18—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Dec.lo, 1980 ' 'A Life' a familiar story remembered By P.J. PLATZ Daily Collegian Staff Writer BROADWAY, N.Y. Hugh Leonard's newest play, "A Life," is as comfortable and inviting as the print of Van Gogh's yellow chair which reposes in the background of the liv ingroom set It is comfortable, unassuming, and most of all familiar. It is the sort of play which may be best enjoyed from that chair, cup of tea and biscuit in hand. Playing at the Morosco Theatre, "A Life" has duly followed in the footsteps of Leonard's Tony Award-winning "Da," which enjoyed a two-year run on Broadway and on tour. Like its predecessor, "A Life" is warm and witty in the best Irish sense, delving into a past life remembered through the. diaphanous veil of time. Yet somehow it strikes me as rather odd that its main character, Desmond Drumm, is not warm and witty. Indeed, he is more from the cold and callous school. Drumm has just received the news that he has six months to live. But he is not bitter at first. He plans to makes amend ments with the enemies he has made along the path of his life, primarily with Mary, his adolescent semi-sweetheart. And, in trying to come to grips with her and her husband, Drumm succeeds only in making enemies with himself for not pursuing the kind of life he desired Within Drumm's visit to Mary the first in some 40 years we see flashbacks of the courtship. Young Desi (Adam Red field) is prim as any schoolmarm, humorless, staid, quiet, and "very much liked by fathers." Mary (Lauren Thompson) is a bright, vivacious and pretty lass, who cares much more for kisses than Keats. It is a relationship that would never work, but 18-year-old Desi cannot will not see that. Mary falls for Lar Kearns, raucously played by Davis Ferry, P. S. and U Orientation 1981 Applications for AREA and OFF-CAMPUS CHAIRMEN are now available in 135 Boucke and area coordinators' offices. Application deadline: January 14 The Pennsylvania State University University Park Airport FAA APPROVED Flight & Ground School • Introductory Flying Course • Private, Commercial/Instrument, Flight Instructor Courses • Complex Airplane Training • Flight Simulator Instruction Ground Schools Begin: Private Pilot - Tues. 12/9 Conriml./Instrument - Wed. 12/10 These people got their jobs through Operation Native Talent. Paul Young Suzanne Rlsch is a Senior Credit is a Technical Sales Analyst - at The Representative (Trainee) Provident National Bank Industrial Sales Marketing Department at Rohm and Haas If you're a college senior, or a graduate student, or just getting out of the service with your degree and you're looking for a job— Operation Native Talent is for you. This December 29th and 30th, some 70 Delaware Valley Equal Opportunity Employers will be at the City Line Holiday Inn waiting to talk to you between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The program is sponsored by The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and THE PENJERDEL Council. It's free and there's no need to pre-register, but don't forget your resume. If you need more information call (215) 548-4040. THE PENJERDEL Council, 1617 J.F.K. Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19103. Operation Native Talent. Be There. City Line Holiday Inn City Line Avenue at Monument Road, Philadelphia, PA 19131 December 29th and 30th, 9 AM to 4:30 PM BUS INFORMATION: From center city, take No. 44 bus on Market Street directly to City Line Holiday Inn. You can, too. BROADWAY a newsboy with the brains of a legume but a genuine earthy humor. And Dorothy dizzy, but sincere follows Desi like a puppy in her pure pink love for him, as portrayed by Dana Delany. It is a very confusing, but terribly human situation. We understand. But now Drumm is back to visit Mary, who has married