives, daughters, mothers, fathers or friends of men and women in Southeast Asia." The material is edited by Lt. Cols. Fred Kiley and Tony Dater, professors in the United States Air Force Academy's English and Fine Aits department. The poetry ranges from bad to extremely good, but most of the poems are serious attempts to express people's insignificance against forces they cannot understand or control. The moods of ths poems vary, from the ant i war sentiments ex pr es sepU i n " H o n iec o m i n g , " "...My fovc lost for a cause I teject A waste of a man to a conflict unreasonable to my mind, unjust in my heart." to poems such as the "Outdated Patriot" which says, "...They are all wrong. Let them laugh, until the truth turns laughter To bitter tears of wisdom painfully gained. For me, God and Country says U .ill." While these poems are not unified in their political viewpoints they are one in compassion and heartache. A few are so hauntingly beautiful, I have reread them many times. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy may write to the Association of Graduates, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado 80840. The cost is $2, Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown If your cooking skills, like mine, are limited to boiling water, or even if you consider yourself an amateur gourmet, "Tassajara Cooking" can be a toon to your otherwise cereal suppers. Ed Brown, author of The Tassajara Bread Book, was forced to do his own cooking when his roommate moved out. Living at the Zen Mountain Center, America's first Zen Buddhist monastery, Brown has combined techniques from all bruce nelson ex libra over the world. The author analyzes a wide variety of vegetables, from everyday potatoes to jcrusalem artichokes, and susgcr.t ways to cut and cook them. Foi example, there aio different ways to cook a vegetable depending on ils freshness. Hi? also explains how to care for knives, cutting boards and other kitchen utensils. All of the recipes are very nutr itional, low in sugars and t-rtj and conducive to good times in your kitchen. J Br. VSkf! t?l8txJJ Our IVople Make Vm NumberOiv Til Ml Z ' Vfl ft! It I His kind of Christmas has a diamond ring to it. .i Men's d'-jmonr) solitaire, 14 karat gold, $275 I. Wen's d'amond r.r'iMif;. 14 karat gold, $800 fU'tfjiit vr;ip at no extra chnrf" Lavaway ixnvtor Christmas. Six convenient ways to buy: ., fct.woU.'v, r.;.,i (. ?,)K.". Cu.ti)-n (,KV0fi BaAnrif'iJ fAv.VT C'.i'ii" ArnrM.. Kr l.ayrfav 159 Guicwcy 1329 "0" Strcat Side Three gets big raspberry By Bill Kohlhaae Raspberries, Side Three (Capitol SMA5 11220) Here is d polished, standard rock and roll album where nearly every cut is potential lop-forty material. If that's your kind of music,, then this is yuur album. Cut if you demand more from music, foryet Raspbonios. There is small variation here and little that stands out. Occasionally the band .'trikes a pseudo-country pose and Wa!ly Riyson's lead shows some muscle now and then. Jul neither is satisfying. It's too Iwd this album will turn out to be so popular. Protest movie screening tonight By Diane Wanek Time Magazine said, "Ramparts of City is one of the most sophisticated protest films ever made." It is that and moie. The film, produced and directed by Jean Louis Bortucelli, is a recreation of an actual incident after the liberation of Algeria in 10G2, It involves the quiet but powciful protest of one woman against the subservient role defined foi her by the ancient traditions of her village. Her own situation is embedded in and paralleled by lier people's own difficult awakening to their economic exploitation and their decision to protest it. Because of its controversial nature, the film was banned in Tunisia and Algeria, but its director and the film ilsolf have received international acclaim for its beauty and depth. The film is good not only because of its subject matter; it is a haunting and hypnotic look at one of the rno',t iniriguing cultures of those countries. It is an honest film; the characters in the story are all from the village Tehouda in Algeria with the exception of the fenutle lead, played impressivly by Lrjila Schenna. The music also is fascinating. Berber songs aie sung throughout the film, and th" chanting and hymns of the villagers are exciting and strange. Ramparts of Clay will lc screened today at 3, 7 and 9 p.m. at the Sheldon Art Gallery auditorium. Admission to the film, sponsored by the Union bpecial Films Committee, $1. J png-4 fj dully nt'bidSKan Wednesday, decembor 5, 1973