Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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y-' * p ^--v-f, ilpfe/;$$jBpK> Elena Martinez-Vidal and Paris Peet By DENNIS SHEALY Carolina Life Editor The USC Summer Repertory Theatre makes a valiant attempt with its production of The Cocktail Hour. The A. R. Gurney play concerns a man's search to resolve the animosity he feels toward his parents and siblings through a play he has written. This may sound like an overdone melodrama of the week, but the play is actually quite comical and entertaining. There is a good bit of fighting among family members, but the fighting is treated with a humour that highlights the quirks that all families have. For example, when John, played by Paris Peet, begins fighting with his father, his mother tries to interrupt by saying she thinks the maid is calling them for dinner. And the more they fight, the more she insists they are being called. All of the fighting revolves around the play USC student < By ZHANG KANGCONG Staff Writer Tibet? Sure, Tibet. A land that is, history attests, culturally exotic, politically sensitive and religiously mysterious. In recent years, as the conflict between the native nomadic tribes and the Chinese government, which assumes shepherdhood over them, frequently escalated to riots resulting in damages, injuries and deaths, outsiders have been barred from entering the land. Yet Ling Na Tan, a media arts graduate student from Singapore, last March managed to get her feet on it. Although she did not obtain the needed governmental approval to go there until she had secured help from a Xi'an-based official film studio, she did succeed in negotiating for the permission to shoot a 40-minute documentary video on Tibet and in coming away with not only a finished graduation project but also many revealing photographs. About 40 frames chosen among the photographs were displayed from June 22 through June 24 at Columbia Art Museum's Weekend Gallery. The two-and-a-half day exhibit drew hundreds of Columbia residents as well as USC students. Pack of Lie wasc-i I "Good Vision Helps Ac Good Academic Perforr COMPLETE EYE E PHD r?lVTT V to I IX V/1V V/ilJLt X Appointment ((Dr. Jeffrey C. M^j]) Call Optometrist Limited to USC Students Our Prices Are on the V *TUNE u / * TRADE* NEW A 9ro?r^sRETDs! Bob's Bicycle NEAR MIDLANDS TECH, 01 510 Beltline Blvd. 782-3932 Ml "H Sumn * sets u k * Cnrkl mm. m. i John has written. He has come home to ask his family for their permission to run the play because it is based to a large degree on their lives. Family members are either upset about being in it or not being in it enough. John's father, played by New York actor Rod Bladel, is so overly concerned with image that he offers his son $20,000 not to produce the play. The plot becomes more involved as family secrets begin to creep into the light, and John and his siblings begin to break free of the images their parents have pressured them into maintaining. This play, for the most part, is nice. What this means, of course, is that it is a very good production of a so-so play. Cocktail Hour has some very funny scenes. It has some emotional and touching scenes. But the playwright just couldn't make up his mind as to whether or not he wanted a comedy or a tragedy, and the audience leaves with pretty much the same feeling. diplays Tibet* A dozen or so of the exhibited pictures, which bore a collective title of "The Charms of Tibet," were portraits of Tibetans, while the rest of the exhibit covered different aspects of the lives of Tibetans ranging from the general living conditions to their religious traditions. The hardships the Tibetans have to go through everyday were easy to detect from frames showing children hand-washig clothes and depressed young women sitting beside cart booths used as display boards for merchandise. Colors of glowing red and golden yellow were ever-present in the frames showing typical architecture styles of religious institutions and had an eye-catching effect. In ancient oriental culture, those colors are exclusively reserved for expressions of imperial connotations, but rendered in Tibetan