Lar. Lar, winningly performed by Pat Hingle, is a large ruddy man with the voice as loud and mellifluous as an Irish drinking song. For all his sound smacks on the back, however, books are still not his forte. Neither are jobs: "That's the one disad vantage of unemployment," he muses, . "no retirement." Performances in "A Life" are as remarkable as the 'play. Roy Dotrice as Drumm plays the embittered man with wit as dry as a double martini. His quirks and smirks of wisdom, his taut yet wry observations on life make him both endearing and dislikeable. A bitter sarcasm permeates his thoughts; long ago, he says, was "a time when young people wore shabby clothes from poverty, not affectation." Mary is the lively red-haired beauty played by Aideen O'Kel ly about whom the majority of the play revolves. She is not easily flattered, does not regret her marriage to Lar. Mary is comfortable with her life, with an easy-going acceptance, an earthiness about the forces of fate. "A Life" is not a comedy, although it has moments of uproarious hilarity. It is not a tragedy, although there is an in evitable death Drumm's time is running out more quickly than he dare can accept. But "A Life" is just that. A life. It explores, questions, discovers; it laughs and weeps, is angry and forgiving. It is a warmly satisfying production. 355.5511 11 0000000000000111000000004110 0 0 KWANZA! KWANZA! KWANZA! KWANZA! • e THE BLACK CAUCUS PRESENTS ITS ii ,• • ANNUAL KWANZA FESTIVITIES . • Friday & Saturday Dec. 12 (7 p.m. -10 p.m.), Dec. 13 (3 p.m. -7 p.m.); • • gift making workshops, candielighting ceremonies, a play and 0 dance. 40 0 Sunday, Dec. 14,1980 (2 p.m. - 5 p.m.) a guest speaker, Kwanza Feast O (dinner), a fashion show. lIP 0 .. -.. ALL ARE INVITED AT NO COST! ' ** ' • The price for a dinner is $2.00 - at the door $2.50 Children under 12 $l.OO 40 • II 0 Place: The Paul Robeson Cultural Center/Walnut Bldg. R 047 00000.410000000.00004901.011 College of Business Administration • Core Advising Program ATTENTION: Freshmen and Sophomores r. . Spring Pre-Registration Do you have questions apout courses, majors, career resources? Come to Rooms: 101 Chambers Tues., Dec. 9 8:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m 362 Willard Wed., Dec. 10 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m 101 Chambers . Thurs., Dec. 11 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m 'Fifth' a tailor-made masterpiece By JUSTIN CATANOSO Daily Collegian Staff Writers BROADWAY, N.Y. Lanford Wilson would have made one fantastic tailor. But even though he has turned his skills to play writing, he has borrowed the traits of a tailor in designing a masterpiece entitled "The Fifth of July." With an elegant old house set in the rural backdrop of Lebonon, Mo., Wilson sews a cast of eight fa'scinating and uni que characters together with threads of wit, nostalgia, and heart-rendering emotion Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the recent movie, is obviously determined to avoid any typecasting. As Kenneth Talley, Jr., he plays a Vietnam War veteran who has had both legs blown off in battle. He gets around feebly on fiberglass legs and crutches. If that isn't enough to make people forget the tall buildings he once leaped in a single bound, Reeve is in love and living with a thoughtful, level-headed horticulturist named . . . Jed Jenkins, played by Jeff Daniels. Yet this homosexual relationship, one of several devices Wilson uses with powerful sublety, is not exploited or offen sive. In fact, it's one the audience comes to quickly accept and admire for the strength and care that Jed unquestioningly of fers his crippled lover. The play unfolds slowly with thd deep interconnections bet ween each character surfacing carefully through both hilarious and dramatic diliberation. The time is Independence Day, 