Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursdor~v rch', 19.190f i ...~W*I-
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theatre:
A
fading-hip musical
-poetry and prose
Springtime simply must arrive
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CHILDREN'S PRICE AT ALL SHOWS
By JOHN ALLEN
"Your Own Thing is not the
whole answer to the problem
of the Broadway musical, but it
takes its place alongside Fan-
tasticks and You're a Good Man
Charlie Brown as a step in the
right direction. Of the three,
Your Own Thing is the smallest
step, but cheer up: Fantasticks
opens next week and Charlie
Brown is on its way to Ann Ar-
bor in December. More on that
- later;
The real stars of Your Own
Thing are John Wayne, Hum-
phrey Bogart, Shirley Temple,
W. C. Fields, Queen Elizabeth,
Will Shakespeare, Everett Dirk-
sen, Buddha, and God, not nec-
essarily in that order. They ap-
pear in the show courtesy of a
bank of slide projectors and
fairly accurate tape-recorded
mock-ups of their voices and
mentalities.
Your Own Thing, in case any-
one doesn't know yet, is based
(loosely, to say the least) on
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Twins - a by and a girl - are
separated in a shipwreck and
spend the rest of the show being
mistaken for each other by a
variety of people for whom uni-
sex is still more of a problem
than univac. In the end, of
course, everyone gets matched
up girl-boy, boy-girl, thus lend-
ing an old-fashioned note to an
otherwise fading-hip musical.
The show itselfJs sufficiently
unassuming and unpretentious
to get away with the slightness
of its build and the predictabili-
ty of its development Because
it does not pretend to be pro-
found it manages to be pleas-
urable. It is fairly sure of
its own particular thing and
does it with minimum of bal-
lyhoo.
The production being present-
ed in Hill Auditorium last night
and tonight, however, under the
auspices of the Professional
Theatre Program's Play of the
Month Series, is a bit grating
now and then. A nlost serious
problem Wednesday night was
Godot: An
exisential
comedy.
By RICHARD DEAN
Did you ever hear the one
about the two tramps who wait-
e? Sometimes they sang and
forgot the, words. Sometimes
they watched each other pee.
Sometimes they ate radishes
when there were no more car-
rots. Sometimes they danced,
but when night fell, (with a less
than lyric thump) they were
still waiting, always waiting.
Sometimes they forgot yester-
day and waited by trying to re-
member all the -past waiting.
Even if you have heard that
one, it was wise to see the De-
partment of Romatce Lang-
tuages' production of En Atten-
dant Godot by Samuel Beckett.
John C. Reed directed a skilled
=company of accomplished
clowns in a fine exercise of ex-
istential waiting.
Waiting in Godot is done pri-
marily by Didi and Gogo, two
tramps, relics from a burles-
que stage, who are not quite
sure why or for whom t h e y
wait.
Christopher Root's Didi and
Robert Holkeboer's Gogo are
disarming innocents. Root or-
ganizers, dances, ponders, jokes
and frets with great honesty.
Holkeboer suffers from hunger,
sore feet and indecision with
equally.distributed engaging
charm. Their vigil (waiting for
Godot, who is and will be a long
time coming) is interupted by
the appearance of Arthur Bab-
cock's bellowing Pozzo and Ju-
dith Schweiss' gasping Lucky.
Le Garcon (Cassandr'a Med-
ley), who enters with a message
from Monsieur Godot -.he
can't come until tomorrow -
offers another interlude t h a t
answers no questions, but fur-
ther intensifies the waiting.
Each new clown (in fine per-
formances) does his tricks;
each trick begins and ends in
waiting.
Mr. Reed and costume design-
er Cathe Lake, chose to dress
'waiting' in the garish makeup,
and outfitting of the circus
clown, impressively attacking
without piercing 'an impenetra-
ble void. The world created on
the Trueblood stage struggled,
tossed, tumbled and turned;
and with an immense groan -
waited.
By MARY McNICHOLS
I'm sure that Robert Mezey
is looking forward to the ar-
rival of spring. He is something
of an updated Wordsworthian
Romantic, and in his reading on
Tuesday afternoon, Mezey man-
aged to cut through the pseudo-
intellectualism which very of-
ten pervades a university and
present his view of man with
the warm simplicity that char-
acterizes his work.
T h e presentation of Robert
Mezey's poetry during the week
following the ENACT teach-in
was timely, for Mezey is a poet
of the physical world. His em-
phases are intrinsically emotion-
al rather than intellectual, tac-
tile rather than meditative, con-
cerned with the very physical
human intimacies of love, sex
and death. And so his poetry is
a personal dialogue rather than
a set of complex images, pro-
ceeding in the genre of childlike
simplicity. Ergo his concern
with children and animals.
Many of Mezey's poems deal
with these themes, notable "I
Am Here, for Naomi, Later," in
which he attempts an explana-
tion of death for his four year
old child and in which he open-
ly and simply inserts these
lines:
I rejoice and I am terrified.:..
