] O PLANET OF THE ARTS / SEPTEMBER 1995 Adad strikes back! The Human Faux Pas Main Dance, 828 E. Hastings Sept. 9,10,15-17 Adad Hannah graduated ECIAD last year, and this is what he’s been doing since that time. The Human Faux Pas; a series of short sketches melding performance and visual art into one. Adad started out with friends working on a series of theatre pieces way back in Camp Winnarainbow, a summer camp in California he attended at around age 14. Back then, “kids were experimenting with Dada theatre.” Today, Adad Hannah and Clay Hastings are The Human Faux Pas. Adad and Clay attended high school together. After graduation, Clay went off to SFU to study the- atre, and Adad attended ECIAD in Studio division. Four years later, Adad had to figure out what he was going to do now that he’s an ECIAD graduate, in the ‘real’ world. Adad explains, “when I graduated art school, I thought, ‘what do I want to do now?’ That [series of theatre pieces from camp] kinda crept up again.” “After graduating ECIAD,” Adad says, “I wanted to make perfor- mance art. I figured, okay, I’m the art, Clay is the performance.” Adad is actually performing as well, and not painting himself onto a stretched canvas, as one might expect. THFP integrates art and performance. Adad describes it as “theatre not in terms of telling a story necessarily or having a nar- rative, but in terms of visual Planet Canadian Bacon Michael Moore (USA) A political satire set in post- Cold War America. The President of the United States, without the old Soviet Union, no longer has an excuse to keep the missile factories open. His aides insist he must come up with a new “enemy” to keep the public’s mind off of the worsening economic crisis at home. He begs the new Russian president to “get back to the good old days” and at least pretend to be a menace. Rejected by the Russian leader, the President has but only one country left on the face of the earth which is big enough and close enough to con- vince the Americans that they really are in danger. Welcome to the new “Evil Empire”—Canada! And the Americans living up there on the “world’s longest unprotect- ed border” are ready for war. Flow dir. Quentin Lee (USA, 78 min.) Video art bad boy Quentin Lee brings his passion for camp, vio- lence and melodrama to his first feature, and impressive and stylish Negative Land in Sonic Outlaws images and artistic ideas. 1 suppose theatre has always dealt with those, but sometimes plays second fiddle to things like plot or theme, which our show doesn’t have.” The costumes in THFP are one element of artist ideas at work: one of the costumes is a ten foot tall frying- chicken. “In some ways,” Adad adds, “these pieces of theatre are similar to my art, even though they’re not on paper. It’s not as though we're acting out pieces of art...if you flattened the perfor- mance pieces, it might look like my art.” On side-stage along with Adad and Clay, are Daniel Ingram and Josh Thorpe playing original music on upright bass and accor- dion. Adad and Clay have been working on THFP for the past 8 months. Running a total of 45 minutes, the performance is made up of 12 skits that have been nar- rowed down from hundreds of ideas. Most scenes were brought about through improvisation. “We'd figure out what we like, memorize it, and develop it fur- ther,” says Adad. “Our play,” he continues, “is sort of like in the shape of dance or movement the- atre, but we're no dancers by any stretch of the imagination!” THFP was paid for by a Canada Council Explorations Grant (this particular grant, unfortunately, has since been phased out). The day after graduating, Adad started writing his grant application. At first, he mailed in a “thin” version of the application to the Grant Administrator, the person who pre- sents the work to the jury. The administrator helped Adad with his application by suggesting what a jury wants to see. Adad figures, “if people ask for help from the administrators, they'd get help that would better increase their chances of getting a grant.” The show is already booked next year in a theatre festival in Picks For Film Dan Akroyd appearing in Canadian Bacon weave of experimental forms, mocumentary and narrative. Combining cultural influences from both Hong Kong and the USA, Lee ties together five stories, including a surrealist vampire tale and the moving story of two col- lege roommates—one gay, one straight. 