Marah 17^ 1970
The N.C. Essay
Page 2
CeiEIICDTO 8(J
EDITORIAL
SE
by Anthony N. Fragola
On Thiirsday evening, March 12,
David Wood used a key that he had
in his possession from last semester
when he was a member of the Essay
staff to enter the staff room,
"borrow" the review I had written
that day, take it to the cafeteria,
show it to students and Mr. Sanders,
and then write footnotes wherever
he deemed appropriate. Of course,
he didn't bother to ask permission
or inform either me or the editor
if he could do this.
Clearly this was a complete
invasion of property and infringe
ment on the right of free speech.
It was not what Dave Wood wrote'
which concerns me, but his manner
of doing it. As Dave Wood well
knows, since more than once I have
had to defend Dave Wood's articles,
we will print nearly anything which
is not libelous.
But this episode was also
enlightening. For two years I have
been trying to encourage both stu
dents and faculty to write reviews.
Only recently have we had any success
in obtaining Guest Reviews. Stu
dents were especially reluctant
and feared that any criticism
might jeopardize their position in
the artistic community.
I remember one of the first
reviews written by a high school
student. After Robert Lingelbach
wrote his review of Blood, Sweat,
and Tears he was harassed by other
students who chided him for publish
ing such a review in this school.
Apparently the criticism was so
severe that Rob Linglebach did not
write another review. This is but
one example.
If a "Jim Bobbitt" writes a
criticism of a performance, then he
is cast as "A washed out horn-player”
who has no right to tell the orches
tra anything. But Jim had four years
of musicology and did know what he
was talking about. Many people
agreed with him, but they were not
the vocal ones. Their approval was
given to me in hushed whispers. I
had Jim as a student and found him
highly sensitive and perceptive,
and I deeply respect his opinion as
an artist. I grant that his choice
of words was severe, but I chose not
to edit his review for I believe it
is not my function to act as a cen
sor. I believe that Jim Bobbitt
is more qualified as a music re
viewer than many journalists who
obtain their status as a reviewer in
(aon't on page 5)
BY ANTHONY N. FEAGOLA
Unannounced and uninvited, Dave
Wood surreptitiously added the foot
notes . 1 think they should be
printed, for they provide some
interesting insights into Dave Wood's
mind. Rather than hassle with
Mr. Wood, I leave the reader and the
viewer to make his own conclusions.
A.- Fragola
In its present form, L'histoire
du Soldat is a hopeless farce.^ ' The
main reason for this is David Wood's
heavy-handed, gimmicky presentation
of the devil. It would seem that
the devil's part in L'histoire
needed to be more stylized, more
controlled, more integrated with
the presentation of dramatic content.
But when Dave Wood gets a laugh, he
strives for the guffaw.^ If the
dirty-old man technique works well
when he is a mad-hatter butterfly
catcher, then he wrings it dry
when he is a legless soldier try
ing to entice the impoverished
soldier to regain wealth and new
honors.
And where does this leave poor
Rick McCullough? He tries vainly
to maintain his stature in a serious
dramatic role, but there is Dave
V/ood rolling his eyes and twisting
his mustache - it doesn't matter if
he has one or not - ready to pounce
on the heroine and say, "if you don't
give ffie the deed to your ranch.
A
REVIEW
I'm going to put you on the railroad
tracks or saw you right in half.3
And then. And then? And then Rick
McCullough has to wait for the laugh
ter to die before he can utter a word.^
L'histoire must be taken as an
allegory, the devil in the disguise
of the butterfly catcher, the gentle
man, the legless soldier are supposed
to be manifestations of evil; they are
not and should not be roles of comic
farce.5
Doug McCorkindale's presentation
of the Narrator adds substance and
stability to the performance. He is
aware of his role as the middleman,
between reality and allusion, false
goals and meaningful values, and he
does not transgress his position.
Besides having to cope with
farce and histrionics, Rick McCullough
has to deal with extremely difficult
rhythms, constantly shifting time
signatures. Under the circumstances,
Rick McCullough does a creditable
job. He seemed uncomfortable in his
role as an actor, and this too may
have contributed his difficulty with
timing, and any attempts at con
centration must have been shattered
by the laughter ringing in his ears.6
1/fcen Rick dances with Svea Eklof, he
(aon't on pg. 5)
lTfl€ fi{ECOU{ER{ED','
. R{EUltUU
EDITORS NOTE: Our appreaiation is
extended to Staay • Meyer for not
only oontri.buting this Guest Review
but also for taking her time to
rewrite the review after its theft
from the Essay office, ^e apologize
for tK^late xssue this weekjheld
over in order to include this re
write.
"L'Histoire du Soldat" began
where the final dress rehearsal
ended; the first action of the par
ticipants was to set the stage for
the performance and change from
warm-up apparel to performance cos
tume. Then, Douglas McCorkindale,
the Narrator, introduced the story
and its central character, the young
soldier, Eric McCullough.
Rick is a promisingly good dan
cer, and as a dancer he performed
"L'Histoire" well. But the core of
the role was not in the movement, it
was in the character of the soldier,
which was never realized within^'Rick
as an actor. There is no gettitig
around it: NCSA dancers desperately
need good, regular, disciplined act
ing classes — for the sake of the
choreographers, as well as for the
dancers. No excuse will hold. Job
Sanders' production of "L'Histoire"
would have been much the better, had
Rick known how to become the young
soldier — not to mention how to use
his voice to project through the house
Svea Eklof as the princess was
delightful, I thought. Perhaps more
experience as a performer has moved,
her closer towards maturity than Rftek
has yet had a chance to get; Svea
came across as a beautifully melodra
matic, spoiled, dumb, lovely princess-
and this is how she was supposed to be
Her costume was designed and executed
by Cathy Casper; it was just about '
perfect. h
David Wood played the Devil, who
controlled and killed the soldier-boy.
As the Devil, David disguised himself
and took on several other characters.
Voice manipulation - costumes - man
nerism - props - all helped him ex
press the various characters. Unfor
tunately never once could one forget
that he was watching David Wood be
funny, David Wood milk the audience
for laughs and tears, David Wood piay
at being the characters, which leads
one to believe the acting to hava
been exterior. Personally, I fe^l\ I
have been taken; I enjoyed something
which really was not of the quality
it could or should have been. Be
sides, all these characters I have
seen David do before, one time or a-
nother. Perhaps for the new students
it was fresh. However, after four
years. I'm eager to see David do some
thing totally differently funny.
Douglas narrated excellantly.
From the balcony, his words could be
understood; the bit of dancing about
he did was delightful. Thank good
ness for classes of dance-for-actors;
Doug was happy and light on his feet.
He helped to keep the show moving.
(aon't on page 4)