Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 1978)
✓-In review-^ Man from F.I.S.T I By Jim McCaffrey Of The Print Photo by Ted McKenna Students enjoy the West African dance class held on Monday, May 15, at the Oregon Martial Arts Center. The class was one of the many ethnic You see there's this no body tough guy who's got nothing and is going nowhere- fast. But then he gets this break and he uses this oppor tunity to fight his way to the top. Sound familiar? Put Rocky on a truck give him a slogan and a baseball bat and you've got the story line for "F.I.S.T." Sylvester Stallone plays the two fisted union organizer who manages to slam his way to the top of a tough busi ness only to find that a little bit of power can corrupt ab solutely also. Peter Boyle's portrayal of a McCarthy-like senator is a highlight amongst otherwise routine portrayals. Perhaps the unsatisfactory quality of the film comes not from the unfulfilled poten tial that the story line has but from the well documented behind-the-scenes squabbling of the writers over the script. Somewhere amongst charges and accusations of who stole whose script, somebody lost a fine idea for a story. Only ^h^ubli^wa^h^reaHoser^ studies taught by Jane Rickenbaugh, College in structor. (-------------------------- - Leading lady probes acting philosophies By Shawn Parkhurst Of The Print Journalism, or, I should say, writing for a college newspaper such as this one (look on the front page for identification), offers oppor tunities like this one rarely. I get to interview Barbara Bragg, the impressive " lady with the title role in "Mrs. Warren's Profession", a play produced by the College thea tre department, running May 18 through 21 at McLough lin Hall Theater. I walk into Barbara's cracker box office on the upper floor of Randall Hall and am greeted by a shiny eyed smile. There are all kinds of ques tions just waiting to be asked, but the more traditional ones seem to come to mind first. I mindlessly blurt out: "My first question is, 'how long have you been involved in acting?' " Happily, for me, I get a somewhat noncommittal ans wer-something to the effect of: "I wasn't involved in the theatre in college. Harvey was the last play I was in." Later in the conversation, Ms. Bragg offered a little more information, like: "I did a melodrama at the Beer Tent. I shouted my lungs out. Be fore that came Spoon River." Interspersed throughout the rest of our conversation are comments such as: "I played in the 'Crucible' in 1959," and "There were also ^tw^yeat^o^choolatEasr Page 6 ern Washington State and I did small parts there." Barbara seems to be imply ing indirectly her length of involvement in action, as well as her school time. She does come out and say, "I've been going to school through 1953. I graduated the day Nixon resigned." I might add Barbara gradu ated from Portland State and is now using her degree, in English, in a tutoring position at The College. When we zero in on the specific play she is involved in at present, all kinds of opin ions surface: "I'm slowly in- terpretting this role. It's quite evolving and involving. I find Mrs. Warren from Shaw's words. Of course the script is so important. I make decisions, little as they are, based on punctuation and tense of verb. There are so many insights!" From these subjects, di rectly involved in the craft of acting, we move the other areas of conversation, con nected with the theatre, but not so obviously. We talk about Patti Smith, the pow erful New Wave artist who demands, once one is within discerning distance, that one listen to her music. All kinds of thinkers, religious leaders, and other famous personages enter the conversation. Con nections are made between Smith, Blake, Rimbaud (this one by Patti herself), Shelley, Conrad, and on and on. The fantastic thing is the way in which they are brought to gether and related to acting and Beorge Bernard Shaw. Later, the tone and theme of Shaw are examined on their own merits-from within the Shaw context. "Shaw gives a lot of stage directions," is a comment, "but he leaves the really important decisions to the actor in the role." Finally, I ask a general question about the other peo ple involved in the upcoming production, and get a highly quotable response. "David Wilkes has so much talent!" Barbara says with a grin. I can testify to that. David Wilkes is a terrifically nat ural actor. It would be awful ly hard to find any contri vance in his acting. "Susie Nicklas is impres sive. But this is the first time I have worked with her." Susie has had experi ence with College productions in the past. She once played a wife to Jack Shields' Henry the Eighth. Apparently, one of the major reasons Barbara deci ded to audition for her part is Jack Shields. "It's a spe cial opportunity working for Jack," is emphasized." He's great to work for with his knowledge and his sense of humor. He brings a knowled geable but innocent air to others." She doesn't forget any of fellow players; she is extreme ly confidant with all of them. A problem that bothers both of us makes its way into the latter part of our inter- view--the lack of interest in productions here on campus. We discuss it for a while and decide not to label it with student government termi nology, such as "apathy". Barbara believes that students here are missing a great deal by not attending performan ces. "It's not too encouraging to see a halfway filled thea tre," she said, shaking her head. "The audience counts a loti In this play, there will be an immediate reaction." George Bernard Shaw can silence a place quickly. A few days later, I read a release on Ms. Bragg. It is interested, it seems, with the externals of Ms, Bragg's past. You see, I didn't realize that Barbara is originally from Mason City, Washington. But it didn't seem to matter to her or me in the interview I did. Granted, the externals have as much bearing on things as the internal-but what we discussed seemed to be more directly correlated with her idea of acting. To see how these ideas are used in the theatre, take in "Mrs. Warren's Profession". Evening performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Sunday's perform ance is a matinee and begins at 2:30 p.m. For ticket information contact the theatre depart ment, 656-2631, ext. 310. Students will be admitted free with student body card Re-Elect Stan Skoko Commissioni Experienced Qualified And Respected Keep Clackamas County Best Place To Live, Work And Pl°y re-elect SKOKC Pd bv Re Elect StôÿfS^0£onW” UMHj SE 5’h Ayéñyet.«Ves» Wednesday, May