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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2004)
BE PREPARED TO PROTECT YOURSELF IN CASE: ■ THE CONDOM BREAKS YOU FORGOT TO TAKF YOUR PILL ■ OR, YOU HAD SI X WHIN YfX I DIDN’T WANT OR PLAN TO . you Uiw up ip 5 Days u; uk« emergency contraception (EC). But u* souiiw n» uhiiw. Ask yew MMlIli (Sub pur/uk i alitml .hi -iilvant i SlfpfUf tjf I.C. 1-800-230-PLAN -5* P Planned Parenthood plannedparenthood.org/ec 344-9411 UO School of Music fr Department of Dance FEBRUARY CONCERTS For more information on School of Music events, call 346-5678, or call Guardline at 485-2000, ext. 2533 for a taped message. Thur. JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET 2/5 Chamber Music Series 8 p.m., Beall Hall Music by Haydn, Webern, and Beethoven. Limited $5 student rush tickets; reserved seats $15, $28, $32, at the Hult Center (682-5000) or EMU (346-4363) Fri. THE JAZZ CAFE 2/6 UO Jazz Combos 8 p.m., 178 Music $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Sun. THE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY 2/8 UO Ensemble 3 p.m., Beall Hall Symphonic ballet music by Copland, Milhaud, Gershwin. $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens Thur. POETRY IN SONG 2/12 French Art Songs sung by UO voice majors. 7:30 p.m., Beall Hall FREE Admission 2/12- WINTER STUDENT DANCE CONCERT: 2/14 “Dance Infusion” Department of Dance 8 p.m., Dougherty Dance Theatre $10 General Admission, $5 students & senior citizens Wed. “A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC” 2/18 UO Opera Ensemble & University Symphony Stephen Sondheim's acclaimed musical in a fully-staged production. 7:30 p.m., Soreng Theatre Reserved seats $20, $18, $10 at Hult Center: 682-5000 Fri. 2/20 Sat. 2/21 Sun. 2/22 Sun. 2/22 THE JAZZ CAFE UO Jazz Combos 8 pm, 178 Music $5 General Admission, $3 students & senior citizens “A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC” UO Opera Ensemble & University Symphony 7:30 p.m., Jacoby Auditorium, Roseburg Gen. Admision $10 Call Ticketswest: 1 -800-992-8499 “A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC” UO Opera Ensemble & University Symphony 7:30 p.m., Soreng Theatre Reserved seats $20, $18, $10 at Hult Center: 682-5000 OREGON WIND ENSEMBLE Q UO Ensemble 7 p.m., Beall Hall - $5 General Admission, $3 students & seniors university OF ORBGON For our pomplete calendar, check: music.uoregon.edu ‘Thread’ merges old-world tale with new-world topics University Theatre’s latest play, ‘A Thread in the Dark,’ showcases talented actors and a politically sawy story By Andrew Shipley Freelance Reporter Take feminism, existentialism, some unnervingly timely sodo-political com mentary and a bit of anar chy, put REVIEW them all - in a blender with a base of Greek mythology, then hit puree Quite a mess, right? Not necessarily. These were just some of the ingredi ents in University Theatre's latest con coction, Bella Baasse's play "A Thread in the Dark." The result is a surprisingly accessible and entertaining production. The Dutch play — a feminist revisita tion of the famous Greek myth concern ing Theseus and the Minotaur— was first performed in Bolland more than 30 years ago. For those whose knowl edge of Achaean mythology is a bit rusty, Theseus (played by Eli Levine), the prince of Athens, is sent to the island of Crete as a prisoner of war. On the island, Minos, the King of Crete (played by Jon Sharpy), has an inescapable labyrinth — coastmcted to house the Cretean god Minotaur — into which prisoners of war are thrown as sacrifices. Theseus is said to have slain the Minotaur and es caped the labyrinth with the help of King Minos' daughter. Turning the story's original themes of power struggles and masculinity inside out, the play asserts the Minotaur never existed and instead postulates that it was simply a fabrication to augment the power of Crete. The myth also is also used as a narra tive framework to explore issues of po litical exploitation and power structures through the characters' attitudes and ac tions toward the Minotaur. Focusing on the struggle of Minos' eldest daughter Ariadne's (played by Erica Smith) at tempt to expose her father's invention, "Thread" weaves complicated intellec tual themes through Ariadne's escape from Crete and her subsequent rela tionship with Theseus before twisting into the final, climactic act. If this plot sounds remote or outdat ed, consider the statement, "My budg et includes the largest increase in de fense spending in history." No, this is not taken from President George W. Bush's State of the Union ad dress, but rather from King Minos' ex planation of his personal investment in the illusion of the Minotaur. The king — power-hungry and downright Machiavellian at times — strikes an un canny cord in America's current politi