THE OTHER PRESS Thursday, January 17, 1985 page 12 One mighty fine Brew Remember how popular the play Talking Dirty was with us Vancouver- ites? Hoards of us went to see it because of its localized setting (Kit- by JOEL HAGEN silano) and its localized humour (Burn- aby jokes). We appreciated Talking Dirty, and it became a Vancouver theatre phenomenon. However, local hits are not isolated to Vancouver, and now Quebec’s wonderplay, Brew, has arrived at the — Vancouver “Playhouse to give us An-. glais a taste of Francophone culture. Brew has been playing for five years, both in Quebec and the rest of Canada, and therefore, my expect- ations for the play were high. As it turns out, | was not disappointed, because Brew is a very funny and very enlightening look at Quebec and its people. ~ The events take place in a tavern (called ‘‘Chez Willy’’) in Montreal, and involve the flotsam and jetsam that make up the bar’s clientele. Incredibly, a cast of only three handle all fifteen or so characters that pass in and out of Chez Willy’s doors, and they do a great job. Each personality is - unique, and one is never consciously aware that the three actors are continually returning to the stage as new incarnations. Chez Willy isn’t exactly a classy place, and the customers are quite a varied lot. There are drunks, laborers, firemen, and, of course, a freak. In this case, the freak is a loveable pyro- maniac, and his conversation with the fireman, as you can imagine, is quite delightful. Another vignette which stands out is that involving a father and his wimpy sixteen year old son. The boy is receiving his alcoholic rites of passage and his stomach isn’t enjoying it too 4 much. I’m sure that most of us can vaguely remember a _ similar bar- hopping evening at some point in our pasts. Although Brew is not a traditional play, in that it doesn’t have a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an end, it does have a kind of cohesiveness running through it. All the characters in the play are somehow connected through the tavern and through their common French tradition. This is important, because Brew isn’t just a comedy: it is also saying something about Quebec as a commu- nity, where everyone can share in some truly common denominators, like the Montreal Canadians, the CBC, or Rene Levesque. Of course, the ul- timate common denominator is_ the peoples’ appreciation of a good joke, and Brew never goes too long without a laugh, which is the play’s greatest strength. It is not often that one can broaden ~ one’s horizons and see a worthwhile comedy at the same time, but Brew does just this, and | recommend it highly. Brew is playing at the Vancouver Playhouse until February 9. Check your local listings for times. Discounts are available for students. They got the (Bronski) Beat While driving back from Vancouver, my friend and | heard a fantastic song and were waiting for the D.J. to announce the name of the band. No such luck. by RHONDA JESCHKE __ [was so impressed by the song that | went to the local record store and tried to sing the song to the employees there. To no avail. | left feeling slightly foolish. Finally, at a restaurant | heard another song that was definitely by the same artist. No one in the place knew who it was, but some suggested the Eurythmics. At last my friend saw the video Smalltown Boy and my problem was solved. | rushed to get the album The Age of Consent by Bronski Beat. Bronski Beat is a gay band from London. Jimi Somerville, Larry Stein- bachek and Steve Bronski are Bronski Beat. Because they are gay, they naturally focus a great deal on this aspect: ‘‘My closetness and pain/My lying my \deceiving/My rivers keep on crying’ from Screaming. Why, Smalltown Boy and Need A Man Blues indicate the pain involved in having an alternative sexual preference. Basically, The Age of Consent questions the morals and values in our society: ‘‘It ain’t necessarily so/The things that you’ re liable/To read in the Bible’ (from It Ain’t ‘necessarily So) and ‘‘No more war please/No more destruction of innocent life/No more living in fear’’ (from No More War). - The lyrical content doesn’t detract from the dance beat but adds to it, making this a deeply moving album. © Why is my personal favorite (the mysterious song | first heard on the radio). It is a fast-paced dance song with good lyrics. It Ain’t Necessarily So is my second choice--a much slower, laid back sort of song. Heat- wave has simple lyrics with a unique technique that incorporates tap danc- ing into the music. A new version of I Feel Love, originally by Donna Sum- mer is included. Each song has its own merits and the combination blends together well.. This album has an incredible. a- mount of depth considering it is their debut L.P. Lead singer and lyricist Jimi Somerville has a soulful far- reaching voice that could be mistaken for female. The horns and congas add tremendously, and distinguish the group’s original and _ sophisticated sound. The album sleeve includes personal photographs and a list of the age of consent for homosexuality in Europe (from. 10 in Hungary to illegal for males in Romania and the USSR). The upside-down pink triangle in the record jacket refers to the symbol used by the Nazis to mark homosexuals. The more | listen to the album, the better | like it. It’s sure to climb the charts here as it has already in Europe. Les Comperes tres bon The Christmas movie offerings of Hollywood weren’t very inspiring this year, but take heart; we still have the foreign films to save us from torturous boredom. by JOEL HAGEN The latest of these is Les Compéres (the Co-fathers), a marvellous French film from Francis Veber (La Cage Aux Folles). Les Compéres concerns two bachelors who are complete opposites. Gerard Depardieu is hunky newspaper reporter Jean Lucas, and Pierre Ric- hard is Francois Pignon, a sensitive and very suicidal poet. The two men, although seemingly unrelated, have a common link in their pasts. Both had brief flings with Christine (Anne Duperey) seventeen years earlier, and when her sixteen year old son goes missing, she enlists the help of Lucas and Pignon, telling each that he is the father of her child. The potential fathers travel to Nice, where Christine’s son Tristan (Steph- ane Bierry) is supposed to be living. While searching, they cross paths, and as their predicaments are similar, they team up. Soon they realize that they are looking for the same person, and intensify their search. Depardieu and Richard make a memorable screen pair, the juxta- position of their characters providing conflict and humour. They argue about ‘their’ son incessantly, each painting Tristan in a special light. They also make inquiries in their own individual way. Lucas, being a hard nosed reporter, is by no means subtle, and when his informants are evasive, he doesn’t hesitate to ‘‘bean’’ (head-butt) them in order to extract some crucial knowledge. Pignon, on the other hand, whines and pleads if someone is withholding information about Tristan. Both methods are successful, and eventually the co-fathers catch up to their son. Far from calling it quits though, the three of them embark on further adventures. Murder and in- trigue bring Lucas, Pignon and: Tristan closer together, and after bagging the bad guys, all parties involved discover that they have found a new lease on life. Les Compéres is a comedy in the classic French tradition. Light, enter- taining and funny, .it is enjoyable thanks to the fine acting ability of Deparieu and Richard. Bierry, too, is good, and is destined to become a heartthrob amongst French teeny- boppers. Les Compéres is a pleasant change_of pace from North American comedy, and a good deal cheaper too: four dollars for students (two dollars on Tuesday nights): at the Ridge Theatre. Showtimes are 7:30 and 9:30.