24 - North Shore News - Friday, February 25, 2000 jesperaiely se M@ Moa by Sally Clark, directed by Cyndi Janzen and Monica Cushley, produced by Presentation House Productions. Twe more performances. Martin Millerchip Curtain Call momillerchip@nsnews.cont HE’s a bounder, a cad, a rotter and we know he'll do her wrong from the moment he shoots her — the first time! That’s Harcy Parker, the man pursued by Moo (Moragh) in the Chalmers Award-winning play of the same name by Vancouver- born Sally Ciark. The only questions remaining to be answered are: Does Moo know? And, since it seems likely that she does: Is that what she wants? We first meet this odd couple as Harry is commit- ting Moo, his wife at the . time, to a Seattle insane asy- lum in 1925 — passing her off as his sister — so as he can shack up with Maude. Moo manages to exact some measure of revenge by physically beating him up during a subsequent visit and, presumabiy, a measure of satisfaction in playing the seduc- tress in another. If you missed the symbology of the ultimate male orgasm in the opening tableau, a bullet to the woman’s head, Harry and Moo don’t take long to clarify a relation- ship built on passion and, according to Harry, pretense. He describes Mco as “a wallower in self-deceit,” and admits he- lies to her more than anyone cise because she needs it. Playwright Clark spends the rest of the play sketching in the life of a woman willing to risk her family and even her son in the pursuit of what she wants in life — “a man just slightly out of control.” ; Stytistically, Moo can be described as black comedy, but for the play to work, to validate the outlandish, it has to have two central characters who light sparks off of each other, who threaten passion in anger and anger in passion. Lacking that central core, Clark’s text can sull work asa stylized comedy, albeit at a more limited level, joining many "80s plays written by women about women who refuse to accept the role defined for them by men. Unfortunately, Presentation House Productions fails to deliver on either evel. Set, costume and choices made about Moo’s extended family do little or nothing to signpost the eras in which key scenes are set. This is a problem not only because it is diffi- cult to follow the play’s timeline of flashback and jump for- ward, but more importantly because brave choices made outside of historical context lose weight and so Moo’s unconventionality, her defiance of expectation, comes off as litele more than modern-bratty. Business as usual for Oasis brothers ‘From Page 20 The 13 recordings here are crisp and varied. Legends and newcomers are represented. Among the great players: John Medeski, Jimmy Smith, Art Neville, Jack McDuff, Joey DeFrancesco and Galactic. - Fresh, fat and funky to the max. : — Michael Becker @ kekk% Oasis — Standing On The Shoulder of Giants ‘ (Sony) Music category: Truth and consequences. ’ ‘Out of the ashes the brothers Gallagher return with anoth- - er kick at the can of pop consciousness. Every man for himself unless you're blood. ~" Since the last ime we heard from them they’ve Jose their original rhythm section and made noises about leaving their label as well. That there has been a bic of turmoil is an under- statement but that’s business as usual for Oasis. Just like the three albums that preceded it, Standing On the Shoulder of Giants (in stores next Tuesday) makes no apologies about what is good, bad and ugly in the world of Noel and Liam. The British music press analyzes every move they make and then we learn their version of what happened in the lyrics. . Liam gets his first writer’s credit on the Lennonesque “Little James” while “Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is” and “Where Did it All Go Wrong” also go for late-era Beatle angst. Noel’s guitar work on the fatter track is a highlight and compares favourably with the best of Casic. — John Goodman Harry NEWS phate Julie Iverson NATALIE Kardum (from tef?), Jon Scheffer and Nicoie Leroux are featured in ifco at Presentation House. I have no wish to belittle the effort and commitment made by Jon Scheffer and Nicole Leroux as Harry and Moo -— Leroux in particular shows promise as an actress. But you can’t act anger and passion. Either it’s there, re-lived night after night in an emotionally exhausting ride, or it’s not. If it’s not, the audience is denied understanding of Clark’s premise. Let’s be clear, f am describing what only some profes- sional and few community actors