1977, and a great deal is at stake as old friends and relatives gather at the Talley residence. Ken has inherited the grand old house from his decedsed un cle, Matt Friedman. Although he is offered a job at his old high ,school as an English teacher, he wants only to sell the place and escape Lebonon. He can't bear the thought of facing those MORALE There will be 'a sign-up and meeting for all those interested in being on the morale committee for the 1981 I.F.C. Dance Marathon on Irlirss day, December 11th, 7:00 p.m. at 102 Forum students in'his condition Two of Ken's college buddies from his radical days at Berkeley are anxious to buy the house and turn it into a recor ding studio. John Landis (Jonathan Hogan) has hopes of turn ing his outrageous wife and copper heiress Gwen (Swoosie Kurtz) into a famous singer. • Jed and Ken's sister June Talley (Joyce Reehling), who is/ reformed, but unforgetting radical, want to keep Ken selling the house. Meanwhile, Aunt Sally Friedman (Mary Carver), a woman in her 60s, carries around a candy box containing her husband's ashes, as June's 13-year-old, daughter Shirley (Amy Wright) insists she'll someday become the greatest artist Missouri has ever known. Wilson's ability to fully develop eight characters and exhibij, the aspirations and anxieties of three different generations is masterful. Amidst the nagging memories of the Vietnam War and shattered ideals of the '6os, we watch Ken, June, John and Gwen come painfully to grips with the uncomfortable realities of their present lives. Yet this development is sandwiched between the harried ambitiOns of the little girl/woman Shirley, who doesn't unders tand the Vietnam era and Aunt Sally wanting only to scattEZ the ashes of her husband who could care less. Reeve's jump from film to stage is accomplished with con vincing results. He plays Ken with a stilted reserve ap propriate of the character. Kurtz's stage presence as Gwen is undeniably hilarious and adorable. Though not by accident, her wildly exuberant performance often makes her the center of attention. As a play, "The Fifth of July" succeeds on many levels. But it's the personal thoughts, memories and motivations that Wilson inspires in the indivival viewer that makes his work truly successful. '.TRUE AND FALSE" TESTS ARE EASE(, 'BRCK To THE PARK rock )16" Nan-IER Rm. Y/F'PiE.l r Wl5ll X' I WA 5 peAD, A J - 7" ..; Its - V Live and Learn I FIGURE I HAVE A FIFTY-FIFTY CHANCE ON EVERY QUESTION. r you HATE coLLE6-E, Bin" you .T Go FOR rALwAys My PAREDG: &o BACK WHAT FOR? F '1 - Dow r if &erir FRogiv.. b._ /WONDER /P . Xel 021149 7511. 7115 GMT Hal/ Matches don't start forest fires. People do. WHAT SCORE PlO YOU 6ET, SIR? A1E141055E4 7HINk/i4VER, 7116 e:/11115711,41f - M 155 /1114 N. f0NA7if.457",%; 61.415N7 IT FIFTYMR GiN Y YEE! 2 - NOT AM.. REMEMBER I COlll.O 5o ,s" DoNT" Goro KEEP My FoLKS HAPPY, 6-0 50 .1" CAN KEEP SPoNG - ING Morvey oFF OF THEM. THE ONLy THING- X HATE MORE THEN CoLLE6-E - 15 vvoßk-_,, lir -flati&j Across 1 Sitting rooms • 8 Decorator 15 Australian area 16 Gas —: EPA numbers 17 Famed Yukon man 19 Depot: abbr 20 San 21 Western Indian 22 Consumer 25 Aches 28 Equip 27 Allen or Martin 28 End for Japan or Vietnam 29 Becalmed 32 Swallows 36 Hamlet, for one lbown 1 Own 2 Plastic stuff 3 Gave a new grade 4 Jet • 5 Dollar bill 6 Narrow inlet 7 Beach grains 8 Blotch: British 9 Psalm for the departed 10 Margarines 11 Legal matter • 12 Dispositions 13 Conceited one 14 Plays the wrong card 18 Uncle: Spanish 23 Dodge 24 Treat a hide again 30 Inner: prefix 31 Plaines CONSIDER JOINING A GROUP THE MENTAL HEALTH CENTER 217 RITENOUR HEALTH CENTER THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF Of TIM MENTAL HEALTH CENTER will bE OFFERING THE followiNg GROUPS This WINTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ANd ASSISTANCE