ARTS
“Kabuki/Bacchae” visually exciting
Greek play adapted
to Japanese style
By Layne Lakefish
Encore Entertainment Editor
Just when the majority of
University students are getting
settled in and ready to start the
term, University Theatre stu
dents are already rehearsed and
ready to go.
"Kahuki/Bacchae," a contin
uation of last spring's perfor
mance, will re-open tomorrow
night at 8 in Robinson Theatre.
1109 Old Campus Lane. Addi
tional 8 p.m. performances are
scheduled for Sept. 28 and 29.
The title may tilt some heads
and confuse some minds, but
don't fret. There's an easy ex
planation.
The play is based on the orig
inal Greek play, "The Bac
chae” by Kuripides. In the
play, the deity Bacchus is born
to a mortal mother, which gives
rise to conflict between the two
worlds.
The twist, and hence the
name “Kabuki Bacchae," came
when University co-directors
decided to set the age-old
Greek play in early Shinto Ja
pan. With this adaptation
comes an obvious change in the
main character: Greek god Bac
chus becomes the Japanese de
mon god Hi-No-Kami.
"We're taking a classic Greek
tragedy and rendering it in the
style of Japanese Kabuki, a 800
year-old theater form in Ja
pan," said Jerry Williams, co
producer of the play.
He said he fears people may
not come to see the play be
cause the title is so out of the
ordinary, but speaks of rave re
views the play got all over Eu
gene last spring.
"1 want people to gamble,"
he said "They won’t regret
it.”
“This will be an exciting the
atrical experience," said Janet
Descutner. co-producer. "In
the Kabuki style, the move
ments are as important as the
words."
By taking the play and pre
senting it in the Kabuki style,
Euripides' play suddenly be
comes very movement- and
style-oriented. Vocality also
plays a key role as one can hear
when the orchestra plays to
back up the movements and the
Photo by Sma Pmtofi
Eric Hansen fleft, in the role of Hi-No-kami) and Michele Fox
(Kugeaku) are appearing in the play "kabuki/Bacchae. ” a
combination of ancient Greek and lapanese drama. It runs
Sept. 27, 28, and 29 at 8 p.m. in the Robinson Theater. Tickets
are $6.50 general admissions, $4.50 for students.
moods on stage.
"Visually, the play is highly
stimulating through costume,
movements and color," she
said. “There are also a lot of
dramatic stage effects such as
using silk for the floor during
an earthquake.”
Aside from the visuality of
the play. Williams said it also
deals with a lot of ritual and
violence.
"This is not a ho-hum
event,” he said. "There's a lot
of violence including a dis
memberment on stage. It's vio
lence in a stylized manner "
The play, which was called
"a hypnotically engaging show
that's both entertaining and rel
evant today" by The Register
Guard, is expected to run for 90
minutes, with an intermission.
"Consider this a short even
ing of scintillating theater as
opposed to a long night of rhet
oric," Williams said.
"Last spring, word of mouth
didn’t spread fast enough and
some people were left wishing
they'd seen the play."
Descutner. "This is the
chance."
Tickets can be purchased for
$t>.50 for general admission
and $4 50 for students by call
ing 346-4191
-.
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