Arts ^Entertainment
Friday, April 14, 1995
Page 11
Role play
makes play
a tense play #
By JoelI Strauch^
Theater Critic
Paul Ableman’s contemporary com
edy, “Green Julia,” explores power, life
and relationships.
“Green Julia” is Ableman’s first full
length play and is both delightfully simple
and artfully complex.
Jacob “Carruthers” Perew (Jeff Luby),
a young economist, and Robert
“Bradshaw” Lacey (Troy Martin), a
young plant physiologist, have been col
lege roommates for five years.
The two are graduating, and Jake is
leaving for Hong Kong or some other
exotic location. He plans a farewell party
and invites his lover, Julia, who never
makes it to the gathering.
The play revolves around the rela
tionship between the two roommates and
the acting games that they play during
their philosophical conversations.
Bob accuses Jake of extending his
manipulations of power beyond the fan
tasy characters that they revert into as
they communicate with and entertain each
other.
Jake tells Bob that he is too intro
verted and needs to lift his nose out of his
plants and pay attention to life or it will
pass him by.
Julia’s failure to arrive makes the
friends’ final evening together particu
larly tense, and they explore their differ
ing views on life and about each other.
Both ofthe actors perform well. Their
constant character changes are smooth
and believable.
Martin’s exploration of different vo
cal inflections adds to the humor of the
play, while Luby’s sometimes stoic re
sistance about playing the game and even
tual relapse into the roles shows the ca
maraderie the two have formed.
A delightful romp into the realities of
human feelings and emotion, “Green
Julia” promises an entertaining perfor
mance to be enjoyed by all.
“Green Julia” will play at the Studio
Theatre in the Temple Building today
and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2
p.m.
Tickets are $2 and available at the
door.
Jay Calderon/DN
Jonas Cohen performs during a dress rehearsal of “Our Country’s Good” Monday night in the Temple Theatre.
Convict theater stuns with sentiment
By Charles Russell
Theater Critic
From the ambiguous apostrophe of its
title, to the wonderftilly stylized curtain call,
the Department of Theater Arts and Dance’s
Thursday performance of “Our Country’s
Good” was a celebration of levels.
The play, about the first convict fleet in
Sydney, Australia, in 1788-89, uses a variety
of theatrical conventions to convey a mes
sage of hope.
The story follows a staggering number of
convicts and soldiers as they struggle to
mount a production of George Farquar’s
“The Recruiting Officer.” Second Lieuten
ant Ralph Clark (Jonas Cohen), in a rather
self-serving move, manages to get himself
assigned as director to a ragtag troupe of
convict actors.
Clark and the govemor-in-chief, Captain
Phillip (Patrick Tuttle), hope the play will
establish a sense of humanity and culture in
the convicts. They are faced with a challenge
in the person of Major Robbie Ross (Jason
T. Richards) who opposes the play, claiming
it will instill disrespect for the guards.
The stage is thus set for a comic and often
touching story extolling the virtues of the
ater. Thursday’s opening night performance
got off to a slow start that warmed into an
emotional roller coaster by the second act.
As all the actors but Cohen play at least
two parts, speak in various dialects and ne
gotiate difficult costume and set changes,
there is more than the usual amount of diffi
culty in putting together a successful produc
tion. Unfortunately, the task seemed beyond
some of the cast.
Especially early in the play, there was a
serious lack of listening going on onstage.
Each actor seemed so intent on doing his or
her own job that they forgot to pay attention
to each other.
Particularly wonderful performances were
to be had, however, in Ashley Hassler as
Dabby Bryant, Jeremy Kendall as Harry
Brewer and John Arscott, and Corky Ford as
the aboriginal Australian. All of those actors
took daring chances and made bold exciting
choices.
Director Robin McKercher created a vi
sually stunning production that fully exploited
an astounding multi-leveled set designed by
Kara E. Conrad. McKercher seemed to fo
cus a bit too much on the look of his show,
however, and rarely delved into the depths of
meaning and emotion available in the script.
The real strength of the production was in
its second act in which the acting, John
Himmelberger’s expressive lights and Kim
berly K. Traum’s imaginative costumes came
together to remind us of just how much
greatness the theater is capable.
“Our Country’s Good” will run tonight,
Saturday and April 18-22 at 8 p.m.
i
Courtesy of TriStar Pictures
Frustrated jurors try to influence Tommy Collins’ (Pauly Shore) decision in “Jury Duty.”
Movie barely better
than Court TV, O.J.
By Joel Strauch
£ilm Critic
Imagine the hilarity of a roomful
of jurors deliberating the guilt or
innocence of a serial killer.
Pretty funny, huh?
Now imagine Pauly Shore as
one of these jurors.
Sorry, it’s not really any funnier.
Shore usually stars as a lazy,
deadbeat, good-for-nothing slacker
in unusual situations.
This time Shore is a lazy, dead
beat, good-for-nothing slacker as a
murder-trial juror.
Good thing he’s not getting type
cast.
The story starts out with Tommy
Collins (Shore) trying and failing
to land a job—even as a stripper at
his uncle’s (Andrew Dice Clay)
club.
Collins then turns to jury duty
for the five bucks a day and posh
The Facts
Film: “Jury Duty”
Director: John Fortenberry
Stars: Pauly Shore, Tia
Carrere
Rating: PG-13
Grade: D
Five Words: Not guilty — of
being funny.
accommodations.
Unfortunately, his roommate at
the jurors’ hotel turns out to be his
old high school principal (Richard
Riehle).
So Collins pulls some shenani
gans and winds up in the presiden
tial suite of the hotel.
To keep his luxurious room, he
See JURY DUTY on 12