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Daily Nebraskan
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By Charles Lieurance
Senior Reporter
Texans are built in the image of
their state. They speak of things
larger than life. They think in
acres and gallons where lesser beings
might think of walking a block or
drinking a cup. They are in constant
battles for significance in their sprawl
ing geography.
They are exaggerated maps inside
and out.
The inhabitants of Maynard, Texas,
we meet in James McLure's companion
plays "Lone Star" and "Laundry and
Bourbon" have developed inside them
selves a landscape as vivid, distorted
and emotionally varied as the landscape
of heat mirages, oil wells and sluggish
armadillos they were born into.
The Nebraska Directors Theatre will
perform the two one-act plays Saturday,
Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m. in St.
Mark's on the Campus Episcopal Church.
All sides
"We tried to get to all sides of the
characters involved dark sides, light
sides, humor, tragedy," said the plays'
director, Scott Tomhave, a bachelor of
fine arts candidate in the UNL theater
department.
The play "Lone Star" deals with two
men, Roy and his brother Ray, as they
reveal themselves to one another while
consuming a case of beer. The feeling is
pure Sam Shepard (two men suffering
finally through some sort of meaningful
communication after a lifetime of mas
culine posturing) but with more humor
and evident camaraderie.
Roy is a Vietnam veteran whose
Warren Fine and
P
oetiy, drama at
By Stew Magnuson
Senior Reporter
Something different will be on The
Zoo Bar stage this Sunday night. Instead
of a loud rock Y roll or blues band, the
Poetry Preview
stage will be occupied by poets, folk
singers and actors.
"Warren Fine and Friends" was a
semiannual Palm Sunday tradition in
Amnesty International to host film;
Costa Garvas ' 'Z' at Bessey Hall
Today and Saturday the classic film
"Z" will be shown in the Bessey Hall
Auditorium as a benefit for Lincoln
based Amnesty International Adoption
Group No. 173. Showings on each even
ing begin at 7 and 9:15 p.m.
Amnesty International, the human
rights organization based in London
and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize,
works to free prisoners of conscience
worldwide and also works against tor
ture and capital punishment. Lincoln's
Al Group No. 173 is its local affiliate.
"Z" was one of the earliest films
made by the well-known European film
maker Costa Garvas, who also made
"State of Siege." Set in Greece, inci
dents in the film are based on the his
torical assasination of a well-known
leftist Greek politician (played by Yves
Montand) in Salonika in the early
1960s. It looks for a while as though the
right-wing thugs who carried out the
killing will get away with it. But then a
dedicated, young, and apolitical pro
secutor appears on the scene.
Nelson Potter, a spokesman for the
group, said, "because of its undimin
ished appeal, "Z," which was also the
first film shown in a Lincoln AI benefit
drunken tale rambles through subjects
as varied a war, cars and women, the
conversational staples of male bonding
rituals.
But these are Texans, and although
the conversation might cover the same
subjects in any state, these two charac
ters have the Texan's gift of exaggeration
and wordplay.
The setting for this piece is sparse.
Roy and Ray sit behind Maynard's bar.
There's a park bench, an old couch and
some spare tires. The stage setting
puts a tremendous amount of impor
tance on how the characters react to
one another.
Theater Preview
"Actually it's a lot less confusing
than working with a cast of seven or
more," said Bruce Tinker, who plays
Ray in "Lone Star." "What's nice is that
you can focus on one another and you
really start to develop a close relation
ship." No ham here
Although the play takes place in
deep Texas, the cast has avoided ham
ming up the accents and dialect.
"We've kind of stayed away from a
strong Texas drawl," Tinker said. "The
play itself is written with enough re
gional flavor that we didn't have to give
the characters affected accents and a
dialect we didn't even understand."
Tomhaven had seen a production of
"Lone Star" in the area before but he
always wanted to perform its "sister"
play along with it. "Laundry and Bour-
Friends '
the late 70s and early '80s at the Zoo.
Now it's returning under the title "Born
Again."
"The show is just a little more
evidence that poetry isn't just for the
classroom," said Warren Fine, the host
and an associate professor of English at
UNL.
The show is a forum for literature
intented for a more general audience.
Not only does the show bring out the
crowds that usually attend poetry read
ings, but lots of people came in "off the
street," he said.
around eight years ago, is being brought
back for this special showing. We like
the fact that it deals with some of the
same human-rights issues AI is con
cerned with. In spite of its excellence
there have not been many opportuni
ties to see the film since its first
release. It is seldom on TV and is not
yet available in a reasonably priced
videocassette, for example."
Tickets will be $3.75 for the film
alone. Benefit tickets for $10 will include
attendance at a reception in the hal
lway outside the Bessey Hall Audito
rium. The reception will be from 8:30 to
10 p.m. so that people attending the
9:15 showing can attend the reception
before seeing the film, and those
attending a 7 p.m. showing can attend
afterwards. A $5 benefit ticket includ
ing the reception will be available for
students and senior citizens.
Refreshments will be served at the
reception, AI literature will be availa
ble, and local AI members will be pres
ent. Tickets will be available in advance
from AI members or at the door.
As part of the recent renovation of
Bessey Hall, its auditorium, in the cen
ter of the south side of the building and
bon" is the distaff side of "Lone Star."
Three women involved in failed or
failing marriages gather on a sultry
Texas afternoon to exchange tales of
marital malaise and gossip. One of the
women, Elizabeth (played by Jill Ander
son), is Roy's wife, and her feelings add
a biting counterpoint to Roy's rambling
monologues in "Lone Star."
