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Show ! RGVIGUU ; i 'Killing Radius' a Good Example of 20-20 Hindsight i - V i - , V'.; ' - v J Set. Halverson, played by Maikel Bailey and ultimately Lt. Carlson, acted by Richard Scott. The cast is rounded by Kip Shoitani as the Korean soldier, Dawn LeSeur as a Vietnamese prostitute, Mike Phillips as an American Colonel who literally is caught with his pants down, Moon Ji as a Korean officer, and Kevin Kamaya as a Vietnamese youth, whose sole purpose in the play is to die. The action starts as Gable arrives in Qui Hnon as a replacement for an M.P. who has been killed in action. The Canadian is his guide as he sets the stage for the drama as well as the cast of characters. One by one, the characters are then introduced intro-duced to the action. Almost as soon as he opens his mouth, the Canadian expresses what is to become his litany in the play-'i hate the Army". This sentiment is echoed by Thomas, and eventually even learned by Gable. Gorshy doesn't say much, since he is under the sway of Sgt. Halverson, but only does as he is ordered by the Sargeant and nothing If "Killing Radius" had been staged in 1968, in a small town in middle America, Ameri-ca, it would probably have been termed anti-american . In 1982 Park City, it would not even be termed antiwar. anti-war. Craig Clyde's drama, now playing at the Egyptian, is a good example of 20-20 hindsight. The messages contained in it, with which the theater-goer is, at times, bludgeoned, are all those which, in the later years of the war the American people were acquainted with and "almost universally accepted. Yes, there was a lot of dope smoked in Vietnam. Yes, we know homosexuality occurs in the service. Yes, a lot of GIs weren't gung-ho ibout the war. It is as if Clyde had read somewhere that the element of writing which makes a play 'good' and able to withstand the tests of time is that of universality. He therefore emphasizes the idea that 'war is hell', and that all soldiers face the same feelings when in combat. These concepts may be universal, but as presented present-ed in "Killing Radius" they do not a good play make. That is not to say "Killing Radius" does not have its " saving graces. It does. Parts of the dialogue, (those not intended as 'think pieces') are realistic and well written. Similarly, some of the acting in the play is excellent. The song I'm Home", written and performed by author Scott Curran as the Candian and Charles Nibley as Gable discuss their views of the Vietnam in 'Killing Radius', playing at the Egyptian. more. The implication of the remarks - is that since the soldiers hate the army and further, hate the situation in which they find themselves, they are anti-war. Wrong. At the time depicted by the play, anti-war meant "Hell no, I won't go" or "Hey, hey, L.B.J. , how many kids did you kill today?". It also meant if you were drafted, you went to Canada if you were against the war. . None of the characters in "Killing Radius" is really anti-war, (although Curran' s nickname seems to imply as much), they're merely against being killed by 'the war, and will take whatever precautions necessary to guarantee that end. They may be anti-officer, but not anti-war. They are not even really agianst killing the enemy. In the battle scenes they all shoot at the Viet Cong and seem unconcerned as to whether they have hit anyone. The dialogue concerned with killing the enemy only brings to light the fact that none of them has ever killed anyone, to their knowledge, and questions what it would feel like to do so. Gable does have reservations reserva-tions about killing the VC in cold blood, as their Korean interpreter does soon after his arrival, but even in this the Canadian has words of wisdom--"The war killed him. This is the killing radius. If you're caught in it, you're dead." If anything, this over-riding belief, that there is nothing Please turn to page 2B Clyde is also worth mention. The play takes place in what was actually a base during the war, Qui Hnon Bay, South ; Vietnam. The stage depicts surroundings as they were in the summer of 1967, as remembered by Scott Curran (who plays the Canadian) who was stationed there in the 163rd MP Company. The entire play is, in fact, a dramatization of Curran's experiences in Vietnam. The characters are written to depict actual people whom Curran knew as a soldier. The unit must have been the smallest in Vietnam since it is made up of four enlisted men, a sargeant, a lieutenant and a Korean soldier who knows Vietnamese. Curran, as the Canadian, plays a soldier whos main goal in life is remaining alive. Charles Nibley, who plays Gable, is initially, as a newcomer to the group, the . idealist, until imbued with the philosophy of the Canadian. Cana-dian. Dan Rogers