Thursday, March 31, 1988/The Battalion/Page 7
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By Richard Tijerina
Senior Staff Writer
Mirror images abounded
1 Wednesday nighl as the MSC Opera
1 and Performing Arts Society’s pre-
i sentation of “Frankenstein,” based
I on the stage adaptation of Mary
I Shelley’s classic 1819 novel of the
B same name, took center stage in
d Rudder Auditorium.
The Guthrie Theatre road pro-
R duction shed a new and dramatic
i light on the famous story of Victor
I Frankenstein’s monstrous creation.
I Gone were the images of the crea-
H ture of Frankenstein as a gargan-
■ tuan, square-headed, evil monster
I with bolts protruding from his neck.
Actor Peter Syvertsen’s version of
i the creature was so much more hu-
Iman than the above description. He
1 thought, felt, cried and wondered.
■ He still looked far different than the
■ average human, with a sleek, muscu-
llar green-hued body and wiry hair,
I wearing only a tattered robe. But
R physical descriptions aside, the crea-
Rture was no less human on the inside
■ than the scientist who made him.
The play centered around the last
■ few days of Victor Frankenstein’s
■ life, with he and his creation, both
■ near death and in the reaches of the
■ North Pole, looking back on their
Hives through a series of flashbacks.
I Each watclied as their memories
[came to life through the use of other
[actors as their younger counterparts.
[They were watching themselves
[through their own mirror.
The show opened amid a blast of
Ithunder and lightning, a staged
[thunderstorm of pyrotechnics that
[blasted and shocked the audience
|into their seats. Frankenstein, lying
Review
half-frozen on the ground and
clutching a revolver, is confronted
by his creation of years ago. The
creature, whose name is Adam, has
been hunted by the scientist for
years, but has finally let himself be
caught so he can find the answers
that have been plaguing him so long.
Though Frankenstein created
Adam, he by no way considers him a
son. Immediately repulsed by the
monster at the instant the spark of
electricity gave him life,
Frankenstein tried again and again
to rid himself of his creation, though
never succeeding.
On the other side, Adam is a man
trapped in a world that is unknown
to him. Scared by a child’s screams at
the sight of him, Adam accidently
strangles the boy, who turns out to
be Frankenstein’s brother.
Confronting Frankenstein, Adam
demands a mate in the world to be
compatible with. After Frankenstein
destroys the woman he created for
Adam because of his fears that they
would reproduce, Adam screams for
revenge and tells the scientist that he
will be there on his wedding night.
Mistaking this for a threat on his
own life, Frankenstein leaves Eliza
beth on the night of their wedding.
But Frankenstein Adam sneaks into
Elizabeth’s room and brutally stran-
f les her. Tracking Adam down,
rankenstein vows that he will
search out and find him, destroying
him if it’s the last thing he does.
But blaming Adam for all the
wrong he’s done is easier said than
done. It is more Frankenstein’s fault
for rejecting the creature who only
asked for his love. In the end, he re-
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Victor Frankenstein, played by Curzon Dovell, electrifies the crea
ture in ‘Frankenstein’ Wednesday night.
alizes this. Looking into Adam’s
eyes^ Frankenstein suddenly realizes
that h^ and Adam actually look al
ike, at least in his eyes. They are the
same person.
The play, ended on a tragic note,
as Frankenstein was unable to end
the creature’s life in his own dying
moments so that they would die to
gether. Dropping-the revolver to the
ground as n£\ goes limp,
Frankenstein dies in Adam’s arms.
Syvertsen was fabulous as the crea
ture, his stage presence dominating
every scene that he was' in. As his
other half, Stephen Pelinski shined
as the mad scientist who rejected but
ultimately accepted his monstrous
creation. But the real bright spot in
the show was the technical one, with
a complex set that took eight hours
to set up and incredible light shows
that made the audience see and feel
the thunder and lightning on the
stage.
Though it hardly mirrored all of
the old Boris Karloff renditions of
the tragic tale of the rejected
monster, “Frankenstein” created an
image that was far better.
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&M organizations meet to discuss
olumn about apartheid in Battalion
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By Catherine Zudak
Reporter
An A&M graduate student ques-
ioned the sources and facts used in
a Battalion column about apartheid
it a discussion Wednesday night in
he MSC.
