INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / November 26, 1991

 

 

 

 

 

“SAVAGE:

a searching play

At a Bronx bar called Scales, all
the plants are dead. Denise
Savage is drinking there because
it’s better than watching TV with a
mother "who looks like a dead
walrus",

Savage wants to find something
different or better in life. So do four
other people at Scales, a joint where
everyone's future seems to hang in
the balance. All five characters are
searching for an elusive "something"
and for one evening, in the play
Savage In Limbo, they struggle with
each other, and themselves, to find
It.

Despite the seedy setting and
tough language, the play’s theme
will touch most of us, says Cheryl
Matheson, who directs the Douglas
College Theatre Department produc-
tion which opens Nov. 28.

"Being in limbo is being caught
or trapped in a pattern of life you
want to get away from, but you
don’t know how," says Matheson.
"This play is about five people who,
like a lot of people, are in various
stages of limbo and are trying to
determine whether or not they can
do anything about it. It’s something
we have all experienced."

Joining Savage in her quest is a
bartender named Murk, a young
woman named April and a rather
overripe Italian couple named Linda
and Tony. During the evening they
pitch between black comedy and
near tragedy, and while answers
don’t come easily, members of the
group gain some hard insights. "The
key in the play is that in order to get
out of limbo, you have to make a
free choice. That means a choice
that is not influenced by what your
family or friends might want, but
what is best for you," says Matheson.

Savage in Limbo runs Nov. 28-30
and Dec. 5-7 at 8 pm in the Studio
Theatre. The production carries a
warning of very coarse language.
Tickets are $8, $5 for students and
seniors. Call 527-5488 for
reservations. @

Douglas College presents Messiah

 

 

 

 

 

 

Douglas College Choral Society director Tatsuo Hoshina helps his

singers get a handle on the Messiah. The choir, made up of community

members and students, presents the holiday classic on Dec. 7-8.

whose choir celebrates its 10th
anniversary by performing the
Messiah at Douglas College with
members of the CBC Vancouver
Orchestra. "Choruses today have a
thick, rich texture, but we want to
try for a lighter sound with a clarity
of texture in which all voices are
more easily discernible."

For Hoshina, it’s the third time
through the piece he describes as
"wonderful" and the first with
all-professional musical
accompaniment.

The Messiah will be performed
Dec. 7 and 8 at 8 pm in the Perform-
ing Arts Theatre. Tickets are $15
(adults) and $12 (students/seniors).
For further information or reserva-
tions, call 527-5488. =

Doustas College Choral Society
director Tatsuo Hoshina wants to
turn Messiah down a notch, and
George Frederic Handel probably
would approve.

When Handel hastily composed
the work that would become a
holiday standard - Messiah was
commissioned to benefit Dublin
charities in 1741 - choruses were
far smaller than they are today.
Hoshina says all that modern
volume sometimes overwhelms
what the composer intended.

"The texture of the chorus was
much lighter in Handel’s day. There
were probably less than 16 people
in the Dublin chorus and no more
than 30 in London, and we have
more than 80," says Hoshina,

 

 

INSIDE INFORMATION

| Inside Douglas College is published every two weeks by the Douglas College Public

| Information Office.

| Submissions are due Tuesday noon for publication the following Tuesday. Submissions
on floppy disk in WordPerfect or ASCII format would be appreciated. Material may be

| edited for brevity and clarity.

Office, (604) 527-5325, Room 4840 at the New Westminster campus, 700 Royal Avenue,
New Westminster. Mailing address: P.O. Box 2503, New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2.

|

. .

| Tips, scoops and suggestions are always welcome. Please contact the Public Information
|

|