The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, January 25, 1991 Page: 11 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1991 11
Theater's King Lear is swift but stunnin
BYCHEPE LOCKETT
M
ain Street Theater
continues to tackle
Shakespearean tragedy with
this season's production of
King Lear. The language is
well-delivered, the acting
well done, and the show a
success, though its combined
length and speed may bother
some viewers.
Shakespeare's greatest and
deepest tragedy should
require little summary
in-the-round could contain a
work of Leaf s power and scope,
but director Rebecca Greene
Udden's staging succeeds
admirably. The opening court
scene which begins all Lear's
troubles seemed somewhat
stilted, but the action soon
settled into a swift and absorbing
pace. The infamous ending is
just as affecting as on larger
stages, if not more so.
Main Street's production is
long (three hours, including
two intermissions), and the
actors speak notably swiftly
just to compact the entire
script into that space. At
James Gale's shaved head serves to
lend him both imposing presence as
the reigning monarch and pitiful vul-
nerability as deposed madman.
(particularly for hapless HUMA
students): the elderly British
monarch of the title decides to
divide his kingdom among his
three daughters based on how
well they describe their love for
him. In so doing, he exiles his
one true child and leaves himself
to the mercy of the other two
oratorically gifted but utterly
merciless daughters. These
two conspire to strip Lear of
all rank and power, and finally
reduce him to a feeble, insane
old man lost in the wilderness.
The former king's allies
attempt a rescue, only to be
utterly crushed by the evil
forces, which only fall finally
through rivalry among them-
selves.
At first I wondered how
Main Street's small theater-
times I wished Udden had
chosen to cut a few lines to leave
time for the actors to mull over
their speeches more. But if you
know the play, or feel comfort-
able with undiluted and speedy
iambic pentameter, you should
have little difficulty. The acting
and staging is well done: it was
only the speed I occasionally
disagreed with.
James Gale continues his
assault on Shakespeare's
mightiest roles (as with his
successful Hamlet last year) as
King Lear himself. His shaved
head serves to lend him both
imposing presence as the
reigning monarch and pitiful
vulnerability as deposed mad-
man, and his acting supports his
appearance admirably. Nancy
Sherrard (Goneril) and Patti Bean
Timothy Arrington and James Gale star in Main Street Theater's production of King Lear.
(Regan) give the proper waspish,
arrogant yet seductive air to
Lear's evil daughters. Penny
Alfrey (Cordelia) continues her
string of Main Street successes
as Lear's only truly loving
daughter, in a portrayal of both
strength and tenderness. And
Steve Garfinkel (Fool) gives an
interesting interpretation of
Lear's bitter and loving
companion — his affecting final
moments on stage intensify
both Lear's and the audience's
Buffalo Tom stampedes
into Axiom next week
BY JILL SALAMON
B
'uffalo Tom. I took an
informal poll among my friends
and not one of them had the
slightest idea who this poppy-
end-of-post-punk-white-colle-
giate-traditional-rock band was.
I had never heard of them
either but all in a single day I
not only found out who they
were but listened to their new
album birdbrain in full and
talked personally to their
bassist Chris Colbourn on the
phone.
Buffalo Tom is a group that
birdbrain mostly
consists of heavy,
healthy guitar
contrasted with a
clear, if not alto-
gether clean, vo-
cal. The sound is
real and almost
earthy.
formed at the University of
Massachussetts at Amherst in
1986. The three guys that
make up'the band kept on
seeing each other at the same
shows and finally decided to
start a band of their own.
The formation was not so
taxing a job; as Colbourn told
me, "Music comes really
easily to all of us."
While still at Amherst, they
enlisted they help of J. Mascis
of Dinosaur Jr. fame to help
with production.
"J. is really hands-off.
Some people think that he's too
anguish.
