Polish ‘Decalogue’ to be screened at KU

The KU Center for Russian & East European Studies will present “The Decalogue” Friday and Feb. 7 in 318 Bailey Hall.

The series of 10 one-hour films produced for Polish television is regarded as one of the greatest works of director Krzysztof Kieslowski (1941-1996) and one of the finest accomplishments in contemporary film.

The first five films will be shown at 6 p.m. Jan. 31. Parts six through 10 will be shown on Feb. 7. There will be short breaks between individual films. Snacks will be provided beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Inspired by the Ten Commandments, each of the films focuses on a different character in a Warsaw housing complex who must deal with the moral conflict and guilt arising from his or her transgression.

The screenings are part of the center’s Friday Night at the KINO series, which features “the best in recent cinema from Russia and Eastern Europe.”

Vaudeville show headed for Topeka

Topeka — An old-fashioned one-man vaudeville show — complete with unicycling and ropewalking — is coming to Topeka.

“The Slapstick Circus” will play at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Andrew J. and Georgia Neese Gray Theatre at Washburn University.

Olathe entertainer Richard Renner, also known as The Vodville Klown, bills himself as an “actor, juggler, orangutan, poet and fool.” His antics include pantomime, acrobatics and involving the audience in zany, silent improvisation.

Renner is a Kansas University theatre graduate who went on to study at the School of Movement Theater in Philadelphia. He has studied with French mime Marcel Marceau, Russian clown Yuri Belov and New Vaudevillian Avner the Eccentric.

Tickets are $3; children under 2 are free. For tickets, call (785) 246-1292 or (785) 266-5638.