NOV 21, 20Q3
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Guilford Theatre presents Edward Albee's Se
Katie Elliott
Features Editor
This is not a play for the weak
of attention span.
Seascape has no special
effects, no short scenes, or
quick set changes. There are
no cheap gimmicks, no sex
drugs-and-rock'n'roll, and not a
bit of 'bathroom humor.' There
are only four characters, and
all they do is talk.
Such is Edward Albee's
Seascape, the opener of the
Guilford College Department of
Theatre Studies' main stage
season. The play, directed by
Assistant Professor Lee
Soroko, breaks with the tradi
tional choices of Guilford plays.
It is neither sexy, nor overtly
political. It is subtle, earnest,
philosophical, and utterly real
istic.
Assuming, of course, that a
conversation with a pair of
human-sized lizards is a realis-
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Sarah and Leslie played by Vita Generalova and Sasha Spoerri
tic event.
Seascape, which won a
Pulitzer Prize in 1975,
revolves around a chance
meeting between two couples
at the beach. The first, Charlie
and Nancy (played by
Jonathon Vogt and Heidi
Mclver), is a retired, middle
class married couple. The sec
ond couple, Sarah and Leslie
(Vita Generalova and Sasha
Spoerri), is a pair of suburban
ite, expatriate lizards.
Yes, lizards. Human-sized,
green-skinned, slinky-moving,
English-speaking, married
couple lizards. Lizards who've
come up from the sea and
spend time discussing evolu
tion with their human counter
parts with remarkable aplomb.
Needless to say, this play is
rather weird. It falls some
where between the lofty ambi
tions of the theatre of ideas,
and the simpler aim of pleas
ing a crowd.
FEATURES
Seascape attempts, at least,
to blur the line between come
dy and commentary. It is a
comedy without a trace of
slapstick, and a social com
mentary that uses no satire
and little cynicism.
Unfortunately, it does neither
very well and ends up leaving
the audience terribly unsatis
fied and vaguely confused.
But this fault lies with the play,
and not with the production.
In fact, Guilford's production
came close to saving the play.
It was engaging and surpris
ingly funny, and strewn with
moments of near-glory.
Charlie and Nancy's relation
ship illustrates the 'old married
couple' joke to no end, and
Mclver could not be more per
fect as the nagging old wife,
complete with a show-and-tell
explanation of breasts.
Generalova and Spoerri, too,
are amazing as the lizards,
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moving with
eerie reptilian
grace.
But it is not a
college-kid play,
and cannot be.
Its storyline and
humor are all
geared to an
older audience,
and Seascape
cannot cross the;
age gap, despite]
the stellar work!
of the cast and:
crew.
Seascape's
biggest surprise;
is its Pulitzer
status. Maybe!
'75 was a good
year for wine,j
but I'm afraid it
was a bad year
for theatre.
Charlie and Nancy played by Jonathon 1
Team mascots:
Matt McCall
Staff Writer
I used to think, 'so what's wrong
with the Fighting Sioux of the
University of North Dakota or the
Indians or the Redskins?'
That was before i saw the
Native American Mascot exhibit
in the atrium of Hege Library.
The "Is It Only a Game?" exhib
it shows real banners of high
school mascots that depict
scenes of violence towards
Native Americans. The exhibit,
which will be on display until Dec.
12, addresses school nicknames
relating to Native Americans,
whether Warriors, Chiefs, or
Redmen.
One banner in the display is
from an Eastern Tennessee high
school whose mascot is the
Native American. The school
GREENSBORO, NC
hung a banner in the gym,
emblazoned with the names of
every high school they had
defeated. Below each name,
they hung a fake scalp, depict
ing that they had "scalped" the
team.
The exhibit showed other
forms of Native American
imagery, such as Totem poles
in the front of the high school
buildings, and included a list of
many high school, college, and
professional teams who use a
Native American mascot.
Some people, like the three
Asheville teachers who created
this exhibit, have begun to take
action towards schools with
Native American mascots. Two
years ago, N.C. formed the
North Carolina Educators for
the Elimination of Racist
Mascots (NCEERM).
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