The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 4, 1991 Page: 9 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1991 9
Stars and wit shine in Players' Twelfth Night
BY STAN HSUE
R
Lice Players' outstanding
production of Twelfth Night or,
What You Will, directed by Neil
Havens, supports the claim of
Shakespeare to being one of the
great comedic dramatists of the
English language. The Players'
crisp performance elicits a good
deal of humor from Shakespeare's
play, wit that seems fresh enough
that one might not expect it from
a playwright who lived centuries
ago.
Although the story is compli-
cated, the Players did a good job
in keeping the story clear and
understandable. Viola (Jeanne
Farrar) lands shipwrecked on the
coast of Illyria, thinking her
brother is dead. She disguises
herself as a young man and enters
the service of the Duke Orsino
(Eric Garland), to help him win
the hand of the Countess Olivia
(Alison Cohen). The countess,
however, falls in love with the
disguised Viola, who in turn,
becomes enamored with the
Duke.
To create more problems are
the entire household of the
Countess. Olivia's uncle, Sir
Tobias Belch (Chepe Lockett), the
maid, Maria (Sarah Mitchell), and
the servant, Fabian (David Lewis),
proceed to complicate events, and
make fools of Sir Andrew
Aguecheek (Peter Sharoff) and the
steward, Malvolio (Colin Bown).
Hovering through all of the
action is Feste, the clown (Oren
Hayon).
The play becomes one of
misunderstandings and mistaken
identities when Sebastian (Terry
Hurley), Viola's brother shows up
with his friend Antonio (David
Maas). After a series of amusing
revelations and discoveries,
Three's Company style, the play
concludes with everyone pretty
much paired off and happy (well,
almost everyone).
The most impressive aspect of
this production was the consis-
Sir Tobias Belch (Chepe Lockett) and Feste (Oren Hayon) listen as Maria (Sarah Mitchell) teases Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Peter Sharoff).
tency of fine acting. The actors
and actresses managed to make
the somewhat unfamiliar lines
accessible to the audience. They
also managed to give the play a
feeling of "Englishness"
without adopting obvious,
overwrought English accents.
Credit must go to Neil Havens
for drawing out the humor of
the situation, while never
letting the acting become too
slapstick The scenes build
quickly without dragging into
the short, hilarious final scene.
Jeanne Farrar has a rather
difficult, reversed "Tootsie" role
playing the young heroine who,
disguised as a man, falls in love
with her boss. In the first scenes I
felt she was a bit flat. I could not
understand her reasons for
dressing as a man in the first
place. However, as the play
progressed, she brought out well
the comic ironies of her situation.
Eric Garland as the Duke has a
good monologue that opens the
play. Garland's Orsino, ineffec-
tual and clueless, added to the
humor of the production.
Alison Cohen, as the dour and
melancholy Olivia plays her role
with the right balance of sourness
and sensitivity. She portrays the
Countess' falling for Viola with
pathos and believability. Terry
Hurley, whose wig looks a little
ludicrous, brings across his
confusion with good comic sense.
The one scene that bothered me
involved the reunion between
Viola and her brother, which
seemed rather stilted and
unlikely.
The real stars of the produc-
tion, however, are those that
make up the colorful household
of Olivia. Chepe Lockett as Sir
Tobias Belch seems extremely
natural playing the "drunken
rogue" who is always causing
mischief.
Peter Sharoff does a fine
comic turn as Sir Andrew
Aguecheek. His awkward
stupidity always makes its
presence on stage.
Oren Hayon is consistently
entertaining as Feste. His
extremely expressive face, and his
graceful physical acting made
him seem a natural as the clown.
His singing is also a welcome
addition to the production. As the
fool, he seemed the most clever
character of the play. His om-
nipotence is stressed in the
very last scene of the play where
he seems to direct the other
characters on and off the stage.
Special congratulations should
go to Colin Bown and Sarah
Mitchell. Colin Bown, as the
choleric, malcontented
Malvolio, was truly marvelous.
He took the part of the steward
and transformed it into a
showstopping performance of
dyspepsia through his fantastic
expression and timing. Sarah
Mitchell as the maid gained the
spotlight whenever on stage. Her
sharp, cutting delivery of lines
and stage presence was always a
joy to watch.
A silent star of the show is the
professional quality of the set,
designed by Don Russell, that
simulates the porch of an Italian
villa lined by colonades of
columns and arches. The music
added well into the spirit of the
show, and the lighting, designed
by Jason West, was effective in
setting the proper mood for the
production and shifting the
location of the action on the
stationary set.
Although the play seems
mostly aimed for entertainment,
it raises interesting issues.
Although we laugh at the
character, Malvolio, the treat-
ment of him seems unnecessarily
cruel, and the play ends before we
know his fate. The play deals
with the nature of love and
attraction. The ease with which
the Countess can transfer her
love from Viola to Sebastian
makes the audience realize the
power of pure physical attraction.
