Puke Editor;
Jacquelyn Lewis
jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, May 22,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Tuesday
Fashion flash:
What's in store
for summer?
Sequels
to invade
summer
cinema
With the release of “The Matrix
Reloaded” heralding the approach
ing summer film season, we say
good-bye to quiet, introspective
indie films and say hello to big,
bloated films with super-heroes,
explosions and car chases. High
concept heaven, here we come. I
hope you’re all ready for the
“Charlie’s Angels” sequel, “The
Fast and the Furious” sequel and
the “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” se
quel. Hooray for Hollywood, and
long may it keep up this standard
of originality, but I think I’ll be
looking for little more variety in
my cinema this summer.
June brings us at least one
creepy little number. First is “28
Days Later,” directed by Danny
Boyle. It’s about a virus that wipes
out London and turns all but a few
survivors
into flesh
eating zom
bies. Thank
you lord, a
decent look
ing zombie
film has ar
rived! This
got raves at
the Sun
dance Film RVcMl
Festival, and Nyburq
is being com
pared (tenta- Budget rack
tively) to the
original “Night of the Living
Dead.” Before I start singing
Boyle’s name from the rooftops for
this blessing, let’s move on to July.
Aside from bringing us no less
than five big name sequels (includ
ing the much anticipated “The
Terminator” sequel), July also
contains most of the blockbuster
films actually worth seeing. The
one I’ll be camping out for is
“League of Extraordinary Gentle
men,” which, apart from having
the most droll title imaginable, is
also an impossibly cool concept.
Based on the comic book series
created by Alan Moore, the story is
about a group of characters from
Victorian-era literature who are
brought together as a super-hero
team. Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible Man
and Captain Nemo all make ap
pearances. This is the kind of film
bibliophiles dream about at night.
On a smaller scale, Alex Proyas’
“Garage Days” also opens in July.
The man who directed “The
Crow” and “Dark City” will bring
us a film about an Australian punk
band trying to make it to the big
time. What the hell? It certainly
sounds more interesting than “Bad
Boys II,” that’s for sure.
August is Hollywood’s month for
last-ditch efforts, and with a few
exceptions, it is full of films that
Turn to Nyburg, page 8
Folly of 'Fools'
The University’s 1000th play, This Ship of Fools,’
focuses on the folly of human nature and is an
original script formed by University students
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
University theater has come a long way, baby. Dramatic
entertainment was discouraged and even shunned in the
early days on campus, according to the theater department.
In fact, when a group of students asked for permission to
produce plays, their request was answered with immediate
rejection. Faculty meeting notes from a May 9,1882, docu
ment state that “.. .Our past experience does not prove that
busy, hardworking students make good play actors.”
But times have changed. These days, “busy, hardworking
students” devote much of their efforts to producing dramat
ic works. The University Theatre will mark its 1,000th cam
pus production with “This Ship of Fools,” beginning May 30.
Theatre arts Assistant Professor and “This Ship of Fools”
Director John Schmor said the first glimmers of this pro
duction appeared in a devising class he taught during win
ter term. The script was created from scratch by Schmor
and his students, and the actors based their ideas on the
popular Sebastian Brant social commentary book, “The
Ship of Fools,” published in 1494.
“I literally went through 14 different possible classics for
this project — each of them interesting, but for one reason
or another not quite what I thought the students could play
with,” Schmor said. “I knew I wanted to do something fanci
ful, colorful, strange.”
“The Ship of Fools,” originally written in German, was
translated into several European languages shortly after its
original publication, and the theme centers on the folly of
human nature, complete with rhyming couplets bemoaning
everything from gluttony to foolish students. Brant’s book
emerged after Christopher Columbus’ famous voyage —just
as humanity was entering the dawn of the “new world.”
Schmor and the actors said the script reflects this strange
era but is also appropriate for the present, given that today’s
society is also on the edge of change. The play also involves
video imagery, symbolizing a transition from old burlesque
style theater to a more contemporary form.
“(The play) is like a bizarre, surreal vaudeville with a
twist, because we built it ourselves,” sophomore theatre arts
major Bethany Mason said.
Senior theatre arts major Ian Hanley, who has per
formed in countless campus productions, agreed. He said
Turn to Fools, page 8
Courtesy
"This Ship of Fools" presents several shorts in vaudeville form. Daniel Cotton portrays the
character of Atlas, struggling to hold up the Earth.
courtesy
Alex Luu brings his one-man show to the University with a performance
tonight in the EMU Fir Room.
Luu’s ‘Three Lives’
tells Asian American
family experience
Actor Alex Luu’s one-man show
deals with such topics as the
conflict between Asian culture
and American individualism
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
Los Angeles-based actor Alex Luu said
he believes telling our individual stories is
one of the most important aspects of hu
manity —and his actions reflect this con
viction. Luu, editor of the Asian American
pop-culture magazine Yolk, has led three
“My Own Story” workshops on campus,
where students from diverse cultural
backgrounds come together to share their
experiences. And tonight he will present
his one-man show, dedicated to the same
purpose, entitled “Three Lives.”
Luu, who wrote the entire script, said it
centers on himself and male family mem
bers (Luu’s grandfather, father and
cousin) who impacted his life.
“It’s a mosaic of my family,” he said.
“It is these four characters, and you see
the different effects and impacts in
America, achieving what I call the Amer
ican dream/American nightmare.”
The performance is an epic detailing
Luu and his family’s journey and expe
riences as Asian Americans. It deals
with such topics as assimilation, racism
and the conflict between traditional
Asian culture and American individu
alism.
“It is about how we basically had to
be uprooted and were refugees from
Saigon,” Luu said.
However, he added that despite serious
undertones, “Three Lives” is “physical, hi
larious, over-the-top, poignant and heart
rending.”
Luu wrote the script in late 1996 and
began performing it in 1997. Since then,
he has performed the show in several
states across the country, including New
York. He said one of his goals is to perform
“Three Lives” in every state.
Luu said people from all cultures and
backgrounds can relate to the script’s
Turn to Three Lives, page 6