University Players offer 'verbal boxing match'

Competition. \nThe word has been used for centuries to describe manliness, with the victor claiming power and the loser reduced to a pitiful wretch. The throes of competition is the topic the University Players will battle this weekend.\nWith a cast of three, "Never Swim Alone," by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, tells the story of two men who have been friends since childhood and competitors for just as long. A 13-round verbal "boxing match" allows Bill (freshman Ian Martin) and Frank (junior Brendan Donaldson) to strike with words. Refereed by a woman (senior Lauren Sharpe), the match takes the audience through the twists, blows and dodges of male relationships.\nSenior Eliza Hittman takes on her first directing job with "Never Swim Alone." She was assistant director for the University Theatre's production of "Equus," earlier this semester, but has never taken on the role by herself before.\n"'Never Swim Alone' was a play that I had entered into the school year with much determination to direct," Hittman said. "This Canadian play hasn't drifted very far from major cities, and I wanted to share it with Bloomington."\nThe little-known play, which has received good reviews for productions elsewhere, is a satire and drama allowed to explain itself without the obstructions of a dramatic set. Three actors and three chairs are used in the storytelling, which will take place in the Rose Firebay of the John Waldron Arts Center. The venue seats about 60 to 70 people.\nLighting director senior Rob Continello said "Never Swim Alone" was a good choice to produce in such a small venue. With the lights, Continello said he tries to highlight the contrasting personalities of Frank and Bill, who dance between friendship and fighting.\n"It's intense ... no one wants to lose," Continello said.\nDonning the briefcase and suit of the capitalistic world, Frank and Bill reach various warlike highs and lows throughout the play. They fight about masculinity and the past.\nMartin, portraying Bill, said the play stretched his abilities as an actor with its demanding realism. He said it also made him look more closely at insecurities and the roles people take in life. Martin said he hopes the performance causes audience members to look inside themselves. Hittman also said the play carries a deeper meaning for the audience to decipher.\n"It is the story of macho male bravado expressed in a match of 13 rounds," said Hittman, "but this treacherous game of one-upmanship is only half the story, half the punch."\n"Never Swim Alone" will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at the Rose Firebay in the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for nonstudents and are available at the door or by reservation on the University Players Web site, www.indiana.edu/~players.