Memphis State University - DeSoto Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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perspectives of ... Murder As the lights come up, smoke engulfs the stage and enters the audience into the entangled confusion of an Oriental mystery; Rashomon. This production was originally in the form of two short stories which were later combined into one film, and then adapted for the stage by Fay and Michael Kanin. The stage version was first performed in the late 50 ' s and early 60 ' s on Broadway. Rashomon, directed by Ken Zimmerman and Susan Chrietzberg, is the story of a murder that is witnessed from four distinctly different angles. This thought provoking production left the audience with a question about truth — what is it, A medium (Chiffonye Cobb) tells the husband ' s version of the murder and rape from her eerie perspective. and how do you know it when you see it? Ken Zimmerman says, Truth comes to us in different ways, which was the main focus of the play. The set, created by Kermit Medsker, was of quality construction and repre- sented three different areas intertwined into one set design. The lighting, courtesy of Sue Kastner, added an eerie atmos- phere that heightened the show ' s inten- sity. This was also the first play in which full-time students could get in free. The combined skill and talents of the directors, the set and lighting crew, along with all of the performers, made a strong statement about truth, which can be best summed up in the words of the Wigmaker who said, Truth is like a fire- fly. Now you see it, now you don ' t. Jt S. A. Weakley £ iSJbk? KmM h ». . . ■P m . ■ • -rr lk— • « V ■ ■l- i— -Bi -W « ■ if 1 M it 3»» ' m Es ■§113 1 V fkr 1 3ijjjfiwS r v fe2 w. 1 S. A. Weakley k The wife asks her husband (Tom Disney) to use his samurai sword to restore her honor by killing her after she has been raped. ► Her veil parted to afford a view of a playful bird, the wife (Teresa Harrison) waits for her husband ' s return on the road to the Rashomon gates. 74 Student Life

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lady, Angela Marlowe, played seductively by Donna Kimball. There was a constant activity running through each scene, giving the humor an unpredictable and spontaneous quality. The next laugh was awaited with anxious anticipation. Bogart expertly built the situation up from an innocent, ordinary account of another high school graduate bored with work, to the finale overflowing with Broadway-esque antics. The entire production sparkled with subtle comic situations, due to a script loaded with amusing arguments. Providing the conversation were Galen Fott as David ' s companion, Marvin, and David ' s parents, played to excellence by Karen Mason Riss and Ken Parnell. Douglas J. Koertge, costume designer, thoroughly outfitted the entire cast in a bright wardrobe array, each piece specifi- cally appropriate to each character. Jfe, J.S Vanzandt A Marvin (Galen Fott) says he thinks about girls, too, but he thinks of other things, like, like — food, for instance. Third-rate actor and owner of a disre- putable school for actors, Harrison Marlowe (Ken Zimmerman) siphons a nerve-steading drink from his pocket while Angela (Donna Kimball), his daughter, looks for a new leading man among Bon Baxter (Paul Lormand), Don Darwin (Michael McDonald) and David Don Colman Kolowitz (John Dye). Mi Enter Laughing « 73

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A A disillusioned priest (Charly Cubine, left) and an idealistic Woodcutter (Eddie Powers) listen to the Wigmaker ' s phil- osophy about mankind ' s evil nature. S. A. Weakley A Serving as invisible facilitators of certain pieces of stage action, the masked Koken (Leslie Knaff, left, and Renee Gasson) portray trees in a bamboo forest where Tajamaru kills the samauri. Rashomon 9Sf 75