Fage 8
As Is...the way AIDS really is.
Studio Theater tackles heavy issue.
by Jennifer Toubakaris
The Collegian
I must start out by saying that
I went to this play not knowing
quite what to expect. I knew that
the play was about two gay men,
one of which becomes infected
with the HIV virus. The plot
sounded realistic enough, but 1
was wondering how the actors
were going to portray
homosexuals? I would consider
this task difficult and extremely
uncomfortable.
Rich, played by Vince F.
Smith, is the writer that gets
infected with HIV. When first
acknowledging that he has the
virus he is sarcastic and bitter.
He makes the remark, “I bet they
have a separate AIDS section in
the cemetery so I don’t infect the
other corpses.”
Saul, played by Stephen
Daniel, is Rich’s lover. He
wants Rich back so desperately
that he is willing to stick by
him, even after Rich
continuously pushes him away.
It was unusual to see Saul care
about Rich as more than a friend.
I do not want to sound naive, but
I have never really seen a gay
relationship before. Society has
this stereotype that gay men dress
up as ‘Drag Queens’ and go to
gay bars to try to pick up other
men. Rich and Saul did go to
gay bars and dabble in some
bizarre activities, but they did
not dress up as women and rake
out the whips and chains.
They were two people that
were truly in love with each
other. I did not understand this
concept and probably never will,
although I must say that after
seeing this play 1 do not have
society’s stereotype in my mind
anymore.
As Is not only tackles the
issue of homosexuality, but also
the very serious, life-threatening
disease of AIDS. It was once
thought that only gay people
carried die virus; now it is known
to be a disease without prejudice.
Passenger 57
by Calandra Matthews
The Collegian
With the successful debut of
Passenger 57, Wesley Snipes
joins a very elite Hollywood
group whose members include
such familiars as Mel, Danny,
Arnold, Slyvcslcr, Steven, and
Jcan-Claudc.
Passenger 57, like its
predecessors, is a standard action
adventure film. You already
know upfront that there's going
to be good guys and bad guys and
that the good guys will still be
alive at the end of the story. But
the fun is in watching them
battle it all out.
Bad guy number one, Charles
Ranc (played by Bruce Payne)
has been captured by the FBI and
is being taken to Los Angeles to
stand trial for airplane hijacking.
Good guy John Cutler (Snipes)
is the new head of security for
Atlantic Airlines and an anli-
Entertainment Thursday ‘ Noveml,er 12,1992
I could not imagine what
someone with AIDS goes
through, but Smith’s acting was
so realistic and moving that I
could actually feel his pain and
suffering.
Lisa Huegcl, a first semester
DUS student commented, “I
think die actors were the strength
of this play. They performed so
well that everything was real. It
also makes people think about
what goes on in the world outside
of their own lives.”
A.v Is did not put on a fake air
about gay people and the AIDS
virus. It presented the story as
truthfully as in the real world.
The language (though sometimes
vulgar) was honest and Smith and
Daniel believably acted out the
sexual attraction between Rich
and Saul.
Rich got so depressed, once he
was hospitalized, that he wanted
to commit suicide. He asked
Saul to buy him drugs but Saul
wanted Rich to stick it out with
him. “I’ll lake you as is,” Saul
told Rich.
The play ended on a rather
positive note, though it is far
from ‘happily ever after.’ Saul
visits Rich every day and is there
to comfort and love him.
Eventually Rich’s health will
decline from all the viruses he
catches and he will die.
It is not a pretty picture, but
then again, neither is AIDS.
Society would be ignorant to
think that only gay people have
the disease. The largest
population affected by AIDS is
heterosexuals between the ages of
fifteen and twenty-two.
As Is is filled with reality
because AIDS is real and it
affects everyone. The sooner wc
lace litis fact, the closer wc arc to
limiting our chances of
contracting the virus and to
eliminating AIDS forever.
As Is is still being performed
in the Studio Theater Nov. 12-14
at S:0() p.m. and Sunday, Nov.
15, at 2:30 p.m.
terrorist expert. He's also on his
way to L.A. to meet his new
bosses. The battleground is set
when, of course, the two end up
on the same plane.
Rain's team of bad guys
hijack the plane and it s up to
Cutter, the 57th passenger, to
stop them. The audience soon
finds out that Ranc is a psychotic
terrorist who will kill anyone
who gets in his way, and even
those who aren't!
What follows is a scries of
twists and turns that keep you
sitting up in your chair until the
very end. That's the best thing
about the movie: you think you
know what's going to happen but
you're shocked at what really docs
happen.
Even though. I'm not Siskcl
or Ebert, I still give Passenger 57
two thumbs up, and will
probably see it again (just to get
another look at Wesley in the
bedroom scene!)
Weekly Crossword
" On The Street Where You Live” By Gerry Frey
ACROSS
1 Interstate exit
5 Country estate
10 Lima’s country
14 Distant
15 Worship
16 Center of rotation
17 Eye part
18 Famous shopping
street
Comedian Knotts
Tire with dullness
Vocalize
Plant shoot
Highest point
Planet
Theater street
Sinned
Ships' berths
Nigerian
Golfers needs
Pacifists
Beat
One in Dijon
Transmits
Fred Flintstone’s wife
Street predecessors
Abilene’s State
Opera
Stanford
47 Semites
50 a hand
51 Parisian street
54 Advertisers St.
57 Collapsible shelter
58 State:French
59 Mr. Nero
60 Equestrian's need
61 Theol. Institutions
62 Pares
63
James:Singer
DOWN
Surprise attack
-American
Disney’ World street
Press releases:Abbrev.
Dark red
© 1992 All rights reserved GFR Associates
P.O. Box 461, Schenectady, NY 12301
tRrCttINSMsM!
Friends Dors fei friends bride drunk
1 2 3,4
20 '
"42
47 48 4'
Decorate with ornaments
Plant part
Pay dirt
Classic car
Separated
Theater sign
Shatter
Pusher’s customer
Alexander
Cardinal, eg
Stage prompts
First sign of the zodiac
Robbers antithesis
Glass, ice and mixer
Sports palace
Wide Sts.
Financial street
Fragrance
Systems of exercise ?
Sophia in Moscow
Lifeless
Penalize
Word with cheese or
watch
-“tt
Magician's need
Nuns clothing
Baseball’s Ralph & family
Slant on an edge
Singer Ed
Evaluate
Eve’s partner
Tardy
Single part
Sicilian volcano
Opposite:Abbrev.
Maiden name preceder
Three in Rome
Author
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in I Ct* t* Il * willi* uf j
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( nlii \iii ( ml ii\tiil|ii*slluis.
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Cf ©§§ word
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