OCR Text |
Show Play goers have another chance iV:"V Jtp -. ' - . A ' V." rV?- By BRUCE LEE Record Editor There is one very nice thing about the Pioneer State Theatre Production of "The Guardsman." If you missed it Friday and Saturday you will have another chance this summer when it is again staged in conjunction with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. I'll be honest from the first and admit that "The Guardsman" is not one of my favorite plays. In some ways the script is i old and unbelievable for me. However, personal, precious opinions aside, the production, presented at Southern Utah State College, is destined to be j one of the most professional ones ever in Cedar City. 1 Profesionally, and technically, the play is nearly flawless ; and I say I "nearly" simply because of an innate belief that : nothing is quite perfect. Utah Shakespearean Festival patrons will remember Sam Tsout-souvas Tsout-souvas from his performance per-formance as Coriolanus a couple of years back. He left many people in awe that night, but his performance as Nandor the superb, but egotistical, actor in "The Guardsman" outshines even that memorable performance. It is Nandor who suspects his wife of six months of unfaithfulness and sets out to ascertain the truth by disguising himself as a guardsman to seduce her and to test his own acting prowess. The comedy moves around these advances, somewhat uncommitted, he makes at his own wife, Ilona, played by Sandra Shotwell. Ms. Shotwell also plays a brilliant part as the beatiful, but equally egotistical and spoiled, actress. Ilona does, finally, turn back her husband's disguised advances, but also tells him later, when he reveals his disguise, that she knew all along. Revolving around these two central characters are Bela, a critic, played by Jesse Bennett; and Ilona's adopted ''mother,'' a housekeeper, played by JoAnn Johnson Patton, another fine actress well known to Utah Shakespearean Festival patrons. Both also played their parts extremely well, especially Bennett who fit his role perfectly. In fact, Bennett fit his role so well that if I saw him on the street in his workaday chothes, I would then accuse him of being in costume. It is these two that watch amusedly and rather interestedly as the man and woman of the stage take turns jousting each other. And finally, as the end of the play draws near, Nandor reveals the hoax to his wife; and she informs in-forms him, perhaps rightfully, t that she knew all along. "I continued the comedy where we left off last night," she tells her smitten husband. "I've been playing it since yesterday afternoon." And then the critic and the "mother" enter the stage again, and watch as the two again fall in love. And then, Ilona moves away to the piano; Nandor sits down in his favorite chair. And then, and then . . . The production opens again July 24, the second Friday of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Sandra Shotwell as Ilona and Sam Tsoutsouvas as Nandor strike a loving pose during the Pioneer State Theatre production of "The Guardsman" at SUSC. However, not everything is roses for the couple as the comedy moves through a delightful series of events. The play will again be staged in conjunction with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. |