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2The Daily Tar HeelFriday, November 13, 1992 'Prelude' uses modern techniques to express traditional ideals Twisted buildings spiral above the PlayMakers stage like trees from a bi zarre fairy-tale forest; and for Peter and Rita, the characters caught in this night marish tale, the impossible becomes plausible, and it's a longer journey to true love than they thought. The Play Makers Repertory Company production of "Prelude to a Kiss" is a thoroughly modem play with age-old themes. Director Ray Dooley adeptly brought this challenging production to the stage, along with its moral: loving the soul of a person and not just the pretty packag ing. Military about somebody's private orientation .... They're wanting to announce it ... and have everyone accept it." Bob Knight, director of cultural stud ies with the Family Research Council, agreed. "I have no doubt that many homo sexuals have served admirably and he roically in the armed services, but they did that without ... revealing their ho mosexuality or asking their fellows to affirm that behavior," Knight said. "As soon as they do so, that's when it be comes a problem." Knight said that homosexuality was "incompatible with military order, mo rale and ... discipline" and that these A Free Biscuit CAFE & ESPRESSO BAR "untraditionally . . . during Jatte hours, 10-11 &2-3 206 West Main, "in Beautiful Downtown Carrboro" mhhJ j '"" h 3 a Kill 11 nJ colvm CM 1 " I I I POLAROIDS I l j0:A 0Erey x H 7 3?!ffiiP&& "ELEASE XxJ L I I SUGAR copper blue $7.99cs$U.99cd LUC1NDA WILLIAMS sweet old world $7.99cs$12.99cd 3V . mmm-T .mm- I ANY CASSETTE OR COMPACT DISC Cassette or Compact Disc 1 offers. Sale l Brooke Lamb Theatre The repertory company will be pre senting playwright Craig Lucas' "Pre lude to a Kiss" through Nov. 22. Lucas, whose other writings include the plays "Reckless" and "Blue Window" and the screenplay for "Longtime Compan ion," first produced "Prelude" in Cali fornia in 1988. Beginning in 1990, the production played off-Broadway for a time, and it was converted to celluloid last summer. officers would be hard-pressed to gain the respect necessary for leadership. Knight also said that life in the mili tary was not to be confused with civilian life and that the armed forces required unusual policies to work effectively. "The military is unlike civilian life. I have no problem working alongside homosexuals," he said. "I have. But I didn't have to eat with them, sleep with them, be in intimate circumstances around the clock. And in the military, that's sometimes demanded of you." Citing recent court rulings, Knight said it was recognized universally that the military had to turn away some applicants in the interests of security. with a battel European" MAD COBRA hard to wet... $7.99cs$11.99cd S.O.D. live at budokan $7.99cs$U.99cd ffcjrSf Mr wiw 1 00 OFF $7.99 or higher. One item per coupon. items excluded. Coupon expires: 11 sale ends: 12-2-92 In the play, Rita and Peter are a young couple in love. The nightmare fairy tale begins at their wedding, when Rita receives a kiss from a strange old man. On their honeymoon, Peter no tices changes in his new wife, and after a time he is convinced that the woman he is married to is not Rita, but an impersonator who has taken over her body. The technical aspects of the produc tion are as good as they come. In a play that involves so many scenery changes, PlayMakers' "Prelude" has it down to a creative science. Segue sequences fea turing Peter's narration of his thoughts, "The courts for the last 20 years have rejected the idea that the military admits people on an equal opportunity basis," Knight said. "They have excluded many . . . classes of people without abrogating their civil rights in any way. (Those people) just don't qualify for military service. "It's not a matter of whether (homo sexuals) can do the job or not," Knight said. "That's not the issue. It's the effect they would have on the servicemen if they made a point of revealing their homosexuality." William Crawford, a retired U.S. Army colonel and veteran of the Viet nam War, said allowing homosexuals to serve would interfere with effective ness and discipline. "You see, homosexuals, they tend to group," Crawford said. "You've got these men in a foxhole, and the com mander tells Johnny to go disarm a piece of artillery, and another guy says 'Oh no! Not my little Johnny,' because he could be his boyfriend or wife or husband. It just doesn't work." Jordan said that kind of statement was one of the "bogus national security arguments" used to keep gays and lesbi ans out of the military. "I don't think the issue is about that mess in the foxhole," Jordan said. "I SHAWN COLVIN fat city $7.99cs$12.99cd ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION every time you say goodbye $7.99cs$12.99cd Not valid with other - 25 - 92 a sliding backstage panel and a middle panel that elevates above- and below stage make the scene changes an inter esting and integral part of the produc tion. Because Peterdoesn'tleave the stage during these segues, he makes minor clothing changes on stage, an initially shocking break from theatrical conven tions of unseen costume changes. This, combined with the strong language and intimate subject matter of the play, cre ates quite a different and modern under taking for the normally conservative PlayMakers company. Dooley commands outstanding per- think it has a lot to do with the military not wanting to enforce equality for gays and lesbians. The idea that homosexual people would be a threat any more than heterosexuals would be is ludicrous." Crawford, a 28-year army veteran and a winner of the Silver Star, said the "pressure and emotional trauma" of having homosexuals in military units would disrupt order, and that the ten sion created in an intimate environment made it unacceptable to allow openly gay or lesbian people to serve. "I can tell you from personal experi ence that there's no place for homo sexuals in the military or any tightly knit organization," he said. Crawford said his views were shared by most officers in the armed forces. "All the senior officers that I talk to are not in favor of (enlisting homosexu als) because it destroys the cohesive ness of units," he