Timothy Arrington
(Gloucester), a visiting member
of Actors Equity (the profes-
sional actors' union) is a fine
counterpart to Gale's Lear as the
lead character of Shakespeare's
subplot. But the fine caliber of
Main Street's own professionals
appears in comparison —
Arrington melds smoothly
with the ensemble, without
"showing up" any of his stage
companions. Rodney
Walsworth (Edmund) and Kent
Johnson (Edgar) are particu-
larly to be complimented as
Gloucester's two sons, one
for oily slyness and the other
for his well-done mad scenes.
Steve Riley (Kent) was
somewhat mild as Lear's
rejected yet devoted servant,
particularly when imprisoned
in the stocks, but stood
firmly amidst the chaos of the
last scene. Mark McGriff
(Cornwall) and John Guerra
(Albany) make a fine con-
trasting pair of husbands to
Lear's daughters, one evil and
swift, the other good-hearted
hut slow to take action—though
strong and forbidding in the last
scene. David Folwell (Oswald)
made his small part a memo-
rable one with his pouting,
opportunistic steward.
Kathleen Jircik again makes
spartan sets a virtue with her
Stonehenge-like monoliths and
rustic throne, and Franklin
Hollenbeck's costumes rein-
force the Bronze Age feel
(though the soldier's armor
and swords look quite Roman).
Susan Diane Koontz's lighting
design portrays both gloomy
storm and sunny Dover Beach
convincingly, and Anders
Johansson's sound design,
with original music, gave an
affecting extra touch to the
monarch's slow decay.
King Lear, by William
Shakespeare, plays at 8 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday
and at 4 p.m Sunday at Main
Street Theater in the Rice
University Village. Tickets
range from $12-518 (Sundays
cheapest), with student
discounts available. For
information, call 524-6706.
Love, war and music
create dramatic opera
BY LUCIANA BARROSO
I
Buffalo Tom band members will pay at the Axiom next week.
laid back but there's really not
just one way to do a perfor-
mance," Colbourn said.
The band moved to Boston
as soon as everyone gradu-
ated. Boston houses an enor-
mous number of college students
and there is a lot of opportunity
to get together and play.
In Boston they have the ideal
audience. Colbourn describes
their music as "really tradi-
tional. We're songwriters but not
in the revolutionary sense.
Maybe we bash a little harder,
though... Our music is nothing-
really new, it's just the kind
of sound we grew up with."
The kind of sound they grew
SEE BUFFALO, PAGE 14
Ln a beautiful production, the
Houston Grand Opera has
premiered The Passion of
Jonathan Wade, a work that
analyzes a soldiers conflicts with
his conscience over the acts of
war. Though unplanned, the
similarities between the opera's
theme and current events
emphasize the dramatic impact
of the work.
The opera opens in Columbia,
South Carolina in 1865. The
Civil War is over, and Recon-
struction is about to begin.
Colonel Jonathan Wade
(baritone Dale Duesing), the
commander of the occupation
forces, arrives in Columbia and
is greeted by the local judge,
Gibbes Townsend (bass-baritone
Julian Patrick), who invites
Wade to dinner as a measure of
good will. The judge's daughter,
Celia (soprano Sheryl Woods), at
first resents the arrival of Wade,
but, as the two people come to
know one another, they fall in
love.
Their happiness is cut short
as extremists from both sides
escalate racial tensions. The
arrival of Enoch Pratt (tenor
John Duykers) as the head of
the Freedman's Bureau
further complicates matters.
As the commander of the
occupation forces, Wade is
required to carry out increas-
ingly harsh edicts against the
southern population, including
Judge Townsend, who blames
Wade for this action.
Despite the judge's feelings,
Celia and Jonathan get married,
their only true friend after this
fea.t being Nicey (mezzo-soprano
Debria Brown), the Townsends'
long-time maid.
With the passage of time,
SEE OPERA, PAGE 15
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Moeller, Kurt & Yates, Jay. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, January 25, 1991, newspaper, January 25, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245773/m1/11/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.