Newspaper Page Text
LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!
The Ravages of War: According to the Greek historian Aelian, a
nearly forgotten poetaster called Xeoncles edged out Euripides
at the Dionysian dramatic competition in 415 B.C., due either
to the intellectual incapability of the judges or to the fact that
"they were bribed." In either case, the only remaining work of
the former is a few terrible lines caustically mocked by the great
comedian Aristophanes, while the latter has rightfully earned a
place as one of the three greatest tragedians of the ancient era.
In keeping with the festival's tradition of pointing out social ills
that would be taboo topics at other times, Euripides' entry that
year, The Trojan Women, interrogated the awful costs of war—a
timely topic considering the Greeks were then embroiled in the
worst of the Peloponnesian War. Staging renowned translator, play
wright and dramatic historian John Barton's accessible adaptation,
University Theatre will yet again put the horrors war inflicts on
both aggressor and victim on display at a particularly opportune
historical moment. While focusing on the tremendous suffering and
grief of the women of Troy as they are enslaved, raped, deprived
of family and friends, and torn from their homeland, the play also
showcases the ritual vengeance the
gods will ultimately exact on the
Athenians who've sacrificed much
of their own dignity in the hubris
of victory. The Trojan Women
plays at the Seney-Stovall Chapel,
Wednesday, Mar. 21-Saturday, Mar.
24 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 25
at 2:30 p.m. Tickets, at $8 for reg
ular admission and $6 for students
and seniors, can be purchased at
the University Theatre Box Office,
Schoolkids Records, or by calling
706-542-2838.
Life and Death on a Park Bench:
Also on UGA's theatre calendar for
the end of March is the Graduate
Acting Ensemble's production
of Zoo Story. Playwright Edward
Albee stated that he developed
the play (the start of one of the
most consistent careers in modern
American drama) based on some
of the desperate characters he met
while working as a Western Union
delivery boy. That such a profound
and sinister challenge to American,
and indeed basic human values
could spring from the brief contact
of courier and receiver is testament
to Albee's acute sensitivity to frailty and the knife's-edge bound
ary between civility and savagery. A disorienting admixture of
absurdism and realism, Albee's one-act tells the story of a deeply
lonely man who meets a stranger in Central Park and goes to
shocking lengths net to be left alone again. Zoo Story plays in the
Arena Theatre of the Fine Arts Building, Mar. 29 through Apr. 1
at 8 p.m. Tickets will be S5 at the door.
A Living, Breathing Allegory of Want: Continuing the dramatic
debutante ball that has been Athens theatre's '06-'07 season, yet
another newcomer to the Athens stage will burst forth fully-formed
into the local stagelights this month: Stray Productions. That
said, the masterminds behind the company—Steve Elliott-Gower,
Catherine Clayton and Rex Totty—aren't exactly fre^h faces on
this scene. What is particularly refreshing about the company,
however, is the founders' stated mission of "producing intellectu
ally and emotionally engaging plays for a dynamic cultural commu
nity." Specifically, Stray plans to stage modern and contemporary
shows that might seem at odds with the familiar fare of some
other groups in town. In keeping with that well-chosen moniker,
Stray's inaugural production will be the Totty-penned Arrogant
Coyotes. Wrapped in. a chronological, teleological, technological
and sexual Gordian knot, the play features a group of old acquain
tances (and much more than acquaintances) meeting in an aban
doned warehouse somewhere in the Southwest in the early 1990s.
Whether the snarled strands of sexual relationships, drug-running,
lascivious videography and potential violence that follow are a
virtual reality or merely a fetid figment of central character Maj's
imagination is never really clear. Laden with some of the finest
Athenian acting talents, Arrogant Coyotes will play at the Jittery
Joe's Roasting Company on East Broad Street, Mar. 23-24 and
30-31. Each evening will feature both a cocktail hour performance
at 6 p.m. and a nightcap show at 9 p.m. Tickets ($15 for general
admission and $10 for students, seniors and GI's) will be avail
able at the door or by calling 706-207-3525. In the apropos words
of one of the group's founding members: "Theatre: no longer the
stepchild of the arts in Athens."
Cut! Cut! Cut!: As any poor soul who has ever donned the doctor's
cap knows, few experiences can be as wildly frustrating as the con
stant catastrophic barrage that is running a production. Drawing
on his formidable and lengthy experience (60-plus, at last count)
as one such hapless helmsman, Dr. John Vance will offer his latest
comic joint, a metatheatrical insider's look dubbed The Director's
Nightmare. Featuring a cast that should be pleasantly familiar
to frequenters of JV Productions over the past several years, The
Director's Nightmare plays at the Seney-Stovall Chapel on Mar.
