"RASHOMON"
Based on stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Adaptation by Fay and Michael Kanin
-- THE CAST--(as they appear)
JEFFREY MILET..................as the Priest
PAUL RASHAP....................as the Woodcutter
EDDIE FRACKMAN..............as the Wigmaker
JACK ROSENBERG.............as the Deputy
GEORGE SEPE...................as the Bandit
CARL PIAZZA.......................as the Husband
VIVIIAN VERRILLI.................as the Wife
SYLVIA THORNER................as the Mother
JOY KROIN...........................as the Medium
The action takes place in Kyoto, Japan, about a thousand years ago -- at an edge of the Rashomon Gate, at a police court, and in a nearby forest.
The play is in two acts. There will be a fifteen minute intermission
ABOUT THE CAST
GEORGE SEPE (Bandit) is a senior from Yonkers, New York who transferred to U. B. a year ago from Westchester Community College and joined O.C.P. where he has appeared in featured roles in two Campus Thunder shows. Tonight marks his debut in a straight acting role. He is a member of Kappa Sigma Kappa and an officer in the Air Force National Guard.
VIVIAN VERRILLI (Wife) after returning to Bridgeport from Greece where she co--starred in a motion picture for Norma Productions entitled "Serenity" entered the University to study drama. Tonight marks her first appearance for O.C.P. In addition to acting, Vivian has proved herself a capable director in campus productions.
CARL PIAZZA (husband) makes his first appearance on any stage. An all-around athlete, Carl excelled in football at Bridgeport's Central High from where he graduated. Following a sojourn with the Army he entered U.B. where he is majoring in Education.
JEFFREY MILET (Priest) joined O.C.P. last year to play a featured role in the Spring play "Someone Waiting," and has been active in every production since. He turned from the dramatic to a singing role in this year's Campus Thunder. He is a sophomore from Fairfield and a SLX member.
EDDIE FRACKMAN (Wigmaker) is a drama student from Great Neck~ Long Island. Eddie is making his fourth appearance in a major O.C.P. production. His credits include three Campus Thunder shows and "Someone Waiting." He is a talented song writer and has appeared professionally on television.
PAUL RASHAP (Woodcutter) appears for the first time in an O.C.P. production in a role of his own sex. His previous appearances have been as a member of the glamorous Thunderettes in two Thunder shows. Paul comes from Brooklyn and is active in N.E.A, and Hillel.
SYLVIA THORNER (Mother) is a sixth year graduate student in Education and teacher at Old Field School in Fairfield. A native New Yorker, she studied drama with Richard Edalman at the Neighborhood Playhouse and spent some time in London where she studied ballet.
JACK ROSENBERG (Deputy) a Dana Scholar, has been active behind scenes in all O.C.P. productions since entering the University a year ago. This marks his first appearance before U.B. footlights. His many campus activities include Connecticut Inter-Collegiate Student Legislature and president of the Psychology Society.
JOY KROIN (Medium) appeared in the past Thunder show, *'The Peacock Season." A sophomore from Garfield, New Jersey, Joy is active in in many and varied campus activities and is a volunteer worker for Hull Neighborhood House.
Plot
Set during the chaos of 12th-century Japan, a woodcutter, a priest, and a commoner wait out a thunderstorm in the shadow of a ruined gate. To pass the time the woodcutter and priest tell the commoner of a recent investigation in which they both took part. They tell the tale of a samurai and his wife who were attacked by the infamous bandit Tajomaru while travelling. The husband is killed and the wife and bandit have sex. However, during the investigation the specifics of the attack are called into question as those involved relate conflicting versions of the events. The film cuts back and forth between the gate and the various versions accounting for the attack.
According to the captured Tajomaru, the wife gave in to his sexual advances, then told him to kill her husband because she could not bear to be shamed in the eyes of both men. According to the wife, she is raped and Tajomaru runs away. She frees her husband and offers to let him kill her. Before that can happen however she faints and when she wakes up her husband is dead with a dagger in his chest. She allows that it appears she must have killed him. The dead husband is heard through a medium. In this version, after Tajomaru rapes the wife, the thief begs her to marry him. The wife replies that he must first kill her husband. The thief is shocked and asks the husband what he should do to the wife. The wife runs off, and the thief chases her. The disgraced samurai then takes his wife's dagger and commits suicide. In death, however he hears footsteps approach and the expensive dagger is removed from his chest.
With some prodding by his companions at the gate, a fourth version of the story is told by the woodcutter, who found the body. He claims that after the rape, the wife baits both men into fighting a duel over her. In the chicken-hearted fight which follows her husband trips and is run-through by the thief's sword. At the gate, the woodcutter and the priest bemoan the state of man that engenders all this lying. The commoner laughs it off. When the three find a baby, the commoner steals its few possessions. When he is taken to task by the woodcutter, he accuses the woodcutter of stealing the raped woman's dagger. The disillusioned priest and the woodcutter with the guilty conscience are left alone with the baby. As the weather breaks the woodcutter vows to care for the child and heads off in the sunshine toward home with the baby in his arms.
A captured, audience of 200 filling UB's little theater "barn" saw a lively opening night performance of "Rashomon", The Office of Campus production's 196! Spring Play. The popular Japanese play, an inquisition into "truth", opened on March 179 with repeated performances on the 18th and 20th, A cast headed by Vivian Verrilli and George Sepe responded well to the demanding versatility of the two-act play. Miss Verrilli, a "westernized" Samuri's wife, and George Sepe, who played the lusting, rapacious "bandit were "blessed with a fine supporting cast and effectively realistic sets and stage effects. A good deal of credit goes for the directing talent of Albert Dickason who kept the play moving with a lively pace, maintaining audience interest with brilliant timing.
Written to have taken place a 1000 years ago in Japan, the original story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa was adapted by Fay and Michael Ifanin. The UB performance of "Eashomon" followed its popularity on TV recently and other college campuses where the appeal of its strange story has made a lasting impression on audiences, The encounter of three main characters in a forest is the episode about which different stories are told as characters within the play disagree on exactly what took place. Eddie Frackman, a vivid character actor playing the wigmaker, summed up the truth as "people see what they want to see; hear what they want to hear"….(the remainder of this article is temporarily lost ).
To see The Rashomon Gallery of Photos: CLICK HERE