Friday, October 14, 1977 Weekender 3
Gallery presents Albee
The Gallery Theatre, sponsored by
Carrboro's Art School, hosted the first
amateur performance (outside of London
and New York) of Edward Albee's Counting
The Ways and Listening last weekend. Prior
to this "regional premier," much ado was
made over the Gallery's coup in acquiring
the rights to the new scripts. So it was with
more than a little excitement that the small
but eager opening-night audience awaited
the first "curtain" of the evening.
Some time after 8:30 p.m., after a rather
clumsy clicking on and off of the lights in the
room that serves as the theater, a phantom
hand suddenly appeared, waving a hand
lettered sign from behind a black drape,
theatre
By PA TRICIA C GREEN
-Counting the Ways, Listening
by Edward Albee
signifying that Counting The Ways was (at
last) underway. After an ominous crashing
about in the dark, the man and woman who
were to create Albee's scenes from a
marriage were bumbling about on stage and
in the light.
Cornelia Strickland and Gerald U nks play
the wife and husband through whom Albee
parades his most current views of the "loves
me loves me not" scene. Strickland was
quit believable and endearing in the
interlude that came halfway through the
hour-long play. This break in the series of
unconventional marital sketches calls for the
performers to step out of character and
related to the audience as themselves.
UNC Prof. Gerald Unks, as the husband,
managed to appear as natural in character as
out. Unks moments alone on stage were the
most refreshing of the entire evening.
The Gallery's second, more serious
offering of the night was Listening and
featured Betty Setzer as the hard-soft, stable
shaky caretaker of a psychotic young
woman. Setzer was the bulwark of this cast.
Her sheer bravado as an actress was
enough to carry the uneven performances of
the two others on stage.
Kathryn Conway as the patient and
Richard Zaffron as the institution's cook
had occasional arresting moments together.
But Conway was never the picture of the
"delicate butterfly" that Albee called for
and Zaffron failed to excite the audience
with his opening monologue, an essential
and somewhat poetic passage.
The poetic Albee seemed to be carefully
hidden, in fact, throughout the greater part
of this version of Counting The Ways and
Listening. The jagged script and uneven
performances made it difficult to determine
just how the old Albee spirit is shifting about
in these new works.
Yet despite the unevenness of this
production, several isolated moments are
well worth experiencing. Certainly Gallery's
attempts to provide area theater buffs with a
chance to see current American drama, and
to provide students and townsfolk with a
community stage, deserves encouragement.
The Albee plays continue tonight and
Saturday with Sam Shepard's The Tooth of
Crime opening Dec. II.
Creme de cacao nightcap:
who said milk is harmless?
Milk has long been a tradition in the
American diet. Few among us can say that
they were not raised on wholesome Grade
"A" milk. For perhaps the first eighteen
years ofour lives, milk was the THING TO
DRINK. Good for us and chock full of
protein and Vitamin D. Then along comes
college and suddenly it's no longer "in" to be
seen with a glass of milk in your hand, not
even chocolate milk. Beer, wine and liquor
come to replace this lifelong pal. Some of us
would like to have some milk occasionally,
but we're too embarrassed to do anything
about it. Now, you can. Try some delecious
Creme De Cacao Nightcap The Drink of
the Week! The milk you've been longing for
with all the status of a mixed drink. And the
taste is sooooo good and smooooth! You'll
find it hard to believe that consuming a
gallon of this "harmless mixture" could
prevent you from leaving the stadium before
the sun sets behind the pines. It's excellent
inside or outside, in the morning or before
bed. Try it soon. Your mom will be proud of
you!
Creme De Cacao Nightcap ingredients: 2
ozs. heavy sweet cteam; 2 tsp. sugar; 4 tsp.
-weekend-bartender
Bv CARL R. FOX
white Creme De Cacao; ID ozs. whole milk; 4
ozs. white Creme De Cacao; 2 ozs.
California Brandy; 4 tbsp. sugar; Cocoa.
Beat cream in a blender or small, narrow
bowl until whipped. Stir two teaspoons
sugar and four teaspoons creme de cacao
into whipped cream. Store in refrigerator
until needed. Heat milk, four ounces creme
de cacao, brandy and four tablsepoons sugar
until hot but NOT boiling. Pour hot milk
mixture into stemmed goblets or mugs.
Spoon whipped cream on top. Sprinkle
lightly with cocoa. Serve on saucers. Makes
four servings. NOTE: This drink is excellent
for cold outdoor sports events. Simply
multiply the recipe to accommodate your
needs. COST: About $10 to $12 for a large
batch.
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Richard Zaffron, right, and Kathryn Conway star in "Counting the Ways," a new play
by Edward Albee now playing at the Gallery Theater in Carrboro. "Counting the
Ways" and "Listening" are pjaying this weekend, sponsored by the Art School.
TV violence on trial
Television has been under constant attack
over the past few years because many
consider the amounts of sex and violence on
the three commercial networks to be
excessive. The latter of these two "evils" has
made national headlines during the past few
weeks in connection with a Miami murder
trial.
wavelength-
-Bv JIMMY WILKES-
Fifteen-year-old Ronny Zamora was
being tried for the June 4 shooting death of
82-year-old neighbor Elinor Haggart. The
trial's connection with television appeared
when Zamora's attorney, Ellis Rubin, stated
that bis defense would rest on the contention
that Ronny had been driven temporarily
insane by excessive exposure to television
violence, and thus, should not be held
accountable for his actions. There was never
any doubt as to Zamora's guilt or innocence,
only to his sanity at the time of the killing.
Rubin began his defense by having
Ronny's mother testify to her son's extensive
amount of television viewing, especially
shows like Kojak, and Baretta. She went on
to add that Ronny became extremely
agitated and nervous when viewing "violent"
shows and that this reaction led her to worry
about his television viewing.
However, the key to Rubin's case rested
not on the testimony of Ronny's mother, but
on the decision of the judge. Judge H. Paul
Baker, as to the admittance of testimony by
Florida Technological University
psychologist Dr. Margaret Thomas.
Thomas was willing to substantiate Rubin's
defense by testifying to the link between
television and violence. Even without
examining Zamora, Thomas was convinced
that his viewing of television could lead to
such violent actions.
But early last week Judge Baker ruled that
Thomas could not testify before the jury,
thus undercutting Rubin's efforts to link
television to the crime. Judge Baker stated
that since Thomas couldn't offer
"conclusive" evidence linking television
violence to any particular crime, that there
was no way for her to link the killing of
Elinor Haggart to Ronny Zamora's
television viewing. Without this expert
testimony it took the Miami jury only two
hours of deliberation before returning a
guilty verdict.
. The significance of the trial rests not only
; Please turn to page 5.
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