The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 13, 1998 Page: 9 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER
13, 1998
Picasso and Einstein meet at Wiess
Gail and Jerry Levy
FOR THE THRESHER
Steve Martin ... the playwright?
OK, we admit thinking,"Hmm, in
what part of Steve Martin's life did
he pen this play?" We would have
preferred the arrow through the
head, rubber chicken, banjo strum-
ming, King Tut, happy feet time.
With Picasso at the Lapin Agile,
WiessTabletop takes on something
tougher and more reminiscent of
Dead Men Wear Plaid meets
Roxanne.
The play is set in Le Lapin Agile,
the watering hole for the bohemian
set in the early 1900s. It was the
hangout for Picasso and other art-
ists of the day.
M i c a h
Russo adeptly
directed Todd
Welbes and
Nick North,
as Albert
Einstein and
Pablo Picasso,
in the unlikely
meeting of the
minds set at
the saloon of
the agile rab-
bit.
Assuming
you can buy the premise, or your
drugs kicked in, these two carry on
in a bigger-than-life quest to outdo
each other, impress the females and
gain each other's respect. The re-
sulting banter is quick and funny.
The plot centers around Einstein
as he writes his "Special Theory of
Relativity" and gains inspiration from
the other cast members. Such inspi-
rations include the proprietors of
the bar, Germaine (Jessica Watkins)
and Freddy (Brad Gathcjght), who
serve the combatants alcoholic liba-
tions and advice ranging from rela-
tionships to the marketing of
Einstein's almost-finished book.
Germaine advises, "If it has funny
jokes and stories it will sell better. Is
the theory of relativity funny?" It is
here.
The humor in this play is a little
off-kilter, but funny nonetheless, as
visible from one of the jokes Freddy
helps set up: "Y = (X)." Get it? You
will.
'PICASSO at the
lapin agile'
Wiess Tabletop Theater
Rating: *** 1/2 (out of five)
playwright: Steve Martin
director: Micah Russo
starring: Todd Welbes, Nick
North, Jessica Watkins, Brad
Gathright
tonight 8, p.m.
next weekend:
thurs., fri., sat.,
8 p.m.
wiess college
commons.
When Picasso bursts onto the
stage with a blast of ego and test-
osterone, he provides the perfect
adversarial companion to Einstein.
With North as the arrogantly tal-
ented painter, we almost believed
Picasso was really British."Dream
the impossible and put it into ef-
fect," he bellows. Passion converges
with the paper he draws upon, but it
is clearly not limited to his art. He is
the object of women and a woman-
izer; he effuses passion but he seeks
love.
Assuming you
can buy the
premise, or your
drugs kicked in,
these two carry
on in a bigger-
than-life-quest to
outdo each
other ...
Welbes and North carried the
play on their broad shoulders, but
not without some notable efforts
from the supporting cast. Gaston
(Mark Campos) has the longest run-
ning gag in the play.
With a large stage presence and
a small bladder, Campos was hys-
terical as the resident barfly and
skeptic.
And although the story takes
place in a French bar, he is also the
only character with a French ac-
cent.
Campos got into his character
and enjoyed it. The audience did
too. With lines like " Good wine, bad
wine, same hangover, no difference.
Give me the cheap stuff," his other
Sec WIESS. Page 11
BLAIR CHRISTIAN/THRESHER
Nick Nortl\^(left) and Todd Welbes discuss life, love and the theory of relativity in Wiess' Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
Rice dancers get into a modern groove
Jett McAlister
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Rice Dance Theater is one of
Rice's best secrets—although their
shows are well-attended, many
people at Rice haven't even heard of
the resident modern dance troupe.
This year's company -presents^its
annual fall production with Dramatis
Personae, opening Wednesday.
'DRAMATIS
personae'
Rice Dance Theater
Rating: *** (out of five)
starring: Emily Giles, Tumi
Johnson, Kim Benn, Mariah
Johnson, Laurel Boatwright,
Katy Bosworth, Susie Vale, and
other members of Rice Dance
Theater
Dramatis Personae is almost an all-
student production; all of the danc-
ing and much of the choreography
is done by students.
