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.