30-31 at 8 p.m. Tickets will be a mere $.10 and $8 at the door.
Twice the Charm: Though the movie-musical Thoroughly Modern
Millie so pleased audiences in the late 1960s that it earned nomi
nations for seven Academy Awards and five Golden Globes, it had,
by the late 1990s, gathered enough dust to seem a dated dinosaur
of a thankfully bygone era. Thankfully, a group of theatre profes
sionals in California thought the
tale of a starry-eyed, ambitious-
Kansan-turned-NYC-flapper had
sufficient charm to merit revision.
The revival turned out to be so en
chanting that the producers moved
the show to Broadway where it
earned a staggering six Tonys out
of nearly a dozen nominations.
Oconee Youth Playhouse will
stage a production of the revival
with the talented-beyond-her-
years Kelly O'Neill in the title role
(OYP regulars will remember her as
Lucy in the recent production of
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown).
Thoroughly Modern Millie will play
at the Oconee Civic Center on
Thursday, Mar. 22-Saturday, Mar.
24 at 7 p.m. Hot on the heels of
that production, OYP will also pro
duce Rodgers and Hammerstein's
Cinderella exactly 50 years after
it premiered on CBS to the largest
television audience then recorded.
With a precocious cast of young
actors (none of the leads is yet
high-school age), Cinderella will
also play at the Oconee Civic
Center Mar. 30-31 at 8 p.m.
and Mar. 31 and Apr. 1 at 2 p.m.
Tickets for both shows can (and considering the likelihood of sell
out crowds, probably should) be reserved by calling the box office
at 706-769-2677. Seats for Thoroughly Modern Millie will cost $16
for adults, $14 for seniors and $12 for students and youngsters.
Tickets for Cinderella will cost $14, $12 and $10.
Pasties and a G-String, Beer and a Shot: In the not-so-distant re
cesses of Athenian history, there was a certain house of ill-repute
known as Effie's. Co-opting the name for a slightly less salacious
but infinitely funnier form of entertainment, the ladies of Effie's
Club Follies Vaudeville Burlesque Revue trade in the racy, ribald
and risible styles listed in that mouthful of a name to get their
kicks. In their upcoming curtain-raiser, "Effie's Goes Hollywood,"
the licentious ladies (and a few lovely men) will wrap big, feath
ered boas right around the tender bits of Hollywood celebs and
cinema favorites both old and new. The blue bonanza will play
at the Georgia Theatre on Wednesday, Mar. 21 at 8 p.m. and
Thursday, Mar. 22 at midnight. The shows will be either followed
or preceded (respectively) by local music acts. See ABC for more.
Tickets prices, at $10 a pop, are scandalously scanty for such a
feast for the senses.
Smile, D^rn Ya Smile: Though the specifics of the scenario were
not yet public knowledge at press time, I Commedianti Georgiani,
the University's irreverent improv troupe, plans to crack audiences
up for the second time this month. The show will most likely be
held in the Cellar Theatre on Monday, Mar. 26 at 8 p.m., but inter
ested parties should keep eyes trained on www.drama.uga.edu for
details as they become available. One certainty, however, is that
admission will be free of charge.
Brandon Waddell
Without the scoop, the scene is all Greek to me. Keep the info flowing to
outthere@flagpole.com and drop “Theatre Notes" in the subject line.
Catherine Clayton and Rex Totty of Stray Productions’ Arrogant Coyotes.
DO IT.
Recent studies have suggested
Procrastination nas a direct
relationship .vith African Sleeping
Sickness, the Welsh Banana Flu
and a rare form of lycanthropy
commonly referred to as * WMS ’
or Were-Monkey Syndrome.
film::athens p ox-ntr
Sprockets2007
Music Video Competition
Call For Entries
April 15 early deadline
April 30 late deadline
June 20 sprockets show
June 21 flagpole music awards
June 23 teenscreen show
Sprockets entry forms & more info at sprockets.filmathens.net
TeenScreen entry forms & info teenscreen.filmathens.net
announcing Sprockets Blend Coffee from Jittery Joe's!
online ai |itteryjoes com ami at-ittery joe s Bailor Street 'ocation
Atttenv jO-V from oerv until jv-t* • .
r jTrfE
RY JOE S
FLAGPOLE
Flat Penny Folk Art Gallery
Diqimd24 digital cimma
FUCKSKINNY
Technical Services Audios Visual
PPT Promotional Maihetmg
Complete lists of
Musicians, Music Venues
8? Music-Related
Businesses in
Athens,
GA
MARCH 21,2007 • FLAGPOLE.COM 11
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS