4 Th Dilly Ter Hsel Wednesday, November 12, 1975,
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by Rick Sebsk
DTH critic
Perhaps the most obvious thing
wrong with Jeff Wanshel's new play is
its catchpermy title: Isadora Duncan
Sleeps With The Russian Navy. I realize'
that there has been a lot of media(
attention paid to the woman in the past
decade, but all the possible reasonable
titles have hardly been exhausted, and
this long one . is unnecessarily
pretentious and witlessly affected.
Besides, his play, currently being
presented by the Playmakers Repertory
Company as part of the "Second Step"
program of the Eugene O'Neill National
Playwrights Conference, distinguishes
itself as a viable and exciting theatrical
piece which (unlike some of the previous
long-titled originals imported from
Connecticut by the Department of
Dramatic Art) needs no foolishly flashy
title to attract attention and respect.
The play presents an attempt by a
screenwriter (Hal Scott) to quickly
rewrite for an unseen movie mogul the
life of Isadora Duncan, famous dancer
and American expatriate who startled
the artistic world of the dance around
the turn of the century with her free
form movements and barefoot
interpretations of music. This
screenwriter is on stage constantly
during both acts, and one sees his
conceptualization and visualization of
the script as performed by a small
troupe of the actors of his mind.
Isadora Duncan's life would probably
not be believed as fiction, but accepted
as fact, it provides an astounding base
for experimentation and theatrical
extravagance. I think the play would be
an interesting introduction to the story
of her life if one had never encountered
it before, but I wonder if the world really
needed another rehash of the details so
soon after Ken Russell's TV biography,
the movte with Vanessa Redgrave and
the reprinting of Isadora's
autobiography. Is there really no one
else in the history of American art who
deserves attention?
The script, as directed here by Tom
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Donna Davis plays the lead in the Playmakers Repertory Company
production of Jeff Wanshel's 'Isadora Duncan Sleeps with the Russian
Navy,' which continues Nov. 13-16 and 20-23 at the Graham Memorial
Haas, zips through her life with an
amazing speed, admirable energy and a
generous amount of comic
characterization. The theatrics,
smoothly and ingeniously incorporated
into the show, include a wide variety of
conventions culled from various world
Tonight at the Cradle
Cat's Cradle - Behind
Tijuana Fats - Rosemary St.
2:20-4:00-5:40
7:20-9:00
a future you'll probably live to see.
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. JASON ROBARDS
co-,iarna HELENE
Produced by ALVY MOORE Written for the screen and Directed by LQ JONES
Based on the award winning novella by HARLAN ELLISON
Music by TIM MclNTIRE and JAIME MENDOZA-NAVA Technicolors
NO ONE ADMITTED AFTER PERFORMANCE STARTS-.
IX HAS TO BE SEEN FRCHV1 THE BEGINNING I
TONIGHT! Wednesday, November 12
Dig
'Downtown !
W Franklin St. ?
thought-provoking theatre that entertains, stimulates
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theatre styles: from a chorus of dancing
commentators to . Kibuki-style
representations and symbolisms to
overhead electronic voices. The
hodgepodge of styles coalesce into a
definite unity which attempts to make a
double point about artistic integrity and
the mundane forces which a true artist
must fight. Both the screenwriter and
Isadora battle producers and promoters
in their quests for self-expression.
What bothered me most about the
production was the confusing lack of
sincerity. I couldn't figure out who was
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the music 'n' dance
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Photos
Lounge Theatre, Tickets are available at 102 Graham Memorial or at
Ledbetter-Pickard downtown.
sincere.
The only cast member who appeared
resolved in her attitude toward her
character was Donna Davis, who played
Isadora with the conviction, integrity
and intelligence which always make her
performances outstanding in
Playmaker productions. Costumed in a
simple white robe, she effectively
became Isadora for me, and I believed
her even when she spouted what-now-seem
platitudes about communism and
free love and her vision of a free school.
She alone seemed to be able to operate
totally free of sarcasm and self-
HERMANN HESSE'S
MAX VON SYDOW
DOMINIQUE SANDA
COMING NEXT
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AMERICAN GRAFFITI
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"The Triangle' Most Luxurious Tri-Thetre"
DOWNTOWN - CHAPEL HILL
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CiiAEHES OnONSOH
: JAMES C0BU8N
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- -Shows-:
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Rated
-PG- '
MOVIES -1- Ends Tomorrow
N-O-W
MOVIES - 2 .
3:15-5:15
7:15-9:15
Diana Ross
Mahogany t
N-O-W
MOVIES - 3 .
2:30-4:1 5-:00
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by Staff Photographer Margaret Kirk and UNC Photo Lab
mockery.
It's hard to pinpoint an origin of the
insincerity which plagued the rest of the
cast. I'm not convinced that any definite
decisions were made about the author's
intentions which were somewhat
confusing. Did Wanshel mean to be
sincere when he gave the Author lines
like "I'm falling in love with my own
character," or did he intend for the role
to be enacted with the kind of self
consciousness and self-mockery which
pervaded Hal Scott's performance? And
if the Author was really in love with this
strong-willed and daring woman, would
he envision her bared breast as a
popsicle-like prop gag? Was Wanshel
trying to ridicule or rationalize his own
efforts to write this play, or has Haas
Our nation, united in goal and
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Divided by doubts, prejudices,
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meant to turn the script around and
attack its creator?
The chorus members seemed to be
laughing at themselves as they split up a
wide variety of minor character roles
which made up an ensemble backdrop
of performances for Isadora to play
against. The engaging actors and
actresses making up this versatile set of
players include Richard Ussery, Maggie
Tucker, Mark Phialas, Dallas Greer,
Deborah Dunthorn, Randy Ball and
Henry Arnold.
(Judging from the enthusiastic
response and apparently uncontrollable
laughter of a small group of drama
students and their professor in the
sparse audience Sunday night, one can
assume that Randy Ball is the new
"darling" of the department. For some
unknown reason, his every action,
costume change and line of dialogue
sent this little congregation of
Playmakers into hysterics.)
Bobbi Owen and Rick Pike are
credited with the design of the show,
and, as usual, their work is
appropriately clever and decidedly first
rate. The various nationalities which
make up Isadora's audiences are
imaginatively stereotyped with props
and costumes, and the subtle
transformation of the Lounge Theatre
into a seemingly limitless playing area in
the round is quite successful. I only
questioned the Author's costume which
seemed unusually chic and too casually
bourgeois for me to believe him as a
struggling and starving artist.
Lighting was handled by Devon
Query, and the off-stage musical
direction of Carol Strickland was a
definite asset of the production. The
mystical and mysterious off-stage voice
of Melanie Myers beautifully
accompanied several of Isadora's
dances.
This is the first production of the
Playmakers Repertory Company which
I've seen since their premier production
of The Peer Gynt Show last spring, and I
can't say they've disappointed me even
though I don't find this show to be as
strong as that first display of their
collected talents. Tom Haas is obviously
a master of this modern ensemble-style
acting.
The consummate theatricality of the
script, the direction, the performances
and the design make Isadora Duncan
Sleeps With the Russian Navy worth
everyone's attention even if certain
attitudes within are somewhat baffling,
and even if its title is too long. At last,
the Department of Dramatic Art is
producing exciting thought-provoking
theatre which manages simultaneously
to entertain and stimulate. It deserves
your enthusiastic support.
f.(3iBM
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