The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 18, 1980, Page Page 7, Image 7
Stylish
woos L
By Nancy Young
Gamecock Staff Writer
Gaiety, mischief and romance
are the main ingredients in a
Shakespeare comedy and they
were in abundance at the USC
Theatre's production of The
Twelfth Night. As in his other
romantic comedies, such as A
Midsummer Night's Dream and A
Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare's
The Twelfth Night concerns a love
triangle resulting from mistaken
identities and mischievous pranks.
Tin: SKTTlMi is tne charming
and merry mythical land of Illyria.
The Duke Orsino sends his servant
Cesario to the lovely Countess
Olivia's house in an attempt to woo
her. Instead of tailing in love with
Orsino. she falls for Cesario. Hut
unknou v to all. Cesario is really
the shipwrecked maiden Viola in
disguise. The triangle is completed
when Viola falls in love with Orsino.
Meanwhile. Olivia's uncle, Toby
Belch and his group of pranksters,
who include Olivia's . maid-inwaiting,
Maria, and the awkward
lover Sir Andrew Arguecheek, lead
Olivia's pompous steward
Malvolio to believe that Olivia is in
love with him. His absurd behavior
causes much merriment among
the others.
I
THK Sl'C'C'KSS of the production
'Hero'
By David Baker
Gamecock Film Critic
During its opening reel. Martin
son's Hero at Large looks suspicioi
something in search of a high Neilse
rather than something in search of
theatre audience. It's star, John
plays the first few scenes as if he w
Jack Tripper, doing just another ep
television's Three's Company.
But then something happen*
PnrnthorK' cf?rint hpuinc tn nvnlnro
many of the problems eneountere*
out-of-work actor (the humilia
auditions, dodging the landlady bee;
rent hasn't been paid) and thei
John Ritter is one of
i 'Twelfth
i
ongstree
was its ability to capture the
essence of Shakespearean comedy
and make it understandable and.
above all. enjoyable to modern
audiences. Richard L. Jennings'
brilliant direction gave the
production polish and muscle.
Unlike so many productions of
Sh;ikf?civ?j?ro m;hi
^..V...vui/vu> V, fiinvu 141 V v> 1 IV.IITH HE
prose or poetry, it was not stale
and predictable. Aside from the
first act. the acting was alive and
fresh. Only Allen McCalla as Toby
Belch managed to make his
character believable in the first
act
During the lirst act. I was
fearful that the play would take the
course of a recent telecast on PBS
of Molieres Tartuffe. Instead of
embodying the characters in this
satirical comedy, the actors only
became a representation of them
However, luckily this did not
OCClir In Art II aflnrc nrnunrl
they could handie the difficulty of a
Shakespearean corned v. Since the
language and action are already
contrived, the actors must make a
special effort to make the
characters believable and natural.
McCalla was convincing from the
beginning, and Jim Holmes as
Orsino also proved impressive. He
did not give a bravura performance
of the lovestruck Duck,
rescuesi
satirizing television cc
political campaigns, as we
Davidisly
like AFTKK AN HOI K, th
n rating viewer completely off gu
a large know what direction it's i
Hitter, he can't wait to find out. 1
ere still really disappoint until the
lisode of falls back of cliches, rath<
for something new to sav.
>. A.J. The character Hitter pc
a good Largo is Steve Nichols,
d by an constantly being pushed tc
tion of commercials, but who's <
:iuse the get work as one of tw
1 starts Avengers.
t Kiflr 4Jn8;
many Captain Avengers in 'Hi
iNight'
t crowd
but there was a subtle simplicity in
his interpretation.
McKenzie Prince's Viola was
sometimes a bit too serious. 1 interpreted
Viola to be a young,
adventurous and carefree girl; as
part of the love triangle, she is just
as much in a daze as Olivia. Miss
Prince played Viola as a sensible
girl, incredulous to all the action
going around her. Nevertheless,
her interpretation is just as valid
and it matched well with the other
characters.
Dana Faust played Olivia as a
lovable ingenue enraptured by her
tirst love encounter. And Rebecca
Ann Koon ulaved a saucv \I:iri:?
Sometimes she seemed to strain
too much to attain this trait but as
with the company as a whole, she
came to grips with her character.
ROB mOAI.Ki; was just the
Malvolio I imagined: a tall, thin, ill
at eased man. Along with Dobby
Jones who played Sir Andrew
Aguecheek. he provided
amusement to the audience as well
as to Toby Belch.