Buddhism, as they were shown in the exhibited frames, they convey a uncanny, almost inexplicable, heavenly rrjeaning. In the mind of those who have little exposure to the land, Tibet is readily associated with a nomadic life style. They are not far away from the truth. In fact, many fanciful imaginations triggered by little exposure found themselves verified through Tan's camera, which captured more than a glimpse of expansive pastures, JPEOPLE V a die uiyeiiuy nccu Mono test kits: If within the past S llSES" for onl f SOCIETY* m ^ ^ For Further I n hieve I nance" I XAM I HAPPY H I DAI $122 dor //0 "" """ dine! *' ' | /ay Down i | I OFF Al PS | PURC INS | $8.00i ND | I Cho I Pizza, i * ACCESSORIES j FinS/ Lasa QVl An i ' Expires A OIUJJJ Excludes A! FF DEVINE May Not Be Comfc V Sharky's ? 10-6 SAT. 10-4 ?? ler Rep p for tail Hour' However, the production is an enjoyable one. Elena Martinez-Vidal and Ruth Gottliel Moore both give wonderful performances a the equally goofy daughter and mother. Both women are at their best in their respec tive scenes with Peet when they show tha they grasp a lot more about the nature of thei lives than their flightiness might otherwisi lead one to believe. Rod Bladel is warm and charming as th< father, but his performance isn't convincing he seems more like a caricature "Father Knows-Best" dad. \ Peet does a good job as John, but his char acterization seems to be the same as that of hi! Boulie in Driving Miss Daisy. The set is well done. It is an almost flawles! representaion of an affluent family'! household. Cocktail Hour is worth seeing, as most 01 the plays being run this summer are. in photos wandering horses and hide-clad natives. Tan even snapped a picture of truckloads soldiers, in uniform and carrying rifles, rolli along the streets. Tibet was under the mart law back in March and, if the official watc dogs were alerted ? tourists were warned a out unknowingly breaking any of the detail regulations regarding social order and securi ? such a violation as taking pictures of mi tary personnel could have readily inviti trouble. "At one point," Tan recalls, "I almost g myself into trouble. It happened when a soldi noticed me trying to snap a shot of him. He a proached me and stopped me before I had chance, yet he insisted I give him the film my camera. I told him I didn't take a pictui but he just would not take a chance. Eventual! my interpreter helped me out, partly by orderii me to shut up." Despite the hardships of everyday life ai the high-pressured political atmoshpere, tl Tibetans never give up. They share not only common identity, which has withstood decad of Chinese assimiltaion efforts, but also an u: shaken confidence in the future, as is well r corded in Tan's frames focusing two on gener tions. MONO? VITH MONONUCLEOSIS led to aid in the manufacture of the you have Mono, or have had Mono two weeks, you may qualify for $100 ly 3 hours of your time. nformation Call or Come By: SEROLOGICALS. INC Middleburg Dr. Suite 105 Columbia, SC 254-6537 IOUR 4-8 u LY! Jk riestics inspeciaT ;.UU VSha NY TOTAL I X^FIVi HASE OF | ^5" OR MORE* | 775 ose From | 636 Y )ubs, SaladsI OPEN 7 gna, Spaghetti ugust31.1990 I \/VE DELIVF Icoholic Beverages | ??>- UCLIVE >ined With Other Specials ON 0 at Five Points / mmm mmm 'DickTrac summertu By DENNIS SHEALY Carolina Life Editor I was bracing myself for a letdown in the dark. Sitting in mv seat munching popcorn, I wondered how they were going to pull it off. The Dick Tracy previews I had seen suggested they had it all: big explosions, colorful gangsters, a love triangle, big explosions, hard-hitting fist fights, heavy gun; fire, big explosions, Madonna as a vamp, a kid side-kick, stylish t> clothes and cars and big explos sions. Maybe I should forget the movie and watch the previews, I thought. " I had little to fear. This movie does have it all. From the moment Dick Tracy starts, you enter its e richly imagined world and you are surrounded by it, enveloped in its wealth of color and detail and ac' tion until Warren Beatty and his crew are ready to let you go. The film is a visual feast. There's a sense of so much hap5 pening, so