4_________
WedNEsdAy, J anurary
24, 2001
A&E
The CI ac I camas P rìnt
Closer, a raw look at life, love, lust and loss
ments of furious quarrels, poignant disturbingly familiar, the characters
romance, and violent weeping were fumble their way in and out of their
News Editor
all powerfully and convincingly relationships struggling to deal
with all their baggage. Though
Patrick Marber’s Closer, playing delivered.
at Portland Center Stage wasn’t as
Alice and Dan first meet when seen through the lens of the infor
shocking as I thought it would be she steps in front of a cab. Dan mation age, the archetypal sex
in spite of its sexually laden dia meets Anna as she takes his pic roles of the characters remain the
logue and situations; Instead, I ture for the cover of his new book same.
found it a uniquely realistic,
It’s interesting to watch the char
about his then
insightful and sometimes pain
live-in Alice. He acters as they present one image to
fully revealing comment On
pursues iAnna their partners and another to those
modern life, love, lust, and
with the finesse they pursue. At the same time, they
loss.
of Hun, and in a try to discover their partner’s truth
Marber’s play, set in Lon
fit of vengeance, and they hide their own. Sometimes
don around 1995, traces the
for his spumed they even deceive themselves. It
paths of four young profes
advances, he seems the more they try to get the
sionals in their pursuit of love
even poses as truth from their partners the more
and companionship.
her in a chat they push them away. In a futile at-
The
characters:
room called
tempt to get
Deidrie Henry
Larry the doctor, played
closer, they end
“London
selves in,and two,
by Daniel Freedom
up even further
Fuck”.
because it is so tragic
Stewart (son of Patrick Masquerading as Anna, he
apart. At one
that you know that it
Stewart), Anna the photog promises the unsuspecting
point Dan asks,
can all happen to
rapher, played by Deidrie Doctor Larry that he'll make
“What’s so great
you.
Henry, Alice the stripper, "him cum like a train." The au
about the truth?”
I think that at the
played by Elizabeth Reaser, dience can read the dialogue
In the last scene,
end of the play you
and Dan the obituary writer, on a big screen behind the set
the characters fi
are left with the
played by Kevin Corstange, as the characters type it. He
nally have noth
thought that for $10
Kevin Corsia ng e ebb and flow around each arranges a meeting in the
ing more to hide.
you left with a fun
other in a rapid succession aquarium where Anna regu
Still, after their re
night that provided laughter,
Daniel Freedom
of loving and leaving, meeting and larly photographs people.
lentless pursuit
shock, and thought. What more
for truth, they nei-
cheating. The scenes are superbly
Throughout the action that Stewart
could you get for $10? If you don’t
acted by this cast, whose perfor is sometimes funny, mostly ther discovered it, nor knew how
believe me, go see it for yourself. I
mances are so passionate at times wrenchingly dark and at times much ofitthere was to know.
think you will love it.
that you can see the spit fly. Mo
will be. The guy shows up and no
_________ DAISY BAIN_________
tices this girl and makes a fool out
Staff Writer
Closer is a play that is provoca of himself by talking as provoca
tive and private, yet put out into tive as he thought she was talking
online. But his plan backfired
the public’s eyes for all to see.
From-the beginning, I was when the two of them actually
laughing at jokes that I never would start dating and fell in love. Or do
they?
have thought to hear at
From then on
a play! I also saw im
the play takes the
ages of people strug
viewer on an emo
gling to find love and
tional roller coaster
sexual pleasure and re
that you can’t turn
alized how real it was for
away from for two rea
normal people to expe
sons. One, it is so
rience the same.
funny to watch from
The play Closer cen
the outside looking in
ters on four people
on the positions they
caught up in a circle of
cheating and relation Elizabeth Reaser putthem
ships. Everybody thinks they love
one another only to find out the
other person is better. This play
shows to everyone, in a truthful
and humorous way, that finding
love is never easy and sometimes
even down right painful.
As one scene demonstrates, a
man notices a woman that is not
his girlfriend. In an attempt to flirt
with her, and embarrass her, he
goes online pretending to be her.
He then engages in a very sexual
conversation with another man
and talks this guy into meeting her
at the zoo - where he knows she
STEVE NIELSEN.