Hatti (Jenny Barron) and Amy Lee
(Betty Colbert) round out the discon
tented trio.
Common ground
McLure's plays alternate naturally
and seamlessly between tragedy and
the humor people build up to defend
against tragedy. They capture one
moment when the thick skins of these
Maynard residents is pierced by shared
experience. For once, the endless
horizon of Texas allows for some com
mon ground.
'We tried to get all
sides of the char
acters involved
dark sides, light
sides, humor,
tragedy.'
Tomhave
Tomhaven has directed two other
plays for the Directors Theatre, "The
Same Old Story" and "Yanks Three,
Detroit Nothing, Top of the Seventh."
Admissions for the general
public is $4, $3 for students and
senior citizens. For reservations
call 4721610.
Zoo Bar
Featured poets this Sunday include
Sally Herrin; Marcia Southwick, an
instructor at UNL who recently pub
lished a book of verse; and William
Kloefkorn, Nebraska poet laureate.
A play also will be performed, "The
Assumption of Christopher Columbus,"
written by Fine and directed by D.
Chapelle. John Walker, folk singer and
professor of philosophy at Nebraska
Wesleyan, will provide music between
readings.
The show lasts from 7:30 to 10:30
p.m. Sunday, and cover is $2.
entered from the ground floor, has been
equipped with an isolation booth for
high-quality showing of films. UNL film
studies classes now view films there. It
seats just under 200 people.
Each local AI chapter "adopts" one
or more "prisoners of conscience."
Recently AI No. 173 had assigned to it a
prisoner from the Soviet Union, Vla
dimir Mesodievich Vlasenko. Vlasenko,
a Baptist, was arrested in 1982 and
charged with violation of a number of
Soviet laws. AI, upon investigation, has
concluded that Vlasenko should be
classified as a "prisoner of conscience,"
that is, one who is imprisoned on
account of his beliefs, his peaceful pol
itical activity, or his race or religion,
who has not used or advocated vio
lence. The local group will work in a
variety of ways to bring about Vlasen
ko's release, including writing letters
to Soviet leaders expressing concern
about his present detention.
For more information about either
the film or the AI local chapter, contact
Jacqueline Crocker, chapter coordina
tor (464-5687), or Nelson Potter (477
5841 or 472-2428).
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Tenas blues at Soo
By Stew Mzsnucon
Senior Rsporter '
Grcr.r.y Award-winning Johnny
CcpeJzr.d v.i'l brir.g his cool Texas
blues style to the Zoo Bar Saturday
niht for two big ssts.
Concert Preview
Copeland recently shared "Best
Blues Album of the Year," honors
with Robert Cray and Albert Collins
for AUfcitor's "Showdown" LP,
Months before Paul Simon's fam
ous recordings in South Africa for
the "Graceland" album, Ccpehnd
went back to Africa to record the
historic "Erir.ir.3 It All tzck here"
Entertainment Shorts
O "Celebration Adornments," an
exhibition of wearable art by Robert
Hillestad, will be shown at the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery from Tuesday
through May 24. The series of celebra
tion coats can be perceived as both
garments and pliable sculpture. Hilles
tad uses a variety of techniques,
including knitting, painting and knot
ting fabrics and yarns to create elabo
rately textured, high-relief surfaces.
The colorful, sculptural forms allude to
ritual and mystery as much as they
complement contemporary fashion.
Hillestad is a professor in the UNL
department of textiles, clothing and
design in the College of Home Eco
nomics. There will be a reception for the
artist on April 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at
the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. The
public is welcome.
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery is
open Tuesday through Saturday from
noon to 5 p.m., Sunday from 2 to 9 p.m.,
and Thursday through Saturday even
ings from 7 to 9 p.m. For further infor
mation, call 472-2461.
0 A newly formed drama group,
dedicated to bringing forth relevant
social issues is staging a Russian clas
sic, "The Lower Depths," by Maxim
Gorki, as a benefit for the homeless.
Ccpslnd T,'r.t to the Ivcry Coast
to record v.ith ASkzzi musicians. It
was the first time any blues artist
had recorded in Africa with tradi
tional African artists.
Copeland beson pkyir.g the blues
more than 30 years ap, helping to
define and the Texas blues
sound, paving the way for such
renowned acts as Stevie Eay Vaughn,
Johnny Winter and the Fabulous
Thunder Birds.
Eonna Johnson of the Boston
Globe says, "Backed by a spirited
band strong on horns and boogie
piano, Copeland delivers urban blues
so righteously, you'd think he
invented them."
The show starts a.v 9 p.m. and
cover is $4.
Admission is by donation. The play
will be presented by the Homeless
Theater Project in association with The
Gathering Place tonight and Saturday
at 8 p.m. on the fourth floor at the
. Haymarket Square, 808 P St.
The play brings forth many issues in
its dramatic and human portrayal of
the Russian people during 1900, when a
government did little to assist the poor.
Parallels to American's current home-.
less situation will be discussed after
the play. .
The director and 16 actors have
undergone an unconventional nine-week
rehearsal process to study the charac
ters and atmosphere of the play. Visits
to the City Mission and Salvation Army,
rehearsing in an unhealed building, '
being sent out on the streets cold and
hungry with no money, and an over
night marathon rehearsal have added
to the actors' experiental understand
ing of the play.
Donations and advertising contribu
tions are tax deductible.
"The Lower Depths," written by
Maxim Gorki, was first presented by
the Moscow Art Theatre in 1902 to
resounding public acclaim and intense
critical debate over the moral ques
tions raised by the play. It has become
a classic in Russian drama.
