4The Daily Tar HeelMonday, September 8, 1986
The Amatemirs are far from it
What's in a name anyway? The
Amateurs, a reggae-style rock group
from Greenville, played at the
ArtSchool in Carrboro Saturday
night. In general, the band's playing
was clearly far from the implications
of their name.
The Amateurs have played the
: circuit from Greensboro to Charles
ton, S.C. This weekend's perfor
mance was actually the fourth time
the band has rocked the ArtSchool.
They played July 4 at the ArtSchool
and then at the Eno Festival in
Durham. Their next Triangle
appearance will be at the Durham
CenterFest on Sept. 21.
Bill (Shep) Shepherd, who handles
lead vocals and congos, also writes
about half the band's repertoire. The
other half consists of classics like
Johnny B. Goode" and other music
that is recognizable but can be
appreciated anew because of the
group's cool, jammin' reggae style.
The other Amateurs are guitarists
Mike Davis and Buddy Alcorn,
Rene Meyer
Concert
bassist J. W. Rayburn, drummer
Rocky Warren, and keyboard player
Andrea Faulkner. These six were
joined by several stand-ins Saturday.
The band's reggae twist definitely
comes from Shep. His energy and
original songs ignited the stage. In
between his attack on the congos and
the mike, he bounced around the
stage and got the audience going.
Shep is originally from Lenoir
County but has been around the
Greenville music scene since 1971.
While living for a short period in
New York City, he had neighbors
from Trinidad, and he was thereby
exposed to and inspired by the
Caribbean sound. Returning to
North Carolina, he learned to play
congo drums, and the band deve
loped from there. Shep was also
influenced by his mother and sister,
who both sing gospel. The voices and
complex harmony of gospel are an
important part of the band's sound.
The lead guitarist, Mike Davis,
has a style reminiscent of Carlos
Santana, and awed the audience
Saturday night with his hot solos.
Maracas, tambourine, and key
boards were adroitly managed by
two female members of the band
(one of them a stand-in).
The audience was typical of
. crowds at the ArtSchool's reggae
events, but there were not as many
real "rastafarians," (which is to say
hard-core reggae fans). The band's
style, essentially rock'n'roll with a
heavy reggae flair, was reflected in
the avid crowd. The dance floor was
packed for sardine dancing and the
crowd went wild between, during
and after every number. For regular
groupies or first-time listeners, the
band was definitely hot.
4
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The Amateurs perform at ArtSchool in Carrboro
DTHDan Charlson
Drama department gives non-majors 'opportunity to perform
By BRUCE BYERS
Staff Writer
One does not have to be a drama major
or a graduate student to participate in
campus productions. As the Department of
Dramatic Arts gets its season underway,
both the students heading the undergrad
uate theater community and the department
faculty are discussing the acting and
directing opportunities available for non
majors in the six or seven undergraduate
performances the department produces
each semester.
The DDA is beginning the academic year
with A Little Wilder," an evening of two
early Thornton Wilder plays, "The Happy
Journey" and "The Long Christmas
Dinner." With only a few rehearsals behind
him, guest artist director Thomas Nah
rwold said he is already pleased. Discussing
selection of the cast, he said he was able
to "get the best people for the parts." The
cast includes a history major, a political
science major, and a journalism major.
"There was simply no prejudice with regard
to (major) selection at all," Nahrwold said.
Nahrwold said "A Little Wilder" was a
chance for audiences to see some of Wilder's
rarely-performed earlier plays. "They (the
plays) were written at a time when Wilder
was being shadowed by Fitzgerald and
Hemingway," he said. This shadowing is
a shame, said Nahrwold, because the plays
show Wilder's "struggling with new tech
niques involving the audience (which are)
similar to (techniques) Brecht dealt with."
By no means shadowed by the DDA
production, however, are the plays pro
duced by the department's Lab Theatre.
While the DDA's production occurs once
a semester and involves a small admission
charge, the Lab Theater produces five or
six smaller shows per semester with free
admission. These productions have been
exceptionally popular, and in response to
the demand, the DDA has decided to
expand the number of performances of each
play from four to five.
The Lab Theatre not only casts both
majors and non-majors but also allows non
majors to direct productions. According to
junior Doug Wagner, director of the Lab
Theatre's production of "Wait Until Dark,"
the system lends itself to people interested
in writing their own plays, since it is up
to the director to list the play he is interested
in producing.
Already scheduled and cast for this fall's
Lab Theatre are "Wait Until Dark,"
"Vinegar Tom" and "Uncommon Women
and Others." The rest of the plays for this
season have not been selected or cast,
however, and according to undergraduate
DDA representative Mike Wilson, now is
the time to get prepared for auditions.
To aid both majors and non-majors, the
department's Evan Yionoulis will be
holding a workshop for students who may
need guidance in preparing for DDA's
formal-style auditions. The workshop, set
for Sept. 20, will offer aid in selection of
the two monologues which participants are
required to deliver in auditions and possibly
some other forms of coaching.
In addition to workshops aimed specif
ically at preparing the students for audi-'
tions, the department has tentatively
scheduled a voice workshop. This work
shop will be led by Cicely Berry, head vocal
coach for the distinguished Royal Shakes
peare Company in London. The precise
date has not yet been announced, but will
be in late September or early October.
Another workshop, either on scene or
movement, may be scheduled later this
semester.
In addition to the workshops, the
department is also making its visiting and
resident professionals more available for
contact. Starting Sept. 12, the department
will be holding a dinner discussion series
at the Carolina Coffee Shop. On a first
come, first-served basis, ten undergraduates
will be allowed to sign up for dinner with
any of a consortium of theater profession
als. The aim of the department is to cover
topics such as direction, design, stage
management, writing and movement and
vocal coaching. The dinner series will begin
on Sept. 12, with Dr. Milly Barranger,
chairwoman of the department.
