Arts ©Entertainment
Thursday, October 6,1994 Page 9
Romance meets trickery in the land of Italy
Scott Bruhn/DN
Scapino (playad by Paul Stagar, a Uniyaralty of Nabraaka-Uncoln tba
atar prafaaaor) Mdas behind Ottavio (Doan Housar, a graduate student
In thoator) In ‘Scapino!' Iho play opana tonight In Hawaii Thoatro.
By Puto Lavigw
Senior Reporter
The moonlight spills over a sultry Italian
waterfront as a plate of spaghetti flies
through the air and elicits a weak “Ow!”
from an unlucky waiter.
Italy, home of romantic “amore,” spa
ghetti, spumoni, and “Scapino!” — Frank
Dunlop and Jim Dale’s romantic comedy full
of laughs and foolish trickery.
“Scapino!” — under the direction of vis
iting director Brian O’Connor — will open
the University Theatre’s 1994-95 season to
night.
“Scapino!” is the story of two young Ital
ian men who want to marry their secret
sweethearts but are afraid their fathers won’t
allow the marriages.
They want to trick their fathers into per
mitting the marriages, so they enlist the help
of a servant, Scapino, known for his cun
ning deceit. Scapino snatches the opportu
nity, and the comic chaos begins.
O’Connor, a native of New York City, said
the plot was “merely a device to hang comic
business.”
When the original script was written in
the 17th century by Moliere, it was based on
the comic scenarios and characters of the
commedia delParte, O’Connor said.
In fact, Italy and comedy always have
gone hand in hand. The Italians coined the
term for physical comic routines — lazzi —
and used it extensively in their work.
O’Connor said the play continually was
updated to fit contemporary comic and so
cial standards. He said some of the jokes
worked better if they fit modem America.
The original script contained a scene in
which Scapino imitated a Japanese male, but
O’Connor thought some people might find
that offensive. He had Scapino imitate
American movie stars instead.
Scapino is portrayed by University of
Nebraska-Lincoln theater professor Paul
Steger, who specializes in stage movement
Show: “Scapino!”
At: Howell Theatre, Temple Building
Times: 8 p.m. today, Friday, Saturday
and Tuesday through Oct. 15
Tickets: students, $6; faculty and
senior citizens, $7; and general
public, $9
I tended to think of him (my
character) as a chicken with
its head cut off
■
JONAS COHEN
graduate theater student
and combat choreography. Because the play
relies heavily on physical action, Scapino
allows Steger to use his specialties.
O’Connor said “Scapino!” was time-con
suming because every movement in the play
had to be worked out carefully. He said even
if the activity was silly, the stakes for the
characters must be high.
Steger said the physical activity made
“Scapino!” funny, but “keeping deadly seri
ous” was the only way to make the audience
laugh. This paradox means the characters
have to believe their problem is serious, even
if the actors make the situation funny.
“It’s like playing tragedy with a rubber
sword,” Steger said.
One of the best “serious” situations ex
plodes between Scapino and Geronte, one
of the fathers.
Geronte is played by graduate theater stu
dent Jonas Cohen, a native of Long Island,
N.Y. Cohen appeared in last season’s “The
Heidi Chronicles” and “Tango.”
Cohen’s character on stage emerges as a
grumpy, gray-haired miser who wields his
wooden cane with rage when he finds out
Scapino “needs” 500 lire or Geronte’s son
will be kidnapped.
“This money is so important, he’s almost
willing to let his son be kidnapped,” he said.
“He just loves being nasty to everyone.”
Cohen said Geronte never wanted to be
wrong or fooled, but he fell into Scapino’s
trickery.
“Geronte provides necessary conflict,”
Cohen said. “He feels that because he has
money, everyone should respect him.”
To Geronte, handing out money is like
ripping his heart out or losing a close rela
tive, Cohen said.
Cohen said he didn’t want to play an old
man because of the related stereotypes. He
said he practiced different walks and tried
to compare his character to an animal.
See SCAPINO on 10
History of bluegrass music
re-created in ‘High Lonesome’
By Chad Johnson
Staff Reporter
“High Lonesome" could be
words that describe the vocals of
the father of bluegrass music, Bill
Monroe. The high pitch and plain
tive sound is an amalgamation of
musical styles that have their ori
gins in cultures as diverse as the
British Isles and Africa.
The film does an outstanding
job of retelling the history of a
much-overlooked form of music
and leads the viewer along the path
of its development — from Scot
tish folk songs through its decline
with the advent of rock ‘n’ roll to
its subsequent resurgence with the
arrival of the folk movement of the
late ’60s.
Rachel Liebling does a wonder
ful job combining archival footage,
still photographs, contemporary
concert film and interviews to ere
Movie: “High Lonesome”
Rating: No Rating
Stars: Bill Monroe, Ralph
Stanley, Mac Wiseman
Director: Rachel Liebling
Grade: B+
Five Words: Effective history
of bluegrass music
ate an impressive feel for the mu
sic and the performers.
Searching for some of the clips
needed for the film became a quest
for Liebling. That quest took her
from New York to Virginia, North
Carolina and Kentucky and back
to New York again in search of a
clip of Bill Monroe performing
body and soul at tne urand uie
Opry in 1969. Her diligence payed
off; the film is much more lifelike
and tangible with the additional
footage, which draws the audience
into a far more intimate circle.
Some of the footage takes on an
ironic twist that music fans will ap
preciate. Look for Jim and Jesse
McReynolds performing “Johnny
B. Goode” in a style far different
than the duck-walking Chuck
Berry. Also catch the San Fran
cisco concert with the psychedelic
light show and flower children
enjoying bluegrass with the same
relish most believe is reserved for
The Grateful Dead.
“High Lonesome” is an effec
tive documentary that informs the
audience of the history of bluegrass
and expands the audience’s knowl
edge of the performers and their
motivations. While bluegrass is not
to everyone’s liking, preference is
not a prerequisite for enjoying this
informative and thoughtful film.
Courtesy of Tara Releasing
Blusgrass lagand Jimmy Martin Is shown slngln' and
stnammln' as a child.