UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 2
September 12, 1996
Body movement artist will appear in Hartshorn show

     Movement artist Daniel Stein will present Timepiece at 7:30
p.m., Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27-28, in Hartshorn Theatre.
Tickets are $14 for the general public, $12 for University
faculty, staff and senior citizens and $8 for students.
     Sponsored by the Professional Theatre Training Program
(PTTP), Timepiece has been called "a staggering tour de force" by
Glenne Currie, lively arts editor for United Press International.
     "[Stein] uses his body and a handful of props-a rope, a
plumb line, chairs, a mask-to create a whole world of fantasy,
whimsy and realism. Like all good mimes he has total control of
his body. Like all good dancers, he can return to the same
precise point in space whenever he wants. Above all, he has a
stupendous, freewheeling imagination, which makes him as clever a
creator as a performer," Currie wrote.
     Born in Milwaukee, Stein has lived and worked in Paris for
almost 20 years. Since leaving his position with the French
National Theatre, he has been creating, directing and performing
nonverbal and verbal plays. He is a past president of the
National Movement Theatre Association and a current member of its
board of directors. In 1986, he participated in a National
Endowment for the Arts/United States/Japan Exchange to study Noh
Drama, Bunraku, Tea Ceremony and many other aspects of Japanese
art and culture.
     He has taught master classes throughout the world at such
prestigious institutions as the Juilliard School of Drama and the
Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tokyo. In 1990, he held a
Guggenheim Fellowship and most recently is the recipient of a
$100,000 National Theatre Artist Residency Grant from the Pew
Charitable Trust and Theatre Communications Group.
     It took Stein two years to create Timepiece. Each movement
is fixed and there is no improvisation. The production notes
explain that the concept of time is a multifaceted and
fascinating idea. Time can't be stopped, but it can be kept. Time
can't be seen and yet it flies. It can't be touched, yet it makes
itself felt. Timepiece asks the question: "Are these just plays
on words or an attempt to control, through language, that which
cannot be controlled?"
     Timepiece deals with the passage of time in the life of a
man, the conflict and power that emerge from time's ceaseless
march towards tomorrow and the joy and love that swell from
time's constant caress and care.
     All of the images in the production manifest themselves
without words. Everyday objects take on new roles. A plumb-line
become more than a mason's tool and takes on the responsibilities
of truth and clarity. A chair is no longer just to sit on, it
becomes a symbol of support and strength. Tickets are now on sale
at all UD box offices. For more information, call 831-2204.