The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 3, 1987 Page: 15 of 24
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THRESHER Fine Arts Friday, April 3, 1987 H
Decline of the WASP subject of The Middle Ages at the Alley
The Middle Ages
Alley Theater
If you go to the Alley's latest
production on the Arena Stage
expecting another version of
Canterbury Tales or monks
chanting plainsong, you're either
going to be surprised or
disappointed to find this a
thoroughly contemporary play
based loosely on the decline of the
social status of the WASP. Albert
R. Gurney, Jr. writes about
WASPS and their fall from the
controlling position in society to
that of just another ethnic group.
The Middle Ages centers itself
around WASP-y Barney, who
struggles to find himself in the
world with this sort of
background.
Barney (Joe Barrett) is an
irrepressible product of a strict
WASP upbringing. You're never
sure exactly what motivates him
(hormones, perhaps?) but
whatever it is, it motivates him
against the mores of his father and
descendants, making for hilarity
on the stage.
The whole play is set in the
trophy room of the men's club of
which Barney can't be disowned;
he was born into it. The room is
full of treasures of his ancestors'
past. Guns, a moose head, and
animal skins represent the glory of
what was. To his father's disdain,
Barney finds this all kind of silly.
The play opens on the funeral of
Barney's father. We are introduced
to the character of Eleanor. Then a
flashback takes us to the forties,
when Barney was sixteen and just
starting to embarrass his father in
big ways. Eleanor is the new girl in
town. Barney would rather go to
movies and see Robin Hood than
go to Christmas parties at which
his brother Billy plays the piano
and the perfect son.
The transitions in this play are
subtle and show the great degree of
mastery the playwright has over
his play and time, and the mastery
of the director, James Martin. The
forties melt into the fifties. Barney
goes from frisky sixteen-year-old
to college dropout, while Eleanor
goes from shy newcomer to
member of the crowd.
Eleanor later marries Billy, and
Barney fails to come to her rescue
by not sweeping his Maid Marion
off her feet. Next time we see
Barney he's studying the Middle
Ages at Berkeley and Eleanor's the
mother of three.
Superb acting from all members
of the cast propels this romantic
comedy throughout the perform-
ance. Robert Graham as Charles,
Barney's father, ages gracefully in
demeanor throughout the play.
Lillian Evans as Myra constantly
adds her punctuations of
disapproval of Barney but always
remains a sympathetic character
who seems to want the best for her
daughter, Eleanor, and the best
isn't Barney but Billy, the brother
we never see. Eleanor also
performs well in transformation
from young woman to adult.
In ways, this is a rite of passage
story. All through his life Barney
seeks attention either through
clumsy seduction scenes that seem
doomed from the beginning or by
bringing his black and Jewish
friends from Berkeley to swim
nude in the club pool after the trip
from California.
The play ends where it began,
back at Barney's father's funeral,
where the predictable end of the
story takes place after traipsing
through Barney's and Eleanor's
meetings throughout the last three
or four decades.
If you don't see another play at
the Alley, you should go see this
one. This romantic comedy is a
laugh a minute, and it's not just
fluff — there's some serious
sociological commentary going on
here. The Middle Ages will be at
the Alley until April 26.
-Maribelh Clark
Brown and Will Rice join forces for musical
Musical Chairs
Brown and Will Rice College
Brown and Will Rice colleges
will present performances of Barry
Berg, Ken Donnally, and Tom
Savage's Musical Chairs this week.
The musical comedy depicts the
humorous relationships that
develop among members of an
audience watching an off-
Broadway show.
The principle action revolves
around playwrite Joe Preston
(David Schutz) and movie star
Valerie Brooks (Alison Lind-
blade),Preston's ex-wife. This
ensemble piece also spreads its
drama and humor among a night
club singer, a socialite, her
reluctant husband, a young couple
with marital problems, a young
man whose girl friend never comes,
two old ladies, and three critics.
Co-producer Keith Kemper
finds that each character comes
across as " very funny" despite the
small amount of time in which he
has to present himself. "He (Berg)
did a good job of creating fifteen
distinct personalities in a short
amount of time," says Kemper.
The staging of the musical is
unusual: a fictional audience faces
the real audience, and each
watches its own play. But Kemper
says the setting has no intentional
aesthetic meaning: "One (area) is a
preforming space and the other
(area) is a human space."No more,
no less.
Han Vogel conducts the
musical's six piece orchestra of two
reeds, guitar, bass, piano, and
drums. Vaudeville tunes, ballards,
and up tempo numbers comprise
the standard Broadway music that
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the orchestra will provide. Vogel,
Nancy Dettbarn, Paul Orkiszew-
ske, Sidney Polk, and Beth Little
are the musicians.
Musical Chairs opens Thursday,
April 2 and will run April 3, 4, and
9 through ll. Tickets are three
dollars for all. Performances are at
8 p.m. in the Will Rice commons.
To reserve your seat for Musical
Chairs, call 661-8834 or x2307.
— Thomas Gonzales
Cast members rehearse Musical Chairs, which opened last night
Is this someone you know and love?
There are so many like them. They
are known as "real achievers."
Secretly they feel out of control. They
are unhappy. Afraid. And starving.
When they are not dieting, they go on
eating binges, and sometimes vomit.
But food is not the real issue. Unhealthy
eating habits and preoccupation with
weight are all signs of deeper emotional
problems.
If you know someone like that, call
us. Our Eating Disorders Program
can help you or someone you love
recover from a problem shared by mil-
lions. Professional care and caring pro-
fessionals are only a phone call away.
For more information, call West Oaks at
(713) 981-5510 or 778-8888.
WEST OAKS 6500 Horn wood Drive
HOSPITAL. Houston. Texas 77074
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Greene, Spencer. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 3, 1987, newspaper, April 3, 1987; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245663/m1/15/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.