OCR Text |
Show Ifs no whitewash: Twain's Southern scamp is on stage Huckleberry Finn, Becky Thatcher Thatch-er and their friends and foes will play pranks and launch adventures on the stage of Theatre 138 through Nov. 23. The season opener for the University Univer-sity of Utah Young People's Theatre is an adaptation of Mark Twain's classic story of a boy and a slave who raft down the Mississippi River in the days before the Civil War. The play, directed by Karen B. Alston, is about life in the 1840s both the good and the bad sides. Although more than a century has passed since the book was published, controversy still continues con-tinues over the suitability of the subject-matter. The story of Huck, his murderous father and his runaway slave, Jim, r- is an uncompromising scrutiny of a society where everyone is either a scoundrel or a fool. The novel, which is available to-, day in 27 languages, has always meant different things to different people. Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote Song of the South with its tales told by Uncle Remus, said of Twain's book, "There is not in our fictive literature a more wholesome book than 'Huckleberry Finn.' It is history, it is romance, it is life. "Here we behold human character stripped of all tiresome details; we see people growing and living; we laugh at their humor, share their griefs; and, in the midst of it all, behold we are taught the lessons of honesty, justice and mercy." Ernest Hemingway said that "all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn'. . . There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." Alston recommends the musical adaptation by Timothy Mason for children ages 10 and over. "A parent should be present for those under 10, so that they can share and discover the life that Huck discovers," she said. The show runs Nov. 14 and 15 and 20-22 at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 16 and 23 at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ' Tickets are available at the box office, of-fice, 581-6961. |