said. "You might be able to find a senior officer who's in favor of it, but I doubt it" Madeline Chapman, spokeswoman for the New Alliance Party and press secretary to party chair Lenora Fulani, said gays and lesbians should have the same rights given to other American citizens. Fulani ran an unsuccessful cam paign for president during the 1992 election season. "Dr. Fulani supports the full exten sion of rights to lesbian and gay people, and if lesbian and gay people want to serve in the military, then they should be allowed to," Chapman said. Chapman said the arguments against homosexual servicemen were part of widespread American prejudice against gays and lesbians. "I suspect they are arguments that are fundamentally homophobic and anti gay," Chapman said. "There's a senti ment in this country that there's some thing aberrant and abnormal about people expressing their sexuality in way s that are 'different.' I think that's ex tremely distasteful." Chapman said charges that homo- The Assistant Director ofAdmissionsat Georgetown University Law Center will be conducting Information Sessions for Students Interested in Law School on Thursday, November 18, 1992 AT 12:30, 1:308c 2:30 P.M. Sign Up In Room 211 Hanes Hall QEORQETOWUNIVERSnYjWQENTER formances from the entire cast. Ken Strong portrays a convincing Peter, an innovative character refreshingly de void of the stereotypical male baggage found so often in the theater. Elizabeth Anderson plays the quirky and insomnious Rita then deftly switches personalities to act out the eccentrici ties of an old man. One extraordinary surprise comes halfway into the play actor Noble Shropshire is thoroughly delightful as a young woman adjusting to the body of an old man Shropshire invokes laughter from the audience as he explains to Peter that sexuals brought down military morale were "fundamentally outrageous." "There was a time when people felt that it would bring morale down to have black and white soldiers together," Chapman said. "That's what they're saying (about homosexuals). It's a fun damentally anti-human statement. It's like saying something ' s wrong with this person, it'll bring morale down to have them around. "These are the kinds of things that people wouldn't dare say if they were talking about any other topic," Chapman said. "You can say things about lesbian and gay people that you can't say about African Americans or Hispanic Ameri cans and 'get away with it.'" Knight said arguments linking the ban with past segregation of black and white soldiers were unfounded. "(Homosexuality) can't be equated with race because race is an immutable biological characteristic, whereas sexu ality and the practice of sexuality are behaviors," Knight said. "I know some former homosexuals. I don't know any former blacks or Hispanics or Lithuanians." Knight said that his formerly homo sexual acquaintances had renounced their lifestyles after counseling and that most psychological authorities agreed homosexuality was a mental state. "The homosexuals I'm talking about . . . had gone for counseling and . . . had come to realize that their true nature was heterosexual," Knight said. "They had taken on a false identity because they had been told they were (homo sexual) by fellow homosexuals. Once they had repaired the emotional dam age ... they could freely adopt hetero sexuality. "I think it's a phenomenon that the majority of psychologists in America see as ... an emotional condition that is changeable," he said. Chapman said that the argument that homosexuals reduced unity by making heterosexuals uncomfortable was Interested In GoingTo Law School? he is indeed Peter's wife. '. Dooley said the production present especially interesting challenges for; Anderson and Shropshire. j "In a sense, they play each other after the exchange of souls," Dooley said "And Noble, who is in his middle 40s, will be portraying an old man inhabited by the soul of a young woman." .. Performances of "Prelude to a Kiss run through Nov. 22. Shows are at J p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and p.m. Sundays. Tickets range in pric( from $8 to $19.50. Call 962-PLAYfof more information. ' from page 1 groundless and that the military should be equated with any other workplace.; "What are we going to do? Ban gay people from working? That's what would follow," she said. "It's no differ ent from any other work environment, and people carry out their work. If you feel uncomfortable around people who are gay, then you don't hang out with them. That's life, and I don't know why the military would be any different." Knight said his organization and many others would oppose any move ment by a Clinton administration to allow homosexuals in the armed forces. "If President-elect Clinton does is sue an executive order lifting the ban . . . the Family Research Council and other groups would back legislation reinstat ing such aban in the interests of military readiness," he said. "It's not because we dislike homosexuals as a class. We just feel that it would have a detrimental impact." Campus Calendar FRIDAY NOON: Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center will be showing "Roots" until 2 p.m. B-GLAD will hold Lesbian Lunch in 218 Union. Lutheran Campus Ministry, behind ATO on Rosemary Street, will hold a facultystaffstudent luncheon with Kurt Fletcher on nuclear physics. Carolina Fever: Those interested in going to the Duke football uame Nov. 2 1 should bring $ 1 6 to Suite A, Union. 1 p.m. UNC Juggling Gub will meet in Carmichael Ballroom. The good weather site will be the flagpole between South Building and Wilson Library. 6:15 p.m. UNC Hillcl will have services and a $5 dinner at the Htllel House. 7 p.m. CUAB will sponsor "Mind and Medicine: What the Fuss is All About" in Memorial Hall. 8 p.m. CUAB will welcome Josh White Jr. to give an acoustic concert in the Union Cabaret Tickets: $2 for students and $4 for public. SUNDAY 7 p.m. Newman Catholic Center will have stu dent mass. ITEMS OF INTEREST Peer-Advising Program applications are avail able at the Union Desk, BCC, Campus Y and 116 Steele. Rainforest Action Group wilJ have a Rain Forest Exhibit at the Union Auditorium.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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