cal environment. Don't be thrown by the premise of a feminist revisitation of a Greek myth; the play has plenty to of fer even if you're not a classics or women's studies major. The themes of modem political alle gory are clear from the play's beginning, and in large part the parallels to mod em day succeed. However, the language is at times heavy-handed. For example, the pronunciation of Cretean "bull games" is suspiciously similar to "ball games," and the references to white houses and standards of living are glar ingly anachronistic. Still, the play's ex amination of complex political and moral issues is intelligent. Though "Thread" is thought the leading role. Ariadne's progres sion from fearful innocence to self-righteous excitement to resent ful cynicism is captured in con vincing detail by Smith, whose prescience of events shift tangibly in both speech and movement, from stiff to jittery to lethargic, as the play progresses. The set design also adds to the play's dark atmosphere Light-colored clothes stream from props and costumes, and black trees are painted in silhouette surrounding the Arena Theatre, creat ing a sinister contrast. A giant column juts impressively out of the stage's back wall, rounding out a conceptual design which sacrifices realism to more accu rately capture the atmosphere of the play. On the whole, "A Thread in the Lauren Wimer Photographer (Left to right) Margie Kment, Connie Hymer and Erica Smith act out a scene from "A Thread in the Dark," which opened Wednesday at the Arena Theatre. provoking, it still contains a sense of humor. This is accomplished partic ularly in the final arts when the con flict focuses into a lofty examination of the importance of truth. Perfor mances in the first art by Sharpy and Connie Hymer as the Nurse are en thusiastic and breathe fullness into their potentially flat characters. In the second and third arts, the characters grow more complex, and the talents of the performers begin to dom inate the show. Levine is appropriately solid and simple as Theseus, while Margie Kment steals entire scenes as Ariadne's pouty and manipulative sis ter, Phaedra. At points, the chemistry between Kemnt and Levine is laugh out-loud funny, providing a welcome escape from otherwise dour characters. Most impressive, however, is Smith's treatment of Ariadne in Dark" is a creative and challenging pro duction that will inspire sympathy or animosity in any thoughtful audience. For a play that carries no pretenses of escapism or mindless enjoyment, "Thread" manages to be both enter taining and provocative and well worth the investment of a little open-minded curiosity. The play runs tonight, Friday and Saturday, and next week it mns from Feb. 12 to Valentine's Day. Perfor mances begin 8 p.m. in the University's Arena Theater, located in 104 Villard Hall. There is no late seating. Tickets are available at the EMU Ticket Office and cost $4 for University Students, $5 for University faculty and staff and $6 for the general public. Andrew Shipley is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. Dance for a Reason benefits high-demand scholarship fund More than 100 dancers performed a range of styles at Friday and Saturday shows to raise scholarship money By Jennifer Sudick Freelance Editor It is five minutes to showtime at the lOth-annual Dance for a Reason bene fit, and 12-year-old Geffan Pearlson is nervous. An audience of nearly 500 people has packed the Lane Commu nity College Theater, with last-minute attendees pouring into the aisles. "I love performing," Pearlson said. "Once you're on stage, you are not nervous anymore — you just perform." Pearlson, along with her 8-year-old sister Alia Pearlson and members of The Elite Dance Gymnastics Exhibi tions performance group, opened sold out shows on Friday and Saturday nights with a mix of dance tumbling and modem ballet. More than 100 performers highlight ed dance styles, ranging from West African to hip-hop, in an effort to raise money for The EDGE Scholarship Pro gram created by Dance for a Reason producer Geni Morrow. Morrow said there has been an increased demand for dance scholarships in recent years and estimated that this year's perform ances raised more than $2,000. "There's a whole lot of needy peo ple out there," she said, adding that 22 people received scholarship funds this year, and that more than 200 chil dren have benefited from the pro gram in past years. The event has raised money for or ganizations, such as the Lane Indepen dent Living Alliance, Community Soup Kitchens and Womenspace Eugene res ident Misti Waddell, who helped sell T shirts at the event as an additional fund-raising effort, said the commu nity has shown overwhelming sup port for the program. "Last year was the first year they did two nights because it was selling out Turn to DANCE, page 12
