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Show u N I MONDAY,JULY 13, 1998 USF offers 'new' plays illiam Shakespeare is probably the most recognizable playwright in the world, and Nod Coward probably wouldn't be far behind, at least in the English-speaking world. Their plays arc both loved by the masses and critically acclaimed by the critics. Almost everyone knows of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, and a large majority of the population is familiar with the titles of Coward's more popular works, such as Private lives and Blithe Spirit. But are you fam iliar with Shakespeare's Kingjolm? What do you know about it? And have you seen a production of Coward's Relative Values? Have you even ever heard of it? And, more impo rtantly, why is the Utah Shakespearean Festival doing these two productions in 1998, when it could have chosen from many others that arc better known? ·11, e answers are easy, said Fred C. Adams, the Festival's founder and executive producer. "TI1cse arc great plays. Just because they aren't performed as often as others doesn't mean they aren't valuable. Lesser-known plays by known playwrights are many times some of the most enjoyable and popular shows we produce. " Take, for example, Relative Values: "It is a wonderful, intelligent, and fun play," said Adams, who is one of only a handful of Festival personnel who have seen the play before. "It makes us think, it makes us examine our values and our views of social structure, but it makes us laugh uproariously." Director Morey, who, although he has directed most Coward plays, had never seen Relative Values, agreed: "Coward never takes himself seriously or allows himse lf to be taken seriously for very long." In fact, Coward himself said in a March 1930 interview with the New York Herald Tribune: "I could no more sit down and say 'Now I'll write an immo rtal drama' than I could fly, and anyway I don't want to. I have no great o r beautiful thoughts. More than anything e lse I hate the pretentious, highbrow approach to things dramatic. The primary and dominant function of the theatre is to amuse people and not to reform or edify them." W (continued 011 page 5) T y |