Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 1, 1990, edition 1 / Page 16
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Page 6 DTH Omnibus Thursday November 1, 1990 Political Nothing Sacred presented by PlayMakers Repertory Co. Wednesday, Nov. 1 through Sunday, Nov. 11 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday 2 p.m. Sunday Paul Green Theatre Tickets: $1 2.50 students, $1 7.50 adults For more information call 962-1 1 21 nder the loving guidance of PlayMakers Repertory Company, Canadian George F. Walker's Nothing Sacred has been brought vividly to life. The play, a modern adaptation of the 1862 Russian novel Fathers and Sons, by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, is not bound by time, and the PlayMakers' production clarifies that point. The play has a political frame and a personal canvas. Things that are clearly black and white on the outside become shades of gray on the inside. The direction, as well as the set, lighting, and costumes replicates this structural form the fringes are harsh, simple contrasts while the center is earthy, complicated and real. On the outside, there are two ex tremes, namely Pavel and Bazarov, played by Edmund Coulter and Sam Potter. They are the power characters, defined by their beliefs and their generations. They push the play to ward resolution. Pavel loves tradition and style, the old ways and European dress. He is ridiculous and remotely respectable on the outside, but on the inside he is passionate. He feels an obsessive, misdirected love for a woman he doesn't even know. He is flowers and 00 Guts Tabloid. -'OMNIBUS. Oaxii N ma. mm mm m frame surrounds Greg Miller tradition and, perhaps, stagnation. Coulter allows this love to be real. There is an unexpected purity and understanding of the emotion he cannot feel for himself. When Pavel opens up his heart and reads a love letter he wrote, he is warm, pitiable and memorable. Unfortunately, a flaw in the pro duction needlessly detracts from this moment. For this scene the stage is split, half in light for the love scene in the garden and half in darkness, set for the next scene in the dining room. The unlit scene should freeze. When the stage is split, the theatricality is already confessed and a freeze is not only acceptable but necessary. Movement from the unborn scene does nothing but distract from the scene that is in full bloom. Bazarov is the young nihilist who would trample tradition and structure and start the whole thing over from scratch. He outwardly seems to feel that love is trivial. But he loves Russia, and to him, Russia is her people. As Bazarov, Potter gives an inspiring performance. Pavel and Bazarov are defined by their beliefs, or lack thereof. They are the opposing outer edges. Inside are found the real people, easy to relate to, who struggle to find an under standing of the forces around them. The questions are not just whether to cross the line, but where to draw the line in the first place. If there is aprotagonist, it is Arkady, Bazarov's college friend and disciple. Arkady returns home to his father's farm after a long absence and brings Bazarov to meet his family. Played by Daniel Krell, Arkady is at first totally in Artists prove admirable but Somerhill Gallery Exhibitions: Anders Lunde, Paul Hrusovsky and Cathy Kiffney Eastgate Shopping Center 968-8858 etal, clay and wood are i ici io11r m tt tr mrrc nfrSl i l I tarian uses than art, but I I tie Somerhill Gallery's J LJ new exhibitions are try ing to change perceptions about what constitutes artistic material. The premise is that experimenta tion and divergence from traditional artistic forms are needed. The gallery currently is showing the works of Anders Lunde, Paul Hrusovsky and Cathy Kiffney, three artists who at tempt to meet this challenge. Anders Lunde carves wooden rS (LP wrfi - 'f I if X W ' f IK f i . H ir Make a wish: Daniel Krell, Stephen Haggerty and Sam Potter obviously committed to Bazarov's cause, but when he sees the relentless cruelty of Bazarov's methods applied to his family, he wavers. He runs into a wall founded on his own princples. Krell's work is clean and convincing. Arkady's father, Nikolai, is played by Tobias Andersen. Nikolai is an other of the inner characters, very human, working to come to terms with the cards life has dealt him. Andersen wastes nothing. Every ac tion counts; he is a wonderfully disci Isabel Barbuk figurines and creates what are known as "whirligigs," figures or scenes with sails like windmills. His work is brightly colored and more than slightly resembles a child's toy. However, he tackles serious issues with work like "Confederate general," which shows a man with windmill arms. In one hand the figure holds the Confederate flag, in the other, a map of Bull Run. Unfortunately, Lunde's style is overly simplistic and lacking in so phistication, making it impossible to take the subject seriously. The figures are not detailed and would not look out of place in a back yard with the bird bath. The Somerhill Gallery's main ex hibition is not any better. Paul - a personal canvas t plined actor. Comic relief is provided through out. Stephen Haggerty is hilarious as Viktor Sitnikov, another of Bazarov's disciples. Haggerty turns Viktor into a talking, laughing version of Jackie Gleason's "Poor Soul." Nothing Sacred explores the rela tion between generations, tradition and revolution, father and son, soci ety and the individual, humility and ambition. It is about coming of age, a journey each of us makes. The chords Hrusovsky uses mixed media for his pictures, creating a curious neo-classical effect through a combination of paint and carved metal. These paintings are the best of his pictures, although they become fairly repeti tive. His other works, however, illus trate modern art at its worst. The paintings are of a series of pointless squiggles, repeated numerous times in a variety of colors. The style is tedious and resembles the doodles of a bored student. The titles ofHrusovsky's work - such as "Perfect Man Society" suggest a depth that is not apparent in the pictures. Also, a giant piece of green metal labeled "leaf is not the sort of thing usually considered art. The work of Cathy Kiffney livens up the display somewhat. Her ce ramic fish, mingled with the work of Hrusovsky, are both colorful and hu morous. These fish are vividly por trayed on everything from plates to boxes. They are almost cartoon-like, - ftp. enjoy starring in 'Nothing Sacred' struck by the play resonate deeply within us all PlayMakers' produc tion sounds these chords beautifully and harmoniously. Walker's script attests that the macro-revolution is made up of many micro-conflicts which are clones of the final product, differing only in scale. When there is love and understanding, there is an ecstatic merging of opposed forces. When there is selfishness and confu sion, the blacks and whites become red. pointless particularly because they all sport maniacally evil grins. But somehow one gets the distinct feeling of having seen it all before. It may seem odd, but there is nothing particularly original about a flying fish. The premise of all three exhibi tions to display new media is admirable. However, the artistic merit of the resulting exhibits is question able. Art should be challenging and make the viewer think about human situations or evoke feelings within him or her. Because of its highly personal nature, both in terms of art ist and audience, art is likely to be controversial. Regardless of every thing else, however, it should not be boring. This exhibition shows the Somerhill Gallery regressing to its collective childhood. The result is pointless. It says nothing and reaches no one. Unfortunately, "liberal" art also may be boring art and may not be worth the time wasted to view it.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 1, 1990, edition 1
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