Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursdcav.October 31. 1968 Pae1woTE11CIAN DAL IT1 ". 7dVv Y/V 1 IV Uc J r1 11V a, theatre Yes, 'Homecoming' can be good music Philharmonia: Getting somewhere' By MICHAEL ALLEN Go and see the University Players' production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming: You will laugh many times, you will be intrigued, and you will come out wondering what the hell Pinter is getting at. Whatever the play might mean though, this production, directed with great care and imagination by James Oakley, presents a' version of the play which is convincing, which has six really promising actors in it, which has variety and pace and some magnificent pauses. Everyone will have a theory about this play, and some will undoubtedly see some sort of allegory lurking behind the "plot" (there isn't one really, just a situation that develops). But an allegorical approach, would make Ruth, who was played with an enviable, sense of control by Maureen Anderman, too important. She is not the heroine: the play hasn't got a heroine and it is misleading to treat the play as if it were a secret code that with time and subtlety could be eventually cracked. It's not like poetry and prose Vonniegut and who? By MARCIA ABRAMSON You've probably. more than heard of Kurt -Vonnegut, Jr. You probably haven't heard of Jerzy Kosinski. You probably will. Kosinski and the more well- known Vonhegut are this year's writers - in - residence. Kosinski will be here Jan. 9-16, Vonne- gut Jan. 17-31. Since the publication of Play- er Piano in 1952, Vonnegut has become one of the high priests for. this generation through his short :stories and novels, includ- ing Cat's Cradle and Mother Night. Vonnegut moved up in the literary ranks from a beginning in science fiction. He has at- tended Cornell, Carnegie Tech, Tennessee and Chicago, and after that took to the precarious life of a free :lance writer.' Kosinski comes from the most radically different background possible. He was born in Poland in 1933 and his award-winning first novel, The Painted Bird, tells the story of his experiences in Nazi Europe. Along the way,. K o s i n s k i has accumulated degrees in his- tory, political science, photo- chemistry and sociology at the University of Lodz, the Polish Academy of Sciences, Lomon- osov University in Moscow, qo- lumbia, end the New School'for ,Social Research. . Kosinski has also managed to work as.a ski instructor, an as- sistant chemistry professor, a paint scraper, a photographer and a truck driver. All along, Kosinski has worked on his writing. He came to the United States in 1957, and had to start all over in a new lan- guage. Kosinski told the New York Times Book Review he would call up the operator and ask her to explain difficult sentences. In three years he published his first novel in English. His most recent novel, The Painted Bird, won the Prix de Meilleur Livre Etranger. in France. Kosinski has also won a Ford Foundation fellowship. No specific schedules have been set up for either writer. However, Writer - in - Residence, sponsors promise a more in- formal "fun" approach to the program. "Vonnegut is like that," explains one. "He's not just going to sit around and lecture." A special "happening" is plan- ned for Nov. 21 to emphasize the new approach to the Writer- in-Residence idea. The programs of the last two years have been criticized for their stilted, for- mal atmosphere. The Writer-in-Residence Pro- gram is now in its third year; critic Leslie Fiedler began the program in 1967, and Irving Howe visited the campus earlier this year. that; it doesn't have an inner meaning. Its meaning springs directly from the freakish, ab- surd, sometimes horrifying-but in this production mainly fun- ny juxtapositions of word and action. For instance, Max's first re- actions are crazily unpredict- able when he finds out that Joey (Christopher Root gives a quiet but useful performance) has just failed, after two hours' tease, to get the "whole hog" from Ruth, he says, "My Joey, she did that to my boy," ignor- ing completely the topsy turvy morality of it all; again, when Lenny suggests that continual prostitution might make Ruth prematurely old, Max says, "No, not in this day and age. With the health service?" Max (John Slade) especially, made this performance. Al- though he missed out on the beating up of Sam and Joey, he was able to swing fromn rage to pathos in the scene of "re- sentment" with lumbering old Sam (Richard Beebe-another quiet, controlled, completely convincing performance). And time and again Max delivered the punch lines, like "I havent had a whore in this house sihce your mother died!", with per- fect timing. Other characters react with the same unpredictableness. At one moment we are listening to a conversation between, say, Lenny (Mack Owen, 'another first rate actor) and one of his brothers that is completely com- monplace, familiar, realistic, about a cheese roll or Greek St.; at the next moment we are jolted out of the sense of the familiar by a remark that- is so absurd or bizarre that we are fascinated by its incongruity, its destructiveness of the tone and continuity of the scene in which it is embedded. This production emphasises the funny side of all this: in- deed, Lenny's brutal ending to his two stories about the poxy whore, and the old lady with the mangle, got lost in the laughter provoked by his initial build- up. We are suddenly plunged into a world of violence and tomfoolery and inconsequence. One result of this comic stress on the part of the director was to make these inconsequences less terrifying than they could be, more like the normal day- to-day inconsequences of fam- ily conversation. This in its turn resulted in an evenness of pace, rather than a steady mounting towards climax as the presence of Ruth leads to more and more ab- surdities, absurdities which are pursued with a naturalness, a homeliness which are poten- tially horrifying. But then, this stress on the comic is also a stress on the familiar: it anchors the produc- tion in the real. Ruth's sudden breaking off of the orgy with Joey to say, "I'd like something to eat," is incongruous but be- lievable. In another sort of pro- duction, one which might em- phasize the fearful aspects of the absurdities and the gra- tuitous, freakish, lunatic violence of Max or Lenny, these sort of lines would have a different im- pact, would make the play into a nightmare rather than some- thing happening in the north of London. The same goes for Teddy (Ed- ward Leavitt), who is in a situ- ation which is tragically ridi- culous, but which here becomes mutedly funny. Only Ruth's parting line to him really stings: "Eddie, don't become a stran- ger." This is theatre of the ab- surd; the University Players make the absurdity of our con- dition ludicrously familiar. By JIM PETERS The University Philharmonia in concert last night at Hill Aud. attempted great things. Conductor Theo Alcantara sch- eduled some really interesting music in his program, including the immensely difficult fifth symphony by Prokofiev. The group's performance was marred throughout by serious string trouble, especially en- semble control in the violins; but the concert was successful, the performance certainly more than adequate, and the music quite pleasing. Beethoven's overture to his minor ballet, "Die Geschoep- fedes Prometheus," was the first offering. The piece is very short and quick. It was here that the strings' troubles were most evi- dent and most annoying. The piece is so short that perfect control and tight string sound are necessary from the very be- ginning, or else the overture is over and the effect of the music has never really begun. Violinist Gustave A. Rosseels joined the orchestra for Cooper's "Concerto for Violin and Orch- estra." This recent concerto is in one movement though it di- vides into varying sections. The role of the orchestra in this concerto is, in the classical vein, that of accompanist. Amid string glissandoes and woodwind trills and scales, the violin has a brooding but moving lyric. Rosseels played well; the work demands a lot of very high- pitched sound, but the violinist never lost his smooth, even tone,' bothered neither by the dissonances, nor the powerful sound of the orchestra. The brass dominate the work, and the Philharmonia's people are excellent, strong and biting as well as mellow when neces- sary. There is also a lot of work for the pianist which is really not heard in the mass of strings and winds. But the violin lines over long, extended orchestra chords with percussion flashes and brass emphasis were never lost in all the sound. Alcantara controlled the balance well. The strings were tighter in this selection, though never perfect enough to be negligible. The Philharmonia finished with one of the most difficult symphonic pieces, Serge Pro- kofiev's "Symphony