301, 302 (Food Diet, Sex & Film) dir. Park Chul-Soo (South Korea) Two young women are neigh- bours in rooms 301 and 302 of the New Hope Bio-Apartments, until the woman in 302 disappears. Detective Kim investigates...and uncovers a tangled web of sexual harassment, divorce, anorexia and compulsive eating disorders. Park Chul-Soo’s entertainingly lurid mystery-thriller wonders about the links between food and sex...and proves once again that hell is a solicitous neighbour. Sonic Outlaws dir. Craig Baldwin (USA, 87 min.) Craig Baldwin’s manic swirl of “found” and low-tech documenta- tion depicting an intrepid group of musicians, artists and “culture jammers” joyfully pushing the envelopes of taste, copyright and free speech. Centering his enquiry on “noise band” Negativeland’s fateful encounter with U2 and Island Records, Owens offers a dazzling and dazed glimpse of an American underground entering a digital age. Nico-Icon ‘dir. Suzanne Ofteringer (Germany) Why would a famous woman of “marbled sculpture” beauty want to become ugly? Nico was a German model, femme fatale/reflecting mirror whose life traversed key pop culture figures Barcelona, Spain, and if all goes well, it will travel to the rest of Europe after that. Adad says, “the show is safe for audience mem- bers, and you get fed.” This show is guaranteed to blow your mind!” -JONATHAN LANDER Reviews of some sort The Underneath dir. Steven Soderbergh playing at The Ridge ‘til Sept. 14 In case you didn’t read The Georgia Straight article, here’s some background on this film: It’s a remake of Robert Siodmak’s classic 1949 film-noir, Criss Cross, starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. | haven't seen the original. The story begins with Michael Chambers (Peter Gallagher) returning to his home town for his mother’s wedding, years after bail- ing out on his sweetie and his big gambling debts. The film’s time frame is multi-linear, shifting between past, present, and future, slowly filling us in on the details of Michael’s family and past deal- ings. Shortly after returning to town, Michael gets a job at an Armored Car company, and finds his ex-girlfriend and her lunatic, criminal-minded fiancée, who entangle him into a complicated mess of divided loyalties and wicked temptation. As a remake of a film-noir, and keeping somewhat faithful to the style of that genre, The Underneath is gripping, yet pre- dictable. However, it was not grip- continued on next page... Fest Fourteen of the sixties and seventies: Andy Warhol; the Velvet Underground; Jim Morrison; Alain Delon; Philippe Garrel. Susan Ofteringer’s amazing first feature explores the enigma, her haunting music and her times. VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL September 29 to October 15 Over 400 screenings of 250 films from 36 countries Nico-icon Love and Duty dir. Richard Poh (China, 1931) From the archives: a Chinese masterpiece feature in this year’s VIFF, starring screen legend Ruan Lingyu, whose story was told in Stanley Kwan's Actress/Centre Stage. Presented at the Vogue Theatre with live musical accom- paniment by Hong Kong’s Ernesto Maurice Corpus, one of the few real masters of the Yamaha Electone organ, a top-of-the-line unit capable of reproducing the sounds of an entire orchestra. 10 Pumer or rie Anrs | Serremser 1995 Adad strikes back! ‘The Human Faux Pas Main Dance, 828 E. Hastings Sept. 9101517 ‘Adad Hannah graduated ECIAD and this is what he's doing since that time. The Human Faux Pas; a series of short sketches melding performance and ‘Adad started out with friends working on a series of theatre pieces way back in Camp Winnarainbow, a summer camp in California he attended at around ‘age 14, Back then, "kids were ‘experimenting with Dada theatre.” ‘Today, Adad Hannah and Clay Hastings are The Human Faux Pas. Adad and Clay attended high school together. After graduation, Clay went off to SFU to study the- atre, and Adad attended ECIAD in Studio division. Four years later, ‘Adad had to figure out what he ‘was going to do now that he's an ECIAD graduate, in the ‘real’ world. Adad explains, “when 1 ‘graduated art school, I thought, ‘what do I want to do now?" That [series of theatre pieces from ‘camp] kinda crept up again.” "After graduating ECIAD,” Adad says, “I wanted to make perfor- mance art. | figured, okay, I'm the ar, Clay isthe performance.” Adad is actually performing 2s well, and not painting himself onto a stretched canvas, a one might ‘expect. THEP integrates art and performance. Adad describes it as “theatre notin terms of telling a story necessarily or having a nar- rative, but in terms of visual Planet Canadian Bacon Michoe! Moore (USA) A political satire set in post- Cold War America. The President of the United States, without the old Soviet Union, no longer has an excuse to keep the missile Factories ‘open. His aides insist he must come up with a new “enemy” to keep the public's mind off of the ‘worsening economic crisis at hhome. He begs the new Russian president to “get back to the good. ‘old days” and at least pretend to be a menace. Rejected by the ‘Russian leader, the President has ‘but only one country left on the face ofthe earth which is big ‘enough and close enough to con- vvince the Americans that they really are in danger. Welcome to the new “Evil Empire"Canada ‘And the Americans living up there fon the “world’s longest unprotect- cd border” are ready for war. Flow it, Quentin Lee (USA, 78 min) Video art bad boy Quentin Lee borings his passion for camp, vio- lence and melodrama to his first feature, and impressive and stylish Tegove Landi Sone Oats images and artistic ideas. 1 suppose theatre has always dealt with those, but sometimes plays second fiddle to things like plot or theme, which our show doesn't have." The costumes in THEP are one clement of artist ideas at work: one of the costumes is a ten foot tall frying chicken, “In some ways," Adad adds, “these pices of theatre are similar to my art, even though they're not on paper. I's not as though we're acting out pieces of art.if you flatened the perfor- mance pieces it might look lke my ar." On side-stage along with ‘Adad and Clay, are Daniel Ingram and Josh Thorpe playing original ‘music on upright bass and accor- dion ‘Adad and Clay have been working on THFP for the past 8 ‘months. Running a total of 45 ‘minutes the performance is made up of 12 skits that have been nar- rowed dovn from hundreds of ideas. Most scenes were brought bout through improvisation. “We'd figure out what we like, ‘memorize it, and develop it fur- ther,” says Adad. “Our play,” he continues, “is sort of lke in the shape of dance or movement the- tre, but we're no dancers by any stretch of the imagination!” ‘THEP was paid for by a Canada Council Explorations Grant (this particular grant, unfortunately, has since been phased out). The day after graduating, Adad started writing his grant application. At fist, he mailed in a "thin" version of the application to the Grant ‘Administrator, the person who pre- sents the work to the jury. The ‘administrator helped Adad with his application by suggesting what a jury wants to see. Adad figure, “if ‘people ask for help from the administrators, they'd get help that ‘would better increase their chances of getting a grant” The show is already booked next year in a theatre festival in Picks For Film ‘Dan Atl gpa in Conon Bacon Sonic Outlaws it. Crg Baldwin (USA, 87 min) ‘weave of experimental forms, mocumentary and narrative. ‘Combining cultural influences from both Hong Kong and the USA, Lee ties together five stories, including a surrealist vampire tale and the moving story of two col- lege roommates—one gay, one straight Craig Baldwin's manic switt of “found” and low-tech documenta tion depicting an intrepid group of musicians, artists and “culture jammers" joyfully pushing the envelopes of taste, copyright and free speech. Centering his enquiry fon “noise band” Negativeland's fateful encounter with U2 and Island Records, Owens offers a dazzling and dazed glimpse of an “American underground entering a 301, 302 (Food Diet, Sex & Film) {it Park Chul-So0 (South Korea) ‘Two young women are neigh- burs in rooms 301 and 302 of the New Hope Bio-Apartments, until digital age. ‘the woman in 302 disappears. Detective Kim investigates..and _Nieo-leon. uncovers a tangled web of sexual harassment, divoree, anorexia and compulsive eating disorders. Park WI Chul-Soo’sentertainingly lurid of “marbled sculpture” beauty rmystery-thriller wonders about the want to become ugly? Nico was a links between food and sex..and proves once again that hell is a soliitous neighbour. ir, Suzanne Ofteringer (Germany) would a famous woman German model, femme fatale/reflecting mirror whose life traversed key pop culture figures Reviews of some sort al The Underneath diz, Steven Soderbergh playing at The Ridge ‘til Sept. 14 In case you di Georgia Straight artic some background on this film: Its ‘a remake of Robert Siodmak’s classic 1949 film-noir, Criss Cross, starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. I haven't seen the original ‘The story begins with Michael ‘Chambers (Peter Gallagher) returning to his home town for his mother’s wedding, years after bail- ing out on his sweetie and his big, ‘gambling debts. The film's time Frame is mult-linear, shifting between past, present, and future, slowly filling us in on the details ‘of Michael's family and past deal- ings. Shorly after returning to town, Michael gets a job at an ‘Armored Car company, and finds his ex-girlfriend and her lunatic, ‘riminal-minded fiancée, who entangle him into a complicated ress of divided loyalties and wicked temptation. AAs a remake ofa flm-noir, and keeping somewhat faithful to the style ofthat genre, The ‘Underneath is gripping, yet pre dictable. However, it was not grip- Barcelona, Spain, and if all goes ‘well, will travel to the rest of Europe after that. Adad says, “the show is safe for audience mem- bers, and you get fe.” This show is guaranteed to blow your mind!” -JonaraN LANDER contin on et page. Fest Fourteen of the sixties and seventies: Andy Warhol; the Velvet Underground: Jim Morrison; Alain Delon; Philippe Garel, Susan Ofteringer’s amazing first feature explores the enigma, her haunting music and her times. Love and Duty 4. Richard Poh (China, 1931) From the archives: a Chinese masterpiece feature inthis year's VIFF, starring screen legend Ruan Lingyu, whose story was told in Stanley Kwan's Actress/Centre Stage. Presented at the Vogue ‘Theatre with live musical accom- paniment by Hong Kong's Ernesto Maurice Corpus, one ofthe few real masters of the Yamaha Electone organ, a top-of-the-Hine ‘unit capable of reproducing the sounds of an entre orchestra. VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL September 29 to October 15. (ver 400 screenings of 250, films from 36 countries