Likewise, the Duke's fickle
switch of favours from the
Countess to Viola seems rather
quick and easy. The couples at
the end of the play are in relation-
ships based on very shaky
foundations. However, the acting
is fine enough to let this stretch
seem very credible.
The Players' production is a
must for everyone, especially
those who think that
Shakespeare is tedious and
antiquated. The Players bring out
the beauty and the wit of the
lines in a way that assures me
that Shakespeare is meant to be
performed, not just read.
Twelfth Night's last perfor-
mances are this Friday and
Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. in
Hamman Hall. Call for reserva-
tions at 527-4040.
Commitments mix Motown
and Dublin for a film with soul
BY HARLAN HOWE
The Commitments
Directed by Alan Parker
I
. think that one of the best
possible movie experiences that
you can have is to have a friend
drag you to a film you would
have otherwise overlooked and to
love it.
That's what happened to me
with The Commitments. To be
honest, the premise worried me.
Dublin and Motown are a
dubious mixture.
But my fears were soon
dissolved as the humor and
energy of this movie absorbed
me. The kick-ass music and Irish
wit in combination bounced me
through the whole movie.
Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert
Arkins) is a man with a vision.
He wants to bring soul to the
Irish music scene. Dublin Soul.
"Fuckin' deadly."
So Jimmy recruits a band with
his friends, Outspan and Derek
(Glen Hansard and Ken
McCluskey). He holds auditions
in his family's house, and so
many people arrive that the
family can't get up the stairs. (I
sincerely regret that "Elvis was a
Cajun" did not make it on the
soundtrack.)
He finds the lead singer,
Deco (Andrew Strong), drunk-
enly singing at a wedding and
sees real talent in him. Deco's
voice soon becomes the
gravelly trademark of the
band, but his ego drives
everybody nuts.
Jimmy calls in a few girls
he knows to be backup singers.
Despite a horrid first rehearsal,
the "Commitment-ettes" slowly
become a well-matched and
stable sound, occasionally taking
over lead vocals.
The piano player (Michael
Aherne) is a med student who
wears glasses, which Jimmy tries
to make him stop wearing. ("But
I'm blind without them," he
complains. "So was Ray
Charles," sez Jimmy.)
The spiritual leader and
teacher for the group is trumpeter
Joey "The Lips" Fegan (Johnny
Murphy) who claims not only to
have played with everybody from
the Beatles to Wilson Pickett, but
also to have been sent by God. It
is Joey who picks the name, "The
Commitments," and his con-
tacts, if you believe him, may
break the band out of the back-
ground and accelerate them to
stardom.
Somehow, this curious
collection of musicians becomes
a band and starts playing in local
pubs, steadily improving and
gaining energy in their perfor-
mances. Jimmy sits them down
in front of a tape of James
Brown and explains, "The Irish
are the blacks of Europe. And
the Dubliners are the blacks of
Ireland. And the Northern
Dubliners are the blacks of
Dublin. So say it once, 'I'm
black, and I'm proud.'"
The Commitments is a film
with dual viewpoints. Director
Alan Parker acquaints us with
a Dublin that is in the midst of
"urban decay." It is hard to
believe that this is the present-
day in a Western European
country. At one point, Jimmy and
his drummer walk down a
rubble-strewn alley, while
children no more than six years
old raze the alley, lighting a
bonfire and breaking windows,
and even the audience barely
notices.
The band members are all
from this environment and spend
all of their spare time tearing at
each other over everything from
sexual habits to their own
evolving careers.
But somehow, the band all
comes together when they hit the
stage. The conflict backstage is
converted into their playing,
which becomes truly inspired. As
this happens, we see another side
of Dublin— the pubs and stages
of the Dublin music scene. The
music brings out the best in
everything, from the band
itself to a Dublin church
illuminated by a church organ
rendition of "A Whiter Shade
of Pale."
The one-liners and in-yoiar-
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Robert Arkins swings as Jimmy in Alan Parker's new film The Commitments.
face put-downs are a riot—
even though they come from
the darker side of the band,
they demonstrate the lighter
side of the Dublin mentality, a
side that shines through the
bleakness of the city.
I was particularly im-
pressed with the music, which
reintroduced me to a style of
music that I had forsaken. The
cast performs their own
music, which was recorded
during the filming itself, and it
retains its potency and style
better than any lip-synching.
Particularly memorable were
the Commitments' versions of
"Mustang Sally," "Show
Me," "Try a Little Tender-
ness" and "In the Midnight
Hour."
Overall, The Commitments
is a very entertaining movie.
Go see it and expect some fun
Don't be a tosser.
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 4, 1991, newspaper, October 4, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245792/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.