The only character I felt uncomfortable
with was Dede Corvinus'
Feste. the jester. Her jester
WW ff
nouywoo
jmmercials and Every night, h<
11. are given their re
and dropped off
e movie has the film about the cor
ard ? he doesn't One night, ho
tbout to take, and uniform home ai
Phe movie doesn't corner market f
very end, when it surprises two ai
?r than stretching them running inl
New Yorkers are*
>rtrays in Hero at Captain Avenger
an actor who's them, and politi
) audition for beer drawing up plan
only been able tc unpopular mayor
u UU/.CU V'U^iciin
SINCK THIS is
comedy. Carothe
inevitable romanl
and the girl aci
4.ij ^ Leontyne Price
Township Auditor
fSrm held the audience
Price, a sopran
w* Association. She
? ! from the moment
w w * 0 Price's powerful v
J '* l the audience for
alMi1 a song sound beau
fM majority of her
French or Germar
m ' tHBi The audience
derstanding Price
9ro At Large.'
was sardonic and snide instead ot
sympathetic to the other
characters.
Overall, the production grew
stronger as the evening progressed
d's origii
? and others iust like him commer
d. white and blue uniforms involved
at theatres to promote a It is u
nicbook hero. follow tl
wever. Steve wears his raises. 1
nd when he stops at the them, e
or a gallon of milk, he tains ai
rmed robbers and sends throughc
o the night. Within hours. that he':
obsessed with the idea that people's
really has come to save
cal power broker's start L1KKV
s to link the hero to an formanc<
r> UM i n in 11wiI.
want to
heady territory for a light show,
rs" script introduces the In any
:ic subplot between Steven tremely
oss the hall, played by for tryinj
ictive Anne Archer. But Captain
pt takes a skewed point of their abil
cher character wants to the movi
r herself as a director of hasn't Ioj
Price'less z
nHa Tnmnlolnn
, r.|llll^UIIII
each song
didn't just perform at the did not r
ium Thursday night, she performai
in the palm of her hand. giving Pri
10. was brought to Town.lumbia
Music festival (hose wh(
seemed to own the staRe
she made her entrance J.
ocals held the attention ol ,r
the length of her perPrice
pi
can be be;
.'\(i by Price, was both languages
entertaining. Her wide Price.
I talent and her soaring Not all
hose fortunate enough to foreign la
'ownship. performec
be said about the songs English w
except that she can make Price gav<
itiful in any language. The The m<
songs were of Italian, performar
i origin. into every
had some help in un- the Towns
's song lyrics because the by a talent
il^K^pS^- **"
"llAv A Si
^?n^ryf* rJifi f
itl'IpF
Wm *** ^9BHHHHH9B?1S
/IcKenzie Prince as Viola
and will continue to do so until the
last performance. Feb. 23. The Art
Nouveau style set was effective in
tuin e \ 111^ nit* iclll \ I tl IV illmosphere.
and in letting
imaginations run away to the
fantastical land ol lllyria
nality
cials and she's also romantically
with her employer
nfortunate that the movie fails to
firough 011 all of the questions it
...? ? U I ? A ?!.. :
.hii men u uiktmi i t'xaeuv ignore
ither. Davidson's direction main
:i unoffensively schmaltzy tone
tut the film, but one gets the feeling
?; trying too hard to not step on
toes.
MSK, KITTKirs good-guy perl?
is timid. It's as if he wanted to try
lg new. but at the same time did not
alienate the fans of his television
event. Hero at Lar^c is an exentertaining
film, and I admire it
i to take on so many issues Just as
Avenger restores people's faith in
lity to survive in a world gone mad.
e restores my laith that Hollywood
;t touch with originality.
irias
provided the Knglish words to
, However, most of those present
efer to the program during the
nee because they were too busy
ce their full attention.
as amazing in that she made even \
? no noi enjoy opera admire her
ice A well-rounded talent, she
>lause from all corners of the
roved Thursday night that music
mtiful in any form. Lyrics in mam
. sounded lovely when sung by >
the songs presented were in
mguages. in fact, several were
I in English. Among those in
'ere several religious sonns that
? heartfelt emotion.
>st admirable facet of Price's
ice was that she put true feeling
' note she sang. The audience at
hip enjoyed a great performance
ed woman