Word: gutwillig
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Dressed in a baseball jacket, cords, and high-tops, Stephen W. Gutwillig '86 sits on the floor and plays with a cat as he speaks of the festival's meaning. "It's about plucking hope out of the shadows of the AIDS crisis," he says. "That's why it's the festival of life and [the words on the poster] are green. We want to show that a positive response is more contagious than the disease itself...
Just six months ago Gutwillig, the chairman of the Harvard-Radcliffe Aids Benefit Committee, conceived of the festival. As he worked, the plans grew from a one-night event to a whole week's production--adding doctors, celebrities and Harvard administrators to what was originally an undergraduate effort...
...festival features appearances by Judy Collins, Joan Kennedy, Allen Ginsberg, and Colleen Dewhurst. Apparently Gutwillig snagged a few big names without the help of trademarks like the IOP or the Lampoon...
Gutwiilig does an equally impressive job as the wizened and dying John of Gaunt. He realistically portrays Richard's sagacious uncle whose raspy, yet piercing voice haunts Richard throughout the play. Gutwillig also plays the Abbot of Westminster and has a brief appearance as the Gardener. This latter role proves his flexibility as an actor since he successfully and humorously fulfills the part of a gossipy old man, as opposed to the serious and frustrated John of Gaunt...
SUPERB ACTING in the midst of fine direction is the most impressive aspect of this production. Moore, as the self-assured and occasionally snide King Richard II, and John of Gaunt (Stephen Gutwillig) give command performances. Moore is especially powerful in Act III when Richard hears his troops have deserted him. His acting captivates the viewer as he kneels in the flashlit room speaking to the ground and questioning the "destined doom" of a king "within whose crown lies death's court" and desperately cries out, "I am a human, too." Again, Moore commands the stage during his resignation scene...