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tfoorsdsy, eprll 21, 1977
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la FiaSer's 0 Jwe Step!
with just a tfsg e of black comedy.
, : " Ptota by Seott Svefaoda'
Kallos, Bill Kiric and Paula Lsr.jion set ia a pist
Review by Charlie Kris
Harold Pinter has always had a feeling
for expression. I lis plays use succinct,
. precise words carrying the barest essentials
of the story.
The rest is up to the actors. Without a
creditable cast, a Pinter play is made up of
comfortable speeches and pauses. Such is
the- case with the current UNL Studio
Theatre production of Old Times which
opened Tuesday and runs until Sunday.
To set things straight, the actors in the
show aren't bad-they just do not seem to
be up to the rhythms and cadences of juicy
Pinter dialogue.
Old Times has an interesting premise. A
mysterious visitor, Anna, invades the
complacent 20-year-old marriage of Deeley
and Kate. The visitor is the wife's old
roommate.
The resultant plot is' a finely honed
example of absurdist theatre, with just a
tinge of black comedy. The dialogue is full
of Pinter's sensual style, especially in the
lines concerning the trio's intimate
relationships such as discussion of Kate's
bathing habits, Deeley's recollection of
how he met his wife,-and Anna's stories
about the women's years, as roommates.
Each of these are punctuated in the play
with personal caresses and extreme body
language.
- ' Power struggle -
The characters end up like the movie
they keep talking about, Odd Man Out.
These three people engage in a power
struggle that goes far below the obvious
levels and come up with more questions
than they began with.
Deeley is extremely jealous of Anna
who is trying to steal away Kate's affection
and attention. He tries to pin Anna down
to old incriminating stories about her past.
At the same time, Anna brings forth an
animosity towards Deeley. Through plat
development Anna's gestures toward Kate
may be more than a search for a forgotten
friendship.
Then there's Kate. She is caught in the
middle, between the friend she lived with
20-years-ago and the man who ultimately
separated the two women.
In the true essence of Pinter writing, he
leaves subliminal clues to nag at your mind
' and test the actors' abilities. In the play it
is up to the actors to convey a certain out
side emotion and still retain an underlying
sense of sinister apprehension. ,
The cast tries hard but there is still
something lacking. Bill Kirk as Deeley
and Paula Langdon as Anna come close to
fulfilling their characters, but neither one is
complete. Stephanie Kallos as Kate has a
more complex characterization but can not
quite carry it off.
" Long silence's
With Pinter, every break in speech has a
unique flavor which colors the rest of the
dialogue. Since the Old Times cast is not
in control of every moment, the pauses be
come nothing more than periods of un
comfortable silence during which the
audience fidgets.
If some of the breaks seem a bit strain- .;
ed, the audience can use the time to study .
the technical aspects, which give silent
emphasis to the play. The strange set and
costumes (designed by Karen Brown and
Sandy Moeller) have special significance
that audience members will be able to ,
relate to the struggle on stage.
Old Times may be a bit flawed, but the
cast gives a strong attempt to master the
play. Pinter is a difficult playwright to do
well and the Studio Theatre has come up
with a fairly good production. Instead of
ruining an excellent play with a poor cast,
there is a conscientious effort to finish
with a creditable show.'
The" result is somewhat like one of
Deeley's lines, 4401d friends,
Mian. 2:xi-csrthtif misdfc'-'I miss that.
The audience must look past the dialogue's
face value and discover what psychological
motives are prompting the characters'
actions and speech in such extraordinary
ways. .
The Studio Theatre has taken on a
tough playwright's work and the con
sequences are not total perfection.
ft!
'Voyage of the DamnecK is heavy going stays in min
Itevfew by WEI Iluffrasa
On May 13, 1939, the eve of World War II, the German
ship St. Louis left Hamburg with 937 passengers-all
Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler's Third Reich.
: The ship was bound for Cuba, where the passengers
believed they would be allowed to disembark and sub
sequently make their way to the United States. However,
the Cuban government refused to allow any of the
refugees off and the ship was warned against attempting
to dock at any American harbor by the VS. government.
What the refugees couldn't know was that the entire
trip was a propaganda scheme devised by Hitler's
henchmen to prove to the world what a "problem" the
Jews were. The Nazis knew only too well that no govern
ment would readily accept the refugees since most of the
countries had more transients than they could handle.
This regretably true incident is the setting for Voyage
of the Damned (currently at the Plaza 4), a film docu
menting the journey of the St Louis and the effects of
the ordeal oh its passengers. ,
. . Kljh-powered cast .
Populated with a distinguished and high-powered cast,
Voyage is a lengthy but absorbing movie. It builds its
power through a slow accumulation of details surrounding
tlis many characters. The style is understated and sincere.
The- fact that we know the story is true makes it all the
more involving.
The direction by Stuart Rosenberg is a bit pedestrian at
tles, but the nature of the story calls for a slow and
deliberate pace. ScreensTiters Store Shagan and David
Eutlsr give the drama an urgent believability. They
mnige to capture the feelings of those 937 lives posed on
the precipice, faced with freedom or death in a concen
' tntkrn camp as the find outcome.
; The krge cast requires the actors to define their
characters vividly and quickly, and all prove more than
as Werner's wife, exudes a nsrvous charm as a woman
refusing to accept Htly what fate has in store for her.
Max Von Sydow's ship captain is one of the film's
most interesting characters-an anti-Nazi German caht
in the middle, he refuses to abandon his passengers and
risks his own family to help save themvv
The corrupt Cuban government officials are represent
ed by Orson Welles, Fernando Rey, Jose Ferrer and James
Mason, while Ben Gazarra, representative of the Jewish
League, struggles vainly with the reluctant governments.'
(Finally, Britain, France, Belguirn and Holland break
down and agree to accept the refugees, but many will
still perish as the Nazis begin to overrun Europe within a
few weeks.) -
Voyege of the Damned is heavy going most of the way.
It's certainly not the answer for anyone looking for an
evening of light entertainment. Watching the cruelly
systematic degradation of human beings and knowing it's
all true, can be a devastating depressing experience. No
wonder the film stays in your mind long after you leave"
the theatre.
The disturbing questions persist: Why did we turn the
refugees away? How can such inhumanity be justified?
Could it happen again? .
The agonized expressions on the St. Louis passengers'
faces will remain with me for a long time to come.
ccuai to tne usx.
Among the "damned" aboard the ship are Lee Grant,'
aj a wife trying to nurse her -scattered husbzni (Ssm
V'. -.i. -ker) back to reality after he has been driven to
rnrntal collapse by the harassment of the S3. Oskar
Vi'crner is a fromi-cnt doctor no lonr avowed to,
prsctive in Geriry tecsi'tthe is Jrs-ih. Faye Dunaway;
t t
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... - .-.'". Photo urteycf Ave Er--
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