San Francisco State University - Franciscan Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 18 text:

-if Queen after death -a trifle ambitious? By Gordon Sammon In Queen After Death , staged in the Main Auditorium on the second and third weekends of October, the Drama Department bit off more than they could chew. However, even a seasoned group of actors would have had trouble with the story, which is based on an incident in the court of 16th-century Portugal. It's the type of vehicle pecul- iar to the Actor's Workshop, or British television. Action is at a premium: what little there is takes place mostly in the dia- logue between protagonists. For that reason, unless the actors are skillful enough to hold an audience's attention merely with voice intonations, trouble comes early. The audience must be clued on every gesture, every batting of an eyelash, every pause for breath, otherwise, the words begin to mes- merize them. The play is based on a time-hon- oured plot. The king, Ferrante, to save his tottering realm, maneuvers to arrange a marriage between his son, Don Pedro, and the Infanta of Navarro, the offspring of a neighboring monarch. But Don Pedro has secretly married and impregnated Ines, a local girl who made good.

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Cuba the students' tale fb! Mel fl iv Eric johnson C aryl Esteves Luria Castell No one could accurately claim that politics at STATE are dull. The fall semester began with promises of an even more politically active year than STATE had seen for some time. Political parties, whose ideologies range from liberal to conservative were formed or revitalizedg . A.S. officers became entangled in diverse political policiesg , New political magazines and news- letters were hawked on campus. , Eleven STATE students propelled the college into the international poli- tical arena when they violated the State Department's ban on travel to Cuba. The STATE contingent drew more than the usual lunch-eating crowd to the Speaker's Platform when they told what they had seen. They agreed on one thing: Cuba has racial harmony. Cuba was never so alive--cconomi- cally and politically, they said. There is more freedom in Cuba than here. ll

Page 19 text:

These goings-on convince Ferrante that Don Pedro has a mind to usurp the crown, and install Ines as queen. I-le entreats Ines QD to give up Don Pedro , Q22 to get an annulment, and Q35 to per- suade Don Pedro to marry Infanta, After much soul-searching Ferrante sees his plan is simply not working out, so he has Ines murdered and times his demise to the deliverance of her slack body back to court. A play of this sort demands expan- sive gestures to help bring it alive--to shake the audience up every once ina while--otherwise it bogs down in its verbosity. For example, Act ll con: sisted mainly of four characters, includ- ing the king, sitting at a table Qstage centerj trying to figure out how to han- dle Ines. It played a little like a meet- ing of a board of trustees, and this tone was reflected in the sluggish reaction of the audience. The actors, for the most part, seemed somewhat awed by the neo- classic costumes and gesturesg con- sequently, at times the whole stage resembled one huge daguerrotype. Sometimes they seemed to be holding their breaths. Apparently, director Arlin I-liken forgot the demands a big stage makes on actors, and occasion- ally had them so close the audience expected a camera to dolly in at any moment. The intent seemed to be to add intensity to the scene, but before a live audience either the actors supply it, or it isn't there. It's easier to simulate in front of a camera. Oddly enough, the two most diffi- cult roles met with the two best perform- ances. jeffrey Tambor as Ferrante, was the focal point of the play and pretty much carried the production, but it was too much to ask of any one person, even a king. Even so, his level was only a shade or two below a professional's: he undertook a role few actors would even be considered for, and almost brought it off. Donna Setrakian, Ines, appears to have chosen the right avocation. Her classic features greatly enhanced her characterization and gave her role a stature it did not have intrinsically. The part did not push her, but what she had to do she did exceptionally well. QShe would make a fine Medea.J Sean McKenna, QDon Pedro,J was miscast, but struggled as best he could with a vapid role. His inexperience was all too obvious. He looked more like Ines' son than her lover, for this faux pas, director Hiken must share the blame. When Ferrante and Don Pedro were at each other's throats, as they often were, they lacked father-son empathy. They projected more of an uncle-nephew image. Their fate wasn't great enough. On the other hand, Ines and Ferrante were most compatible.