Features Editor:
Lisa Toth
lisatoth@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, November 1,2001
Dressed for victory
Check out the winners of this year’s
Pulse Costume Contest. Page 7
Must-see play
deals well with
tough subject
■ ‘Keely and Du,’ playing today and
Saturday at the Pocket Playhouse,
is ‘exciting theater’ and a must-see
Jane Martin ‘Keely and Du’
Pocket Playhouse
By Mason West
Oregon Daily Emerald
Theater is at its most powerful
when it touches on universal issues
in human experience. Many plays
deal with timeless themes such as
love, but plays can be most successful
when they combine these themes
with current events.
Though first performed in 1993,
“Keely and Du” written by Jane Mar
tin, centers around the still-timely
topic of abortion but ends up making
a statement about human relation
ships.
The play, directed by Keely C.
Helmick (name similarity is purely
coincidental) and opening in the
Pocket Playhouse today, begins with
an unconscious woman, Keely, being
wheeled into a room and handcuffed
to a bed by masked individuals. One
woman, Du, remains behind to care
for Keely. As the play unfolds, the au
dience learns that Keely was raped by
her husband and a child was con
ceived. While going to the abortion
clinic, Keely was kidnapped by reli
gious zealots, who call themselves
“operation retrieval,” with the inten
tion of keeping her in custody until
she has the baby.
Keely, as one might expect, doesn’t
take this news very well. The scene
where she wakes up to find herself
imprisoned is heartbreaking. Nicole
Barrett plays the part of Keely with
hatred toward her captors but with
enough humanity to form a necessary
relationship with Du, played by An
nie Branson.
From the start, Branson portrays Du
as a woman who believes in what she
is doing but maintains her humanity.
Before Keely arrives in the room, Du
struggles with having her mask on or
off; it is a beautifully subtle gesture
on Branson’s part. It is clear that
while Du cares about the unborn
child, she cares about Keely as an in
dividual.
Du’s counterpart, Walter, blatantly
states he would choose the child over
Keely. “I can love you,” he says, “but
I must protect the child.”
As the ringleader of operation re
trieval, Walter makes frequent visits
to check on Keely and spout his pro
life rhetoric. Alexander Pawlowski
plays the part with a cold, analytical
surface that occasionally cracks to re
veal an insane conviction. Walter jus
tifies his actions by asserting that
Keely is not in a position to make re
sponsible decisions, so he must make
them for her. Every time Keely lashes
out at him, he considers his view to
be confirmed.
Turn to ‘Keely and Du’, page 8
» .♦
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Adam Jones Emerald
Kim Bates (behind) and Rick Brown perform a scene from ‘Angels in America,’ the second part of ‘Perestroika,’ which opens Nov. 2. at the Robinson Theatre.
AMERICAN EPIC COMES II ROBINSON
■The three-hour tale speaks
to politics, religion, sexuality,
disease and relationships
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Since the mid-1980s, “pere
stroika” has been one of the
most popular Russian words
to enter English-speaking
culture.
The word literally means “the
act of rebuilding,” according to
russianminds.com, and is used to
identify the period from 1980 to
1981, characterized by the com
prehensive political reforms in
troduced by Mikhail Gorbachev.
The term also relates to the period
in the mid-1980s when the AIDS
crisis exploded and was used as
the title of a play set in that era.
“Angels in America — Part
Two: Perestroika,” the second half
of the Tony award-winning play
written by Tony Kushner, begins
Nov. 2 on the main stage at Robin
son Theatre and kicks off the 2001
2002 University Theatre season.
Performances of last spring’s
“Part One: Millennium Ap
proaches” have also been sched
uled for those who missed the first
half or want to see it again.
Director John Schmor, also an
assistant professor in the Depart
ment of Theatre Arts, said the play
is centered around eight different
plot lines, but because it is so
“beautifully balanced,” the audi
ence won’t be confused.
Kushner tells the story in two
parts of a group of New Yorkers
trying to make sense of the world
that is falling apart around them.
They face both political and per
sonal crisis during the early years
of the AIDS epidemic.
“There is so much to it,”
Schmor said. “The play speaks on
a lot of different levels to a lot of
different people. ”
Schmor said he chose the play
because it blends “fantasia and re
alism” and added that it is both
entertaining and provocative.
“Doing Part One last spring was
hard enough — Part Two is more
wildly complicated — funnier,
What “Angels in America—Pari
Two; Perestroika" by Tony Kushrter
When: 8 p.m. — Nov. 2.3,9,10,15,
16,17
2p.m.—Nov. 11 {proceeds will goto
disaster relief efforts in New York City)
What “Angels In America—Part
One: Millennium Approaches* by
Tony Kushnsr
When: 8 p.m. —Nov. 8
2p n -Nov C 1
Where: Robinson Theatre, Vilfard Hall,
' 1109 OtdCampaslane Free parking
■ fe available inthe University lot at E.
11th Avenue and Kincaid Street
Tickets: Available at the EMI.' Ticket
Office, 346-4363; th ? Hult Center,
682-5000; and the University
Theatre Box Office, 346-4191, only
on days of performances.
General public, $12
Seniors, faculty/staff, non
University students, $9
sexier, visually more magical and
surprising,” Schmor said.
Prior, played by Matthew
Woodbum, is a man living with
ADDS whose lover, Louis, played
by Nate Bloch, has left him to be
come involved with Joe. Joe, who
is played by Rick Brown, is an ex
Mormon and political conserva
tive whose wife, Harper, played
by Kim Bates, is slowly having a
nervous breakdown.
“(Perestroika) especially fol
lows Prior’s journey and what he
discovers about the blessings of
change,” Schmor said.
Schmor said some of the
script’s strange references to New
York City may cause the audience
to think about the events of Sept.
11, which the cast had not expect
Turn to ‘Perestroika’, page 8
Strangefolk to perform at WOW Hall Thursday
■The Vermont-based jam rock/folk band
comes to Eugene with a new sound
By Jen West
Oregon Daily Emerald
Strangefolk’s fall tour is finally headed for
Eugene with new members and a new sound.
This tour comes right on the heels of their re
cently released album, “Open Road,” their
first album with the new band configuration.
Their performance at WOW Hall on Thurs
day will include songs from the new CD as
well as songs from their previous albums and
a few covers.
However, this Vermont-based jam rock/folk
band is not the same band that performed at
WOW Hall in 1998. In the fall of 2000, they
lost their lead singer/guitarist, Reid Genauer
to graduate school at Cornell University and
took on two new members, singer/guitarist
Luke “Patchen” Montgomery and keyboardist
Scott Shdeed.
“Strange Folk” (originally two words) be
gan in 1991 as an acoustic duo with Genauer
and Jon Trafton, according to the band’s Web
site at www.strangefolk.com. But within a
year, they added bassist Erik Glockler and
drummer Luke Smith and condensed the
band’s name to one word.
They first played in bars in and around
Burlington, Vt., and gradually built a national
fan base with the releases of their three studio
CDs: “Lore,” “Weightless in Water ” and “A
Great Long While.”
Now they tour the nation playing 150 to
200 gigs a year at a variety of venues, said
Russ Weis, manager of the Vermont office.
Montgomery admitted it is difficult main
tain such a rigorous schedule, often playing
five nights a week in five different cities.
“We try to keep it as interesting as possible
and not be repetitive,” he said.
Montgomery said he remembered crossing
paths with Strangefolk in New York City in the
mid-1990s. But at the time, he was playing
with the band Folkstone. In late 2000, he per
Turn to ‘Strangefolk’, page 7