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Arts & Entertainment
Tuesday, November 17, 1992
The Battalion
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] Aggie players triumph with
rLes Liaisons Dangereuses'
John Flores, Chris Rogers and Michael Whiteside star in
the Aggie Player’s production of “Les Liasons Dangereuses.”
By ANAS BEN-MUSA
Reviewer of THE BATTALION
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses"
(Dangerous Liaisons)
By Christopher Hampton
Starring Christina Vela-
O'Connor, John Flores, Kristi
Cobern
Directed by Robert Wenck
Playing at Rudder Forum
Aggie Players complete their
fall season with a "magnifique"
version of "Les Liaisons Dan
gereuses."
Set in 1780s France, it is a story
about about two fiendish friends,
the Marquise de Merteuil and the
Vicomte de Valmont, who plot to
gether to embarrass their relatives
and acquaintances. If you loved
the film version, the play is just as
intriguing.
From the very moment I
walked into the theater, I realized
Aggie Players had created some
thing special.
Set designer Jimmy Humphries
created an impressive and inge
nious set with good use of space —
the set trickled onto the aisles. In
addition, the more intimate scenes
make use of a rolling bed. It was a
crafty way of establishing differ
ent scenes on the same stage.
The costumes created by
Joanne Johnson were also impres
sive: simple, elegant and beauti
ful.
Johnson and Humphries used
the few resources they had imagi
natively, but the creativity did not
end with the sets and costumes.
Christina Vela-O'Connor's por
trayal of the deliciously ruthless
and vile Marquise de Merteuil
amazed me. As in previous plays,
Vela-O'Connor brings a sense of
dignity and nobility to her
characters.
Although Merteuil is a despica
ble woman, Vela-O'Connor is able
to make her character likable in a
devilish way.
You cannot help but like a
character who considers "cruelty
such a noble quality." Merteuil is
an immoral and cold person, but
throughout the play I looked for
ward to seeing what she had
planned in her evil mind.
The play would have been im
peccable if Kristi Cobern had not
distracted me with her exaggerat
ed gyrations as the fragile and vir
tuous Madame de Tourvel.
Cobern was shaking and quaking
so much I thought she was having
an epileptic Fit. Although de
Tourvel is a weak pathetic crea
ture, Cobern over-emphasizes the
character's inability to stop Val-
mont's pressing advances.
Thankfully, John Flores' perfor
mance as the Vicomte de Valmont
saved the scenes with Cobern. He
was able to carry the scenes with
Cobern and direct the attention of
the audience to him. His snide re
marks and facial expressions kept
the play moving along.
Flores was also the play's
sound designer. His choice of con
certos by Vivaldi lent an even
pace to the play.
Another good performance is
Ashley Galaway's free-spirited
Emilie, Valmont's lover. Gal
away's small part was refreshing.
She had a contagious laugh that
had the whole audience chuck
ling.
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses"
creates a memorable picture of
18th-century France. Don't let
Cobern's maniac trembling dis
tract or discourage you from go
ing. Vela-O'Connor, Flores and
Gala way are too good to miss.
The play runs Nov. 18-21 in
Rudder Forum.
Love conquers death in
/ Once On This Island'
By MARSHALL LOVE
Feature Writer of the BATTALION
"Once On This Island"
By Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Starring Tonya L. Dixon and Darius de
Haas
Love overcomes death. Who could have
guessed?
"Once On This Island," an OPAS-sponsored
production, was performed
in a full Rudder Theater last
night. The musical is based
on a novel written by Rosa
Guy.
The relaxing Caribbean
music and the free, wild
dancing are wonderful. The
drums play hypnotic jungle
rhythms that set the mood for the mystic music.
The cast performed a fairy tale plot that I en
joyed as I would a great children's story.
However, I really expected more. Scene by
scene, the plot led me to expect anything but
what the ending offered.
The conclusion was not one of those exciting,
intriguing ones. It was more of a what the heck,
up in the air, incomplete sort of ending.
The plot develops with a series of well per
formed, dramatic, and highly entertaining
scenes that, in the end, go in what I would call
the wrong direction.
Set on an island in the French Antilles, the
play tells the story of a dark skinned peasant
girl named Ti Moune, played by Tonya L.
Dixon, who falls desperately in love with a rich,
light skinned boy named Daniel, played by Dar
ius de Haas.
Ti Moune offers her life to Papa Ge, the de
mon of death, in order to save Daniel, who has
been injured in a car crash. Papa Ge grants her
wish, but if she and Daniel don't fall in love and
stay together, he will kill her.
Ti Moune and Daniel do fall in love, but
Daniel's father doesn't approve of his son's af
fair with a peasant girl. To Ti Moune's dismay,
Daniel marries the girl his family had long
wanted him to marry.
The powerful dancing and singing through
out the play led me to expect an equally power
ful conclusion that just didn't happen.
Here it is: the demon of death had no choice
but to kill Ti Moune, who is reincarnated as a
tree.
However, she's not just any tree. She is a
beautiful tree near Daniel's home that grows to
be so big that ii breaks down the front gates,
which are never to be closed again.
So, as the singing in the final scene told me,
Ti Moune's death succeeds in preventing class
separation in the future because the gates have
been opened.
As a finale, Ti Moune is a tree holding open a
gate and I am somehow supposed to be satis
fied. I wasn't.
Though the play's comment on Haitian life
and class system is noteworthy, the play's over
all theme of love conquers death is undermined
in the way it is presented.
Yes, love has conquered death, but only
through death. Ti Moune dies and is reincarnat
ed as a tree while her true love marries someone
else! If love conquered death, it was by a near
margin.
Even with the play's less than impressive
ending, I enjoyed "Once Upon This Island" for
what led up to the final scenes.
The simple costumes and props were a good
choice. The modest production resulted in
showcasing the cast's talent rather well.
I would even like to see the play again, but I
would definitely leave the theater before the fi
nal scenes.
I'd rather write my own ending to an other
wise entertaining and colorful musical.
‘j^evteev'
CLASS OF ’94
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