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THE TAR HEEL
inursday, July 2, 1970
'Odd Couple' Gives Entertaining Evening
By Bill McDaniel
. Special to the Tar Heel
For the benefit of those few
people who are so far back in
the cultural backwash that
they haven't heard Neil Simon
is the funniest playwright in
American theatre today.
Ev6r since the first opening
of "Come Blow Your Horn" he
has sent audiences rolling on
the floor with such zany
comedies as "Plaza Suite" and
"Barefoot in the Park", Last
night he had them on the floor
again, laughing at the Carolina
Playmaker's production of the
"Odd Couple."
"The Odd Couple" is the
story of two divorced poker
playing buddies, Oscar Madison
and Felix linger, trying to
make a go of living together.
Oscar is a sportswriter by
vocation and an irresponsible
slob by choice.
He lives in an apartment
that hasn't been cleaned since
Dempsey K.O.'d Willard. He
can't pay his bills, his poker
debts or his alimony. And why
did his wife leave him? Well as
Oscar says, "Blanche used to
say, 'What time do you want
dinner?' And I'd say, 'I don't
know. I'm not hungry.' Then
at three o'clock in the morning
I'd wake her up and say,,
Now!' "
2 Profs Get Fellowship
Two faculty members of the
Department of Economics have
been awarded Brookings
Economics Policy Fellowships
to analyze and evaluate
programs of the federal
government in state funding
and FCC goals.
Robert P. Strauss and
Douglas W. Webbink, both
assistant professors of
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Intelligent, efficient, attrac
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Felix on the other hand is a
priss to end all prisses. "I can't
help it. I like things clean.
Blame it on my mother. I was
toilet trained at five months
old."
He lives in a world of fear,
guilt, and lysol. He shrieks over
a burnt london broil, he
mutters over footprints on the
kitchen floor and weeps over
pictures of his old apartment.
Naturally a relationship like
this one can only end in
divorce. And end it does in one
of the funniest blow ups in
comedy.
Director Clark Rogers has
fulfilled the first requirement
of the "Odd Couple" by
coming up with a production
that made the audience laugh;
and did they laugh.
However, the show does
have its weak points. A great
deal of Simon's comedy is in
the pacing. His scenes usually
build from nuttiness to
nuttiness climaxing in a curtain
line that leaves the audience
holding its sides in laughter and
agony.
At times, though, the
director let the pace slip, which
made the show seem to drag
and lose a good deal of its .
humor.
Taking the principal roles of
Oscar and Felix, Tom Smith
and Elias Roochvarg played
well but not brilliantly.
economics are among eleven
fellows selected from
univeristy faculties throughout
the U.S. to participate in the
program, which begins July 6.
The men will spend
fourteen months in Washington
analyzing programs of federal
agencies and developing related
research projects at the
Brookings Institution.
Professor Strauss will be
assigned to the Department of
Treasury under Assistant
Secretary Murray Weidenbaum.
He will work on the technical
aspects of a bill now before
Congress concerning federal
revenue sharing to the states.
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offer 0,1 of our P0'0
and Transitional mer-
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Smith seemed to lack some
of the energy that is needed to
play a good Oscar. At times his
low keyed delivery was perfect
but at other times it seemed to
be too little for what he was
saying. .
Elias Roochvarg's Felix
seemed to lack consistency.
One got the feeling that at
times he was dropping in and
out of character like a
jack-in-the-box.
However, let me say in both
these gentlemen's defense that
they were handling tricky and
difficult roles and for the most
part they handled them very
well.
The two principals were
aided by a very good
supporting cast. Jim
Greenwood, Donald Farthing,
Kestat Phillips, and Walter
Spearman were very believable
and very funny as the boy's
poker buddies.
Jean Spearman and Gay
Baynes almost stole the show
with their portrayals of Oscar's
dumb-dumb English neighbors
Cecily and Gwendolyn (shades
of Oscar Wilde).
Cecily. What Held of
endeavor are you engaged in?
Felix. I write the news for
C.B.S.
Cecily. Oh! Fascinating!
Gwendolyn. Where do you
get your ideas from?
Felix. From the news.
v In fact Miss ' Baynes
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wouldn't even have had to
open her mouth. Her takes and
expressions were whole
soliloquies of dialogue.
Set designer Gordon
Pearlmar had his problems with
the theatre in the round. But
for the most part his set was
clean and functional. It should
be pointed out, however, that
gigantic lamp shades are not
really that effective with a 360
degree sight line. They tended
to get in the way of the action.
Despite these minor short
comjngs the entire
production was quite good.
The play moved, the audience
laughed and the gods smiled. It
was a delightful evening of
theatre.
8
ma ALL BAY JULV OTD