Word: valentiner
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Persecution, oppression, humiliation, and above all, fear. Welcome to the lives of Molina (Stefan Atkinson '03) and Valentin (Stephen Toub '01), two men trapped in an Argentine prison. Molina, a gay window-dresser serving time for corrupting a minor, sits alone in his dark prison cell avoiding further torment from the warden and his frighteningly faithful guards when Valentin, a Marxist revolutionary, is thrust inside the room. Although Molina nurses his fellow prisoner back to health, their relationship becomes anything but friendly: Valentin, a suspected conspirator, wants nothing to do with the "dizzy," chattering Molina. But as this tale unfolds...
...discover their similarities in their seemingly contrasting lives, their friendship becomes strained by the prison warden's attempts to persuade Molina in obtaining the names of those involved in Valentin's rebellious plans. The warden, brilliantly played by Brian Gatten '01, promises Molina the opportunity to leave the prison and go "Over the Wall" to his dying mother. The cowardly prisoner, indifferent to his fellow prisoner's politics, thus, is left with a most difficult decision-a decision that grows increasingly complicated when Molina realizes his feelings for Valentin are more than those of friendship. What ultimately happens is shocking...
Wonderfully cast as Molina and Valentin, Atkinson and Toub deliver tremendous performances in this production based on Manuel Puig's highly acclaimed novel. Both charming and nave, Atkinson wins the audience's affection from the opening scene. As he struggles to make his mother proud, remain loyal to Valentin, and above all, stay true to himself, the audience never gives up hope that he will, in the end, prevail. Toub, a former Din and Tonic and veteran of Harvard theater, defines the meaning of power in his performance. Highly impassioned by goals of a better future for all, Toub...
Even still, surely no team deserved as much calamity as befell Boston this year. The first casualty of outrageous fortune came before the season even started, as promising righthanded starter Juan Pena went down with a season-ending arm injury in spring training. Third baseman John Valentin was Boston's next victim, as a freak play in the infield disabled him for the year...
...ultimate symbol of state-sponsored corruption and cynical manipulation of power is the Yeltsin "Family." It includes Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko; his onetime chief of staff Valentin Yumashev; and a number of powerful financiers, including Boris Berezovsky. The group played a major role in engineering Yeltsin's retirement and Putin's rise. And though corruption allegations against the Family have disappeared from most front pages, the heat is still on. A Swiss prosecutor recently told a Russian newspaper that relatives and associates of Yeltsin's remain under investigation in his country...