A poem written out of naked
fear and love which is nev-
er enough ...
I was here, Naomi, I will nev-
er be back, but I was here
with you and your broth-
er...
The theme is repeated in
"Song," a work expressing his
joy at a reunion with all his
children, and "In This Life,"
in which Mezey attempts a re-
conciliation with the continuity
of the reciprocal life-death pro-
cess. A 11 living things derive
their existence from the death
of their fellow creatures. And
Mezey, in an almost Kirkegard-
ian leap of faith, states that
joy must be the only reaction
to this understanding.
... he sings the only truth in
this world
where men remember mostly
lies...
Blossoms of mercy in the hol-
ocost of life ...
It is this understanding which
enables Mezey to recognize an
order in that holocost which is
life. Characteristically, the or-
der is a physical one, a social
ecology analogous to that pro-
pogated by Murray Bookchin in
his book Ecology and Revolu-
tionary Thought. A physical
Great Chain of Being. Mezey's
invocaton of Walt Whitman at
the end of the reading is a nat-
ural progression, indeed, a nec-
essary one, for Mezey's philos-
ophy of life is found in Whit-
man's words:
Love the earth the sun and
the animals ... despise riches
argue not concerning God...
your v e r y flesh shall be a
great poem...
Perhaps Mezey's Jewish heri-
tage enables him to see the
spontaneity of physical life and
love, and of a belief in a God
of order. There is nothing of
the traditionally Christian split'
between the physical and the
spritual in his work. The two
are one. His poetry is very like
Barbara Hepworth's sculpture,
which integrates the human fig-
ure with the physical landscape
in her personal trpe of abstrac-
tion. Thus, while Mezey often
writes poetry of social protest,
works depicting the agony of
dying children in American
ghettoes and in Vietnam, and,
inevitably, of t h e sterility of
American society, he never loses
hope in the order of social ecol-
ogy.
But perhaps a revolution is
necessary to reaffirm that or-,
der. Mezey's particular concept
of a social order leads to his af-
firmation of the Spanish Com-
munist poets. He has translated
many of their works; several of'
which he read at Tuesday's
reading..
It is -not possible to sing
alone...-
We must pray for them,
Earth..
All things understand me
,..they are rivers that flow
into God and God into
one...
His work is not a naive re-
jection of the absurdities of life.
Rather Mezey's poetry con-
fronts t h o s e inconsistencies,
and attempts to alleviate them
by reaffirming the existence of
a universal order. Mezey states
that "poetry is not solemn, ser-
ious, but not solemn." His con-
cept of life, .as his poetry, must
be dealt with on these terms.
"'Dazzling!
Avivid
experience.
thrilling! A
cliffhanger
in space!~
-L A. Times
A RNKVC v:$:$:~.f. PROTuu.ION
*i'iROON6 6V
Faa~ aA~oo
front Columnbia Pictures '0 j D
Sh
NO EVENING SHOWS--TUES., MARCH 24
"TRIBUTE TO KING-MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS"
ONE SHOWING-8:00 P.M., ONLY
$5TH ANNUAL)
DEBATE of the CENTURY!
"Blowing the lid right off the Scondle of the Environmentl"
"THE LATKE (yes.. .?)
THE HAMANTASHEN (yes.. .?)
and the
INNER ENVIRONMENT"
(what . ..?)
PRO'S
Dr. Robert Green, M.D.
Mrs. Peg Kay
Nutrition Expert
IN THE MIDDLI
Prof. Cui Cohen
Philosopher
E
CON'S
Prof. Beverly Pooloy
LL8, SJD
Prof. Leonard Greenbaum
Phoenix Project
on--SUNDAY, MARCH 22 (Purim nite) 8 P.M.
with---Homantashen for all
at-THE HOUSE
1429 HUI St.
W.W.
MWOMWOWA1 0
.r... .....
the singing of Lana Sloniger,
the female twin Viola. She sang
the entire show in her own key
-which may be philosophically
in keeping with the show's ma-
jor premise but it no help musi-
cally. She was, in a word, flat.
The other serious problem
was 'a general lack of enthusi-
asm throughout the cast which
was most noticable in the danc-
ing. Dancing did not seem to be
anyone's thing, which is a pity
since the music cries out fpr the
reinforcement of sharp, vibrant
choreography energetically car-
ried out.
Steve Skiles as Sebastian,
Violas brother, was perhaps
most successful in getting across
the spirit! of the show, but it
was constantly jarring to, be so
conscious of the wig he was
forced to wear to create the il-
lusion that he and his sister
were one and the same boy.
Roger Rathburn as Orson and
yicki Nunis as Olivia, the pair
of thirty-year-olds who round
out the romantic foursome, sang
adequately and played their
parts broadly-very broadly, in
fact.
Gregg Smith, Gregg Stump,
and Hank Schob made up the
musical's chorus: the three-
fourths of a rock group called
the Apocalypse who hire Viola
to fill in for their drafted col-
league.
