ARTS ay, Kalin calls for equalityn 'Swoon' by Camilo Fontecilla Beyond the friendly faces of Rich- ard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr., a dark secret lurked. Not their involve- ment in theft and petty crimes. Not the brutal murder and disfiguration of a young child. This secret was their ho- mosexuality. In his surprisingly intelli- gent investigation of the Leopold-Loeb affair concerning the death of Bobby Frank, aged 8, Tom Kalin examines the power struggle within the relationship of these two lovers and how it led them to their conviction for the murder of an innocent boy. Swoon Written and directed by Tom Kalin; with Daniel Schlachet, Craig Chester. Tom Kalin gives such an artful twist to "Swoon" that one can't help admir- ing his audacity. Jeopardizing his posi- tion by incessantly reminding us, the audience, of the cold brutality of the criminals, he nevertheless lures our sympathies toward their camp. He makes us accomplices to the murder, witnesses to every gruesome detail, and invites us to join in the intimacy of their private lives. We become con- nected to Leopold and Loeb because they are the persecuted. Before the murder, the major issue was not the murder, but the homo- sexual relationship between its two executors. For their contemporaries, their sexual orientation was a deter- mining factor in their actions, an inevi- table source of instability and therefore murder. Bobby Franks' killing, despite a visually stunning death, rapidly fades into the background. It is clear that Mr. Loeb and Mr. Leopold are not being judged fortheir act. Itis their way of life that everyone condemns. Kalin portrays Leopold as an ex- ceedingly modern man who, intellec- tually, is light years ahead of his gen- eration. Nathan Leopold is a genius in the wrong decade, a mind put to waste because of the restrictions of his soci- ety. Kalin underscores this by superim- posing our contemporary world onto his own, granting him access to techno- logical devices of very recent inven- tion. As if in a time warp, he wields a remote control, uses ear-phones and dials from a touch-tone telephone. Loeb is Leopold's fascination, his weapon but also his weakness. As ob- ject of desire, Loeb knows his limita- tions as well as his power. He is much more primitive in his manipulation of Leopold's desires, but this sole advan- tage is more powerful than any hold Leopold may have on him. Mr. Kalin makes an essential differentiation be- tween the two: Loeb enjoys the actual act of the murder, while Leopold detests it, interested only in the social repercus- sions it may have. Again, one inhabits the present, the other lives for the future. The performances are superb. With unflinching coolness, Daniel Schlachet' s Richard "Dickey" Loeb drags Leopold into the depths of their fatal relation- ship, and just as heartlessly tears it all apart to save himself from a probable death penalty. Craig Chester, as Nathan "Babe" Leopold Jr., characterizes the complexity of his character to perfec- tion, exploring the contrast between his deep insecurities and his inhibited moral superiority. His love for Loeb also turns out to be deeper than even the latter could have suspected. I do not condone murder and neither does Tom Kalin. "Swoon" questions the limits of artistic expression, and in that sense it is controversial. Murder is Nathan Leopold's art, for lack of any- thing more challenging. But it was the first step toward an extremely positive and productive life for him. Good and evil are blurred in the film; this ambigu- ity becomes one of its strongest points. Regardless, Mr. Kain's strongest point is concise and well-expressed: the censure of homosexuality in our society mustend. Can the portrayal of two cold- blooded killers help? As individuals, they were unarguably unique and dar- ing, passionate and with an overbearing desire to be heard. It was their misfor- tune that they were shunned by their peers. Strong action causes strong re- sponse, which is what Swoon" is striv- ing for. Captured in a beautiful but restricting world of black and white, 'om Kalin' s film resumes the search for a more colorful future. SWOON is playing at the Michigan Theater 'LIGHT' fizzles by Laura Alantas There are times when you go to a show, and the performance incorporates all of the elements necessary for a successful production, but you leave the theater unmoved. On your way home, you analyze the acting, the lighting, the costumes, the music. It's then that you realize that the show had many positive attributes. But you still feel unaffected. That was my experience with Michael Lee's mime drama "DREAMLIGHT." The Biblical story of Mary, Joseph and the birth of Jesus served as the basis of "DREAMLIGHT." However, artistic director Michael Lee transplanted the story into the present day. This updating gave Lee a means of drawing a parallel between this classic story and today's homeless problem. The show opened with a lullaby entitled "Dreams," sung by Jerald Irish. "Dreams are when the angels sing to you," Irish told us in his rough bass voice. Throughout the rest of the performance, Irish masterfully played piano or guitar accompaniment, backed up by James Barnes' pulsing drums. DREAMLIGHT Then the action of Performance Network "DREAMLIGHT" began. The actors January 23, 1993 introduced their various characters to us, one by one, in mime. With each character performing a few basic movements, the entire company successfully related to the audience who they were and what today's inner city is all about. Mary (Rebecca Surmont) and Joseph (Michael Cooper) were a well suited couple. Surmont, graceful in motion, contrasted well with Cooper's more clumsy, but concerned Joseph. When the Angel Gabriel (Michael Lee) visited Mary, he brought a candle to her, demonstrating that she is thecarrier of the Light. In their interchange, Lee and Surmont created the most beautiful poses of the show because they artistically represented the essence of their connection rather than making-an attempt at realism. If the rest of the performance had focused on representing the Biblical story artistically rather than realistically, "DREAMLIGHT" would have been amore intense, more enriching experience. Instead, Lee chose to realistically portray the difficulties of life in the inner city, and this decision weakened the weight of the show's message because the realism was