Dammit, Jim. I’m a Theatre Critic not a Science Fiction Enthusiast. by Marnie MacEwan Do you love to hate William Shatner? Have you, in the past five months, made mockery of the hairpiece and girdle of James Tiberius Kirk? Did you see Star Trek: Generations and secretly marvel at your good fortune that you could see the much parodied Captain die twice? Has in- tense past pain wreaked havoc on your psyche when you realized that the man whose later oeuvre includes T.J. Hooker and Rescue 911 was actually called away from Stratford to film a lit- tle-watched, low-budget sci-fi television show? Unless you have been culturally comatose for the past thirty years, then your answer to at least one of these questions will, invariably, be “yes”. For those of you who answered “no”, go back to your yurts and open-fire cooking. For the rest of the world, hip to 23rd century lore, THE WAY OFF BROADWAY GROUP has got just the show for you. Their latest offering, The Scions of Hydra has taken camp out of North America’s rain-sodden KOA parks and put it back in the theatre where it belongs. Most likely, the audi- ence at the Station Street Arts Centre had not been enticed there by the strong reputation of the WAY OFF BROADWAY GROUP in the Vancouver thea- tre community, which has earned its status with such productions as Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Erections Ejaculations Exhibitions. No, it is more likely that they had heard of Michael Schaldemose’s well-earned praise during the - Fringe for his horrifyingly accurate characteriza- tion of the man known simply to millions as Shatner. Or, perhaps they had read the ever-so- campy ads in the Georgia Straight, “To boldly go where no man has cum before.” If you haven’t figured it out yet, Scions of Hydra is set up like an episode of Star Trek. Dur- ing the filming of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, William Shatner, is beamed off the Enterprise and held captive by a cloned superbreed of leather- clad, reminiscently Klingon, females. They will be destroyed unless they can make good use of Shatner’s virility (they believe him to be James T. Kirk) and deliver a vial of his sperm to the Queen of the planet Hydra (Katya Gorrie) so she can propagate the race. This quest sets up a multitude of dilem- mas for Shatner. First, he must battle his dual Bill/Jim personas. (Trekkies will recognize the stimulus for this plot from “The Enemy Within” episode where Kirk first battled his duelling per- sonalities.) His external battle is fought with sev- eral rebel creatures — failed genetic superbreeds, everyone — and he must quickly adopt cloaking powers in order to meet his invisible enemies on equal footing. That enemy is bald and half-na- ked in a g-string and fishnet body stocking. Rob Ives, as one of the creatures, looks like a cross between Lord of the Rings’ Gollum and an extra in Derek Jarman’s Edward II. Jarman aside, Kirk’s lust is entirely hetero in Scions and he proves it during a sexual mind meld with one of the superbreeds. Ultimately, he convinces her that if the Scions wish to keep their race alive, a balance of gender is the only solution. With no other men on the planet, the Kirk/Shatner persona will most likely reach mythical status, even outside of his own mind,- as the father of that race. Star Trek aficionados will be most de- lighted by recognizing numerous plots, themes, monologues and musical overtures both from the films and the original series. The rest of the audi- ence may well feel like they have walked into one 'L UIMET4, big in-joke and wonder what is inciting all that laughter. The less Trek-minded among us may have more time to focus on some of the other el- ements of production, for Scions of Hydra does a fairly good job at creating an alien world using only props, sound and lighting effects on a com- pletely bare stage. In order to remedy any ill-feelings from the non-Trek-literate audience members, I am in- clined to admit that most of my information was fed to me from my source, “Hugh” (not his real name), who read to me from his Special Obses- sive Compulsive Collector’s Edition of “Enter- tainment Weekly”. Without it, I would be but a poor base judge of quality, except to know where mockery is due. And I do so love to mock the man that men call, Shatner. Scions of Hydra runs at the Station Street Arts Centre until Dec. 17. LOW rez SKY LINE an evening with William Gibson Is it true that somewhere all forms of?art may eventually meet? Or possibly if an idea is far reaching enough it begins to influence,other forms of art beyond its own medium. Western culture is in search of itself, defining itself, de- stroying itself on a day to day basis. So, when William Gibson came out on stage and declared himself an old science fiction writer, it came.as no surprise to the audience at the Vogue. It does not take long today to feel the very future pre- dicted ten years ago is already in the past. Gibson came online and plugged directly into the avant- garde of science fiction literature with his novel Neuromancer. It picked up the Hugo, the Nebula and the Phillip K. Dick Awards in 1984. It was in this novel that many of the disparate forces and ideas behind the new technological nihilism be- came defined and injected into the mainstream at a level that many readers were beginning to feel comfortable with. It was the loudest voice to shout cyberspace and virtual reality in all its pro- phetic glory. Of course, far hard care sci-fi fans, these were old ideas given a contemporary edge and reference. The shock came with realizing that what he was writing about was potentially going to happen by the end of the century. His latest novel, Virtual Light , continues along the same vein as his earlier novel. In this novel, Gibson writes about San Francisco in the year 2005 after a massive earthquake. California has been di- vided into NoCal and SoCal. The world is run by giant corporations and the police are corrupt. In the vagrant population that now lives on the Golden Gate bridge someone is holding a pair of stolen virtual-reality glasses that contain infor- mation the owners want back, desperately. As I settled back in the darkness of the Vogue, Gibson’s monotone voice crackled nervously yet assuredly behind the black matte headset which he wore. Behind him, a 40 foot video projection screen towered ominously like a time portal, the keeper. Events scripted with unearthly, mechanoid precision unfolded and flowed: video clips and mind bending montage accompanied Gibson readings. At the heart of this was Gibson’s writing. His dystopic vision has always been Br “My viewed as pessimistic whining about a future so- ciety caught between technology and humanity. Yet if you consider the current mood of our soci- ety it would not seem pessimistic but rather real- istic. Nevertheless, the chemically addicted, sexu- ally exploited, crime ravaged future is tangibly brought to life with the dark, fragmented charac- ters that inhabit Gibson’s world. If there is to be- a consideration of motive, it is reasonable toifi- clude a certain marketable quality to this destiny that Gibson has manifested. It is not hard to see technology as the true product of unchecked con- sumerism. As the future extends beyond litera- ture, beyond the small screen, beyond the large screen, to every niche of our privileged first world lives, it escapes. It escapes from us as much as we try to capture it. AGRIPPA - Gibson wrote the text for this project in which the computer encoded message was simultaneously eradicated by a computer virus as it was being displayed, thus rendering the work only usable once. Gibson read the actual text that evening which was quite mov- ing for its own subject content rather than the gimmicky way in which it was released. He was rather put off by the amount of coverage that it -. received compared to his writings at the time. AGRIPPA was supposedly cracked by two hack- ers before the official release date and down- loaded onto the Internet. JOHNNY MNEMONIC - Gibson wrote the screenplay of this Robert Longo film which stars Keanu Reeves. Gibson was thrilled to see his words and vision becoming as real as a movie set but felt that the loss of editorial control was not worth it. review by Fernando Ignacio credits to TAMAHNOUS THEATRE and the VOGUE GY Music for the Masses Y by Shane Walker For those of you alive in the seventies and eighties, then you are (or should be) familiar with the songs and sounds of The Isley Broth- ers: Brown Eyed Girl, Caravan of Love, etc.; for those of you about to love (or in love), then you will appreciate the soft, smooth sounds being emitted from this musical piece of hardware. The Isley Brothers helped de- fine the sound of the black ballad and in- spired succeeding generations of singers/ songwriters, and this compilation is a testa- ment to their soulful inspirations. So, if you're in the mood for some loving and soul ecstasy, then this one’s for you. Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool (MCA) Another in the series from The Red Hot Or- ganization, this CD, which includes jazz iy Dammit, Jim. I'ma Theatre Critic not a ‘Science Fiction Enthusiast. by Marnie MacEwan Doyou love tohate William Shatner? Have ‘you, in the past five months, made mockery of the hairpiece and girdle of James Tiberius Kirk? Did you see Star Trek: Generations and secretly marvel at your good fortune that you could see the much parodied Captain die twice? Has in- tense past pain wreaked havoc on your psyche when you realized that the man whose later ‘oeuvre includes TJ. Hooker and Rescue 911 was actually called away from Stratford to film a lit tle-watched, low-budget sci-fi television show? Unless you have been culturally comatose for the past thirty years, then your answer to at least one of these questions will, invariably, be “yes”. For those of you who answered “no”, go back to your yurts and open-fire cooking. For the restof the world, hip to 23rd century lore, THE WAY OFF BROADWAY GROUP has gotjust the show for you. Their latest offering, The Scions of ‘Hydra has taken camp out of North America’s rain-sodden KOA parks and put it back in the theatre where it belongs. Most likely, the audi- ence atthe Station Street Arts Centre had not been. enticed there by the strong reputation of the WAY (OFF BROADWAYGROUP in the Vancouver thea- {re community, which has eamed its status with such productions as Danny and the Deep Blue ‘Sea and Erections Ejaculations Exhibitions. No, it is more likely that they had heard of Michael Schaldemose’s well-earned praise during the Fringe for his horrifyingly accurate characteriza- tion of the man known simply to millions as Shatner. Or, perhaps they had read the ever-50- campy ads in the Georgia Straight, “To boldly go ‘where no man has cum before.” If you haven't figured it out yet, Scions of _Hydrais set up like an episode of Star Trek. Dur- ing the filming of Star Trek I: The Wrath of Khan, William Shatner, is beamed off the Enterpriseand held captive by a cloned superbreed of leather- clad, reminiscently Klingon, females. They will be destroyed unless they can make good use of Shatner’s virility (they believe him to be James T. Kirk) and deliver vial ofhis sperm to the Queen. of the planet Hydra (Katya Gorrie) so she can propagate the race. This quest sets up a multitude of dilem- ‘mas for Shatner. First, he must battle his dual Bill/Jim personas. (Trekkies will recognize the stimulus for this plot from “The Enemy Within” episode where Kirk first battled his duelling per- sonalities.) His external battle is fought with sev- eral rebel creatures ~ failed genetic superbreeds, everyone — and he must quickly adopt cloaking powers in order to meet his invisible enemies on ‘equal footing. That enemy is bald and half-na- ed in a g-string and fishnet body stocking. Rob Ives, as one of the creatures, looks like a cross between Lord of the Rings’ Gollum and an extra in Derek Jarman’s Edward Il Jarman aside, Kirk's lust is entirely hetero in Scions and he proves it during a sexual mind. meld with one of the superbreeds. Ultimately, he convinces her that if the Scions wish to keep their race alive, a balance of gender is the only solution. With no other men on the planet, the Kirk/Shatner persona will most likely reach mythical status, even outside of his own mind, as the father of that race. Star Trek aficionados will be most de- lighted by recognizing numerous plots, themes, monologues and musical overtures both from the filmsand the original series. Therrestof the audi- ‘ence may well feel like they have walked into one Ye big injoke and wonder what is inciting all that laughter. The less Trek-minded among us may have more time to focus on some of the other el- "eients of production) forssinnwot Hydra does a fairly good job at creating an alien world using, only props, sound and lighting effects on a com- pletely bare stage. Tnorder to remedy any ill-feelings from the non-Trek-literate audience members, 1 am in- clined to admit that most of my information was fed to me from my source, “Hugh” (not his real ‘name), who read to me from his Special Obses sive Compulsive Collector’s Edition of “Enter- tainment Weekly”. Without it, [ would be but a poor base judge of quality, except to know where mockery is due. And I do so love to mock the man that men call, Shatner. ‘Scions of Hydra runs at the Station Street ‘Arts Centre until Dec. 17. LOW rez SKY LINE an evening with William Gibson Is it true that somewhere all forms of art may eventually meet? Or possibly if an idea is far reaching enough it begins to influence other forms of art beyond its own medium. Western cultu search of itself, defining itself, de- stroying itself on a day to day basis. So, when William Gibson came out on stage and declared himself an old science fiction write, it came as no surprise to the audience at the Vogue. It does not take long today to feel the very future pre- dicted ten years ago is already in the past. Gibson ‘came online and plugged directly into the avant- garde of science fiction literature with his novel Neuromancer. It picked up the Hugo, the Nebula and the Phillip K. Dick Awards in 1984. It was in this novel that many of the disparate forces and ideas behind the new technological nihilism be- came defined and injected into the mainstream ata level that many readers were beginning to feel comfortable with. Itwas the loudest voice to ci-fifans, rary edge and reference. The shock came with realizing that, ‘what he was writing about was potentially going, to happen by the end of the century. His latest novel, Virtual Light , continues along the same vein as his earlier novel. In this novel, Gibson. writes about San Francisco in the year 2005 after, a massive earthquake. California has been di- vided into NoCal and SoCal. The world is run by giant corporations and the police are corrupt. In the vagrant population that now lives on the Golden Gate bridge someone is holding a pair of stolen virtual-reality glasses that contain infor- mation the owners want back, desperately. As I settled back in the darkness of the Vogue, Gibson’s monotone voice crackled nervously yet, assuredly behind the black matte headset which hhe wore. Behind him, a 40 foot video projection screen towered ominously like a time portal, the Keeper. Events scripted with unearthly, mechanoid precision unfolded and flowed: clips and mind bending montage accompanied Gibson readings. At the heart ofthis was Gibson’s, writing. His dystopic vision has always been viewed as pessimistic whining about future so-