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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1998)
8 A&E Íl-IE CÍAckAMAS P r ÍNT Talent and craziness prevail at one-act plays JARED BEZZANT Co-A&E Editor Acting, antics, and improvisation swung into action at the year's last one act plays. The first play was Tennessee Will iams’ tragedy “Auto-da-fe,” directed by John Arthur Renner. Nicole Beeler played Mme Duvenet, a calm and pleasant mother sewing in her rocker. Her character greatly con trasts with her son Eloi, (Joseph Harper) a restless and pessimistic soul who is burdened by society. While his mother talks of house cleaning, Eloi speaks of a deeper cleansing, in the soul—a purification by fire. Beeler portrayed Duvenet perfectly, holding a coolness that does not ex plode until the play’s last tragic mo ments. It is then that all her emotions seem to flood. “Here I stand before you a stranger,” says Eloi to his mother, who should know him well. Eloi is plagued with deep secrets and locked bitterness. Harper speaks in monotone, which demonstrates his character’s desire to control his inner problems and lewd pictures. Harper’s eyes are constantly portraying fright, violence, or sadness at the needed time that makes moments of the play almost too real. The ending left the audience shocked in a tragic look at society's pressures and effect on humans. The second act also teaches a moral, but instead of dramatizing, satirizes the obsession people have with appearance and self-worth. “The Ugly Duckling” is a short play by A. A. Milne, the same man who brought us “Winnie the Pooh.” The witty production was di rected by Shirley Hewitt, and moved gracefully from scene to scene with an array of colorful characters. The King (Jayson Shanafelt) is al ways being witty and enjoys criticiz ing his own daughter, Princess Camilla (Samantha Tennyson). Tennyson made Jayson Shanafelt improvises with Brandon Yowell. a clever transition from ugliness to hearted and witty, and warmed the au odd grunts. “Shaken Not Stirred” is beauty through her movements and dience well for the improv group original, and each show is different. bouncing about the stage, her counte “Shaken Not Stirred.” Once again they They move quickly on the stage, and nance even glows towards the end. performed their skits, drawing the au work hard. They keep the audience far Enough to lure Prince Simon (Michael dience onto the stage. Combining their from sleep. Warren) into her arms, and work their spontaneity and imagination they take The one-act plays and improvisation way through a tricky mess. “The Ugly the audience inside to the Sahara group have showed Clackamas the tal Duckling” also shows that with beauty Desert, inside a human ear, or on a talk ent that students have when given a there is not always brains. Dulcibella show. With a snap they become a den little power. There is a lot of potential (Kristina Coco) is a great example of tist, Flash Gordon or Darth Vader. in these young actors, and they will that. Coco brought laughs with an ob The best part had to be the lame undoubtedly go further in their endeav noxious voice and open jaw. chicken fallen over. The group sang as ors to spread the popularity of plays, “The Ugly Duckling” was light- a bathroom quartet, and danced with improvisation, and live shows. Herein' stand before ybïï.fa stranger! h Ëfoï To his mother Twelfth Night demonstrates Shakespeare at its best Johnny Renner, left, and Jayson Shanafelt, right, perform during Twelfth Night. JARED BEZZANT Co-A&E Editor From the beginning Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night cap tured the audience’s attention, and kept it throughout the performance. It started off with a bang, with a small dance number with the majority of the cast, that warmed the audience with laughs. The music of Michael Van Liew immediately carried all into the mystical land of Illyria with rhythmic beats of hand drums and the alluring lull of a recorder. Not only did he play these instruments along with the piano and trumpet, but he would often play two at the same time. The crowd was in awe. The first scene was in the Duke’s palace, which was thick with velvet and ornate costumes. Duke Orsino (Irajon Vaughn Kortüm) begins the play with laments of love, and the words were flowing smoothly. Kortüm is an ideal Duke, tall and deep-voiced. Shipwrecked Viola (Ina Strauss) is saddened by her brother’s supposed loss at sea. Her voice is rich as she sings a small solo later, and she says