The entertaining and successful
show begins with "The Yellow
Chair," a brief comic piece choreo-
graphed by Chris Lidvall. In it, five
dancers (Laurel Boatright, Lea Ann
Chen, Beverly Cruickshank, Ann-
Marie Lobo
— and Kristina
Ranieri) fight
over and con-
template a yel-
low chair.
Set to one
of J. S. Bach's
Brandenburg
Concerti, 'The
Yellow Chair"
mocks dance
that is ob-
scurely abstract
and pointless.
The same
next week:
wed., thurs., fri.,
sat., 8 p.m.
harjo dance stu-
dio, autry court
send e-mail to
kristina@rice.edu
for
reservations.
dancers perform later in "Something
Blue," another satiric piece by
Lidvall.
This time Lidvall pokes fun at the
overly melodramatic, calling for his
dancers to cry and moan through-
out the piece as they twirl around
with blue bouquets.
Although there's not really a
storyline for either of these pieces,
they are both easy to follow and
contain many funny moments. The
five well-coordinated dancers fit the
piece well.
After 'The Yellow Chair" comes
"Dancing Girls," choreographed by
Jones College seniors Emily Giles
and Kim Benn. Although the chore-
ographers say the piece is about
"the way women teach and lead one
another in the cycles of femininity,"
the work is more interesting for its
beauty and its unity with the music
(Tori Amos's "Mother") than it is for
its subject matter, which is not
See DANCE. Page 12
Rice Players are
blinded by 'Sun'
Marisa Levy
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
How do you rationalize a good
production of a bad play? This
was the question boggling my
mind throughout Rice Player's
production of Four Baboons Ador-
ing the Sun.
The play begins with Kros
(Elizabeth Davis), our self-ap-
pointed guide through the play's
character twists and plot turns.
Davis not only looks the part of a
mystical goddess but also was
appropriately disturbing and hon-
estly freaky in certain scenes. She
shepherds the audience into the
lives of Phillip and Penny, two
newlyweds attempting to unite
their children from previous mar-
riages into one cohesive Brady-
esque unit.
■ Phillip (Nitin Kapur) and
Penny (MiaPfleging) appear lov-
ing and absorbed by their pas-
sion in each other. In hopes of
spreading that love to their chil-
dren, they whisk the kids off to
Sicily, which provides the back-
drop for the family's past, present
and future. It is the spot where
the couple's love first flourished,
the place they plan to unite their
families and the unfortunate lo-
cation of their love's demise.
The scenery creating Italy on
stage is remarkable. Taking a
minimalist approach and only
using four multi-sided decorated
pillars, set designer Sandy Ha-
vens creates a pleasant, unforced
atmosphere. Her set not only
develops the tone for each par-
ticular scene but also for the en-
tire play.
To create the post-nuclear
family of the '90s, the result of
divorce and adultery, the play
calls for a cast of nine disen-
See PLAYERS, Page 12
BICCA BtRGQUiST THRESHF.fi
Rice Players in action as Four
Baboons Adoring the Sun. Top:
Nitin Kapur and Mia Pfleging try
to work dut their marital
difficulties. Middle: Bryan Wing
and Julia Robinson pop up after a
tussle under the covers. Bottom:
The gods lead Elizabeth Davis to
supreme freakiness as Eros.
'four BABOONS
adoring the sun'
Rice Players
Rating: ** 1/2 (out of five)
author: John Guare
director: Ahmad Hernandez
starring: Elizabeth Davis, Nitin
Kapur, Mia Pfleging
tonight, tomorrow, 8
p.m.
next week: wed., thurs.,
fri., sat., 8 p.m.
hamman hall.
$4 students, $6 faculty,
$8 general.
call (713) 527-7529 for
reservations.
The best pizza in town ... Honest!
UNIVERSITY AT GREENBRIAR
664-5700
Bring this Coupon
for our pick up special!
ONE LARGE PIZZA
w/One Topping, $6
TAKE OUT ONLY, NOT VALID WITH DELIVERY.
NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFER. EXPIRES 10/23/98.
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 13, 1998, newspaper, November 13, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246633/m1/9/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.