The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 30

THE COURIER-JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1983 THEATER REVIEW 4 4 Compassion, wisdom form Actors Theatre's 'Husbandry' into jewel FILM Sheila Benson. IOS IS6H1S TIM The Black Stallion: his first feature, showed. Carroll Ballard is a filmmaker of ravishing talent. There are sequences in this movie that make your jaw drop open out of genuine amaenient." Hand tw'. vuvutfA scan, exhilarating lound it uttcrh fascinating." unique chiller thriller the ost uhsorhing and satistving survival movie and appealing h-ro in Judith ml.

Wimn "Ballard and his masterh crew of filmmakers have reimagined a corner of the natural leave us Kh hard Vhn kel. 1IM and trmdd. imt "A movable feasl of sights, sounds and extraordinary physical excitement" Hrwr Hi7iim. w.tiwl NEVER CRY Staff Photo by Adrlonnt Htlitior Ray Fry. as Les.

holds Deborah Hedwall, as his daughter-in-law, Bev. in a scene from "Husbandry." Gloria Cromwell, background, plays his wife in the Actors Theatre production. 0 formance of striking emotional integrity. Paul Owen's farmhouse setting speaks eloquently of homely virtues, and Karl Hass contributes lighting that enhances the play's intimate mood. "Husbandry" is strong enough to fill an evening by itself.

Actors is presenting it, however, in tandem with two short comedies for which performances will be alternated. Last night, it was the turn of Michael David Quinn's "Businessman's Lunch" to share the bill with "Husbandry." In it, a trio of executives revels in corporate rivalries and petty jealousies with a savagery that borders on the absurd. Or so it seems in this particular production. There are funny lines in "Businessman's Lunch," as Quinn's corporate corridors degenerate into jungles stalked by beasts of prey. But Larry Deckel's scattershot direction robs the piece of conviction.

With the exception of Dierk Torzak, the piece also is weakly cast. Steve Rankin seems especially misguided in a performance of embarrassingly contrived gawkiness. The productions of "Husbandry" and "Businessman's Lunch," like all the offerings of "'83 Shorts," are made possible by grants from the Bingham Enterprises Foundation of Kentucky the Atlantic Richfield Foundation and Esquire Magazine, Eddyville tenor wins Met district audition Tenor Walter Pool of Eddyville, a student at the University of Louisville School of Music, won first place in the recent Kentucky district auditions of the Metropolitan Opera. Second place went to soprano Jeanne Enlow Curtis, an instructor in the School of Music's preparatory department, and third place was won by soprano Elizabeth McWhirt of Kettering, Ohio, a graduate assistant in the School of Music's voice department The auditions, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council and, Friends of Kentucky Opera, were held Saturday at the of School of Music. There were nine contestants.

The winners will compete in the tri-state regional auditions Dec. 10 at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. By WILLIAM MOOTZ Courltr-JouriMl Critic In Patrick Tovatt's "Husbandry," an absorbing drama that opened another bill of "83 Shorts" last night at Actors Theatre, a farmer on the brink of old age stands caught in the grip of hard times. For Tovatt's farmer, called Les, the zest is draining quickly from his life. Interest rates are spiraling, and food prices are plummeting.

While his only hope of financial survival seems to involve taking on additional labors, his doctor has advised him to cut back on his workload. But Les has not lost hope. His wife, Dee, is determined that they must stand firm to save their heritage, and she has a scheme to help them prosper in their declining years. Dee and Les are about to play host to Harry, a son, and his wife, Bev, for the weekend. Dee is convinced that Harry somehow will come to their rescue.

He will see his duty and return to work the family soil, saving his parents from bankruptcy. "Husbandry" is a play that deals in movingly human terms with family ties and the bonds that root entire generations in the traditions of their forefathers. Throughout its hour-and-a-half, the play brings each of its four characters into sharp dramatic focus in scenes that quietly unfold a way of life that's fading into history with terrifying swiftness. Tcvatt depicts Les as a model American entrepreneur, a man expert in the ways of making food. But Les is a victim of government poli- cies that are forcing his back to the wall.

It sounds like a polemic rather than a play, I know. And there are times when Tovatt can't resist the temptation to mount his characters on soapboxes for long speeches about the injustices of contemporary American life. But "Husbandry" is written with such tender compassion, and is imbued with such generous doses of earthy wisdom, that one easily for gives its structural lapses. Its form may be too patly symmetrical, but it radiates a heartfelt passion. Under Jon Jory's probing direction, the play's production is thick with atmosphere.

Tovatt's characters interreact in cleanly sculptured scenes that tensely illumine their despair. From Ray Fry as Les and Gloria Exclusive! 0XM00R-5 FOR GROUP SALES PHASE CALL ROBERT HARRIS AT 42S-K94 NOW SHOW I NO. "One of the surprise delights of the season. litrmte. litrrars.

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