Page 10
THECOMPASS
Friday, March 1,1991
ENTERTAINMENT
Photo by Ursula McMillion
Play assails loveless unions
with much humor, drama
By Tarsha White
The University Players’ presenta
tion of Henrik Ibsen’s widely ac
claimed play, Hedda Gabler, was
highly dramatic yet full of humor.
Henrik Ibsen was a 19th century
Norwegian playwright His dramas
were the first of the problem plays.
Hedda Gabler, like many of Ibsen’s
plays, assails marriage without love
as being immoral.
The plot deals with Hedda’s (Gar-
linda Hollins) continuing efforts to
gain power over the men in her life.
She already has power over her “hen
pecked” husband, George Tesman
(Chester Dunton). Now she wants to
gain control of Judge Brack (Bobby
Lewis) and Eilert Lovborg (Mark
Morris). She also wants to control the
life of Mrs. Elvsted.
Hedda is an ill-mannered, spoiled,
and unloving person, so when she is
unable to get her way, she becomes
vile. For example, when Aunt Julia
leaves the hat that she has just bought
so that she could please Hedda in a
chair in the living room, Hedda be
comes angry and calls the hat “old and
ugly,” which deeply hurts Aunt Julia.
Garlinda Hollins has previously
acted with the University Players as
Molly Cunningham in Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone. She is also a mem
ber of the Cecial Williams Theatre
Play Review
Company in her native South Caro
lina.
Chester Dunton also starred in Joe
Turner’s Come and Gone as Seth
Holley. Dunton plays George Tes
man, a scholar, in Hedda Gabler.
George is Hedda’s husband who is
totally blind to Hedda’s evil ways. In
addition to acting in Joe Turner’s
Come and Gone, Chester has also
acted major roles in Chained Camels
and Cry of the Crowds as a student at
Northeastern High School.
Kimberly Ann Robinson, who
makes her acting debut in Hedda Ga
bler, turns out a stunning perform-
anceas Aunt Julia. Unlike her nephew
George, Aunt Julia is much aware of
what Hedda is really like but tries to
be a firiend to her anyway.
Cindy Youmans, a junior EngHsh/
Spanish major, also makes her first
appearance with the University Play
ers in//etidaGaWer as Berta. Berta is
the maid of George and Hedda who,
like Aunt Julia, intensely dislikes
Hedda’s spoiled attitude.
Stephanie Crouail’s performance
as Thea Elvsted was excellent.
She delivered herself in a profes
sional manner and made her character
seem real to life. Stephanie has previ
ously appeared with the Players as
Rhythm and Moves
Alais in The Lion in Winter and as
Ismenia in Lysistrata. And she has
performed in the Albemarle Players’
production of Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers.
In Hedda Gabler, Stephanie’s
character, Thea, is worried that Eilert
Lovborg is coming to town. She is an
old schoolmate of Hedda’s. She does
not understand why Hedda, who used
to be so cruel to her when they were in
school, is being so nice to her now.
Bobby J. Lewis plays Judge Brack,
a friend of George Tesman who be
comes attracted to Hedda. Bobby is a
Biology professor at ECSU who is
also micing his first appearance with
the Players.
Mark R. Morris also makes his
acting debut in//eddaGaZ>/er. Mark’s
character, Eilert Lovborg, is a writer
who has just recently enjoyed success
on a recently published book. Eilert is
currently working on a new book with
Mrs. Elvsted’s help. Eilert is an old
beau of Hedda’s, so when Hedda dis
covers Eilert’s and Thea’s relation
ship, she gives Eilert a gun that he
shoots himself with.
The play moves to a tragic climax,
when when Hedda shoots herself in
the head because she has lost all con
trol in her life.
Directed and adapted by Shawn
Smith, Hedda Gabler is a wonderful
play that is well worth seeing.
Photo by Mark Morris
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Left to right: Bryan Jones, Rob Conner and James Arthur Johnson of Jomandi Productions Inc. in Atlanta
dazzle a capacity crowd with their singing talent in Moore Hall Auditorium on Tuesday, Feb. 5. "Queen of the
Blues: An Evening with Dinah Washington" was part of the 1991 ECSU Lyceum series.
South African band's debut album
conveys strong religious themes
By Tarsha White
They were first introduced to the
music world as back-up vocalists for
Paul Simon. Now, several years later,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo has made
an album of their own.
Two Worlds, One Heart is the
debut album of Ladysmith Black
Mambazo. The music is very enjoyable
for the most part, but because many of
the songs were sung in the South
African language, it is hard to really
understand what the message is.
Most of the songs such as Ofana
Naye’s “Nobody Like Him,” are per
formed a cappella. Sung in the South
African language, the song sounds
much like the music of the group’s
mentor, Paul Simon. Like many of the
songs on the album, it has a religious
message.
‘Township Jive” is a fast-paced,
instrumental song sung in the South
African language. The music is con
temporary and is perhaps the most up
beat song on the album. The lead
singer sounds a lot like reggae singer,
Ziggy Marley. The use of the congos
gives the music a reggae edge.
“Bala Ubhale (Count and Write)”
is also sung a cappella. The vocalists
Album Review
sing in great harmony in this song. It
is said to have been recorded to en
courage the poets of all countries to
write about the amazing events hap
pening in the world today.
“Love Your Neighbor” is another
religious song, which is sung in the
English language. It has a very strong
religious message about giving praise
to God and loving one's neighbor just
as one loves oneself.
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arm”
is yet another religious song. It is an
instrumental song produced by Marvin
L. Winans of the Winans. This song is
an American spiritual that has a long
history in many African-American
churches.
“Rejoice” is sung partly in English
and partly in South African. It was
produced by Joseph Shabalala and
Ray Phiri. The lyrics are quite inspira
tional and also give us a religious
message. Take, for example, the lyr
ics: “Brothers and sisters let us re
joice, feel glad and give him glory.
Glory to him. Glory to the Son of God.
Hallelujah.”
All songs were produced by Jo
seph Shabalala of the group except a
few that were produced by Danny
Lawson. There are some distinguish
able appearances by George Clinton,
Ray Phiri and the popular gospel
group. The Winans.
Al^ough “Scatter the Fire” does
not have a religious message there is a
message in praise of music in general.
The lyrics “Music is Love! And Love
is Power! Spread the Music and Scatter
the Fire!” gives us insight as to what
the song is really about. The music
sounds like the music of George Clin
ton quite naturally. It is unique in that
the group is rapping in this song, which
makes it sound more like American
music.
The remaining songs on the album
are just as inspiring.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo shows
versatility throughout the entire al
bum and the lyrics to the songs let us
know that they are aware of the prob
lems of the world. Their music offers
words of wisdom from a religious
point of view.
With the help of The Winans, Ray
Phiri and George Clinton, Ladysmith
Black Mambazo has developed a style
of their own that may very well be the
next form of music in America.
The University Players presented Henrick Ibsen's Hedda Gablerirom Feb. 21-25. Despite a negative review
by a local newspaper, the production drew large audiences and received good critiques from ECSU students
and faculty. Posing from left to right are Stephanie Crouail, Chester Dunton, and Garlinda Hollins.
Alice Walker novel shows women
enduring against great odds, pain
By Cheryl White
Alice Walker’s new novel. The
Temple of My Familiar, is a tale of
many tales. Among the principal
characters is Zede, who has a daugh
ter, Carlotta. Carlottahasaclose friend,
a musician named Arveyda, who meets
and falls in love with Zede. The two
lovers return to Africa, a trip after
which Arveyda returns to America
and tells Carlotta of her past, which
she has grown up knowing little about.
Arveyda tells her also of her mother’s
past with her father, an Indian called
“The Keeper of the Stone.”
He also tells her of the cave Zede
and “The Keeper” were thrown into as
punishment for their love affair.
