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English Ambassador - The sight is
dismal;
And our affair: from England come
too late:
The ears are senseless that should
give us hearing, .
To tell him his commandment is
fullfiil'd,
That Rosencmntz and Guidenstern
are dead.
-Hamlet Act V, Scene II
Contemporary British playwright
Tom Stoppard has taken the
characters of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern from Shakespeare's
Hamlet and explored them carefully In
the three act absurdist- comedy
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead.
University Theater . will present
Rosencrantz as the last play in the
theater's 1973-74 season. It opens
Friday. V
Director William R. Morgan
characterizes the play as "showing us
the Hamlet myth from a worm's eye
view."
Doug Brissey (left) and George Hansen star in the University
Theater production, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
r
Rosencrantz (George Hansen) and
Guildenstern (Doug Brissey) are
summoned to the court of Claudius,
the king of Denmark.
Knowing only that they are to
discern why Hamlet, the Danish
prince, is melancholy, they proceed to
Elsinore, the king's castie. Continually
they ponder what their function at
Elsinore is to be and exactly what they
are expected to do for the king.
Claudius, as well as everyone else in
the court, finds it difficult to
distinguish which is Rosencrantz and
which is Guildenstern. Their identities
are fused and their individuality lost.
The set is a castle chamber with
random columns and maze-like
entrances. People come and go in a
most unpredictable fashion,
heightening Rosencrantz's and
Guildenstem's confusion.
They are eventually dispatched to
England with Hamlet. They carry with
them a sealed document commanding
Hamlet's death on his arrival in
England. Although Hamlet is their
close friend, they decide to fulfill their
duty to the king. After all, they
reason, they are just "little people and
they cannot possibly understand the
motivation and purpose of a king.
Pirates attack, abducting Hamlet,
and leaving Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern with a document that
now has been altered, by Hamlet, to
call for their deaths instead of his.
Their confusion is never resolved, as
Guildenstern reveals: "To be told so
little .... to such an end-and
still finally to. be denied an
explanation."
The last scene is the finale of
Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which all but
Horatio eventually are killed.
According to Morgan, the play
speaks to the condition of modern
man. Men today have the appearances
of purpose and identity: they are well
educated, affluent, familiar with the
arts.
Yet, ultimately, they are just
ignorant pawns in a larger game. They
are helpless when they "get caught up
in the wheels of great people," Morgan
, said.
The tone of Rosencrantz is the
biting and dismal humor often found
in absurfist drama, Morgan said.
"It speaks wittily, in an urbane
fashion, about the 'organization man'
and how he is played on by the
establishment," Morgan said.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead was written and first produced in
1967. Overwhelming critical acclaim
both in London and New York has
given Stoppard a prestigious position
in contemporary theater.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead will run April 26, 27, 29, 30 and
May 1-4. Curtain time is 8 p.m.
Tickets, (regular $2.50, students $2)
are available at the University Theater
box office.
British
Goon p os&r' s -
- 1 1 bns rtJ tB our
work now
in stereo
Reviews by Diane Wanek
Sea Drift and A Song of the High Hills, by Frederick Delius
Two stereo firsts are presented here of music by Briton
Frederick Delius, which Sir Thomas Beecham helped to
popularize. Surprisingly, not until the current revival of
pnqucts.jcyi jji is, release), nave tney oeen rerecoruea wan nQ it s an-
the sonic advantage tnat only stereo can give to tne, msn . ana wan v
thgj ly
vantage that only stereo can give
scoring of this unique English impressionist.
"Sea Drift" sets to. melancholy sea sounds Walt
Whitman's poignant poem of despair for a lost love. "Song
of the High Hills" is an incomparable evocation of scenic
beauty.
Angel also plans to release next month Delius' opera
"Koanga," which should be a good one, too. So keep your
eyes open.
Song for Juli, by Jesse Colin Young
We've heard it all before, but it's not so bad listening to
it again. Young's group contributes nothing new musically,
but they are good, solid musicians.
The solo work is probably the album's best feature,
especially Jim Rothermel's soprano sax solo on
"Ridgetop."
The harmonica player, named "Earthquake," is almost
that. He's great, reminiscent of the style of Toots
enjoyable album, with a little jazz in the blues,
torth the listening. j
and wal
Concertos by Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, Jascha Heifetz
Many music lovers who grew up in the 78 r.p.rn. era
learned these great concertos from their fragile Victor
Masterworks albums: Sibelius' Concerto in D Minor, Opus
47 and Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D, Opus 35. They all
were released in the mid-'30s.
Seraphim has just transferred them to this album, not
only because they have been long-neglected performances,
but also to reveal to a new generation the art of one of the
century's greatest violinists.
Heifetz has gained status as a legend for his breathtaking
technical assurance and readily-conveyed musical feeling.
arshall Tucker Band, others
draw on country, blues roots
The last several years, rock music has been
almost nondirectional, with thousands of new
acts and even old successful acts merely
treading water trying to get into or stay in the
mainstream. They grasp at straws-outrageous
make-up and clothes, acrobatics on stage,
etc.-avoiding the fact that they're purportedly
trying to be music makers. They fail to make
the grade.
Not that there hasn't been some fine stuff
coming down in the last few years. Au
contraire. One of the most encouraging
developments has been the rise of fine new
white Southern rock oanas. I he Aiiman
Brother? led the way for such groups as Wet
Willie, Little Feat, Hydra, and, not least of all,
diane wane
v.
the Marshall Tucker Band.
The Marshall Tucker Band, one of the best
of this genre, will perform for Lincoln
audiences Saturday at Pershing Auditorium,
Those who hava heard its albums will realize
the quality of this group, who had its debut on
Capricorn records last summer. !t music is
honest and driving, full of blues and gospel es
well as country flavoring, but so full of ideas
that they never have to rely on such space
page 8
fillers as slow blues jams.
Toy Caldwell is the lead guitarist and
composer of most of the band's material, and
he plays and writes with distinction. Doug
Gray, lead vocalist, sings convincingly-gritty
but not strained, driving but subtle. Paul Riddle
on drums and Tommy Caldwell on bass are
inventive forces behind the band's force.
This is a band that's more than promising;
with its first album they were doss to the tame
league as the Allman Brothers. Try to catch
them this weekend. Tickets are available at the
usual ticket outlets.
m
Pershing Auditorium has also announced
that this week opens the Lincoln Community
Concerts series campaign. This next year's
concert line-up is impressive: George Shearing
Quintet, the New Christy Minstrels, Carnival de
Mexico, James McCracken and Sandra Warfieid,
and the Spanish Radio-TV Symphony
Orchestra of Madrid.
The Community Concerts Assoc. is a
nonprofit operation; el! money collected si
dues is tpent on. the concerts and associated
expenses. Admission to the concerts Is by
membership only and no single admissions are
sold. Season memberships are good for all of
the concerts and cost $12 for adults, $6 for
students, and $30 for families. Try to get your
membership soon; the campaign closes May A.
Tickets may be purchased at Pershing
Auditorium today through May 4 from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. More information is available by
phoning 435-601 6 or 433-1515.
daily nebraskan
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Pianist George Shearing will be ore of several
performers in the Lincoln Community Concerts,
Wednesday, apri I 24, 1974