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 0 0 GO BLUE * BEAT ILLINOIS 715 N. University 761-CHIP K. , 1 Mon-Thurs 8:30am-8pm Fri 8:30am-5:30pm Sat 10am-5:30pm 3 ® We ship anywhere in the Continental U. S. MICHiGAN RECORDS 11 4 " . X*T } - _ yT a% 1n o~t JOSH KOLEVZON/Daily *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. Th.~r~a nn., .. ,uip , tanri nim B t ~~ee ".'. cho l .. .*o s~ 01 htt xeto