RTS
A love triangle in Paris:
OWinter' tells a chilly story
By ALEXANDRA TWIN
Ahh, Paris. You are walking down the wind-swept streets, reveling in the
glory of the moment, holding the arm of your older, distinguished, yet still
energetic lover. Nearby, your young, intellectual amore waits alone in a cafe,
alternately brooding and giving off endearing little sparks of cynicism. Mean-
while, your mind is preoccupied with a third paramour -- la crame de la crme
- who has disappeared years ago, yet lingers in your mind. Suddenly blaring,
cheesy opera music comes on and you
"" remember that you are watching an
Asti-Spumanticommercial.Or"A Tale
A Tale of Winter of Winter."
The second in French director Eric
Written and directed by Rohmer's "Tales of the Four Seasons"
B Eric Rohmer; quartet is certainly picturesque, in both
with Charlotte its storyline and angelic lead actor. Yet
iry. picturesque is not necessarily engag-
ing. Although the film does boast an
intriguing story, coupled with a fine
execution by the principles, it is ultimately too lackadaisical and too lackluster to
live up to the allure of its glossy premise.
Felicie (Charlotte V6ry) is a young woman torn between the two men in her
current life: the older Maxence (Michel Voletti) and the bookish Loic (Herv
Furic). She is also plagued by the memory of the missing Charles (Frederic Van
Dren Driessche), the father of her little girl. While either Loic or Maxence would
be acceptable mates, neither enthrall her. She takes off to the countryside with
Maxence, supposedly for a lifetime, only to return a few days later, although not
particularly to Loic. She lives with her mother, she lives with Maxence, she lives
with Loic. It's all equally meaningless as she is perpetually dreaming of Charles.
Whether it was the incorrect address that Felicie accidentally gave Charles or
the lackofaconnection strong enough tooutlive one blissful summer, their idyllic
relationship ended with Felicid s departure to Paris five years past. Once there,
she discovered herself to be loveless and quite pregnant. A job in Maxence's hair
salon led to their meeting. Loic appeared later.
Using an extended sequence from Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale" to serve
as some sort ofcosmic foreshadowing, Rohmerhas setup apotentially interesting
ideal of undying "true love." While probably genuine at heart, the film too
frequently falls into the easy grooves of its conventions. Loic is too demanding.
The new life with Maxence is immediately recognizable as unattractive. Leaving
Oher man would be easy.
The difficulty that Felicie faces in reconciling the reality of her current life'
with the fantasies of a future with Charles, or the idea of him, gives the character
and ultimately the film a hint of a substantial, definitive backbone. Yet, even that
is tenuous.
Once she begins to figure it all out, fate conveniently intervenes, restoring the
See WINTER, Page 8
Updated but unmarred 'Menagerie'
Phillip Kerr, Theatre Department put a unique spin on an old classic
By ROBERT YOON
There is nothing particularly out of
the ordinary in the Department of The-
atre and Drama's selection of "The
Glass Menagerie" as its fall produc-
tion. But when the curtain rises tomor-
row night at the Power Center, director
Philip Kerr's unique spin on the time-
To bring the illusional concept of memory on
stage, Kerr uses light, music and space to
create the dreamy, neverland-type state of
human memory. Also new is an ensemble cast
which roams the periphery of the stage to
accent the events of the play.
less Tennessee Williams classic will be
crystal clear.
Williams intended "The Glass Me-
nagerie," which celebrates its 50th an-
niversary in December, to be presented
with "unusualfreedomofconvention."
In keeping with Williams' intentions,
Kerr presents a play that employs
Brechtian projection screens and other
special effects to create what Williams
called "a new, plastic theater which
must take the place of the exhausted
theater of realistic conventions." The
result is an expressionistic and dis-
tinctly unconventional examination of
the hazy world between reality and
illusion.
"The Glass Menagerie" is the story
oftheWingfieldsadysfunctionalfam-
ily in Depression-era St. Louis. The
play is told through the recollections of
the narrator, Tom (Joshua Funk), who
shares an apartment with his domi-
neering mother, Amanda (Kate
Guyton), and his disabled sister, Laura.