No. 5." Wild racing melodies and subtle, witty tunes are joined with long, tur- bulent sections blasted by tam- tam and bass drum. The strings lacked the fine ar- ticulation needed for the catchy tune of the first movement. The wispy theme should stand out in the melange of sound. There is no sloppy Prokofiev; everything is stark black etched in white. This is where control is absolutely necessary. And after working through the two previousrpieces, the whole or- chestra was tight enough to sound really strong and power- ful. Alcantara took ,the bubbling second movement nice and fast; the whirring never ceased. I really applaud the woodwinds and brass of the University Philharmonia. I was worried about the seem- ing lack of form in the first movement, and this bothered me again in the adagio third section. It seemed that only the fast paced movements were tightly unified. I don't know exactly where the problem lay, but perhaps the very difficulty of the individual parts forced the orchestra to concentrate on technique rather than on over- all sound. The fourth movement was tight, and the big smashing I sound in the finale was power- ful. But here another problem sprang up. Particularly in this movement, -but really through- out the symphony, the orches- tra balance was off: the brass dominated everything. I could say with a smirk that y perhaps this was good since the brass played most excellently; but when one is dealing with Prokofiev it is important to hear everything--too often the winds or strings were lost in the fantastic roar of trombones and tuba. T h e Philharmonia worked hard, harder than usual in de- lineating the heavy fare pre- sented by Prokofiev. Alcantara ventured much, and the result is all to his gain. is all to his gain. NOtW ! MICHIGAN DIAL 5-6290 Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M. This is the story o the self- Confessed Boston Strangler.. It is a remarkable motion picture based on fact! This is the madness. The panic.' did 13 women open their doors not what you expected. The search for answers. Why this man? Why willingly to him? The result is a film that is p THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PLAYERS DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH - If Dial 8-64 16 ENDS TONIGHT! Shows at 6:45 and 9:00 "A SUPERB M "LeMagazine Harold Pinter's THE HOMECOMING Trueblood Theatre Box Office Hours Oct. 30-Nov. 2 Oct. 28-29 12:30-5 P.M. All performances-8 P.M. Oct. 30-Nov. 2 12:30-8 P.M. $1.75-$2.25 Fri., Sat. TICKETS: $1.25-$1.75 Wed., Thurs., 1 b "BRILLIANT CINEMA ART." -Bosley Crowther. New York Times When Sly and the Family Stone play, you can tell that they belong together. They enjoy their music and they're really into it. So put your- self into it, Oct. 29, through Nov. 3 at Grandmother's. TONY CURTIS HENRY FONDA GEORGE KENNEDY Mike KelIin Murray Hamilton fHort Fryer Ricrd Flecher e dwrAnhalt Fank Panvislon Color by DeLux '.Su ;for Meuseaudiences Grandmother's is in Lansing, Michigan, just two blocks MSU campus. Come up and check the talent. DAY Oct. 29 Oct. 30 Oct. 31 COVER DAY west of the COVER $2.00 $2.00 $2.50 I i .50 $1.00 $10.0 I Nov. 1 Nov. 2 Nov. 3 II There is no age limit for the Sunday show. Unlike other classics 'West Side Story' grows younger! r,. . I PI MAY I -,---START'N'lGFRIDAY- KANETO SHINDO'S "LOST SEX"' k LANSING, MICHIGAN - 517-332-6565 + .. .. I THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CONCERT DANCE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION THEATER PROGRAM presents "BEST PICTURE!" Winner of 10 Academy Awards!-1~. . m . "A FRENCH 'TOM JONES'!" "GRACEFUL AND WICKED! QUITE BEAUTIFUL AND ELEGANT.. A SHARPLY SATIRICAL!" "A DELICATE MASTERPIECE... IT OFFERS BEAUTY, SENSUALITY, MN AND PERFECT TASTE!" ~ENEW R I Starring CATHERINE DENEUVE that "BELLE DE JOUR" girl ! SW ESRiWESTSIDE STORY" A ROBERT WISE PMC)VC~iO, ,,NATALIE WOOD NATIONAL GENERAL COR~PORATION _ FOX EASTERN THEATRES FOX VILLa6E 375 No. MAPLE RD. -7694300 MON.-FRI. 8:00 BETTY LEADING SOLOIST WITH JONES JOSE LIMON DANCE COMPANY in a concert-lecture "DANCES I DANCE" with FRIZ LUDIN Program includes excerpts from "INVENTION." "MISSA oISUN. 1 :U0-J:4-6 :30-9:15 SAT. 3:45-6:30-9:15 FRIDAY-NOV. 1 - ONE SHOWING 11:00 P.M. A Realistic Film that Could Happen a --. I . Julie Oskar Christie Werner first role since her winner of the >:' i T --pap 6nnim, 0 0 P: ^ ET E '.'O'-17A1N c' , DENEUVE' 1 lit. i .g ;n:.{-w%, .'ukw l-kw-,m Mo