Other characters include Fanny’s
father Ola, a political activist and
playwright, who wrote of Africa’s
injustices. For this he was jailed which
made him even more determined to
speak out against apartheid.
All these characters talk about their
lives, loves, and lessons learned, and
provide words of wisdom to remem
ber.
The story centers also around Miss
Lissie, an elderly African woman who
has lived many lives through reincar
nations. Through these Uves she has
come to terms with her own identity as
a black woman; it is here we come to
understand the significance of the title
of the book. Her famiUar or dream-
memory pet is actually the imaginary
animal she relates to, meaning it re
flects the diversity in all the things she
is— part fish, part parrot and part rep
tile. When she attempts to conceal this
familiar, it eventually escapes and flies
away, looking back at her as if be-
Rook Review
trayed. This represents Miss Lissie’s
denial of who she actually was; she
was denying herself and her heritage
for which her alter-ego resented her
deeply.
Miss Lissie and her lover Hal tell
their story of Miss Lissie’s many lives
to Seewelo, the husband of Fanny.
Fanny is the daughter of Olivia, the
daughter of Miss Celie from The Color
Purple. The story is a lot like the
Color Purple because it is a reflection
of pain, rejoicing, and anger. The pain
is because of the loves lost and Ufe’s
general injustices. The rejoicing comes
from discovering one's own self and
realizing the identity we all struggle
our entire lives to learn. The anger is
aimed at life’s hard knocks, as re
vealed in the following quote by
Tanya, a white childhood friend of
Fanny’s:
“TTie Civil Rights Movement hap
pened. The University of Georgia
happened. Dr. King happened. It just
hit me one night watching television
coverage of one of the Civil Rights
marches, that the order of the world as
I’d always known it and imagined it
would all forevermore be wrong. Any
body who couldn’t honor those black
people I saw on television and those
pitifully few white people with
them...”
The Temple of My Familiar is
especially sensitive to the issues of
black women. It reflects our plight
which is the relationship with the black
male, and the struggle to fmd our
place in it.
The novel reflects how we are
women of strength who can endure
against insurmountable odds. It re
flects a victory, when we discover
ourselves. Most interesting is the turn
ing point in the relationship between
Hal and Miss Lissie when he delivers
her daughter. Lulu. Hal is so over
taken with the pain Miss Lissie expe
rienced in childbirth that he feels
ashamed for having to put her through
it, and vowing never to sleep with her
again;
“I was dying from the pain Lissie
was feeling,” he narrates. “Hating
myself and all mankind. I could see in
her eyes the hundreds of times she
suffered in giving birth and I swwe it
would never happen again, and my
desire for her, for sex with her or any
woman died, and I became a eunuch
myself. I just knew I would never be
able to deal with making love to a
woman ever again.”
The novel makes an interesting
reference to Elvis Presley as “the white
man’s first acknowledgement of his
true self’—the rationale being, of
course, that Elvis Presley did not deny
who or what he was.
In this novel Walker gives us no
powerful business tycoons, corpcaate
takeovers nor any political scandals,
but she does give honesty and truth in
her theme of self-knowl^ge and self-
acknowledgement Walker’s style is
eloquent yet simple. She paints vivid
scenes for the readers while using rich
colloquialisms.
The Temple of My Familiar is a
must for those who are burned out on
detective thrillers and romantic sus
pense, and for those who are ready for
something soulful, truthful and mean
ingful.
The 1990-91 junior varsity cheerleading squad show off their legs on the steps of the R.L. Vaughan Center,
posing from left to right: Towanna Koonce, Stephanie Pierce, Ayanna Dorsey, Garlinda Hollins and Josie
Wills. Photo by Myron Bryant
I®" It PA^s
in The Compass
for more information call 335-3711
THE COMPASS
would like to congratulate EC(SU on it’s Centennial and looks forwand
to another 100 years of excellence and continuing growth as an
institution of higher learning in northeastern North Carolina