much to see, all without a single wasted detail or moment 5 The film's primary color scheme J lends it a comic-book simplicity, yet its attention to detail and light F may remind you of the Baroque seediness of Reginald Marsh's ? New York paintings. This results in a dynamic visual tension. As for plot character interaction dominates the film. Tracy must come to terms with his fatherly instincts towards the Kid, a homeless pickpocket. Tracy must struggle with his conflict between his love ^ for Tess Truehart and his attraction JJ" to Breathless Mahoney. These emotions are counterbalanced by ^ his unflinching dedication to ity rrimpficrh finer and his nhsftssivp. at *" tempts to bring Big Boy Caprice to justice. Tracy's relationships are the strong foundations of the film. ot Madonna was a pleasant Source er of surprise. Though she's a P" marvelous performer in some of .a her music videos, I had low expecm tations about her acting. Yet as the "e? torch-singer cum gangster's moll [y. she was sultry and sexy, a study in poise and restraint Possessed of a cat-like grace and near as many sexual innuendos as Mae West's e mouth could ever hold, her Breatha less Mahoney was the embodiment es of both a comic-strip femme-fatale n~ and a Hollywood glamour queen. e~ Although he'd done a good job a" in many of his previous fil^t roles, j???? ? The three most it a USC student I in renting an a 1 (UfSLjI >?? -LocationLocc * ' ' S ' ^ if Weston Ma v 254 I . . LIVE E m[\ . / FR rky*\f [ jj PQtNTA. i I May Not )-7979 v-?. iarden St. / PR DAYS A WEEK I 2 !_& =R EVERYTHING . URMENU! % MayNolE * Shark v^s y' packs ne punch Warren Beatty could not invest Dick Tracy with adequately heroic proportions. Sure he's tough on criminals and yeah, he throws some pretty mean punches. But the hook-nosed, squinty-eyed relentlessness of the comic-strip character was little to be seen. In the comic-strip Dick Tracy you find an intensity that is rock-hard, impacable ? justice seems fated and inevitable. That's not to say Beatty did a terrible job, however. I suspect that the Dick Tracy created in the movie script was not intended to be a copy of the comic-strip version. The movie portrayal of Dick Tracy endowed the character with more sublety and range in his emotional expression, more warmth and vulnerability than the single-minded sternness to be found in the comic's hero. As a result, Dick Tracy's original gigantic stature was whittled down to more credible and human size. Ideally, we deserved both a credible AND larger-than-life hero. But humaity is never a poor trade-off. This movie boasts an accomplished cast, but one actor stands above the rest. A1 Pacino treats us with a wonderful performance as Tracy's great nemesis, Big Boy Caprice. Pacino's acting is pure brilliance. His Caprice attracts and repels at once: when he paraphrases famous thinkers of the past, he is hilarious; when he is matter-of-fact and meekly apologetic as he's about to gruesomely end someone's life, he is chilling. Pacino practically steals the show with this role, the same way Jack Nicolson did as the Joker in Batman. Prosthetic makeup successfully creates Big Boy's looks, but Pacino supplies the heart and soul. Big Boy Caprice is hands-down the most memorable character in the film. Except for a lack of total success in Beatty's role, this movie doesn't strike a false note. It is briskly paced, visually seductive, well-produced and full of cinema uc energy. Hollywood too orten succeeds in whetting our moviegoing appetites but usually fails to sate it. If you've yet to see it, you may be wondering as I was, "Is the movie as good as the preview?" Wonder no more. Dick Tracyis a blockbuster that lives up to its name. nportant things hould consider partment??? ggSf - Of Location? j ^ 1 ition it #r? 1 J? - IV C. \ pf k | ^ !?** #% % -JT # ?;r| b \ * \ ? inagement, Inc. -2663 WM-92 [NTERTAINMENT RY THURSDAY NIGHT! EE MlluCDY* \ vtahivbrva \ !.00 OFF ' iRGE PIZZA j P'res August 31.1990 le Combined With other Specials ?atJjiveJPolMs 779-7979 / EiDELIVER,F CALZONES J Reg. $8.50 I <plres August 31.1990 J le Combined With other Specials | at Five Points 779-7979 /