Word: aranson
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...devise a version of Moby Dick as a one-man, 90-minute theater piece comes under the heading of "They said it couldn't be done." Jack Aranson has done it, superbly. Aranson was born in Los Angeles, trained as an actor at the Old Vic, toured Ireland, and in 1963 formed his own San Francisco City Theater. He is currently doing Moby Dick at college theaters in the Bay Area. Berkeley students are as still as un-dropped pins on the nights he appears...
...Aranson hews to four grand themes: the sea. the quest, the majestic, malignant power of the white whale, and Ahab's fierce, tragic, demonic will to harpoon fate. Ahab v. the first mate Starbuck, the man of reason, forms the main line of conflict. Starbuck has signed on to hunt whales, not to pursue Ahab's monomaniacal revenge. Melville means us to know that when a man sets out to probe the secrets of the universe, he is far past reason, just as the seafaring Renaissance explorers went far past their maps...
...Aranson seems almost to have been born on the wharves of Nan tucket. He walks with sea legs. The floorboards become a deck, rolling under his feet with the long, steady rhythm of an ocean swell. There are fogs, stars, spars and billowing sails in his voice...
...England Mind. Melville was a born monologuist, which helps Aranson mightily. The novel is replete with presentiments of drama, explicitly written-in stage directions that invaluably guide a fine actor. Thus Ahab's first appearance is heralded by the words: "He stood before us with a crucifixion in his face." Aranson turns that cue into a reality...
...group of Brandeis alumni have nominated by petition black militant Angela Davis to oppose the two candidates chosen by the BUAA Committee on Nominations, conservative incumbent president Morton Ginsberg and liberal contender Judith Aranson...