THE MICHIGAN DAILY
atrciov ,r,,, hrirv . I 19(;9
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.itul idly,. rcur u..
7 '- of 7V
arts festival
By BILL BARR
The ONCE Group's perform-
ance of "The Trial of Annie"
is a welcome dramatic relief.
A well-structured, tightly-or-
ganized mass of material, it
comments eloquently and un-
obtrusively on the plight of the
title character, Annie Opie
Councilman Wehrer, on trial for
unspecified crimes against hu-
manity.
Her situation is considerably
obscured by other activity,
though. Throughout the play,
her back is to the audience as
she sits upstage; her physical
responses, except for smoking
cigarettes, pass unnoticed. An
extremely complex barrage of
stimuli hits the audience: two
films sometimes superimposed,
a taped voice counting, another
tape recording and on-stage,
four actors performing. Some
action centers around a chair,
Ys- others involve a ritualistic lay-
ing down om masking tape, still
others depict combat. The mo-
tion and phyiscal contact, the
continual counting, and the
soundtracked interview, ,then,
flexible
IIIIIIIIII I T
sudienATcel ":7.-1:
IKTITAF
detract immensely from the dis-
embodied interrogation of An-
nie.
A stylized chicken-fight fol-
lows, then a sometimes meta-
physical discussion, -complicated
not only by the shifting phys-
ical direction of simultaneous
conversations, but also by the
sound system: George Manu-
pelli is at stage-left, but his
voice is stage-right. Annie's
continuing trial is thrust into
the background by its sheer
banality. While the two couples
discuss the importance of
"claims' on people and objects,
the role of the artist, war, wel-
fare mothers, and the Diony-
sus affair-all topics to which
the audience responded enthu-
siastically-Annie list of her
silverware and of "ten items
which cost you over $5,000."
Meanwhile photographs, ap-
parently of her life, are flashed
on the screen.. Following an in-
terruption, which itself provides
a new topic for the couples, the
pace slows down as does the
frequency of stimuli. The two
couples leave, and Annie finally
exiss, open-ending the play.
The audience is continually
forced to ignore some stimuli
and respond to others: there is
simply too much to grasp at
once. Obviously they will "cen-
sor" the less interesting things
to concentrate on those to which
they can relate more easily.
Since we must find Annie tri-
vial by comparison, her plight
is effectively blocked out and
she, becomes totally anonymous.
This observation raises ques-
tions about modes of perception,
alienation, individuality, and
the inscrutability of people.
Having ignored Annie, how can
one render a verdict on her
'"case"? What does one say
about an audience that responds
to topics which probably have
already been settled in their
minds when a life may be at
stake? And what of inquisitional
society's absurd questions which
force Annie to a position in
limbo?
The characters consistently
talk at cross-purposes in this
production, misunderstanding,
trying to correct impressions,
remaining misunderstood. This
should provide a cozy, safe,
though somewhat unpleasant
moral, but it doesn't. I left the
League exhilarated. The ques-
tions posed are not original, but
the manner in which they are
presented is refreshing _ and
striking. Never overstated, they
are rarely even mentioned. The
audience must reorder and en-
large their modes of perception.
Manupelli and Cynthia Liddel
(couple A), and Joseph Wehrer
and Mary Ashley (couple B)
are consistently good, as is
Ann Wehrer herself, is issele-
vant, for individual perform-
ances are subsumed with a sen-
sitive, technically impressive ex-
perentially fascinating gestalt.
TODAY
The Once Group:
The Trial of Annie Opie
Weher andAUnknown
Accomplices for Crimes
Against Humanity
League Ballroom, 8 p.m.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre
Hill Aud., 8:30 p.m.
"FASCINATING . . . DEDAZZLING NUDES
AND NEAR NUDES! A DELIGHTFUL EXPER-
IENCE!" World Telegram
"WONDERFUL-A TREASURE HOUSE! WHAT
WAS ALLOWED WOULD CURL A CENSOR'S
HAIR TODAY!" Cue Magazine
0
Soulless
By ELIS'A EVETT
Passion, "soul,", spirit; these are the compelling forces which
produce that musical rarity-flamenco. It is from these elements that
the power of improvisation is generated and to which the violent and
tense movements of flamenco dancing respond. The character of the
soul and spirit in both the dance and the music' is a rich one of
seething, explosive fury and deep, resounding melancholy. The ex-
pression of this feeling emerges from a complexity of sound effects'
and rhythm. Driving, surging melodies weave through a matrix of
restless ripplings of sound. The music plunges back and forth be-
tween these extremes with an impulsiveness and spontaneity that is
dictated by its nature as improvisation.
Although inspired by soul or spirit, spontaneity is only truly ef-
fected by a total technical command of the instrument Which even-
tually amounts to a kind of natural union with it. It is when these two
factors contribute to each other wih equal intensity that flamenco
lives with overpowering grandeur. Unfortunately, this was not the
kind of -flamenco that we heard from Carlos Montoya last night. In-
-stead, we were lavished with a highly refined; firmly controlled show
of pure technical brilliance which became brittle and harsh without
the desired "soul."
There were inklings of this from the very start which were
gradually realized through the program and finally confirmed by the
three encores. The lack of spontaneity and improvisation in his "'
arrangements gave us a carefully packaged "Carlos Montoya in 1968-
1969 Program." The .final encore, "The St. Louis Blues," was a
frightful affair in which cliches of flamenco were imposed upon that
good oldl American song.' There was also something lifeless and
strained about Montoya's manner-his ritualistic gestures of accept-
ing the applause, for example.
