The Michigan Daily--Saturday, June 5, 1982-Page 9
Ann Arbor looks like hell
By Chris Case
S ANN ARBOR hell? Probably not.
But for a rising theater production
company that deserves attention it may
not exactly be heaven either. No Exit is
The Stage Company's last Ann Arbor
production as a resident company
before moving to Chicago.
Jean-Paul Sartre's play is a tightly-
woven portrayal of human existence
that transcends existentialist dogma to
show men and women in a raw and
courageous light.
Hell, in the play, is disconcertingly
similar to life on earth. Each of the
three main characters in Hell must con-
tend with his or her own guilt over their
lives' misdeeds.
But guilt is a nasty thing to brood
upon and all of the characters are com-
pelled to approach each other in an ef-
fort to alleviate or at least mitigate
their misgivings about themselves.
The play is driven primarily by the
outstanding performance of Laura
Magnus as Inez. All of the performan-
ces in this production are good, but
Magnus' has the special bite that
makes you smile with pleasure at the
damnedest things.
Inez describes herself as a "damned
bitch," but her character, through
Magnus, goes way beyond bitchiness
into the realms of icy, sexy cruelty.
Magnus is outrageously relaxed,
posied, and honest. Her eyes sparkle
with cool delight in the weaknesses and
tribulations of the other characters.
Her speech is natural and her delivery
controlled but almost never affected.
The other performances in this
production may be somewhat eclipsed
by Inez's magnetic appear. This is
perhaps unfair. Garcin and Estelle, the,
two main characters in the play beside
Inez, are difficult parts, yet both are
handled well.
Garcin is played by James Danek,
the Director and co-founder of The
Stage Company. His performance is, on
the whole, a successful one. His is
essentially the lead, the part most
responsible for holding the play
together, and since the performance
works he must be given due credit.
The inhabitants of hell from Sartre's 'No Exit.' Left to right, Laura Magnus, James Danek, Will Cares and
Wendy Liscow.
Danek makes Garcin a likeable and
sympathetic man. Sartre may have
been ahead of his time in his sensitivity
to men whose over-riding concerns
about what other men think of them
tend to relegate other concerns - love,
for instance - to secondary importan-
ce.
Danek's performance waxes and
wanes. He mispronounces his own
name (Waiter! Waiter!), an error
which is grossly incongruous with the
overall quality of the performance and
also of relatively little importance. He
is at times alive, vital, thoughtful, and
very real; at other times he can be
distant or histrionic.
But again, there are problems
inherent in this part. It's hard to say,
"Bring on the instruments of torture,
the rack, the red-hot pinchers!
Anything is better than this torture of
the mind" and get away with it. But
that is Sartre's fault, not Danek's.
There are also some problems in the
scenes between Garcin and Estelle,
who is played by Wendy Liscow. Their
moments of mutual lust are awkward
and hesitant, and while a certain stilted
discomfort is written into these scenes
(the prospect of sex between oneself
and another while a contemptuous third
watches is comforting and genuinely
exciting only to a select few) one can't
help sensing that the actors are holding
something back.
Liscow, however, gives the character
of Estelle a nice touch of neurotic
desperation. She succumbs at first to a
bit too much hand-wringing, and, like
Danek, occasionally affects a vaguely
European accent that they'd both do
well to avoid, but in time she brings out
the insecurities of her character with
genuine refinement.
Will Cares plays the Valet. He is
respectfully haughty and keeps a won-
derfully straight face which has just the
right trace of diabolism.
The real magic, however, is between
Magnus' Inez and each of the others.
She brings out the best in all of them.
Estelle's fearful lasciviousness is thinly
and beautifully controled as she looks
into the eyes of Inez, who at once lures
and unnerves her. Garcin becomes a
puppet, a vulnerable and sincere
penitent, in her hands.
A note on the Loft: Because the
audience is seated all around the stage,
you will miss certain facial expressions
and movements at certain times. This
can be frustrating, yet the fact of the
knowledge that you may be missing
something testifies to the general
calibre of this production. Read the
play (if you haven't already), then see
it and watch the surprises before the
show wraps up on the thirteenth. The
laughter of the characters at the end is
genuine enough to be infectuous. It's a
very good performance.
Revenge sets 'Conan's' pace
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pillaged; the boy is taken prisoner, and
kept for years as a captive. During that
time, he grows immensely strong, his
desire for vengence takes shape, and
when released, he sets out in search of
revenge and gratification.
Of course, Conan has to battle the
fecund forces of evil in order to accom-
plish anything. The movie is very suc-
cessful in establishing loathsome
villians and evil institutions of great
depth. Thulsa Doom (James Earl
Jones), a high priest of the evil serpent-
god Set, commands a cult of initiates
and disciples whom he has manipulated
into docile readiness to sacrifice their
lives in his name.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor-
bodybuilder, is the perfect Conan. He
generates a raw physicality which
powers the film, and his athletic skill
raises it a cut above the usual action
picture.Schwarzenegger comes off as
powerful and instinctual. He is
'I felt that he (Conan) should return to the concept of
being a pure, undiluted legend. ' -John Milius
director
minions of good and evil. Fantasy in
general is enjoyed because such clean
divisions of sympathy are possible.
It is interesting that this movie,
although it has obvious villains and
heroes, also identifies strong links bet-
sometimes capable of a levity which
adds badly needed leaven to the grim
sword swinging.
Sandahl Bergman, as the female thief
Valeria, is the best performer here,
combining intelligence and warmth
with eye-catching grace and power in
the fighting sequences. The chemistry
between Conan and Valeria, who stalk
Thulsa Doom along with a third thief,
Subotai (Gerry Lopez), is a humanizing
element in a film that ranks with The
Long Riders or Rollerball for sheer
violence. Perhaps the bond of love is
stronger than the riddle of steel.
The other facets of the production
contribute successfully to Conan the
Barbarian's rough-hewn grandeur. Ron
Cobb's production design, particularly
the temple and fortress of Thulsa
Doom, is detailed and convincing, and
greatly encourages audience in-
volvement in the fantastic scenario.
The location shooting in Spain (where
director Milius also filmed his rugged
adventure The Wind and the Lion
provides imposing visual backdrops for
the action; Basil Poledouris' musical
score is grand and muscular.
Conan the Barbarian works because
of these technical successes and
because it provides a direct and
satisfying opposition between the
ween humans of good or evil inclination
alike. Survival and the cultivation of
personal power are goals thatall
creatures in the pre-civilized world
pursue.
In the final confrontation between
Thulsa Doom and Conan on the Moun-
tain of Power, illuminated during the
night scene by the candles of the
cultists, Doom claims that he is
Conan's father. His pillage of the
Hyborean village, and Conan's sub-
sequent desire for revenge, Doom
argues, gave Conan the incentive to
become such a magnificent warrior.
In the moment when Conan hesitates,
realizing some truth in this, the movie
has driven home a point: great in-
dividuals, good, evil, or in between,
partly derive their power from common
wellsrpings of egoism and self-
preservation. Conan the character is
such an individual; Conan the Bar-
barian is an original and riveting film.