some of the most clever lines of the play, in which her lines are many. Strauss acts wonderfully the difficult duality of playing a feminine role with a masculine disguise. Strauss is convincing as a man. As things seem more dramatic in the Duke’s court, they are plain nonsense in Olivia’s house. The comic cousin Sir Toby (Johnny Renner) had a drunken laugh and portly figure (with the help of padding) that made him an audience favorite in no time, along with fellow friend Sir Andrew (Jayson Mark Shanafelt) and his steps and falls. This duo brings an energy to the stage early on that only seems to increase as the play goes on. Dusti Wednesday, June 3, 1998 Marie Akers played Maria with wit and bounce as she jokes. O’Connor played a great stiff, and an even greater wooed and giggled about the stage. Olivia (Amy Kisler) madman clad in yellow stockings. herself is charming and beautiful. Kisler speaks in smooth All begins to fall together in Shakespeare’s great wit melancholy tones which portrays her characters desired at the Duke’s palace as truth begins to prevail and ro emotion. Her character is genuine. Quickly she falls for mance abounds. The play has it all. Viola, and the conflicts and confusion unfold. The whole production flowed smoothly with great di There is still a great wise fool to be spoken of though, rection on the part of David Smith-English. The cos Feste (Dawnie Drebin), with whom the audiince became tumes were rich, the music was excellent and the set was enchanted. If not forher cunning movements, her amaz simple, that was all that was necessary with actors that ing voice that filled the auditorium during many scenes shined as they did. in Act H’s “Come Away Death.” Drebin’s comic grace The cast recited the lines as if there spoken every day 5 always shined. It lit up the play often, with a modern language with ease and grace. The words were said po j twist, as her reference to Californians and an urban jive etically, as they should be. Shakespeare can be done very a finish to “Hold Thy Peace” with Shanafelt and Renner badly, very easily. Shakespeare would have been proud : got roars from the audience. of this production. e The plot only gets more complicated with Viola’s It is hard to choose any character that was best por brother Sebastian, (Mark Hoffmann) actually living. trayed or acted. There were too many good actors, each Hoffmann is funny with his surprised expressions, open with distinct qualities and attributes that made them origi mouths and rolling eyes. Most shocking of all those is nal and kept the audience form sighing or dreading any how much Hoffmann and Strauss really appear as brother of the scenes. They were all looked on with enthusiasm. and sister. The casting could not have been more perfect. Sebastian is accompanied by an affectionate friend, The Clackamas production of Twelfth Night was truly Antonio (Brandon Yowell), who performs passionately an exciting and excellent performance. It was obvious putting soberness in its place in this insane comedy. And that a lot of hard work was put in by students and staff the comedy became only greater. Sir Toby and Sir An not only on the stage, but also behind the scenes. drew add to their duo Fabian (Craig McCarty) to be The bottom line was that Twelfth Night was absolutely come an old English version of the Three Stooges. The hilarious. The audience reaction gave testimony of this. body balance of these three makes for half the laughs. Those who were not able to attend missed a wonderful Renner, bald and big, Shanafelt tall and lanky (the legs experience. were classic) and McCarty, who was just tiny. McCarty is hilarious with his yelling voice coming from such a small man, always last in line. The action is smart and swift. The audience is was excited. Shanafelt falls forward off the stage in what ap pears very real. (It might have been.) Shanafelt pops up a few rows back in the crowd and works his way through the isle with McCarty yelling to him from the stage. It would seem impos sible for anyone to fall asleep during this play. The funniest scenes come with fight ing and duels—the slapping match be tween Hoffmann and Shanafelt, and the duel between Shanafelt and Strauss. Renner’s hilarious steps and movements with the sword were out standing and hilarious. And then there is Malvolio (Michael James O’Connor), the strict steward of Olivia who becomes the butt of all Salutes the graduating class of 1998. Thank you for your support and best of luck in the future.
