February 9, 1994 THREE-BAND PILEUP AT THE COMMODORE Hard Poetry Suffers in the Shadows By Jason Kurylo The CrashTest Dummies played their second show in three days at the Com- modore Ballroom on Saturday, January 22" An eclectic crowd filled one ofVan- couver’s premiere concert venues for what turned out to be a strange night. A diverse display of age, taste, and attire was not unusual, considering the Dum- mies’ follow- ing. Their unique blend of infectious pop (Oh God, I'm starting to sound like Tom Harrison...), morbid refer- ences, and a sarcastic self- deprecating sense of hu- mour, have earned the Dummies one of the more interesting fan-bases in exist- ence. But I digress... The first band on the docket was Rick Colbourne and Hard Poetry. Their set was one of breathtaking energy. Intense and danceable, the combination of good lyrics and a driving rhythm section pro- vided a brilliant musical experience. Due to their early spot on the program, how- ever, Poetry was under-appreciated by a spiritless audience. This band deserved a much better reception, and I have no doubt they will get it very soon. Call ~ me crazy, but I was much reminded of 54-40, only this band has a sensitivity that’s hard to put a finger on. The middle band was an unfortunate misbooking by the management. The Blue Shadows are rrrreeeeeally country. How country? Try a lead singer with a rhinestone shirt and a Glen Campbell twang, with a little Randy Travis thrown on the grill, just for kicks. These guys, I'm sure, are a good down home treat. However, in this venue, for this crowd, they had limited appreciation. Of the ten people I spoke to, nine were convinced they had gone to music Hell. Finally, the Dummies’ came on to thunderous ap- plause. They played an effi- cient set, repro- ducing their ra- dio sound al- most flawlessly. Their crowd- pleasing rendi- tions of the ‘hits’ brought enthusiastic yelps from everyone. The highlight of the night would have to be during Su- perman’s Song. As the first sounds of the chorus echoed through the club, an older man calmly walked onto the stage. Slowly, he removed his jacket and pants to reveal a beautifully campy Superman costume. Raising his arms like only the Man of Steel can, he stage-dived into the frothing masses. It was, quite frankly, a classic concert moment. The best word to describe the night was...weird. Between the bad booking, unbecoming moshing, and untimely stage diving (Inspired by Mr. Kent, some boneheads started diving to Androgynous.), the gig seemed like a huge alcohol-re- lated accident. Hard Poetry received the worst of the mishap, with the Blue Shad- ows Clearly at fault. For Poetry’s sake, I hope ICBC doesn’t screw them around. Luckily, the Crash Test Dummies, true to their moniker, avoided injury. Not Just Any Fool's Play... Coming soon to a theatre near us!The United Players ofVancouver are present- ing the British Columbia premiere of La Béte, a wacked-out period comedy by David Hirson. Drawing heavily on the influence of Moliere, the great French satirist, Hirson’s script gives the Vancou- ver cast quite the challenge. Director Nicholas Harrison (see Local Talent PRO- FILE), though, is confident of his troupe's ability to carry the piece off. “The piece is a wonderful period comedy written in iambic pentameter.” The production includes a unique raked set (essentially, the stage is on an incline), which pro- vides, as Harrison puts it, “a Bugs Bunny- esque feel, with a Dr. Seuss flavour, and it’s all viewed through a warped lens.” Set in 1654 France, the play deals with an acting troupe forced to accept a fool, or ‘La Béte’, who has the favour of the prince. The members of the troupe are resistant to the entrance of this un- trained, untried clown, and risk losing the sponsorship of the prince because of it. Metaphorically, La Béte is quite a commentary on modern theatre. Today, the theatre is largely considered to be epitomized by huge, hollow, overdone monstrosities like Phantom of the Op- era, or Cats, when nearly all of the best shows are smaller, subtle pieces seen at venues like the Fringe or the Vancouver Comedy Festival. This show is produced | with that smaller production-type qual- ity as a target. Stephen Archibald bites into the role of Velere, the stubborn leader of the troupe, while David Young plays | Elomire. Some of the featured perform- ers include Tom Kavadias, as Bajar the hunchback (After all, what's a 17th cen- tury French satire without a hunch- back?) and Catherine Majoleth as : Doreen the maid, who speaks only in mono-syllables rhyming with “true.” After a rocky dress rehearsal, the | production has come together to } present a unique, enjoyable night at the theatre. La Béte is playing Thursday to } Sunday, from January 28th to February | 20th, at the Jericho Arts Centre. Tickets } are only $8 for students, and can be | purchased at the door. For information, call 224-8007. DANCE Thursday, February 10, 1994 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM ‘Upper Cafeteria featuring live music by “THE WHOLE 9 YARDS” (performing from 11:00 pm to 12:00 am) House music 8:00pm to 11:00pm and 12:00am to 1:00am * Free Admission * -* Beverage Specials * * 2 Guests per D.C. Student * * Bring your I. D. and Student Card * UNITED PLAYERS ree OF VANCOUVER presents The British Columbia Premiere of ese ia 4 ' a comedy by Produced by Vera Gammert & Thursday to Sunday at 8:00 p. Jericho Arts Centre 1675 Discovery & N.W. Marine Drive Takers at the door! Adulrs $10.00 / Seniors & Students $4.00 Call 224-8007 ~ Redo Theatre of West Point Grey Community Centre ~ i= David Hirson Directed by Nicholas Harrison January 28 to February 20, 1994 Photo by Jane Weitzel Hame: Vlicholas Harrison Age 25 rs ject: Directing BC Premiere of La Bete Personal Influences: Kristin mm. | WMilevard (London Director), Sir Derek Gacobi (London A ctor) Credits: Vine plays in London's Vvest Exd, "Goofy" in DisneyLand, Star Trek: Vlext Generation, Highlander, The Commish, Anything Goes (WMasical), numerons others. Fm NAK Johnny (David Thewliss) is sure of one thing — he is anything but bored. Was he lying? That has to be examined, but Mike Leigh’s latest effort, Naked, certainly doesn’t leave the viewer bored. It is a frighteningly funny snapshot of average people living below average lives on the streets of London. Leigh’s previous efforts, including Life Is Sweet, have followed a similar style — vignettes improvised by the cast pieced together and sewn into a sem- blance of a plot. However, the mood of this film is completely different from Leigh’s previous efforts: black, punched home all the more with a sparse sound- track of harp and cello duets. The scenes are shot in low light, so most of the film is in dark blue and brown tones, about a bright as the tone of the film. But don’t let that fool you. Naked is as funny as it is horrible. Thewliss pulls off a performance certainly deserving of the Palme d’Or that he won at Cannes. He is a disaffected intellectual, a street rat, a man who is never bored because he is always running from it. His dry sarcastic wit gets him in a lot of trouble, and provides the audience with a fair dose of levity in what would otherwise be an overwhelmingly depressing film. Johnny rips offa car and drives from Manchester to London. There he visits Louise (Lesley Sharp), an ex-lover, and has a brief affair with her roommate, Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge). When that becomes tiring, he leaves and sets off on a series of misadventures with Lon- doners he bumps into on the street, pumping them full of insults and his own particular version of apocalyptic theory until they ditch him, tell him to fuck off, or beat the hell out of him. You know there is boredom on either side of this film. Boredom stretches out the past like the road from Manchester, and you know at the film’s end is a road of adventures just as pathetic as you've seen. That's what makes the film so excruci- atingly funny. On the other side of the coin is Jeremy (Greg Crutwell). He’s bored too, and acts as a foil for Johhny (you thought Johny was bad?....). The film is misogynistic, as its critics have pointed out. If anything can be said about the male characters in the film, it’s that they hate women. The film is full of rape — almost every sex scene has either Johnny or Jeremy hurting the woman they’re with (against their will). I’m not sure that if the gratuitous portrayals were necessary or not, but they aren’t shown in a light that paints the actions as any- thing other than reprehensible. It’s not a glorification of rape, as First Blood and its ilk are a glorification of violence. Johnny is as intelligent as he is an- gry. Whether he’s convincing a security guard who kindly lets him in out of the cold that God hates him, and evolutional change is around the corner, or letting a thick young Scots runaway in on the secrets of Nostradamus, he’s always thinking The problem is, it doesn’t help him any. He gets no wisdom, no peace of mind. Just an increasing awareness that God is having a bit of fun with the creatures of Earth before flinging them off to eternal damnation. And he lets everyone know it in one way or another. The women, however, are pretty much dishrags. They act as objects for Johhny and Jeremy to act upon.The char- acter with the most believability was Louise, and she didn’t have a huge part in the film (although it was bigger than all the other women in the film). I don’t really know what to say about it. This is Thewliss’ movie — he pos- sesses it, doesn’t let go of it until the film startlingly punches to black for the credits — but it’s worth a look-see, de- spite the painful portrayals of sex & vio- lence.