are capable of creating. But if directors Cyndi Janzen and Monica Cushley were not able to help these actors more, they could certainly have made better choices about the “comedy” of aging. Sixty- year-olds are not the same as 80-yeaz-olds and neither are funny just because they stick their front teeth out as if wearing badly fitting dentures. On a more positive note, I valued Jennifer Kaleta’s gen- uine Susan for giving us a glimpse of what is possible from Clark’s succinct scenes, and the planning and execution of difficult prop and costume changes. Michael Meloche’s mysteriously threatening upstage wall of stretched rubber was an exciting and imaginative backdrop that might have been used more by Colin Atwood’s lights (although the ugly, boxy risers on the rest of the set just didn’t match) and I liked the sounds created by Rich Hamakawa. Finally, whatever my thoughis on the production, Presentation House Productions should be congratulated on not sticking to the box-office certainty of formula come- dy but instead going out on a limb with a unique and supremely challenging script. And for that I thank them. 14, by George 8. Xoufman and Moss Hart Director: Dawn Mocre * Set Design: Dave Winstanley Lighting Design: Karin Bews »* Costume Design: Iris Pearce Feb 17-19 & 24-26 at 8pm Specic! Matinee Performance Feb 22 at ipm CAPILANO COLLEGE PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE 2083 Purcell Way, North Vancouver box office: 990-7810 tickets: $12 / $8 north‘shore’ Ce lano He oie Ben Affleck toa preity for poison From Page Vi While the action is brisk, it flies along at breakneck pace, sacrificing plot devel- opment and cramming, improbable twists in a wreck at the end. Along for the ride is Ben Affleck as Rudy Duncan, doing time for geand. theft auto. Hie best friend and cell- mate is Nick (Hilary and Jackie’s James Frain), whe spends much of his time reading love letters from Ashley (Charlize Theron), his girl on the outside. Nick and Rudy are only days away from being released, and Nick is bank- ing on a new start with Ashley, even though the two have never met face-to-face. Rudy makes it out of prison. Nick doesn’t. Despite the best of inten- tions Rudy ends up in the arms of Ashley, who thinks he is the man she’s being writing to for two long years. While Ashley i. buying provisions for their romp in a nearby motel, Rudy is jumped by Ashley’s brother Gabriel (a buffed-up Gary Sinise), who, despite the heavenly moniker, is one tough cookie. Apparently Gabrie!’s been reading Nick’s love Ict- ters too. He was particuiarly interested in Nick’s last job, working security at a casing. Thinking Rudy is Nick, Gabriel wants inside help hitting the casino on Christmas Eve. Realizing that being Rudy will get him killed sooner than being Nick, Rudy strings Gabriel and his gang of novice thieves along, hoping to buy enough time to make an escape. ‘They might be gun-run- ning truck drivers, but j. |. MicCell’s gpodi Gabriel and his gang fook more jike natural born killers. When they go fo case the Tomahawk Casino, the ugliest, most menacing of the truckers tries to blend in wearing dark clothes and a black toque. And they dis- guise Rudy in a cowboy oudit that makes him look like the Midnight Cowboy. Hello? Secing Ben Affleck as anything more than boyfriend material for your younger sister takes some getting used to. He’s just too pretty for prison. And Gary Sinise makes for a good villain, but a lit- tle less of the Mephistophelean/ Manson look, please. Wardrobe and typecast- ing aside, it’s the end of the film that really saborages things, providing one improbable twist after another. It’s like in cartoons when the villain is caught and they rip off his mask to reveal an old lady. But wait! Rip off that mask and reveal the butler. But wait! (You get‘ the idea.) _ Onc finely executed plot owist is much more impres- sive than a showy series of backward flips which, in this case, swan-dives Reindeer Games straight into the video rental category. From Page 18 @ Park Theatre 3440 Cambie at 18th, Vancouver (876-2747) Topsy Turvy (PG) — Fri 6:30, 9:35 p.m. Sat 3:30, a 6:30, 9:30 p.m. Sun 3:30, 7)...’ p.m. and Mon-Thu 7 p.m. : “- ® Pacific Cinematheque .- 1131 Howe St., Vancouver ” (684-3456) oa MS lyst) the Musical A musical comedy by j. J. McColl . Tues, March 14, 8pr Wed, March 15, 8pm} “A high energy show. Vancouver Sun " le ond eee ete Capilano College Performing Arts Centre Theatre 2055 Purcell Way, Horth Vane! = wt