very tedious to watch. The actors performed one particular scene of the show, their entering and t'1leaving the homeless shelter, twice, back to back. The repetition suggested how difficult it is for homeless persons to break out of their situation. The scene y, - moved extremely slowly, though, and the point was lost in this tedious quality. "DREAMLIGHT" did fulfill its goals of retelling the story of Mary, Joseph and birth of Jesus, and of depicting the magnitude of today's homeless problem. However, these goals were reached in an almost academic manner that did not engage the audience. What the audience never gained was an ability to relate No, it's not the cover of Al Camus's "The Stranger." It's "DREAM LIGHT." to the show's celebration of joy and hope. Ann Arbor Civic Theater gets 'burned' by Karen Lee Lanford Wilson'switty,pungentdia- logue is what makes him such abrilliant writer. Even though his dialogue is real- istic, Wilson always manages to keep his work entertaining. His play, "Burn Burn This Ann Arbor Civic Theatre January,21,1993 This," is especially infused with the kind of incisiveness that distinguishes a good play from a great one. Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's production, while ef- fective, was helped along more by the richness of Wilson's script than by any- thing else. The play opens with Anna (Mary Anne Nemeth), a dancer and aspiring choreographer, mourning the drowning death of Robbie, her roommate and collaborator. Through the course of the show, Anna becomes torn between Bur- ton, heraffectionate and attentive screen- writer boyfriend, and Robbie's alter- nately poetic and profane older brother, Pale. Under the watchful eye of her other roommate Lary, she attempts to come to terms with her feelings for Pale, making herself miserable as she tries to denies them. Great pains were taken to recreate a lower Manhattan loft apartment, all the way down to the dance posters, the phone jack on the side of the counter, and the magnets on the refrigerator. The same care was apparently taken with the choice of music as well, which was aselection composed of popular, classi- cal, and original music that ably illus- trated the various moods of the scenes. ChipMoehle was awonder as Larry, using his constant one-liners and great comic timing to point out various caus- tic truths to Anna, Pale, Burton, and to the audience as well. Steve Memran, playing Pale, was effective as well, al- though it seemed that in his first scene, he emphasized his character's cocaine high too much. He did, however, im- prove throughout the show, reaching a poignant peak in a sober and quiet dec- laration of his love for Anna during the last scene of the show. Tim Morley's Burton, however, was colorless. The real disappointment, though, was Mary Anne Nemeth in the part of Anna. Nemeth, herself a dancer, physi- cally fit the part; the problem was that her performance was flat. I did not really see her struggling with her emo- tions, nor could I tell that she really was in love with Pale. The chemistry be- tween Nemeth and Memran simply was not there A pivotal role like Anna deserves a stronger actress. Koengeter also added two "roles" not in the original play. In between every scene, two dancers, Gregory M. George and Suzanne Willets, who were apparently meant to signify Pale and Anna, basically reenacted the episode that had just been seen. While the danc- ing was beautiful, it became repetitive after a while. Wilson's dialogue in "Burn This" stirs up feelings of desperate love in its listeners. Unfortunately, though, this production left me unmoved. Volcanically engaging Volkov wows audience by Kirk Wetters Anyone whowent to Oleg Volkov's Saturday recital in hopes of being coddled into a daze of pianistic bliss Oleg Volkov Kerrytown Concert House January 23, 1993 must have been badly disappointed. Volkov' svolcanic outbursts challenged the audience and kept it engaged and expectant. Generally, Volkov's approach em- phasized contrast with pieces more than their overall unity. This was the most successful in Beethoven's32 Variations and Prokofiev's "Sarcasms." To his credit, Volkov was neither ashamed nor intimidated by the young Prokofiev's brash, banal attempts to shock the con- servative musical establishment of his time. Although he does have a poetic side, Volkov's powerful rhythmic and har- monic aggressiveness were far more prominent. His rock-solid chords and almost maniacal intensity were remi- niscent of the great American pianist, Earl Wild. Schubert's A minor Piano Sonata was mostly successful, although Volkov's treatment was notas idiomatic as it could have been. For instance, in the sonata's second movement, which is very similar in character to Schubert's idyllic, ecstatic, melancholy song, "Friihlingsglaube" (Spring Faith), Volkov should have infused the composer's melodies with more sun- light and gentleness. Instead of bringing out Schubert's magical qualities, Volkov chose to em- phasize the structural perfection of the music itself. He used the same approach in Preludes and Waltzes by Chopin, but with much less success. Instead of ca- ressing Chopin's delicate melodies, Volkov blazed through the short pieces with almost obsessive rhythmic accu- racy. Unfortunately, instead of showing the quality of the music, this tended to emphasize its structural deficiencies and seemed to justify pianist Artur Schnabel's criticism of Chopin as a "right-handed genius." Volkov's unconventional approach to Chopin was not without insights, and his desire to cleanse these well-known pieces of common interpretive excesses is admirable. The forcefulness and surety of Volkov's musical personality could not be overlooked, even when his inter- pretations were wayward. He is a rare musician with the courage to confront, challenge, and inspire audiences. rI7 L a -. - --= EUw-U 11 E' - MULTI COLOR SPECIALISTS - ARTIST ON STAFF " RUSH ORDERS - NEAR U OF M CAMPUS 1217 PROSPECT, ANN ARBOR 665-1771 OFF with this ad. ...the blank wall space in the Urgent Care Lobby of University Health Service Attention Art Students Our mission is to develop the next generation, portable, object-oriented operating system. Apple and IBM set us on our course, but doing something so new takes more than effort, it takes passion and commit- ment. Fresh thinking and original ideas. 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