Apollo of Bellac
The Student Movement
May 29, 1982
from Apollo of Bellac is the Voice of Idealism
By Sharon Carroll
In an excellent portrayal, Peter Jon Shuler plays the part of The Man, who is the voice of faith and confidence in the attributes of man. The Man meets the trembling and insecure Agnes and transforms her into a secure and controlled individual who is no longer at the mercy of others for her acceptance, but is able to provide her own within herself.
Shuler enters the stage dressed in an oversized gray-green tweed sports coat, baggy brown trousers, tennis shoes and hair creamed white. Perhaps not the typical look of a philosophical muse, and perhaps this is his whole point - man is rarely what he appears and his beauty is not in his external appearance, but is contained in what lies within.
Shuler by far carries the best strength of characterization. His quick line response merged with his voice development, effective pausing and emphasis, and even his adoption of characterization within his diction and delivery when posing various personages within his discussions all point to his stage control and ease, as well as his excellent interpretation of character portrayal. Adding to his line delivery are his expressive facial movements, his smooth body movements which utilized the stage space, making it seem to flow into a large space - movements which often mimicked the personages he would refer to and assume in his delivery. The Man is the strength of the play - he is the force behind each man, the force of affirmation. And Shuler expresses dynamically this force with his exuberance and control.
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Changes last made on: Wed Mar 03 18:06:18 1998