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Show TIBIIE .&.lli1r§ MONDAY, JULY 6, 1998 • THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL • SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY O ~ Festival -presents two relatively unknown. plays (co11ti11uedfrom page J) 13ut, then again, the famous New York critic John Lahr added: "Onl y when Coward is frivolous docs he become .in any sense profound." Morey ties these two seemingly disparate ideas together when he talks of what a comedy of manners is. "It is a fom1 that operates on the tension between two givens," he said. First, the play is set in a highly structured or mannered society in which ccnain behavior is accepted and expected. Second, characters who are driven by strong motivations such as love, hate, fear, and greed are placed in this society. "The comedy derives from the tension between these motivations and the way in which they are expressed, hidden, o r outrageously flou ted in the face of the established order. ·· Relative Values certa.inly has that comedic tension. le is set in the home of an upper-crust British family, but the action is spurred forward by the desire of Peter, a member of that family, to marry (of all things!) an actress, and an American actress at that. l11is juxtaposition of Peter's strong motivations ln fact, the first of ShakesP.eare's plays ever turned into a movie was Kingjoh11. Made in 1899, this silent movie version of the Bard's history play was directed by and starred Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. That aside , part of why it has been so seldom produced may be the fact that Khzgjolm is such a complicated character. · According to Ace Pilkington, Festival literary seminar d irector, "the facts of John's life and reign are not in dispute. But agreement among historians stops with the facts; the significance of those facts-the importance of John ·s role, the intelligence of his decisions. and the substance of his characterare widely (and sometimes wildly) disputed." Winston Churchill said in The Birth of Britain that John "from time to time gave way to furious rages, but other records show that he was often judicious, always extremely capable, and on occasions even generous. He possessed an original and inq uiring mind. A study of his actions shows John gifted with a deep and persistent sagacity." Noted historian Will Durant was not quite so kind, calling him "a man of much intellect and lite le scruple." Perhaps, however, Russell Treyz, who is directing the Festival's production this summer, sums up this complex king with the order and social stmcture of the British aristocracy is ·- w•ll!l~\1 best in a character breakdown he wrote early in the planning what drives the thought-and the comedy- of this play. stages: King John "should feel like the common man who has "This is what makes for a wonderful time at the theatre," achieved power through his own will and might. He shouldn concluded Adams. "Will Peter get his wish of marriage? Will the progress from a warm, down-to-earth, common-sense ruler with social structure and values of the family hold up to this test? Will a sense of humor at the beginning of the play through a Crestwell the butler and Moxie the maid allow for such changes paranoid, power-hungry madman JO an enfeebled weak old man is their established lives? Will order and value be restored, or are whose life and spirit ebb away almost as a release." they, after all, only 'relative'?" And that, says Festival Founder and Executive Producer Fred Klngjolm is separated from Relative Values by a number of Patricia Fraser as Felicity and Sheridan Crist C. Adams, is precisely why the Festival is pr<;senting the play centuries and a host of d iffering values and traditions, but many as Peter Ingleton in Noel Coward's 'Relative this summer and w hy people will want to see it. "Besides being of the same types of questions can be asked: Was he a king who Values.· a possibly once-in-a-lifetime chance to see this play," he said, was so w icked that the nobles forced him to sign the Magna - - - -- - - -- -- - -- - -- - "our audience members w ill enjoy our production because of Carta, or has his life been misinterpreted by some social critics? the character of King John and how he changes and learns and Was he a ruthless king, the sworn enemy of Robin Hood, or was he simply protecting his stumbles from the beginning__of the play to the end." brother, Richard Lhe Lion-Heart's, throne? Was he a saint or a sinner? A harshly judged "He is a very realistic character, not so much unlike most of humankind through the genius, or a true madman? ages,· he continued. "He is not wholly good nor wholly bad. He is very much like all of WJ1o,exactly, was this King John, and why d id Shakespeare write a play about us. TI1ere is a smattering of many different.and diverse qualities in him, some we admire, him?And, why is the Utah Shakespearean Festival producing this seldom-produced play some we abhor." ·n1ese plays will be simi.lar to other lesser-known plays we have this summer? The answer to that last question, again, is really rather simple: Ki11gjolm is produced," added Law. "Past p lays which have been some of the best received by both an intricate, entertaining, and very accessible work. "It is a play full of history, full of audiences and critics include last year's Pericles, as well as earlier productions of Timon drama, and fu ll of mesmerizing characters, " said Donna Law, Festival marketing and of Athens, Coriolatzus, Cymbel/11e, A Flea In Her Ear, .and others. These are plays that public relalions director. Kingjolm has been seldom produced during this generation, aren't produced every day, but they have been some of our most popular. I think King but that has not always been true. 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