Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 24

2 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: May 27, 1988 FESTIVALS Student views on 'Shrew' anything but tame teft John BealePost-Gazette Students in Stephen Foster Theater during intermission of "Taming of the Shrew." al Shakespeare Industry was back in the saddle with a little lecture on how Shakespeare is good for you. Newsflash: According to the actors, plans for next summer are leaning toward "Hamlet" and "Pericles." (This is the kind of thing they never tell reporters, lest it get into the papers.) "It would have been nice if it had been Mary Robb Jackson who came out to speak to us," said one girl on the way out. "Is that who that was?" interjected her friend, "gosh!" A real critic summed it all up with finality: "I saw 'Macbeth' at Benedum Center and I personally thought this was much better." An older drama critic might point out what hard work these matinees demand. "My heart goes out to them," I said to one of the staff. "To the students?" she replied.

No, to the actors and to the theater staff, too. At the refreshment stand, they seemed shell-shocked. "They ate everything in sight, scarfed it all up!" (Not so I secured a low-cholesterol pecan chewie and a high-everything napoleon.) "Yesterday was jo smooth. That was a good crowd." Good in what way? "Smaller." Today, they swept through like locusts. "We had people throwing up in both bathrooms," reported another.

"They all probably ate too much. I don't think it was the play." By the time the last of the seven student matinees ends this afternoon, approximately 3,900 teenagers will have passed through the Stephen Foster doors. After that, the regular run should be a picnic. By Christopher Rawson Post-Gazette Staff Writer hakespeare time is here again, summertime, when the Bard is served up at festivals from sea to shin ing sea. One of the biggest, the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, opens tonight for its ninth season.

The surest harbinger of that opening appeared last week, the buses hulking along Forbes Avenue outside the Stephen Foster Memori-, al Theater. The student matinee previews had begun. This year's first festival offering is "The Taming of the featuring Alex Coleman and KDKA-TV's Mary Robb Jackson as Petruchio and Kate, tamer and shrew. A bawdy, comic battle of the sexes ought to be an especially welcome treat for young students, I figured. What would it be like? Like bedlam, judging from the confusion of intermission, when I was able to corner some young critics.

It was like trying to corral a whirlwind, one more interested in reading my notes than talking and more interested in eating than either. This was vacation from school, no doubt about it. But inside the theater, all was seemly. Arriving late, I slipped into the dark. The first thing I saw was a row of good-looking young women.

Ooops, it's the teachers. Beyond them, Stephen Foster was stuffed to the gills with students, eighth-grade through high school, 567 in all. Attention was erratic, but manners were generally good better, say, than at a Pitt basketball game. As expected, this was an audience quick to get the dirty jokes. Petru-chio's "What, with my tongue in your tail?" earned a huge response trailing a long tail of chatter, terminated by a general gasp when Kate slapped him hard.

There were titters as Hortensio drew a bow across Bianca's breasts. So at 1:45, the play was duly stopped and 287 Fox Chaplets exited, leaving seats down front for the students from Beaver (37 tickets), Elderton (40), Richland (31), Ligon-' ier Valley (24), Northern Area (1 2), Quaker Valley (45), Hampton (11) and Francis McClure (80). Afterward, most agreed they were pleased with their first chance to see Shakespeare on stage. "It was exciting, though boring at times. What-they added was funny." "Sometimes there was too much movement" referring to the slapstick routines.

"I liked the comedy, but I got lost a few times." I expected Kate's notorious speech assigning complete domination to men to provoke some controversy. (In the "Moonlighting" version, David refuses to let Mad-die go through with it.) But no young feminist no one at all protested. "It's just a play," one said. "It's supposed to be funny." About 80 students were left for a short post-play discussion with two of the actors. Here, the Internation elderly high-school junior.

"They're hollering at it all especially the big guy." Tim Hartman, playing Petruchio's servant, Grumio, was indeed the general favorite, his laughs and applause owing much to his clever hand puppetry. None of the many students I talked with had read the play. Some were reading other Shakespeare i plays in class, and many had been given a synopsis. 'They gave us a pamphlet. It was even more confusing than the play." One young man himself prepared the synopsis given to his class.