plays Jim Gorshy, the sargeant's "special "spe-cial friend" raid informer, and Don Re'Sampson portrays por-trays Calvin Thomas, the token and symbolic Black. These four st ilv rts are under the thumb of the despotic anc. homosexual Disillusioned Dogfaces Dissemble in 'Radius' neither seems to sustain the continuity of character which is necessary for the audience to say "I see exactly what that person is all about". Halverson does come accross as a brutal 'lifer', but his character seems one-dimensional. So, too, we only see one side of Gorshy. Don Re'Sampson brings almost too much to his role as Calvin Thomas. He simplv does not fit the role as the Black who's in Vietnam because the draft discriminates discrimi-nates against his race. He's too educated and too inciteful for that. Clyde needs to decide what type of Black he wants, the lower class uneducated or the intellectual. Trying to get both doesn't work since he gets neither. Richard Scott does well as the officer who doesn't really care what goes on is his unit so long as there are no black marks against him. He's totally intimidated by Halverson, Hal-verson, and instead of challenging him only wants to get away from the base and back to what, by imolication, is his easy life. Scott admirably brings us the message. Frank v McEntire's set certainly cer-tainly looks like what we saw in the newsreels. It also works particularly well for ' the scene and place changes which take place throughout the plav. Ed Warner's lighting also , does credit to the play, the mood of the scene and the place in which the action takes place. His water effect was especially effective. The slides shown between scenes, though, were over-' done. Although they did depict the war as it was at the time the play was set, a little of the effect goes a long way. The slides shown at the end of the play detracted from the ending, which was powerful enough on its own. The music was plenty to bring the audience back down. - The song, Tm Home" expresses the theme of the play quietly and effectively, 'in my body there's a soul. In my head I'm cold. In my body, I've been sold. In my mind, I'm home." ; Why couldn't one pf the : characters just say so? by De Fisher Continued from Page 1 B in the w ar worth dying over, is the major message of the play. Yet Clyde insists on bombarding the audience ith just about every other Vietnamese issue in sight.. Instead of just having a cene where the principle characters are smoking pot a a diversion, Clyde insists on them talking about it ad nausium. Why they were smoking at that moment war; quite obvious without each of them telling us. The scene also had great potential just as a mood interval, but the speed with which the actors went through it precluded any mood development. j. The pace of the play is a problem throughout. Why director Dan Balestrero in- 1 sists on rushing through the 2 dialogue when all the time in the world is spent on the slides shown between scenes is beyond me. But he does. And to the detriment of the play. The feelings which could have been developed by the dialogue weren't because everybody seemed in such a hurry. The effects of using the aisles of the theater for action, which the play certainly lent itself to, is also damaged by speed. A good conducter . tempers the presto with a little adagio, but not here. Clyde also beats the audience audi-ence xver the head with the ? homosexual theme. Every reference to Halverson is accompanied by some allusion allu-sion to his sexual proclivity. Even comments on his brutality refer to it. thus detracting from the description descrip-tion of his character. It's too bad since it is in his brutality . that the true concept of Halverson lies. The homosexuality homo-sexuality is only important in his relationship with Gorshy. Actually, the one homosexual homo-sexual scene has great possibilities. It starts out warmly poignant as Gorshy enters Halverson' s tent with great reticence and Halverson Halver-son actually trying to make him comfortable. But Halverson then takes the offensive in rapid-fire dialogue, dia-logue, and the mood is lost. Had this scene and the pot smoking one been allowed to develop, they would have been the outstanding character char-acter scenes in the play. The acting in the play was generally of high caliber. Scott Curran was particularly good as the Canadian. His "I don't care what they sent me her for; I'm going to protect my own neck" attitude is well done as is his capacity to see humor in situations. He may hate the army, but he seems to enjoy life. Charles Nibley also does a creditable job of portraying Gable. His transition from idealism to practicality shows good development of his character.,,. , . : . - Maikel Bailey as Halverson and Dan Rogers as Gorshy both shine at times, but |