Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410100017
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Donna Alvis Banks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A fusty, puffy, stuffy bigot, at that.
After years of married life, he's still a stranger to her.
What will she do?
If you don't know, you'll have to stay until the curtain closes to find out.
Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is the first offering this season from Virginia Tech's Theatre Arts-University Theatre. It plays tonight and Saturday at 8 and Sunday afternoon at 2 in Squires Studio Theatre. The second run starts Wednesday and continues through Oct. 15.
When "A Doll's House" was first performed in 1879, it caused a powerful commotion. Nervous theater people wanted to re-write the ending of the play.
In 1880, Ibsen wrote a scathing letter to a Norwegian newspaper:
"Our dramatic works are exposed to acts of violence at the hands of translators, theatrical directors, stage managers and actors at the smaller theatres. When my works are threatened I prefer, taught by experience, to commit the act of violence myself, instead of leaving them to be treated and 'adapted' by less careful and less skillful hands."
Later, when an Italian director asked to change the last scene of the play, Ibsen told him the whole play was written for the sake of the last scene. "The fact is I cannot possibly directly authorize any change whatever in the ending of the drama," he said.
Ibsen's primary interest in "A Doll's House" was to look at the different ethical codes by which men and women live. He raised gender issues in the 19th century that are relevant today.
In his notes on the play, Ibsen wrote: "A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view."
Virginia Tech's production of "A Doll's House" is directed by faculty member Robert Leonard and features five undergraduate students in the major roles: Amy Martin as Nora Helmer, Charles Eric Wolfery as Torvald Helmer, Charles Linton Lattimer as Dr. Rank, Helen Murray as Mrs. Linde and H.E. James II as Nils Krogstad.
Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students or senior citizens. Reservations may be made by calling the ticket office in Squires Student Center at 231-5615.
JAZZ STANDARDS: Thelonious Monk wrote his share of 'em.
Songs like "Blue Monk," "Round Midnight" and "Straight No Chaser" are now classics. They were only melodies running around in Monk's head 50 years ago.
Monk, who started playing in Harlem jazz clubs in 1939, was known for his adventurous style on piano.
"Jazz is my adventure," he once said. "I'm after new chords, new ways of syncopating, new figurations, new runs. How to use notes differently...."
Monk was a hero to other musicians.
"He showed me voicings and progressions," Miles Davis has said. "Charlie Parker would take me down to listen to Monk all the time."
He was a force in Gary Wittner's life, too.
Wittner, a jazz guitarist, first heard Monk's music in 1977. It was an experience he describes as "love at first sound."
In 1986, Wittner finished his master's thesis, an analysis of Monk's compositional style. Now he teaches jazz and goes all around the country lecturing on Monk's life and music and performing his works.
Wittner will bring his mission (and his guitar) to Blacksburg next week.
Virginia Tech's Department of Music will sponsor a lecture and recital by Wittner Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m., in Squires Recital Salon. Tickets, $2, will be available Tuesday evening at the ticket office in Squires.
Starting Wednesday and continuing through Oct. 15, Wittner and his trio will play at Maxwell's on North Main Street. The music runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tenor saxophonist Chip McNeill, who plays with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra, will join Wittner for the gig at Maxwell's. The cover charge is $3 each evening.
FESTIVALS, FESTIVALS! When the pumpkin is ripe on the vine, it's that time again.
Fall festivals are in full swing this weekend. Such old-time traditions as apple butter-making and hay rides are part of the fun. Arts and crafts sales will help you get a jump on the holiday shopping, too.
In addition to the annual festival in historic Newbern which starts today and continues through Sunday, the Floyd County arts and crafts festival - always a popular event - commences Saturday and goes through Sunday. The festival features a quilt show with over 100 handmade items.
For festivals in other areas of the New River Valley, check the listings under "Etc." in today's Arts & Entertainment calendar.
ON THE SKIDS: The group has been described as "kinda like Kentucky Fried Chicken, except it's a lot greasier and makes you drool more."
Southern Culture on the Skids, the band out of Chapel Hill, N.C., will bring its bizarre style of country music to Blacksburg's South Main Cafe tonight.
Rick Miller, Mary Huff and Dave Hartman are Southern Culture on the Skids. Collectively, they sing and play various combinations of guitar, bass, organ, fiddle, drums, tambourine, castanets and bongos.
The trio's latest album, "Ditch Diggin'," features 15 songs with such original titles as "Too Much Pork (For Just One Fork)," "New Cooter Boogie" and "Put Your Teeth (Up on the Windowsill)." It also has a playful rendition of the Louvin Brothers' song, "The Great Atomic Power."
The music starts at 10 tonight at the cafe, 117 S. Main St. The cover charge is $5.
Don't plan on wearing your best duds. The band has been known to toss a few greasy chicken bones at the audience in past performances.
RACING PULSE: Burruss Hall will be jamming tonight when Patra and United Souls take the stage. The reggae concert jump-starts an exciting homecoming weekend at Virginia Tech.
Patra, a 19-year-old Jamaican artist, just released her debut album, "Queen of the Pack." United Souls, an American group, was formed four years ago by Ed-Dred Bryant and Michael "N-Sane" Brown, originally of the rap group T.A.P. (The Academic Posse).
Tickets for reserved seating, on sale at the ticket office in Squires Student Center, are $12 for the public and $7 for Tech students.
VISIONS OF OUR VALLEY: That's the title of a new show at Miller-Off-Main Street Gallery. The exhibit is a collection of works by local artists expressing their feelings about the New River Valley.
To kick off the show, the gallery is the site of a festival Saturday. Musicians, dancers, performers and artists of all descriptions will be there celebrating the uniqueness of the region.
The festival, sponsored by The Community Group, and the exhibit are open to the public. Admission is free.
Miller-Off-Main Street Gallery is at 211 Wilson St. in downtown Blacksburg.
by CNB