Your Own Thing is a musical
of which I happen to be fond,
and it was-on balance-pleas-
ant to see it again, in spite of
the noted difficulties. For any
who have not seen the show
and who have any interest in
the history and development (or
decay) of the musical comedy
form, the current production is
a worthwhile opportunity if by
no means the chance of a life-
time. Musicals have become
something of a theatrical dino-
saur, and the few smaller musi-
cals that have managed to suc-
ceed are valuable clues to pos-
sibilities by no means exhausted.
Fantasticks, of course, which
Ann Arbor Civic Theatre is pre-
senting next week, is the grand-
daddy of the current crop. Char-
lie Brown is perhaps the favo-
rite son. My own choice for star
pupil is an obscure work called
In Circles, based on a play by
Gertrude Stein, with music by
Al Carmines. But I'll settle for
Charlie Brown, which is one of
six plays coming to Ann Arbor
next year in the Play of the
Months Series. It will be in good
company: the other five are a
Hair, 1776, Plaza Suite, Hadri-
ian VII, and Zorba ... not bad
for old Ann Arbor Town.
The killing of a myth
To the Editor:'
This letter was inspired by
Donald Kubit's review of Down-
hill Racer which appeared in
the Daily on Tuesday, March
17, 1970.
The intent of Downhill Racer
is to dispel the' myth of the
American athlete as a god, and
for a reviewer to attack it for
not catering to that myth is
absurd. The fact that Mr. Ku-
bit was incensed by the por-
trayal of the champion athlete
as a great athlete, but some-
what less than a great man, is
proof that the film has succeed-
ed. The fact that he insists on
maintaining his myth in spite
of what he has seen only points
up the need for more movies
like Downhill Racer.
The movie attempts a realis-
tic portrayal of the world of
amateur athletics. Real (as op-
posed to cinematic) dialogue is
often trite a n d cliche-ridden,
and often-much more is com-
municated by a glance or a
phrase that is left unsaid than
by the slick words of a screen-
writer. This kind of realism is
not new to cinema, but its oc-
curence is rare enough to 'be
unsettling each time we see it.
The portrayal of the hero as
anti-hero is not new either, but
the invasion of this genre into
the world of sport seems to up-
set people like Mr. Kubit. Why
do they find it so difficult to
admire the champion for what
he is, a skilled athlete without
also expecting him to exemplify,
all of the virtues of a Boy
Scout?
-Bob Rockhow
March, 19 & 20--Thursday, Friday
T'ROUBLE .IN,
PARADISE4
dir. ERNST LUBITSCH (1932)
Herbert Marshall as high-society pick-pocket.
The Lubitsch touch: a tragedy of manners.
7 &9,:05 ARCHITECTUR E
662-8871 AUDITORIUM
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j DRIVERS
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with the incomparable
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i'r r
AUTO INSURANCE
FOR EVERYONE
CANCELLED * REJECTED * DECLINED
INSURANCE CERTIFICATES
IMMEDIATELY FOR
1970 LICENSE PLATES
SPECIALIZING IN
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
ILow Monthly Payments
The Senior Staff of the 1971 MICHIGANENSIAN
extends appliCationS to any student member of
the' University Community for a position on the
Junior Staff .
THE POSITIONS ARE:
Academics Editor Senior Section Editor
Associate Academics Sports Editor
Arts Editor Associate Sports
Associate Arts Publicity Director
Campus Life Editor Sales Manager
Associate Campus Life Associate Sales
Organizations Editor Copy Editor
Associate Organizations Design Editor
Applications may be obtained ot the MICHIGANENSIAN Office
br the Student Publications Butiness Office, 420 Maynard St.
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE MARCH 20, 1970
4!
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Why should a traditional
club tie have the new
full fashion shape?
Only the new more luxurious full
fashion shape (fuller under-the-
knot, wider throughout) is right with
today's longer shirt collars, wider
jacket lapels. What's more, this
new full fashion shape is best cal-
culated to show off the luxurious
Imported silks and dramatic pat-
terns of Resilio's new giant clubs.
P.S. All Resillo ties have the new
full fashion shape.
TRA1TI7NA. n.Wst y AR
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1107 S. University
ALSO
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adults $1.50-child 75c
FIFTH For'umV
FY14H AVENUE AT LIBERTY
OWNTOWN ANN ARBOR
IFORMATION 761-8700
not continuous with
"Downhill Racer"
teODOR
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Trueblood IAuiori um, FRI, MARCH 20-8:30 p.m.
IUlJUUd A~UdUmII SAT, MARCH 21--3:00 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
Premiere Showing of
SHOPPIN'
An Original Rock Musical
CANDLELIGHT PROCESSION FROM
DIAG TO UN ION BALLROOM
MARCH. 23
7:30
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The ALL in FUN
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FIGHT
REPRESSION A l , .'4
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