Aa ee to ea mt are CNG RR te = ent eee | ena aa ae PAGE 14 ENTERTAINMENT Lear Leared by Dave Christian Midway through last Tuesday’s performance of Lear, my companion turned to me and whispered ‘Edgar looks like he’s pregnant.’’ He was. What brought about this seemingly absurd situation was the fact that the Capilano College Theatre Company, who modernized and produced Shakespear’s King Lear, fol- low the Shakespearian tradi- tion of chéosing the characters from the company with the result that women sometimes play men, and all but the most major characters play two roles. Each of the company members also handle one aspect of production or busi- ness, such as stage design or program printing. Presenting a play, at Cap. College, is a well-rounded experience. As mentioned above, the company modernized the play before presenting it. In some respects, such as the lang- uage, it remained traditional, however. Some of the modern- izations bordered on the biz- arre. The fool (played by Laurie Emerslund) carried around a large portable cass- ette player, and, each time she gave a prophesy, would plunk it onto the ground, turn it on, and prophesize to a 3/4 beat. One could hear Shakespear turning in his grave. The costumes were semi- traditional, but the modern- izations changed the effect to almost laughable proportions. The sight of the Earl of Glouc- ester in black leather pant, and Lear’s daughters dressed up in costumes a hooker would shun, made the visual aspect of the play interesting indeed. Speculation runs from the idea that cutbacks have precluded the buying of costumes suited to the play, but a more reson- able explanation would be that the company decided to use what it had, and have fun in the process. The effect worked well, and livened up the per- formance perceptibly. The acting was quite profess- ional, despite the occasional muffed line or difficult scene transition. The three outstand- ing performances were deliv- ered by Ward Ashlie, as the loyal Earl of Gloucester; War- ren Wayne as Gloucester’s traitorous bastard son Ed- mund; and Allison Miller, as Lear’s wicked daughter Regan. (Is wicked Regan a form of Prophesy?) This is not to say that the other perform- ers were under par; on the contrary all were excellent. Shakespear is a difficult sub- ject to tackle. The Capilano Theatre Company did an ex- cellent job with Lear, and hopefully they will attempt another of Shakespear’s works next year. Douglas College Theatre students performing @ series of skits for opening celabrations. MARCH 30, 1983 photo by lan Hunter Dylan Thomas, bach by Glen Nazaruk Dylan Thomas bach. written by and starring Leon Pow- nall is playing at the Vancouver East Cultural Cen- tre till April 2nd. Focusing on the life of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, the play re- veals various sides of his high- ly eccentric and publicized character. Leon Pownall has spent twenty years performing in film, television and radio, in the U.S. and Canada. The play lasted two hours with inter- mission and had a very simple setting consisting of a podium, a table, a liquor decanter and glasses, and some books We wish them many years of enjoyable driving. And thanks to the thousands of other students who participated. Be sure to enter again next September. The winner could be you! Meanwhile, good luck in your exams and keep on saying Hello Again by Long Distance! HELLO AGAIN Sweepstakes strewn about the floor. The simple setting provided more focus on Pownall’s perform- ance which contained some brilliant acting. From the very outset Pow- nall’s dynamic stage presence placed the audience into his hands, which he manipulated emotionally at will, it seemed. The play was a virtual roller- coaster of emotions with Pow- nall, through the use of his fine speaking voice, giving a great philosophical delivery and then reeling around sud- denly to curse everyone from his wife to William Shake- speare. The particular side to Dylan Thomas’s character, which Long Distance TransCanada Telephone System Pownall attempted to protray in the play, holds William Shapespeare in great esteem. Stating that his work, when compared to Shakespeares, has all been in vain. It is made apparent that these rantings are pure envy as Pownall com- ments, with considerable re- spect, to Shakespeares great body of work. A triumphant ending to the ist half of the play coincided with the reading of the poem ‘‘And death shall have no do- minion.’’ The line ‘‘And death shall have no dominion’’ is repeated in the poem six times and was read louder as the poem ended in a great climax which also introduced the in- termission. The rest of the play largely concerned itself with the dark- er side to Dylan Thomas's life. Beginning with the revealing “Letters written to Pamela Hartsford Johnson’’, the aud- ience is shown an intense young Dylan Thomas, who at nineteen was very dissillusion- ed and depressed with his life. A large portion of the play center’s upon Dylan Thomas’s much publicized bouts with al- cohol. This revealed a much sadder man than anyone could have imagined. The climax of the play occurred when Pow- nall, after drinking a fair amount of what appeared to be scotch, began to get a se- vere case of the shakes. He suffered immense difficulty when he tried to pour himself a drink but was unsuccessful because he could not hold the glass or the decanter still. As he sees what he has become he screams and flees to the corner of the stage and holds his face in his hands. After a difficult struggle to bring him- self together, Pownall suc- ceeds and comes to the real- ization of his love for his wife and family. My only regret was that I didn’t see the ‘‘real’’ Dylan Thomas, but, thanks to Leon Pownall, maybe I have seen as close a rendition as possible.