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Landmark Players Around The Stage In Farcicai Double FeatureBY LINUS G/dLBERThe Landmark Players%u2019 production of two one-act plays, double feature style, is a fine example of the wide ranges covered by modern comedy. One, in a campy British style is a pompous and thought-provoking farce with insights into the regimentations and pseudo-intellectualism of middle-age morality; the other is a raucous, frenetic, %u201cLaveme and Shirley%u201d sort of sit-com%u2014 slick, light and screeching.The first play on the agenda is %u2018%u2018The Public Eye.%u201d Written by British playwright Peter Shaffer (author of %u201c Equus%u201d ) and directed by Nanci Nicholson, %u2018%u2018Eye%u201d revolves around scruffy private detective Julian Christophora, who wears a ragged and voluminous black overcoat from which he produces an endless stream of food: bagels, tootsie rolls, candy, macaroons, nuts, and Dannon yogurt. (%u201cI eat when I%u2019m nervous,%u201d he explains.) Christophora has been hired by accountant Charles Sidley to spy on Belinda, his pert, flighty 18-year-old wife, whom Charles suspects of infidelity. Belinda has begun to reject his values, complaining about his %u2018%u2018stuffy%u201d friends and indulging in off-beat fashions. %u2018%u2018Last night,%u201d complains Charles, drawing himself up to his fullest stately height, %u2018%u2018she came to dinner in what I can only describe as a leather pajama suit. My friends are not stuffy, Mr. Christophora, just because they do not come to dinner dressed as motorcyclists!%u201d And according to Christophora, whose reporting is about as clear as obsidian, Belinda is indeed having an affair.Of course, everything works out in the end, with meetings and melees delightfully concocted and some interesting reversals.John Cooke plays Christophora with quick, boundless, Richard Dreyfuss-likenervous energy, glibly shuffling through weighty and ludicrous situations. Jerry Corrigan, as Charles is almost painfully stiff, especially in dialogues with the greasier detective; but he delivers his lines in a smooth, thorough and placidly self-satisfied manner, one well suited to the impeccable accountant he is supposed to be. The final character, Belinda, is balanced skillfully between these two emotional extremes by Gayle Hudson, who displays a love of and flair for Christophora%u2019s silly absurdities with a schoolchild%u2019s happy excitement, but is also more weighty and mature when the situation calls for it. In a play of lunatics, she is overwhelmingly sane,and keeps the interplay between Charles and Christophora fluid and balanced.The second feature, \Gloria Gonzales and directed by Richard J. Creasy, is less a thematic heavy than a play of fun and laughs. Where Shaffer produced a satire, Gonzales has simply jokes; %u201c Curtains%u201d is quickly paced and occasionally slapstick, loaded with one-liners and snappy responses.The story is relatively simple: one night, at 8 p.m. sharp, the theatre dies%u2014that%u2019s right, all of it%u2014and The New York Times drama critic Ron Behrens is accused of murdering it. He stumbles home, nearcatatonic, from a would-be opening night.Somewhere between sympathetic calls from Walter Cronkite and baskets of fruit sent as gifts from Eric Sevareid, Ron%u2019s wife Marcia and friend Jim, a divorced divorce lawyer, conspire first to prove Ron innocent of the murder; then to lay blame on the executive editor of the Times; and finally to lodge suit against every playwright, actor and director ever connected with the theatre. The dialogue is loud andspicy (\Marcia at one point. %u201c I was simply pointing out your abnormalities%u201d ), and the play rarely bogs down. Cook, as Jim, again plays a character motivated by vast reserves of nervous energy, although he is less organized and sensitive than the private detective. Bill Lent is delightfully dazed as he stumbles Ron around the stage in an abject stupor, and Cynthia Gerowitz as his wife Marcia belts out and croons her lines with the vigor of an Ethel Merman protege.The action in both one-acts is a little sophisticated for children, and certain spots of the dialogue have an implied raciness, but the bill makes for a well-rounded evening of humor. The comedies presented illustrate both ends of the genre.%u201cThe Public Eye%u201d and %u201c Curtains%u201d will be performed by the Landmark Players at the Emanuel Episcopal Church, 2635 East 23rd St., on Dec. 1, 2, 8, and 9 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. Admission is $3. For reservations and information, call SH-3-8487 two hours before performances.B%u2019klyn Artist%u2019s League At ValsamisTwenty-six of the fifty members of the Artist%u2019s League of Brooklyn have put together an impressive group show at the Valsamis Gallery.The show%u2019s strongest asset is, without question, its diversity. There are abstract, impressionistic and realistic drawings. Media include oils, pastels, sculpture, acrylics and mixed media. The styles vary in taste enough to suit just about any preference and, likewise, the prices varyranging from $125 to $1,000.To single out one painting as an example of the show would be unfair, as the works are as unique and diverse as the population of Brooklyn.Some exceptional highlights of the show are a dynamic mixed media entitled %u201cOutreach,%u201d done largely in blues by B. Shelvin, and a realistic acrylic of the Fulton Fish Market. Also showing strong merit are an exhibit of sculptures.Still at the gallery are works from a popular one-person show by Otto Neals.The Artists League of Brooklyn will be exhibiting at Valsamis Gallery through December 3. Located at 33 Lafayette Avenue, across from the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the gallery is open noon to 8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. For more information call the gallery at 875-8856.%u2014J.W.Sutton%u2019s SculptureOn Atlantic Ave.Larry button, a sculptor who works primarily in wood will be having a solo exhibit of sculpture as well as some drawings at The Work of Art Gallery, 87 Atlantic Avenue. Sutton works with the grain in the wood, substituting it for the lines that are used in two dimensional work. Usually dealing with the human figure, Sutton exaggerates the curves, creating smooth rhythmic pieces.The exhibit will be open for public view, 2 p.m. till 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and noon to 6 p.m. on weekends, November 14 through December 3. The artist%u2019s reception will be held Sunday, November 19, 2 to 6 p.m. For more information call 834-9677.With the Artists:WILLIAM TIM READharpsicordperforming the works ofDuphly, Handel, ScarlattiDec. 10,1978-7 p.m.GENARO SANTOROpianistperforming the works ofBach, Liszt, HavelJan. 14,1979-7 p.m.ALEC WYTONpianistRICHARD WYTONflutistperforming the works ofBach, Bolling, MessiaenF e b . 1 1 .1 9 7 9 -7 p .m .Tickets: Each performance $3November 30,1978, THE PHOENIX, Page 21