Theater presents double bill
By Jason Jones
For ffv (>#0on Dart* / frw&d
Two plays will l>e appearing this weekend on a
special double hill through the Pocket Playhouse
The authors of the plays art* "arguably considered
to lx* America’s greatest playwrights." says dire* ■
tor Erie Levin.
Hughit* by Eugene O’Neill and dire* ted by Kris.
Levin is a one-act play that takes place in a run
down hotel during the mid-1920s. It is an interac
tion between two men — one who desperately
needs to communicate with someone and anoth
er who lives within his own world
Erie (Kris Cochran) is a lowlife, vet amiable gam
bler. who has been dependant on a hotel clerk
named Hughie throughout his life to give him con
fidence and to listen to his stories. Hughie died the
previous week, and now an introverted man named
Charlie (Kelsey Tyler) is the new clerk.
Erie has Ixirrowed $1(X) to purchase a flower piece
for Hughie. and if he doesn’t repay the debt soon,
he will be severely beaten or killed. Unfortunate
ly. without Hughie around to give him confidence,
he has lost his ability to gamble, lie tries to connect
with Charlie instead, but Charlie makes almost
no response verbally.
As the play develops. Charlie begins to realize
that although he is content, there is something that
he needs, and maybe this gambler can give it to him.
The two men in the lobby are said to lx* a metaphor
for the world, and the message O'Neill conveys is
that the only thing we have in life is communica
tion and other people.
"O'Neill has gotten a liad rap as a humorless play
u right Ai tuallv, there i> a lot of humor in his plays
People do and say funny things, and there is a joy
about life and living There may not be much pur
pose. but there is joy that is reflected. That these
two people tan make a connection evidences that
philosophy.” Levin said
The second play. 27 Wagons Full of Colton, is
written by Tennessee Williams and directed by
Michael Phillips. Three characters interact in this
one-act in which litis and deceit are commonplace,
lake (Whalen Elmore) burns down his neighbor's
cotton gin so that he can take over the competing
businossand then convinc.es his wife Flora (Dean
na Sorenson) to lie for him when inquiries are made
into the arson.
Vicarro (Eric Teti) is the foreman of the gin that
burned down and tries to find out whether Jake was
responsible for the fire. When he cannot gel any
information out of lake, he waits for the husband
to leave and then attempts to get information from
Flora by seducing her.
"It is a very dark play — passionate and sexual,"
Phillips said "Tennessee Williams said that every
thing good he had to say about human nature was
in Thr Gin** Mrnagehr. All of his other plays have
been much darker. Nobody in the play is truly inno
cent. although Flora is childlike and is taken advan
tage of."
The two plays will Ix-gin Nov. 11-13 at .r> p m. at
the Pocket Playhouse. Room 102 Villord A St dona
tion will be requested (or admission to both shows
which are playing together Sealing is general
admission.
REVIEWS
Continued from Page 8A
hit more enthusiasm going into
their music.
- Ryan Walker
Oregon Doifv Em&iak3
THE QUIET
REVOLUTION
★ ★★':
ARTIST: Ronny
Jordan
LABEL: Island
St would bo easy for jazz
purists to jog in place cre
atively. jazz performances
are. after all. inherently different
almost every time because impro
visation is such a key element.
But because jazz is among the
most rewarding and important
musical genres of the 20th cen
tury. its musicians should not 1**
satisfied repeating what's been
played before And fortunately
there are innovators From dix
ieland to be-bop and from free
jazz to fusion, jazz has always
had its share of new directions.
Fortunately, musicians like
Ronny Iordan continue to push
the boundaries. His now album.
The Quiet Revolution, continues
to take jazz beyond its roots by
combining traditional jazz guitar
with hip hop. In so doing. Jordan
continues where such visionar
ies as Miles Davis and Herbie
Hancock left off — and he creates
a great album in the process
jazz and hip hop turn out to be
a solid mix because the strengths
of one always seems to wipe out
the weaknesses of the other. Hip
hop's main problem is that the
rhythms often become monoto
nous; when a song relies entire
ly on beats with no melody, there
is little to differentiate it from a
pounding headache. Jordan,
whose guitar playing relies
almost entirely on melody, alle
viates the problem
One of the traditional com
plaints against jazz, conversely,
is that it often rambles without a
purpose. Improvisational tunes
particularly free jazz numbers,
sometimes don’t use steady
rhythms at all, instead throwing
hits and picxms into a musical col
lage. Hip hop rhythms, which are
solid and repetitive, tiring Jor
dan’s playing into focus. He has
an arena in which to play, and he
does it well
"Season For Change" has
guests Gum, from the rap group
Gang Starr, who brings the tune
a irreverent, matter-of-fact sen
sibility. Only midway through
the song is there any clue that
this is not traditional hip hop
fare, as Jordan’s smooth jazz play
ing glides over the top. Jordan
also cooks on such numbers as
"In Full Swing." “The Jac kal"
and "Under Your Spell.”
Jordan believes fully in hip
hop’s (lower to transform Jazz. He
says so in both music and inter
views With Tint Quiet Revolu
tion, he succeeds in his vision —
and hopefully he will continue
expanding his ideas in the future
- Rivers Janssen
Oregon Oatty tmorak 1
The UO School of Music’s
Vanguard Series presents
PIANIST
Stephen Drury
The Boston Globes 1989Musician of the Year
pianist Stephen Drury s program will include
Frederic Rzewski s masterpiece. 'The People
United Shall Never Be Defeated
Wed., Nov. 17 8.00 p.m.
Beal! Concert Hall
$6 50 Gen. Admission, $3 50 Students &
Senior Citizens, available at the door
FREE lecture-demo Monday. Nov. 15, 4 p.m.
Gerlmger Alumni Lounge
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IN CONCERT
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