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A NIGHT AT THE PLAYHOUSE
The bumper crop of the spring dramatic sea
son continues apace. Whatever your fantastical
fancy—whether that be cross-dressers of various
types; several varieties of men in skinny panta
loons; or the theatrical trifecta of love, death,
and God—the time couldn't be more ripe for a
night at the playhouse.
En Travesti: Men costumed in female garb have
a long history in the theatre. Commedia dell'arte
often dabbled in the comic effect of poorly
cross-dressed actors; the Elizabethan stage of
Jonson and Shakespeare notoriously put made-
up men in the era's exquisitely rendered female
roles; and Japan's kabuki, originally the exclusive
province of actresses, has been performed en-
cirely by daintily kimono'd fellows for the past
four centuries or so. As recently as the heady
vaudeville-daze of the early 1900s, deft female
impersonation was a skill as hotly sought after
as rubber facial expressions and limber limbs.
Perhaps the finest practitioner, William Julian
Dalton, better known as Julian Eltinge, made his
"ambi-sextrous" stage debut as a lovely lad of 10
in 1898. By the mid-1920s, he was a star among
stars, having acted with Rudolf Valentino in the
early cinema, executed a command performance
for Britain's King Edward VII, lent his name to a
new theatre built on 42nd street by none other
than architect Charles "Madison Square Gardens"
Lamb, and even published an eponymous maga
zine packed with fashion and beauty tips. Sadly,
by World War II, Eltinge's star had faded and
tastes had changed. His magnificent Hollywood
mansion was sold to stave off encroaching debt
and the art he spent a lifetime cultivating was
reduced to seedy, often drunken nightclub ap
pearances. UGA professor and professional actor
George Contini is joining a growing chorus of
academics, performers, and, yes, drag queens, in
resurrecting the memory of this fascinating char
acter of the American stage. In his play, Put It in
the Scrapbook, Contini, in fitting homage to the
great impersonator, plays no less than 20 charac
ters conversing, in some instances, with himself
with the aid of Joelle D'Arp Dunham's technical
wizardry (which the long of memory might recall
from the ghostly apparitions of A Christmas Carol
two years ago). Utilizing newly-made and archi
val footage, as well as painstakingly researched
revivals of some of Eltinge's more memorable per
formances, Contini's one-man show brings back
to life onstage a captivating man who made one
of the finest women to ever grace it. See Put It
in the Scrapbook at the UGA Cellar Theatre on
Saturday, Apr. 28 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Apr. 29
at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Seats are free of charge, but
a S5 donation to the Department would certainly
be in order. See www.drama.uga.edu;
Come Live with Me and Be My Love: Boasting an
impressive stable of influential artists in nearly
every theatrical occupation, the Circle Repertory
Company was one of the longest lasting and
highly-decorated (Tonys, Pulitzers, Obies, Drama
Desk Awards) groups to emerge from the experi
mental theatre movements of the 1960s. One
of its founding members, playwright Lanford
Wilson (whose Balm in Gilead began UGA's main-
stage season this year), found the group's collec
tivist ethos and impeccable artistic credentials a
perfect fit for the second in his masterful three-
play Talley cycle, Talley's Folly. Set in an aging
boathouse among the Ozarks of Wilson's youth,
it is, at least on first examination, a simple play.
The one-act feattTres only a pair of middle-aged
characters: Matt Friedman (Norman Ferguson),
an erudite, Jewish accountant from St. Louis who
has returned to Lebanon, MO, to woo and win
Sally Talley (Ruth Crews), the only daughter of
a well-to-do, conservative family with whom he
was smitten after a brief vacation to the area a
year before. Yet the subtlety and graceful, insis
tent rhythm (Wilson called the play "a waltz")
Wilson employed turns what might've been a
bland if sweet love story into the 1980 Pulitzer
Prize winner for Drama. University Theatre's
production is directed by Morgan Duke. Talley's
Folly plays in the UGA Fine Arts Building Arena
Theatre, Wednesday, Apr. 25-Friday, Apr. 27 at
8 p.m. and Sunday, Apr. 28 at 2:30 p.m. Call
the University's box office at 706-542-2838 for
tickets.
>■ I Am Not Who I Say I Am: Even occasional
readers of this little corner of the paper are
probably aware that what could be lined out
with a dash of panache rather than relying on
this or that release from the companies in ques
tion, generally is with self-satisfied aplomb. I
do know, however, when I've been bested and
no amount of jabber could as accurately give
preview of an upcoming play as finely as that
written by the practitioners themselves. Says
all-around dramatic mad genius (hardly an
overstatement as any who've seen the recently
christened Forest Theater of Pure Form in ac
tion can attest) Cal Clements of his upcoming
redisfiguring of a piece of classic, mannered
comedy: "While the world knows the importance
of being EARNEST, few people comprehend the
vital importance of being NEST EAR. Leave it to
the Forest Theater to maladapt Oscar Wilde's
comedy. As we sat together in our treehouse
lodge, we formulated three objectives: 1. That
there be great camaraderie among cast and audi
ence. 2. That the lines of the play quiver like
accurately thrown daggers. And 3. That gender
be tossed to the wind and then reconfigured
from the ground up. Meanwhile, we decided not
to build a set. Rather, we'll seat the audience
around a giant banquet table. It'll be like an
English Gentlemen's club of old, complete with
butlers serving tea. Very proper, naturally."
If that doesn't whet your appetite for what
Wilde would've wanted in a modern-day romp,
then we're not really on the same page here. As
per the rules of the Forest, audience members
are not the passive pair of eyeballs they might
normally be and are commanded to come to the
show as "males" with mustaches, suits, tea
cups and saucers. The "Importance of Being
Nest Ear" plants its trickery at the Rubber Soul
Yoga Revolution location on Pulaski Street for
the first three weekends of May. Friday's double-
header of performances will begin promptly at
8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. and the Saturday show will
begin at 8:30 p.m. Seats at the performance table
for the earlier performances will be S10 and the
late-night show will cost only $5. The confused
and curious are encouraged to call 706-248-4639
for reservations and simultaneously visit www.
rubbersoulyoga.com/theater.html to learn more.
Slanted and Enchanted: While Eric Bogosian
isn't quite a household name, his turns as an
ill-fated shock jock in the tate 1980s film pro
duction of Talk Radio (which he also wrote) and,
more recently, as Capt. Danny on "Law & Order:
Criminal Intent" mean his face should probably
ring a bell. The works in which he clearly takes
the greatest pride, however, are his dramatic
musings on the disaffected slacker-isms of his
Massachusetts youth. His "SubUrbia" is one
such story, set on. a typically worthless evening
in the town of Bumfield as a group of aimless
20-somethings get high, make mischief and share
Oreo sleeves by a 7-11 dumpster (the Pakistani
owners of which are none too pleased).
The cast of instantly recognizable ne'er-do-
wells—semi-successful rocker, shamefully young
and drunken veteran, spliff-wielding skater, artsy
firebrand—is alternately vulnerable and invulner
able, compulsively vulgar, occasionally vulpine,
but always seems just on the cusp of discovering
something vital about themselves and their place
in the universe. Whether that thing is actually
there or merely a figment of the chemicals they
consume is a matter of debate. Dedicated indie
cinephiles might recall a Parker Posey/ Giovanni
18 FLAGPOLE.COM APRIL 25,2007 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS