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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1968)
Investiaation Unfolds as Requiem Mass University Theatre staged a requiem mass for six million victims of Nazi concentration oamps Friday night with its presentation of Peter Weiss’ “The Investigation.” And the drama which unfold ed on the UT stage had the gen eral tone of a eulogy—simple, somber, and straightforward. Still, one can carry this fun eral analogy only so far with out contradicting oneself — the implication here is that Weiss has attempted to bury a corpse. On the contrary, he has un earthed one—a very ripe one— in creating a documentary drama which details the admin istrative measures taken by Nazi Germany in the manage ment of Auschwitz, a detention extermination center in which many of the measures of the greatest bloodbath in history were implemented. No Applause What results is a disturbing, possibly a devastating, remind er which kept Friday’s audi ence uncomfortable throughout its three-hours-plus run, caused a considerable number to leave during intermission, and (quite appropriately) elicited no ap plause at the final curtain. The factor chiefly responsi ble for the play’s impact is its basis in fact—playwright Weiss has gleaned all dialogue from court records of testimony giv en at the Frankfurt war trials of 1964-65. This testimony, which led to the conviction of 21 of the camp’s officers, coldly recon structs conditions of unbeliev able brutality which are repug c/8\fap Oolm^wt RwffR. McDonald's McDonald's tasty hamburgers ARE MADE FROM US. GOVERN MENT INSPECTED MEAT- SO MUCH GROUNO CHUCK -SO j MUCH OTHER CHOICE CUTS \ OF BEEF DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR BUNS?-THEIR PERFECT^ CONCAVE SHAPE AND ) SYMMETRY- OR THEIR jU PRECISE MEASUREMENT OF CATSUP, MUSTARD.... KIDS KNOW X ~_~ A LOT MORE THAN WE Dlpy WE RE i INOURPAY.rpRE-SPUnilK McDonald’s is your kind of place. OMcDonald's Corp 1988 1417 VILLARD r . nant even to those persons not affected by World War II. Weiss utilizes this carefully edited material in re-creating the atmosphere of the trial. His play is merely a framework for a factual courtroom drama in which numerous witnesses are called to testimony against the camp officers; by exposing the audience to the evidence pre sented, Weiss ostensibly calls upon them to serve as jurors. Beyond this, there is no sem blance of plot. The production which unfold ed Friday night was of gener ally commendable quality, dem onstrating once again director Jean Cutler’s ability to adapt unconventional drama to the UT stage. Action in Audience Cutler has encouraged the de velopment of individual charac terizations in assigning the roles of witnesses and accused, and he uses every available amount of space in sustaining the ac tion of the play—an important factor in the presentation of a vehicle whose format remains relatively unchanged. Cutler’s most significant idea in this respect was to have wit nesses and accused move into the audience following inter mission. This inventive piece of direction made the drama more personal and, needless to say, twice as effective. There were a number of standout performances among members of the large cast, with David Grieve and Mark Mali nauskas taking top honors in their roles as witnesses. J. David Baldridge tended to rush his lines in his role as the judge, but the formidable question and-answer aspect of his part makes this excusable. Charles Blankenship and Ben jamin Masters, as the prosecut ing attorney and counsel for de fense, were also excellent. Gor don Scott, T. Blake Conley, and Robert Emmons were effective as three of the accused. Cinemagraphics All this aside, I could argue the use of two devices employ ed in the production. The first involves projection of cinema graphics as a kind of graphic blandishment for many of the play’s sequences — unquestion ably well-done, these films oc casionally created effective con trasts to the action transpiring on stage, but eventually serv ed little purpose save to pro vide minor distraction. Secondly, the use of Black ac tors in the roles of witnesses and accused seems to be carry ing civil rights to a ridiculous extreme. It might be argued that this tokenism was intended to point out the significance of race as an integral part of Nazi policy, but, this being common knowledge, one is all the more aware of the impossibility the presence of a Negro Nazi officer represents. The departure from observed fact in this connection is in uncomfortable contrast to KWAX—Dial 91.1 FM Tuesday, May 21 1:00—Sign-on: The University Hour 1:30—Legendary Pianists 2:00—Out of Sight with Sound: Mary Newman is your hostess. At 3, Jon Wu 5:00—News 5:30—Bill Hagerman Commentary 5:45—Rod and Charles Show: “The Story of a Tail” 6:00-9:00—Chamber Music, with hos tess Claire Quebedeau 9:00—KWAV Controversy with Rob ert Packwood 10:00—News 10:15—Evening Concert: John Diehnel is your host 12:00—Midnight: KWAX Unlimited: Host, Elwood Cushman the stark realism of the play as a whole. “Pot Shot” I might permit myself one pot-shot in questioning the rele vance of the play itself. Those affected by Nazi policy during the war need hardly be remind ed of it, and current parallels to Nazism in world conflict pro vide a more educational exam ple than the play itself. “The Investigation” points out nothing that cannot be seen in news coverage of the Vietnam war—and it emerges as a play which is nauseating rather than cathartic. It plays again May 22-25, and tickets may be purchased at the UT box office from noon to 5 p.m. daily. lock CRAIG ' Pd. Pol. Adr. by Craig for Commlaatoner 1159 Emerald Eugene /■ r.U. Box 25, New York, N.Y 1001 7 *• "" TWA **» Tour N ante_ Address_ ;< L' i ty_____ C state_ 7, • \ 1\1\ Y\ T\ t;.7--r-~A iJ A ^ 1 J] \ S, r«H Kr’K Kw iV 1»«0'V |0 EUROj»jg J/U'Think how dazzled you could be by all the splendors of Europe turned on by the Mona Lisa—flipped out over the majesty of Chartres v -splashing in exotic swimming pools on the Riviera— / grooving on the original pizza—conquering the Matterhorn-—finding ^ the real you at Carnaby Street. 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