“I believe Brian Frederick’s col-
.imn is suspect because of its sources
md is not a legitimate political opi-
uon,” Ken Hendrickson said at the
Forum concerned with the March 22
olumn ‘Conditions in South Africa
re better than we believe.’ ”
Chibo Onyeji, president of the Ni-
erian Student Association, said he
nvited Frederick to discuss the
oints raised in the column because,
‘Writing what you want also entails
esponsibility.”
Hendrickson, the only formal
^speaker at the program, is a grad
uate student in the Department of
History. His area of speciality is Eu-
opean history, but he studies black
resistence movements indepen
dently with Dr. Larry Yarak, assis
tant professor of history.
lendrickson said, “The people
responsible for allowing Frederick’s
column to appear should consider
resigning.
“I met with The Battalion edito
rial staff, who told me they are not
responsible for the opinions of the
columnists. But why aren’t they
when someone is making an argti-
ment and trying to persuade people
with information that is patently
false?
“I can refute Brian’s arguments in
the*realm of political argument. And
I know he was wrong.”
But Sue Krenek, Battalion editor,
said Hendrickson was never told the
editorial staff wasn’t responsible for
the paper’s content.
“Obviously the editors are respon
sible for what appears in the paper,”
she said. “But our responsibility also
extends to the protection of First
Amendment rights. Brian has a
right to his opinion, just as Mr. Hen
drickson had a right to express his
opinion in a guest column Tuesday.
“Mr. Hendrickson’s complaint to
the editors was that Brian’s column
was based on sources Mr. Hendrick
son felt lacked credibility. But in a
situation such as the one in South
Africa, the facts are often in dispute.
Editors should not play Cod by de
claring certain publications off-limits
and certain facts unpublishable.”
Hendrickson said Frederick’s
claim that South Africa was a ‘friend’
to the United States ignored history.
“During both World Wars large
numbers of the South African pop
ulation favored the Central and Axis
powers,” he said.
In addition, he said, South Africa
has proven a primary force of desta
bilization in sub-Sarharan Africa.
“South Africa continues to fund
guerrillas in Mozambique and traf-
ficks illegally in weapons,” he said.
Hendrickson also argued that
Frederick’s statement that South Af
rica has been “steadily dismantling a
vicious system of racial segregation’
has little basis in fact. He said that
Uhdef PresicJent Botha file femovM
of blacks to artifically designated
homelands and the loss of South Af
rican citizenship have increased.
Hendrickson said some believe a
post-apartheid South Africa might
be dominated by communists, which
would pose a security threat to West
ern Europe and the United States.
The African National Congress
(ANC) often is accused of being a
Communist front group, he said.
“The ANC is funded and armed
by the Soviet Union,” he said. “But
even the CIA has no evidence of So
viet domination or control (of the
ANC).”
Hendrickson argued against “the
strategic minerals argument” that
claims a Communist government in
South Africa could cut off minerals
necessary to defense industries in
the United States and Western Eu
rope.
“Sixty percent of South Africa’s
export earnings comes from the
mining industry,” he said. “Even
supposing a radical black govern
ment came to power in South Africa,
why would they cut a primary source
of income?
“They couldn’t sell (minerals) to
the Soviet Union. They’re awash
with the stuff.”
Hendrickson said that the ANC’s
stated aims are democratic access to
the political system regardless of
race, including the right to vote and
freedom of consciousness.
Henderickson closed the formal
portion the program by raising
the questVoirbf The fftittalion s edi
tors’ responsibility for columnists’
opinions. \\
He said thah when he raised the
same question wttjh the editorial staff
in a meeting last ty ee k- they pointed
out to him the disclaimer that ap
pears on the editorial page. It states
that opinions presented do not nec
essarily represent those of the edi
tors or University official^.
“The disclaimer is not 'the point,”
he said. “Not when it includes some
one making arguments based on a
fraction of the truth. ^
“I asked them (editorial ^staff)
when you got it-(the column)\and
tead it, didn’t you question itPTle
(Frederick) doesn’t cite sburces at v a!l
... 1 believe that integrity was lack
ing here . . . there should be some ac
countability.” \
Frederick did not attend the fo
rum. But he said in response to Hen
drickson’s questioning of his facts,
“Everything I put in there was infor
mation I had seen reported again
and again in the press.
“I think he (liendrickson) is very
politically motivated. He is set on
one particular idea. Anything that
doesn’t conform he throws out.
That’s one reason 1 didn’t show up. I
think these people’s minds are clo
sed.”
The African Student Association,
MSC Black Awareness Committee,
Nigerian Student Association and
Students Against Apartheid spon
sored the discussion.
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