Oregon daily emerald., May 24, 1973, Page 10, Image 9

Diego (Albert Zarth) discusses a duel with Prestino (David Sage) and
Francisco Savio.
The Old Man (Jeff Armstrong) and the Young Man (Jerry Walton)
‘Each
in
His
Own
Way’
"Each in His Own Way,”
a play which explores the
elusive qualities of reality
by causing a clash between
the world of the stage and
that of the spectator,
continues its run at the
University Theater tonight,
Friday and Saturday. Jack
Randall, director of the
play, describes it as one
which "pokes fun at
character types and in
stitutions prevalent in
modern society.”
Photographic review by
Steve Fritz.
The Old Man
The Young Man and the Old Man
drama
Puss
n
‘Tortoise’
great
for
kids
The University Theater has packaged a pair of fairy tales for
Eugene youngsters (and oldsters with a young heart), and each one
succeeds — for different reasons.
“Puss ‘n’ Boots,” in a special musical adaptation by director
Wayne Alan Sipe, played to an audience of about 80 last Friday, and
things got pretty lively.
Children have an amazing ability to suspend reality, and Sipe
wisely built in lots of opportunities for the kids to join in the plot. In
fact, many of the older members of the audience got their biggest
laughs from some of the kids’ delightfully uninhibited comments. At
one point, for example, Puss wonders aloud how to wake the sleeping
king, and the suggestions poured forth:
“Shake him,” yelled one boy.
“Pound his head!” shrieked a little girl.
“Hi, cat,” offered another.
Only occasionally did the show begin to lag — particularly during
a long sequence of rehearsing the kids for an upcoming group
response. And when the plot bogs down, the children lose interest.
They instinctively squirm in their seats, look around and talk to each
other, rather than to the characters.
For the most part, though, they had a ball.
Robert Taylor’s sets have a nice storybook quality, and the songs
by Diane Solomon and John Belles are appropriately simple and
tuneful.
Pamela Kuhn is an engaging Puss, Charles Harrill got many well
deserved laughs as the king, and John Belles turned in a great per
formance as a green ogre who left the kids stunned — momentarily, at
least.
It was hard to tell whether the kids who saw "The Tortoise and the
Hare” last Friday were stunned, bored or simply mesmerized by the
show, but they were not as lively a bunch as the ones who saw “Puss ’n
Boots.”
This, too, was an original adaptation, written and directed by
Gary Sullivan, and it seemed to have much more appeal to the adults
than to the youngsters.
For one thing, Sullivan had to invent a lot of filler to pad the well
known but skimpy plot of the race between the speedy hare and the
lethargic tortoise. In doing so, he created a handful of animal
characters to hop, wiggle and squirm along with the two leads, but left
out the broad slapstick and generous audience participation that
characterized “Puss ’n Boots.”
Even the dialogue and humor was more adult — somewhere
between “The Flintstones” and “Pogo” for the most part. It’s hard,
for example, to keep a six-year-old engrossed in a show that has a
character say lines such as, “He made a subtly derogatory
statement.”
Nevertheless, there is plenty in “The Tortoise and the Hare” to
keep the kids (and adults) entertained. Tom Stoffregen is ideal as the
obnoxiously athletic hare, and Mark Agerter is equally perfect as the
pleasant, methodical tortoise. Other fine characterizations come from
Ian Mclver as a pleasingly oafish pack rat, and Debra Martin as a
frog.
The set, designed by William Balling and Gary Sullivan, is an
imaginative revolving unit that sports half a dozen “scenes” laden
with enormous leaves, blades of grass, clover and cattails. Credit also
should go to Rachel Johnson, who was saddled with the tough
assignment of designing costumes for the animal characters, and
succeeded admirably.
And, special accolades should go to the University Theater for
taking the time and trouble to produce these children’s shows.
Hopefully, parents will get word of the remaining performances on
May 25, 26, June 1 and 2.
Tickets are only 75 cents, so if you’ve been waiting two or three
months for a G rated movie to hit Eugene, give some youngster a treat
and take him to the UT’s shows. You’ll probably get a few good laughs
yourself.
Scott Barkhurst