Many had seen some in class a "Moonlighting" episode in which Maddie and David play the leads in a lightly travestied version of the play. Intermission was nearly over, the screams over friends from other schools diminishing, the assault on the refreshment stand slackening, when a crisis arose. The Fox Chapel buses would leave at 2 p.m. "whether the children are on them or not," declared a distraught teacher. At the intermission there was noisy applause and some cheering, in which it took no very cynical ear to detect an element of sarcasm.

So I started gathering reactions. "It's boring" "No, it's funny." "Good in parts." "It drags so." "It's better than science class." "I can't' understand the Old English." "The-person beside me had his Walkman on." Giggled one girl, "I thought it was all over!" Some responses were more elaborate. "It's like a cultural experience, you know? We're sitting here at this great Shakespearean play!" "I enjoy it. There's good action, good playing around." "I liked 'Romeo Juliet' better last year we knew the story better, so we could understand what they said." "It's kinda funny. It doesn't make me laugh out loud, but it's humorous." "Boring," insisted one young man, so I asked if he feel asleep.

"I tried. There's not enough leg room to stretch out." An animated discussion erupted about the quality of the seats, mostly in their favor. "The little kids love it," said one By Carole Elaine Peticca The city's yearly celebration of its ethnicity the Pitts-I I burgh Folk Festival runs today through Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Since 1956, the folk festival has been a colorful backdrop for a gathering of ethnic traditions.

This year, 21 ethnic groups will place the flags of their heritage at the festival. The are: Bulgarian, Caribbean, Car-patho-Rusyn, Chinese, Croatian, Filipino, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indian, Irish, Israeli, Italian, Lithuanian, Lebanese, Polish, Scottish, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. The various cultures will offer timeless displays of ethnic cuisine, exhibits, music, songs and dances. "The World of Children" will be the Folk fest highlights culture, food of 2 1 ethnic groups If you're going "Taming of the Shrew" previews tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday at 8 and Sunday at 2, then opens Wednesday and runs through June 1 9 8, Sun. 2, extra family matinee on June 18.

Subscriptions available. Call 624-PLAY. second straight year, visitors will be. able to call relatives all over the world courtesy of which will provide six telephones for festival-goers place free phone calls of two minutes in length. According to Cubelic, "The Pittsburgh Folk Festival is the ideal way to eat, tour, sing, dance, shop and talk your way around the If you're going The Pittsburgh Folk Festival hours are today from 4-1 1 p.m.

and tomorrow and Sunday from 1-9 p.m. Assorted ethnic groups will perform today.at 7 and 9 p.m. and tomorrow and Sunday at 5 and 7 p.m. There will be children's performances tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices are: adults children, 6-12, $2.

No charge for pre-schoolers. theme within the traditional theme of "Unity in Diversity" at this year's festival. Charles L. Cubelic, director of Alumni and Community Affairs for Robert Morris College, sponsor of the festival, has been its director since 1962. "The Pittsburgh Folk Festival represents the people of the city better than anything else we do.

It's the opportunity to show off that ours is a city of nationalities and cultural pride." The Slovaks and Ukrainians are this year's "highlight" groups, meaning they will have expanded exhibits and stage performances. The Slovaks will display a collection of handcrafted dowry items, including intricate lace and embroidery. They will also present an old-world Slovak wedding on stage tomorrow, depicting a village ceremony and reception. On Sunday, the Ukrainians will celebrate the millenium of Ukraine's acceptance of Christianity during the performance segment. They will present the unification of the various Ukraine territories through song and dance.

The festival will feature crafts from around the world exhibited in distinctive booths. Wood carvings, costumes and musical instruments will be displayed alongside paper cuttings, embroidery and handmade pottery. Craft demonstrations will enhance the various displays. Ethnic foods prepared on site from family recipes handed down for generations will be on sale. Artifacts and clothing, among other items, will be on sale at the International Bazaar, the festival's traditional marketplace.

For the Weekend Editors George Anderson, Susan Puskor Listings Joanne Anderson, Call 263-1577 Retail advertising Call 263-1385 Cover Robert Schuster.