"This play takes place entirely in
Tom's memory," Kerr said. "It is a
guided tour into his past." To bring the
illusional concept of memory on stage,
Kerr uses light, music, and space to
create the dreamy, neverland-type state
of human memory. Also new is an
ensemble cast which roams the periph-
ery of the stage to accent the events of
the play.
According to Kerr, "Menagerie"
takes place "in the present and in the
past." But Williams wrote the play in
1944, when "the present" was defined
by events such as the Depression and
World War II. To make "Menagerie"
more applicable to modern audiences,
Kerr reset the play in a"generic present
and past," and dropped references to
the Spanish-American War and lucent
coffee, among other things.
Kerr also changed Tom from an
aspiring poet to an aspiring musician to
keep in tune with the '90s. The play
"has moreresonance ifyou use modern
ideas," Kerr said. "The important thing
is that he is still an artist."
The changes are all very distinct,
Kerr admitted, but all are consistent
with Williams' intent. "We expanded
elements we found int he play," he
said. "We haven't imposed anything
on it."
THE GLAS MENAGERIE will run
Thursday through Saturday at 8p.m.
and on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Power
Center. Tickets are $12 and $16 ($6
students). For more information, call
764-0450.
Joshua Funk and Kate Guyton star in "The Glass Menagerie."
Sabbatai Zevi' explores philosophy, religion at the RC auditorium
I
By DAVID M GRAHAM
The world premiere of "Sabbatai
Zevi," written by Brook Ziporyn, plays
the Residential College auditorium of
East Quad this weekend. Perhaps some-
one out there has even heard ofSabbatai
Zevi, a mystical character from the
17th century. A self-proclaimed mes-
siah sometimes, a bipolar ascetic the
rest - wait, does he not sound like a
university student?
Indeed, playwright Ziporyn hopes
that everyone will find a bit of him or
herself in Sabbatai. He commented,
"Sabbatai is an extreme case, paradig-
matic about the human condition, to
put it." Sabbatai is apart-time messiah,
who, during his breaks, can remember
that he was a messiaj, but cannot re-
member the reason why he was one.
During these times he feels as if being
a messiah is a disease that he succumbs
to and then recovers from. Now, as he
is swept through the cycle he has no
wisdom, but when he is the pseudo-
messiah, he can explain everything. If
Sabbatai actually represents something
real in the world, Ziporyn holds, then
the world is self-contradictory.
To add to the confusion, "Sabbatai
Zevi" also features the characters of
Nathan of Gaza, the cheery prophet of
the messiah, and Jacob Frank, a socio-
pathic genius from the next century.
Yet, there is more then mere phi-
losophy in "Sabbatai Zevi"; there are
See ZEVI, Page 8
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*n't be scared by the philisophical ramifications of "Sabbatai Zevi."
As many of you may already know, tickets
to the Indian-American Students' Association (IASA)
1994 Diwali Show have been sold out. On behalf of
the members of the IASA and its executive board, we
extend our apologies to those who wished to obtain
tickets this year. We were able to accommodate the
demand for tickets to our show which has grown
enormously in popularity within the last several years.
Some of you may be wondering why the
show only runs for one day or why we did not obtain a
larger facility in which to hold the show. As for the
latter, the reason is clear - there were simply no
facilities available that could not only accommodate
such a large audience as could be expected, but also
maintain the facilities needed to stage the dance,
drama and music that is displayed by over 300 student
performers. As for why the show is held on only one
day, you must understand that the show is displayed
by students who receive no financial benefit, academic
credit, nor formal recognition for our efforts. Very
few of us have realistic aspirations in theatrical
performance, and many have no experience whatso-
ever. This is a show which we students display for the
love of our culture and the experience of performing
on stage in front of friends, family, and the university
community. We do it for the thrill of the experience.
Because the show takes such a great time commitment
on behalf of everyone involved, it would not be fair to
those who did not have the time for another show to
be expected to perform more than once.
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