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ByLjZAHoLra^^^lJ!
Senior Reporter
JDon’t be surprised# Shakespeare’s
\e$ and swom-off lovers dance the
a today.
The Sweet Smoke of Rhetoric Tour
: m. a touring company from
t pBsJTt^nburg, Va. - will present con
3ehlpsorary takes on Shakespeare’s
I Labor’s Lost” and • *?a
ft E ystimmer Night’s Dream.” The
I Fj Bws respectively begin at 3:30 p.m.
■ B*SP ^ Pm- today *n Kimball Recital
■ V- *jSke trouPe Performs with condi -
■ ; hons similar to those of Shakespeare’s
B dafvSets are minimal, actors play more
B than one character, and the players use
B thesame lighting as the audience.
IB However, contemporary costumes
| I and music - like the Macarena - give
the plays an updated feel.
H Three lords a-weeping
■ B ^Love’s Labor’s Lost” begins with
||B King Ferdinand and three of his lords
B vowing to swear off the company of
HH women for three years. Soon, the men
PSBall forsake their oath and find them
; . Bjelves lost *n love. stlow concen
■ ■Tritel on the foibles of young and old
|i|Bcourt and country.;;
( “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
^^Sells the misfortunes of lovers Hermia
i ind Lysander, who flee to the forest to
; ^ death sentence imposed by
nyy^jttmias father. They soon find them
m ’: i * *
between die fairy cjueen and king*
Stephen Buhler, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor
of English, first invited the troupe to
Lincoln four years ago. He saw the
players perform at Folger’s
Shakespeare Library in Washington,
D.C., and then was enamored by their
approach to Shakespeare.
“They trust Shakespeare’s lan
guage, and they trust Shakespeare’s
theatrical knoWledge,” TBuhier
explained. “Shakespeare knew how to
work and create a theatrical experi
ence.”
Third time’s a charm
Today will mark the troupe’s third
appearance at UNL. Four years ago, it
performed “Much Ado About
Nothing” at the Wick Alumni Center.
The group’s second appearance, two
years ago, included “Hamlet” and “The
Tempest” in the Temple Building’s
Studio Theatre.
Buhler said Lincoln audiences
readily accepted the troupe because of
its contemporary acting style and ref
erences to 20*** century popular culture.
“(The group's style) breaks through
a lot of the encrusted traditions,”
Buhler said. “I’ve never seen an audi
ence respond so genuinely to verbal
humor.” ■
Shenandoah Shakespeare Express,
the.touring group’s parent organiza
tion, was founded in 1988 by Ralph
Cohen, a James Madison University
English professor, and Jim Warren, a
' ' < 3
around the United States, at
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in
London , in Scotland, Paris, Germany
and Canada* The group holds auditions
in three different cities each year, audi
tioning 250 professional actors and '
theater graduates and patrons for the
23 member slots.
“We still believe Shakespeare is
relevant today,” said Adam
Schrecengost, marketing director for
the company. “We try to do it in his
spirit. We rely on the talent and kinetic
energy of the performers and the imag
ination of the audience.”
Schrecengost said the performance
of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” combines
of these elements.
“People overlook this plav.” he
said. “It has drama and love,
language has a lot of strong w
Admission to the perfor
followed by a discussion wit!
and the actors, is free. , *
’^flP^ - . . Joshua Gilun and Aaron Steckelberg/DN v m
‘Les Miserables’ lives up to its world-renowned name
-n ;t)ut - , ‘ A *'
: r»ru.
By Lane Hickenbottom '
Theater Critic
Simply brilliant!
During Cameron Mackintosh’s
presentation of “Les Miserables”
Tuesday night at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts, the acting company
justified its self-proclamation of “the
world’s most popular musical.”
The Lied Center certainly went out
of its way to give Lincoln “Les
Miserables” for a week. I doubt even
Garth Brooks could fill the Lied
Center for eight performances. But the
week is sold out and for good reason.
“Les Miserables” is a story ol
love, honor and a dream that the blue
sky will be a brighter tomorrow.
The musical is full of compassion
and full of tears. And those tears were
let loose Tuesday when the audience
was drawn into Jean Valjean’s life.
Valjean, the main character playedby
Gregory Calvin Stone, is an ex-con
vict who served 19 years on a French
chain gang for the petty crime-of
stealing “only a mouthful” of bread.
After getting out, he is inspired by
a bishop from whom he stole silver to
change his life for the better. After
breaking parole, changing his name,
buying a factory and becoming
mayor, Valjean comes across one of
his employees. Fantine, played by
Lisa Capps, has sold not only her hair,
but other parts and functions of her
body to pay for medicine for her ille
gitimate daughter, Cosette.
Fantine is about to be arrested,
and Valjean, finding compassion for
her cause, demands that she be taken
to a hospital, not to court. Valjean
later taws to Fantine that he will look
after hef beloved Cosette.
Yaljeamfinds the young Cosette
with the Thfcnardiers, who took care
of her with less than honest concern.
“Les Miserables” really takes off here
-(as if it were ever grounded) as Stone
and Danielle Raniere, who plays the
young girl, meet for the first time and
fall into a special familial love. The
audience had no choice at this point
but to fall in love with the sweet,
abused Cosette,
There is no room and no point in
trying to spew out the whole plot, but
the musical rolls on with power as
Valjean is forced to hide in the shad
ows from the police, all the while
raising Cosette as he had vowed.
Victor Hugo’s amazing story
..explores not only this love but also
the story of revolutionaries, life-long
promises and romance. This intro
duces the instant love between
Cosette an larius, a young man
played by Rich Affannato, who ends
up nearly dying for a better tomorrow.
Valjean saves his life almost as a gift
to Cosette so she can experience love.
Great acting made the characters
believable. An amazing rotating stage
hill of elaborate sets and great light
effects added to the mystique of “Les
Miserables.” And the often-forgotten
orchestra provided a beautiful yet
powerful platform.
Unfortunately for anybody with
out tickets, all remaining shows are
sold out. If you get the chance, “Les
Miserables” is worth the money.
There is no better way to get a taste of
Broadway without leaving campus.