October 10. 1989 Other Press" Shakespeare Western Style by John Santics Shakespeare’ s Comedy of Errors; Western Style October 4 to November 4 1989 Granville Island Theatre The Comedy of Errors as directed by Morris Panych stars Andrw Wheeler as Antipholus of Ephesus and Syracuse, Peter Anderson as Dromio of both cities, Hilary Strang as Luciana, Deborah Wil- liams as Adrianfia; Brian Torpe as Solinus the Duke, Barney O’- Sullivan as the merchant Egeonof — Syracuse, and Babs Chula as the Lady Abbess at Ephesus. Tickets half price for students with valid IDs. Imagine a Western pioneer town in which the gun toting inhabitants speak precise middle English with impecable eloquence and wit. Also, imagine two sets of twins separated at birth, who both have servant like sidekick pals who con- viently are twins as well. Sound confusing? Well this is Shakespearean comedy fer ya set in a Western ghost town motif, Yee- Andrew Wheeler and Peter Andrews Master and Sidekick haa! Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors originally written around 1590, and judged by some scholars as the English language’s first true com- edy, played a successful opening night on Wednesday October 4 at the Granville Island Arts Club Theatre. October 4 was also the tenth anniversary for the Arts Club and director Morris Panych choos- ing Shakespeare’s Comedy of Er- rors was quite appropriate for the gala event. The crowd exuded a festive ambiance complete with Western Cowboys,Cowgirls, Stet- sons and boots. As the lights dim and the eerie fog rolls on to the near perfect ghost town false front movie sets, the audience is at once transported to another time; another dimension. This dimen- sion is that of or is supposed to be Ephesus, noted in the ancient world for the study of magic and spells, a town ’full of cozenoge/ as nimble jugglers deceive the eye/ dark working sorcerers that change the mind.’ Morris Panych utilizes the desert motif in the Comedy of Er- rors for a metaphorical purpose. His choice of the desert scene and western characters enables those who are not familiar with Shakespearean dialogue to identify and appreciate the subtlties and complexities of Shakespeare’s themes. The cast play the roles energeti- cally and superbly given the dif- ficult task of reciting Shakespearean Olde English with a Western twang. As separated twins are reunited, marriages strengthened and future marriages alluded to, a deeper sense of the plot is made aware: the moral issues of marriage, fiddelity and patience. The play has the ul- timate happy feeling: mankind ain’t so bad afterall! If Shakespearean plays are not usually your forte because the lan- guage barrier sophisticated rhetori- cal verse Comedy of Errors is the one to definitely see. Given the Western motif and our modem society’s familiarity with it clear understanding of the complex plot and themes are realized. "Love in the Afternoon" is Romantic’ Love in the Afternoon. Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier/Screenplayby Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond/Based on the novel ARIANE by Claude Anet. Warner Brothers, USA, 1957. by S. Michelle Dill "Paris, a city not unlike any other city...except in two respects...in Paris people eat better and they make love, well, maybe not better, but at least more often." So opens "Love in the Afternoon." It is a charming romantic comedy produced and directed by Billy Wilder and starring Audrey Hep- burn, Gary Cooper and Maurice Chevalier (all at one time academy award winners). Hepburn plays Ariane, a naive eighteen year old cellist, who falls in love with Frank Flannagan (Cooper) a middle-aged American playboy. They meet by chance while Flannagan is being investigated by Ariane’s private- eye father (Chevalier). His files provide Ariane with a lot of infor- mation on Flannagan who in con- trast knows Ariane only as "the girl in the afternoon." To win the love of Flannagan, Ariane matches his worldly, experience and casual at- titude towards romance by invent- ing an interesting array of suitors for herself. Flannagan becomes jealous and hires Ariane’s fatherto fF investigate her, which of course leads to confusion. Even though I was expecting a more seriously romantic movie, I found the humour very entertain- ing. “Love in the Afternoon" has a laugh-a-minute style of comedy. The jokes are generally pretty juvenile, but their innocence is a nice change from today’s style of comedy. One hilarious element of the movie is the four-man gypsy band which follows Flannagan everywhere, and I mean everywhere, for example to a Turkish sauna where they sweat profussely in three piece suits. The band plays one song, and they play it constantly: the "Fascination Waltz." The acting is superb, but with this cast that is to be expected. Audrey Hepburn is especially fun to watch. Although ten years older than her character, Hepburn’s Ariane has the combination of wide-eyed vul- nerability, dreaminess, playfulness and courage found only among the very young. Chevalier gives a "Sea of Love" Action Packed! by Keith Olstrom Al Pacino’s latest movie "Sea of Love" is an excellent movie ro all around entertainment. The movie holds many characteristics of classic illers by masters such as Hitchcock, while at the same time is as action packed as Pacino’s performances in “Scarface” and “Serpico”. This novie is well worth the $7.00 which is asked as the audience left content. This is far too often a rare occurrance with some of the movies which have been shuffled off on to the consumer these days. The characters are well developed and well rounded. There is a good ‘blend | of humor and drama as well as suspense and terror in the perfor- mance. a — . Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn tender portayal of her protective father. When first released, "Love in the Afternoon" did not meet with either critic or commercial success. Eisenhower-era American audien- ces found the idea of a love affair between a fifty year old man and a teenage girl shocking. Critics merely found "Coop’s" leathery face to be distracting. I really didn’t find this to be a problem: afterall, Cooper was pretty damn handsom all his life. What was dis- tracting was Hepburn’s striking thinness and frequent costume changes. In recent years, Billy Wilder’s work has been re-evaluated, and he is now considered one of the classic Hollywood filmmakers. What can I say? "Love in the Afternoon" was a fun movie! If you like simple plots, clear black and white cinematography, quality acting, and genuine humour, con- sider checking-out movies in this series of the Film Festival. Other- wise, don’t. "In Country" Goes Out with a ang! by Keith Olstrom Last Friday, the movie "In \F Country” starring Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd was released under } the Warner Brothers label. The story is set in rural Kentucky and a young woman (Emily Lloyd) at- tempts to discover the father she | never knew. The movie is heart warming and offers a significant statement about the Vietnam Conflict and the { Vetrans of today. I was disapointed that Bruce Willis did not have as large a part as one would think given the publicity which Warner Brothers has spent over the weeks of hype. Emily Lloyd, who was in- troduced in this movie gave an ex- cellent performance. Some may say that she stole the movie from |] Willis but this was not the case. The appealing qualities of this movie are the character of Saman- | tha Hughes played by Emily Lloyd and the refreshing approach of the story. Some of the weaknesses of the movie,( and there are weak- nesses) are the lack of character development for Emmett Smith ‘*) (Bruce Willis,and the supporting Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd of "In Country" cast of characters. Over all the movie was enjoyable but hardly earth shattering, as was "Platoon" or as symbolic as "Full Metal Jack- et". For students this is an interest- ing movie to see but consider care- fully the outrageous price of $7.00 per person for this movie; it is a must for a $3.50 tuesday. "In Country" gets * * * out of five.