Award-winning poet
New romantic comedy shows
to read on campus
for whom the wedding bells toll
MATTSHEMPERT
MAGGIE JIRASEK
Feature Editor
one of San Francisco’s most
prestigious wedding planners
trying to make everyone else’s
dreams of love come true, but is
too busy to have a love life of
her own. One day, as Mary’s
Gucci shoe gets stuck in a man
hole and she is threatened to be
run over by a runaway dumpster,
marriage to Massimo Lanzetta
(Justin Chambers), an energetic
idiot who has just arrived from
Sicily. On the surface, Mary and
Steve know they shouldn’t be
together but love and destiny al
ways find a way.
The Wedding Planner, a ro
mantic comedy, is rated PG-13
Who makes sure your wed
ding day is the most glorious and
memorable event in your life, as
well as an idyllic, overwhelming
and love-filled occasion? There
is only one person who can make
all your wed
ding
dreams
come true - the
wedding plan
ner. But what if
the
much-
trusted planner
and the groom
fall in love and a
showdown be
tween love and
logic begins?
77ie Wedding
Planner, a Co
lumbia Pictures
and Intermedia
Films presenta
tion, is a mixture
of old-fashioned
romance and
modern attitude Steve, played by Matthew McConaughey, meets Mary, Jennifer Lopez, after
showing us what saving her from a runaway dumpster.
*
can happen if
two people from different worlds handsome Dr. Steve Edison (Mat and will open nationwide Jan.
meet and fall in love.
thew.McConaughey) rescues her 26,
Adam Shankman, one of from the near-fatal collision. Af
In case you think this is an
Hollywood’s most successful ter spending a romantic evening other one of those boring
choreographers, and producers with Steve, Mary believes she cheesy romance movies, you
Peter Abraham, Robert L.Levy, has finally found a reason to be can look, at it this way - you
•Jennifer Gibot and Debra Del lieve in love. Her life is thrown might get some inspiration on
Prete choose Jennifer Lopez and upside down as Mary discovers how to find your dream man, or
Matthew McConaughey to por Steve is her client's fiancée. Just dream woman. My conclusion
tray the two main characters, when Mary thinks it can’t get was, I should stay near those man
Mary F.iore and Steve Edison.
any worse, her father Salvatore holes. I might get stuck and be res
Mary Fiore (Jennifer Lopez) is (Alex Rocco) pre-arranges her cued by the man of my dreams.
Staff Writer
Hugo, and Denis Levertov.
McElroy did her graduate work
in neurological and language learn
ing patterns, then became the direc
tor of speech and hearing services
at Western Washington Univer
Author and teacher Colleen
McElroy will visit the college cam
pus on Thursday, Feb. 1 for poetry
and fiction reading in the
Skylight Dining Room.
McElroy is an award
winning author of fiction,
non-fiction and poetry.
Her works include: A
Long Way from St. Louie -
travel memoirs about a trip
to St. Louis, Traveling
Music - one of her eight
poetry books, and her
most recent book, Over the
Lip of the World: among
the storytellers of Mada
gascar.
McElroy was bom in St. Colleen McElroy will read from her
Louis, and by the time she poetry on Thursday, Feb, 1.
was 21, had lived in Wyo
ming and Germany as well. Since sity. She earned a Ph.D. in
then, she has done extensive travel ethnolinguistic patterns of dia
in Europe, Asia and Africa.
lect differences and oral tradi
According to McElroy, she de tions from the same college, even
veloped a romance with language tually becoming a professor of
by listening to her
English.
grandmother’s
She has re
wind-up Victrola
ceived many
"I developed a
and went on to
grants, includ
romance with
study in the
ing two Na
language by listen
Speech
and
tional Endow
Hearing program
ment for die Arts
ing to
at the University
Fellowships,
grandmother’s
of Pittsburgh.
two Fulbright
wind-up Victrola."
When she was in
Fellowships, a
her 30s, she took
Dupont Visiting
Colleen McElroy
up serious writ
Scholar Fellow
ing, drawing in
ship,
a
spiration from
Rockefeller Fel
many poets including Joseph S. lowship and is the recipient of
Cotter, Anne Spencer, Richard the American Book Award.