DDA's "A Little Wilder" is scheduled to
run Oct. 8-12. Lab Theatre productions
start off with the classic "Wait Until Dark,"
which is, according to Wagner, wonderfully
suited for production in what can be the
foreboding environs of the Lab Theater. It
will be performed Oct. 5-7. "Vinegar Tom,"
a musical about people getting caught up
in 17th-century English witch hunts, will
be directed by Steve Maler and is set to
run Oct. 12-14. "Uncommon Women and
Others," which was described by director
Lydia Worthington as an "extremely honest
play exploring women's choices between
traditional and not-so-traditional roles,"
will run Oct. 19-21. Lab Theatre produc
tions are free, but since past shows have
filled the house, it is recommended that seat
reservations be made at the Playmaker's
box office.
Student Stores' safety measures seem effective
By MARIA HAREN
Staff Writer
The Student Stores' new $35,000
electronic theft-detection system,
which has prevented two thefts
already, will help deter theft and
reduce supply shrinkage, said Stu
dent Stores administrators. '
Rutledge Tufts, general manager
of Student Stores, said the idea for
the detection system was introduced
a year ago because of a high theft
rate.
"We were looking for a way that
was effective but not real intrusive
for the customers who shop," he said.
A "reasonable" amount of theft at
a college bookstore is usually a 2
percent loss of total sales, Tufts said.
UNC Student Stores lost $170,000,
about 1.5 percent.
For merchants like those on
Franklin Street, Tufts said, theft
rates can be as high as 3 to 4 percent.
Shrinkage chips away at the
Student Stores' profits, Tufts said,
which go either to scholarships or
back into production. "We will give
the University $3,000 just for scho
larships," he said.
Total value of stolen goods cannot
be determined, Tufts said, because
employee errors in pricing, book
keeping and cash register operations
affect that value also.
Total thefts include employee as
well as consumer theft, he said.
"WeVe caught employees, students,
faculty members and non-students
stealing," Tufts said.
The Bull's Head Bookshop is
w here most people are caught steal
ing, he said. Two of the four
"detection corridors" are in the front
of the building; the third at the Pit
Stop and the other at the pen
counter.
Monitors stand at the front detec
tion corridors and at the electronics
counter all day, checking people who
trigger the alarms.
Sometimes two people walk
through at the same time the alarm
goes off, the wrong person is
stopped, he said, and sometimes the
alarm malfunctions.
When the alarm does go off, Tufts
said, it is not an automatic accusa
tion of theft. "All it means is that
an alarm has been set off," he said.
"Usually it is a store error."
If students are caught stealing, and
it is their first offense, they must sign
a document saying they have been
warned against stealing. If caught a
second time, they are then turned
over to the Honor Court.
Others caught stealing are taken
to University Police, Tufts said.
Tufts said he had hoped the
detection system would deter poten
tial thieves rather than putting the
Student Stores in a position to
confront them.
A recent study, which asked
shoplifters under rehabilitation what
was most the effective deterence in
stores, showed that 70 percent felt
electronic detection systems were the
strongest deterences against theft,
Tufts said.
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'Handmaid's Tale':
a novel of the future
Margaret Atwood's latest
novel, "The Handmaid's Tale,"
should one day take its place
between classics such as George
Orwell's "1984" and Aldous
Huxley's "Brave New World."
Realistic and chilling, Atwood's
book is somewhat different from
the other two negative Utopias:
the narrator is an abused woman
cruelly caught up in a system that
has turned faith ana belief inside
out. This woman, Offred, makes
the reader stand up and listen.
The year of the story's setting
is not specifically mentioned; one
can only assume it is sometime
in the near future. The United
States is now called the Republic
of Gilead, and religions are at war
with one another. The govern
ment makes the masses believe
that it is an omnipotent god:
constant, sinister, and
threatening.
Offred is a Handmaid, or
roughly, a surrogate mother. She
is to conceive a child for a
Commander and his wife by a
rather clinical method. Like all
other Handmaids, Offred wears
red (remember Hester Prynne?).
She clings to her past, constantly
searching in crowds for her
husband, daughter, best friend
and mother. Their remembered
dialogues are distant and
haunting.
There are both contrasts and
similarities between "1984,"
"Brave New World" and "Hand
maid." While Orwell saw the
future government as a repressive
Big Brother that monitored
thoughts and watched every
action of its citizens, Huxley saw
Kelly Rhodas
Books
a free society of drugs and sexual
promiscuity. Atwood borrows
some ideas from each of these
authors and adds a few innova
tions of her own.
In "The Handmaid's Tale," Big
Brother appears in the form of
"Eyes" that are undercover spies
in Gileadean society. Gileadeans
are free to think and remember,
but not to read. Atwood shows
that alcohol, drugs, "orgasm and
arousal" are thought to be friv
olous, unnecessary and illegal.
Atwood ironically shows the
system as being ultra
conservative, yet surprisingly the
system pushes open adultery with
Handmaids. She brushes over the
hatred and punishment of doctors
who perform illegal abortions, of
homosexuals and of religious
groups such as Catholics, Jews,
and Quakers.
The only very obvious fault in
"The Handmaid's Tale" is
Atwood's purposeful, sporadic
quotation marks. As Offred's
mind wanders into her past, the
speech she recalls is jumbled and
loose, usually unpunctuated.
Also, the ending may be disap
pointing to some, but the "His
torical Notes" after the text
compensates for any frustration.
Atwood's imagination seems to
know no bounds.
Offred is an unforgettable
character, and her tale makes for
a book that is hard to put down.
(C
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