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Time-space warp to frame classic comedy
1
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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.
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t?l8txJJ Our IVople Make Vm NumberOiv
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It
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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.
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dully nt'bidSKan
Wednesday, decembor 5, 1973