University of South Carolina Libraries
ri Aquila returns to Columbia by Ali Freeman Staff Writer The British company that brought • you “A Comedy of Errors” and “The Odyssey” last year is back in town with another thoughtful and innovative production of a classic. This time it’s Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” The Aquila Theatre Company of London, which takes its productions to theaters across the United States will be performing “King Lear” Thursday and Friday at the Koger Center at 8 p.m. “King Lear” is one of Shakespeare’s best and most famous tragedies. It tells a a tale of jealousy and madness re volving around a king, his inheritance and his three daughters. Aquila’s home base last year was the . University of South Carolina, but this year it is based in New York, so your on ly chance to see them will be this week. Aquila has received a prize for Dra matic Excellence from the Greek gov ernment and two prestigious British Council Touring Awards for its dynam ic classical productions. While keeping to the integrity de manded by producer and classics schol ar, Peter Meineck, Aquila seeks to give fresh, innovative performances of classic works. “There’s something timeless about classical pieces. The reason they’re still around is that they are so good. If we find them tedious, it’s the fault of the interpretation, not the work,” company actor Peter Hilton said. In last year’s tour, Aquila managed to squeeze the great epic “The Odyssey” into a two-hour show performed by sev en actors. Coming'Soon: And in last year’s “A Comedy of Er rors,” Aquila double-cast two actors, Hilton and Louis Butelli, for the four main roles. The casting trick, which added to the overall hilarity of the show, fooled many, sometimes including those close to the cast. After one show, old family friends of Butelli approached him, shocked that they had never known he had a broth er. What does Aquila have in store for us this year in “King Lear?” Who knows, but something surprising and thought ful, no doubt. As Aquila actress Lisa Carter said, “Unlike TV, theater is live. The audi ence and actors are breathing the same air, and anything can happen. It’s risky. It’s fun.” You can be a part of the fun for the low, low price of an $8 student ticket. Non-student tickets are $15. Call 251-2222 to order tickets, or if you want to take a chance and save a few bucks, you can try the “Koger Pre sents” rush ticket line 30 minutes be fore the show for $5 student tickets. Pictured above in 1995’s production of “Macbeth,” Aquila Theatre Company returns to Columbia on Thursday with “King Lear.” Theatre USC’s humorous and witty ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by Ali Freeman Gamecock Critic Lies, pride, affairs, deceit, entrapment, love and deception, all for your viewing pleasure at Drayton Hall. Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” seems an apropos opener for Theatre USC’s “Crossing the Millennium” season. A clas sic play that is still relevant, it addresses the diffi culty of filtering through presented material to find truth and sincerity. “Much Ado” shares its structure with many other Shakespearean comedies. There-are lovers, there is a mix-up, much mayhem ensues and at the eleventh hour, all is well with a wedding and a dance. But unlike earlier comedies, “Much Ado” is not a comedy of situation, but of charac ter. The defeat of the thieat to romantic bliss comes through the characters themselves, not a change in their situation. And the play includes characters among the most likable in all of Shakespeare. With their acer bic wit and scorn of love, Beatrice, one of Shakespeare’s most loquacious female charac ters, and Benedick are the most vital characters in the play. Shakespeare’s zanier talents shine through in Dogberry, the truly hilarious dolt of a constable whose lines are still funny in 1999. Theatre USC’s production does a fairly good job of presenting this play. As is typical for the de partment, it take a “simile approach” and stages the play in a time like the original setting (but no so long ago). This one is in the Old West, which works pretty well as a time when men battled, vil lains could be villains, law enforcement was sub par and love encountered tremendous obstacles. Theater professor Lisa Martin Stuart’s cos tumes are great as always and are the main indi cators of this Western setting. Dennis Maulden’s set, composed of frames and a glowing eyeball (straight out of “The Great Gatsby”) creates a space for much ado about noting; excellent in a play wherein the central plot device is the characters’ readiness to accept misinformation. The set also creates an open stage where the actors and audi ence can use their imagination to make anything happen. Director Jim O’ Connor uses these frames best at the play’s outset. There are some other scenes where they are used cleverly, but too often they just become big rectangles on the stage. There is much indicating in this production. • The costumes, lighting and sound are quite obvi ous in pointing out the good and bad guys and mo ments. It almost works, but is a little heavy-hand ed with the suddenly dark lighting for the scheming scenes. Vexatious indication lies in the direction and acting. I grant the clowns leave to laugh at them selves and pursue their lines with much goofy hi larity, which they do. But the other characters of ten make a show of showing the audience “this part is funny,” and sometimes “this part is not.” This might be a conscious effort to make sure the hoards of audience members there only to fulfill an Eng lish 101 requirement know what is going on. But it detracts from the pressing realness of this play. That having been said, the acting is otherwise quite good overall. The play’s main strength lies in theatre graduate student Guy Molnar, who creates a hilarious, clever, compassionate and lovable Benedick. La Shawn Banks as Don Pedro, Dan Roach as Claudio, and Richard Jennings as Leonato have a great connection on stage together, and their scene of tricking Benedick is one of the best moments in the play. Darin Dahms is boisterously entertaining as Dogberry and well supported by the funny Alyson and Andrea King as the Tweedledee and Tweedle dum watchmen. Also notable are Alicia Atkins and Leslie An derson who are both very good in the supporting roles of Ursula and Margaret, respectively. You’ll surely laugh. You’ll learn something, several things if you try. And you might just leave with that “the world is in order again” grin that seems to follow Shakespeare’s comedies. So, go. “Much Ado About Nothing” plays 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.