IN dEcidiNg ABOUT pAoticipATiNg, CONTACT US by cAlliNg 863-0395 OR STOpp iroq AT 217 RiTENOUR HEALTH CENTER, MONdAy TbROUCili FoillAy, 8:00-12:00, 1:00-5:00. MOST GROUPS will bEgiN TLIE 3Rd WEEI(, STARTING MONdAy, DECEMbER 15Th. GRAdUATE STUdENT GROUP RESOLVINq ISSUES RELATEd TO WORk ANd iNTERpERSONAI. REIATiONSkipS Of CiRAdUATE LIFE. MondAys, 8:30-10:00 A.M. MOTIVATION GROUP FOR woßkiNg ON clAßifyiNq YOUR INTENTIONS ANd diREcTiNg YOUR RESOURCES TOWARd ATTAINMENT Of goals. WEdNEsdAys, 3:50-5:00 P.M. GROWTH Gitoup FOR WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERESTEd IN Exploiting TimmsEivEs, THEIR bEliEfs, FEEL RELATIONSHIPS. TuEsdAys, 7:00-8:30 P.M. PERSONAL GROWTh GRoup FOR STUdENTS INTERESTEd IN Exploßinse' THEMSELVES, ThEIR bEtiEfS, FEEL ims, RELATioNships. ThußsdAys, 11:00 A.M.-12:30. ANOThER TIME TO bE ANNOUNCEd. MALE-FEMALE REEATioNships focusiNg ON bEgiNNiNg REIATiONShipS WiTh TILE OPPOSITE SEX. TuEsdAys, 8:30-10:00 A.M. STRESS REdUCTION LEARNINC I TO RELAX ANd TO dEAL MORE EffEcTivEly wiTh A VARIETY OF STRESSFUL SITUATIONS. TuEsdAys, 10:00-11:00 A.M., TuEsdAys, 1:00-2:15 P.M., TuEsdAys, 2:20-3:45 P.M MANAGING DEPRESSION ANd SimillAn "Low-FEELING" STATES will FOCUS ON STRATEGIES FOR REdUCiNq dEpRESSiVE STATES, INCREASING PLEASURABLE STIMULATION, ANd TILE IMPROVEMENT Of MOOd STATES. ThußsdAys, 2:00-4:00 P.M. CONTROttiNg SUbSTANCE USE ANd AbUSE will Focus ON REdUCiNg dEpENdENCIES ON VARIOUS dRUg SUbSTANCES, woßkiNg TOWARdS MOdERATE USAGE OR ABSTINENCE, ANd LEARNING ALTERNATIVE SOURCES Of CIRATifiCATiON. FRidAys, 2:00-4:00 P.M. TEST ANXIETY FOUR SESSIONS Of STRUCTUREd EXPERIENCES FOR REdUCiNg ANXiETy, INCREASING CON fidENCE ANd REIAXATiON FOR EXAM PREPARATION ANd TAkiNg. IVIoNdAy 10:45-12:00 NOON. ANOTHER TIME TO bE SET. WEichT CONTROL 2 TERM GROUP. FIRST TERM, REdUCTiON REAdiNESS Will WORK ON PATTERNS ThAT pooliibir SUCCESSFUL REdUCTION (E.G. MOTIVATIONAL pooblEms, EMOTIONAL EATING. SECONd TERM, WEighT Loss ANd MAINTENANCE WILL TEACII A VARIETY OF STRATEGIES loft EFFECTIVE wEic i lir loss ANd MAINTENANCE. TIME TO bE ARRANgEd. GRowiNg Up WiTh AN Alcoholic lon STUdENTS who NAVE OR ARE hAviNg TO COPE WITH PARENTS OR OThER SigNifiCANT PERSON who is AN ALCOHOLIC. FOR suppoßT, INFORMATION ABOUT UNdERSTANdINq ANd copiNq WITH AN AbUSER ANd EXpEORiNg PERSONAE IMPACT Of bEiNg INvolvEd WITH AN Alcoholic. TIME TO bE ARRANqEd. AdVANCEd STRESS REdUCTiON FURTHER WORT( WiTll RELAXATION TRAiNiNg FOR THOSE WITH EX - • pERIENCE. Will INCLUdE USE Of IMACiiNATiON ANd EXAMINATION OF ATTiTUdES. TIME TO bE ARRANCIEd. ASSERTIVENESS TRAININCI Win pROVIdE AN oppoßTuNiTy FOR MEN ANd WOMEN TO [EARN THE skills iN volvEd iN ASSERTIVE bEhAvioß. ThußsdAys, 3:45 - 5:00 P.M. BINGE EATiNq ANd PußgiNg will FOCUS ON pßoblEm EATiNq PATTERNS ANd THE pERSONAUEMOTiONAL CONCERNS THAT ACCOMPANY such pßoblEm BEHAVIOR. TIME TO BE ARRANCIEd. If you ARE INTERESTed IN A GROUP ANd The SET rims do NOT FIT YOUR SChEdVIE, OR if you wish TO TAM ABOUT OTHER SERVICES, PLEASE CONTACT US TO MAkE AN APPOINTMENT. 37 Halt-goat, half-man 38 Edison held thousands 41 Splash of paint 45 Night before 46 "Gesundheit" elicitor 47 Chaney 48 Arrest: French 53 Treaty city 54 End for some sciences 55 Deception 56 Unusual 57 Bob Keeshan role 62 Doting 63 Regatta sport 64 Observings 65 Lures 32 Suppositions 33 Siesta 34 Literary archipelago 35 Methuselah's father - 38 Louisiana mascot 39 Pear-shaped fruit 40 Sawbuck 42 Old astronomical device 43 Permit 44 Ballpark eats 48 Once more 49 Regretting 50 Some circuses have three 51 North American mammal 52 Strip • ' 58 Numerical prefix 59 Palindromic name 60 "Shoo!" 61 Actress MacGraw t 4. The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Dec.lo, 1980-1 Crossword by Milk Shetilk Answers in tomorrow's Collegian classifieds
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers