Only dim lights and a single black throne outfit the stage of Balch Arena Theatre. "The Tooth of Crime," however, is anything but stark. Written by Sam Shepard in the 1970s, the play successfully recreates the image of the rock 'n' roll era, complete with leather jackets, classic cars, switchblades, injected drugs and period slang.
The play, a fall minor sponsored by Torn Ticket II and 3Ps, reveals the fall of rock legend Hoss (played by sophomore Michael Nance) and the rise of Crow (freshman Greg Beach), a cocky punk musician in a sect of sub-culture contemptuously referred to as "The Game."
The play centers on Hoss and his transition from feelings of confidence to nervousness about Crow, ending with bitterness and defeat at the hands of his younger rival. Stage-manager sophomore KC Hallett said, "Hoss is literally onstage for all but about two minutes of the show; he can't do anything but sit and watch as his world comes crashing down [around] his ears."
Though the performance incorporates music, featuring a pit band with piano, guitar and drums, director and sophomore Corey Briskin said, "It is not musical theater. The characters sing for a fair amount, and music is an opportunity to perform, but the story is told through dialogue... Music is the string that links all the characters together."
The show opens with Hoss performing one of his hit songs. He moves jauntily, snapping his fingers and sidestepping, evoking the walk-offs of "West Side Story." The choreographer, senior Lauren Vigdor, said she concentrated on "movement coaching," helping the actors define their characters by their specific interactions with each other. These interactions demonstrate the comfort the music gives the characters and the inevitable clash of styles it causes.
Becky (sophomore Helen Corless), Hoss's groupie, sings with the jaded confidence of a nightclub crooner. Wearing high heels, she holds a microphone in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Her siren melodies are the only thing that comforts Hoss' nervousness about his inevitable downfall. Only during her song can he sit placidly on his throne with his head back and eyes closed with a calm smile on his lips.
The fast-talking, gum-chewing Crow ends this tranquility. He moves into Hoss' "turf" with big steps, a relaxed smile and slow-motion, Matrix-like poses.
Briskin believes that the play also speaks to the importance of language. The characters continually reference their world of "killers," "gypsies" and the almost mythological "keepers." The moon-walking DJ Galactic Jack (sophomore Kate Roberts) talks completely in jive, telling Hoss, for example, "You just got the bugger blues, man."
Roberts jokingly calls her character "half '70s pimp and half '50s radio personality." However, the DJ plays an important cultural role: "He's the keeper of the charts. The DJ tells who's in and who's out," she said.
Crow speaks all in lingo, and in this jumble of cultural references viewers see the clash between the fallen rock star and the hyper-intense newbie rocker, as the two use words to illustrate their styles and justify their right to stay in the limelight.
Hallett said that language was a challenge for the performers. "There are a lot of references to people we've never heard of - which is kind of part of the point, because the nature of rock 'n' roll, and maybe life, is that you only get your 15 minutes, and then you're yesterday's news," she said.
Briskin chose to do the play because of its description of the transient nature of pop culture: "Music is perpetually changing, and there is no one style of music that is constant. We lived another change: After punk came pop. The in thing now is to listen to rock 'n' roll."
He added, "In the end, Hoss and Crow are just representations of any rocker from their respective eras. It looks like Crow wins, but really, it's the victory of music."