But then, this in a way is indicative of the role that Montoya has
chosen to play-that of a grand old man who salutes and preserves
a rich, enduring tradition'. And his way of doing this is through his
sheer virtuosity. With unbelievable effortlessness he coaxed a mar-
velous variety of sounds out of his instrument. Rapping out percus-
sive rhythms on the body of the instrument, producing resonant
melodies with. just the force of his left hand fingers, imitating the
sound of bagpipes, castanettes or snare drums-no matter what he
did, it was impeccable. And so he did radiate an aura of magic and
enchantment, a sense of grandeur which contrasted poignantly with
his modest, diunitive, bald-headed presence in the middle of that
vast stage. -
M Jn: It's your party, too
By ROBERT LYTLE
Those of you who were present at the League
Vandenberg Room last night were probably dis-
appointed by Marta Minujin's presentation. (And
with good reason ... it was not wholly success-
ful.) But as for me, it was enough to talk with
Miss Minujin and to understand what she was
trying to do.
"Three hundred and twenty people belonging
to four different social-groups, selected from an-
swers to a questionnaire published in several
metropolitan newspapers were invited to four
'group' cocktail parties . , . which were filmed."
As I walked into the Vandenberg Room, I was
given a cup of water to "add. to the atmosphere".
Six projectors were showing the films of the
parties on screens placed against the walls. I
wandered' around for a while, looking at the
films of people talking, smiling and drinking;
thinking all the time, "Cocktail parties are such
bullshit." Then I looked down at the cup in my
hand, then to the other people in the room
.
smiling, talking, drinking), then back to the
films, Oh yeah.,
But Marta Minujin meant more than this
. much more. She 'meant for the viewer to
become a part of the parties on the walls as
well. Unfortunately, due to the set up in the
Vandenberg Room, more was not possible. The
projectors were off (the images should have been
life-size, eye-to-eye level), the tape recorders
wouldn't work, and the films occasionally broke,
But MartaMinujin was there also (with a cup
of water in her hand. And she was beautiful. She
was open and expressive; willing to answer ques-
tions about her ideas and her art. ("I would like
to make films like this of Times Square during
rush hour. Then play them back on a hundred
projectors every day. People would go crazy if
they saw what they were doing.")
She has a complex and probing mind that
makes her art seem deceptively simple. Morley
Markson sought to make the viewer aware of the
world around him. Marta Minujin, by making
the viewer a part of that world, made him aware
of himself.
I
Cycles sell
in Classifieds
PLUS: "IDOL OF THE JAZZ AGE-.
RUDOLPH VALENTINO"
PLUS: "BOGART'S BEST"
PLUS: "BOGART'S BEST''-Highlights from "The
Maltese Falcon," "Dark Passage" and
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
PLUS: "BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEI N"--condensed
version of 1 935 classic with the late'
Boris Karloff
PLUS: "THE PHANTOM EMPIRE"- with Gene Autrey
"Really out of sight."-M.M.
"It will drive you mad"-M.M.
MAD MARVIN presents at the Vth FORUM
Thur., Fri., Sat., Sun., I 1 :00 P.M. separate admission
Next Week-"BLACK ZERO"
a sensual space odyssey
dual projected--in color!!
I
605 E. William
769-1593
BEYOND A
REASONABLE DOUBT
FRITZ LANG, Dir, with
JOAN FONTAINE,
SIDNEY BLACKNER, and
DANA ANDREWS
FRI. &SAT., FEB. 7 & 8
1:00 A.M. 75c downstairs
1
I
I7
I
I..
I!
Is
,E
The 2nd Annual Ozone Festival
with
COMMANDER CODY and his
LOST PLANET AIRMEN
and OZONE PRODUCTIONS
Free Eats Doors open 8 p.m
TONITE!! $1.50
NATIONAL GENERAL CORPO
NOW SHOWI NG FoxASTERNr
Box Office Opers 1:15 P.M. 375No.MAPLE RD.-769.1300
NOTICE!! CONTINUOUS
SHOWINGS DAILY
"UALLLING!Once you see it, you'll never again picture
'Rlomeo &Juliet' quite the way you did before!" , \
THE ONCE GROUP
presents
THE TRIAL OF ANNE OPIE WEHRER AND
UNKNOWN ACCQMPLICES FOR CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY
PLACE: Michigan League Ballroom
TIME: 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday
February 7 & 8, 1969
TICKETS ON. SALE at Discount Records, Centicore Bookshop,
Plast r of Paris, and Creative Arts Festival Booths (Michigan
Leagueand The Fishbowl). $1.50 Students, $2.00 General Ad-
mission.
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M~ M q°A0& (rm/ O HM fl~IOlA O / USHA/MlAfLYfiR/JOHN MM NR/FPAT HMO WlhDNAHA PARIRY/IWFM E ES
~ZjF/ [1ANI H ndA~N O'RM l1MI /A Y AYEII'IAi aNairJD NEN/IlAI UV~iION/Rf ltIU,Ea I I
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HELD FANTASTIC
OVER! ~LLL 8th Week!
Program Information 2-6264
Shows at 1:00-3:00-5:00-7:10 & 9:15
WHAT? You've ONLY seen the chase
in "Bullitt" ONCE?
"a breathtaking chase reminiscent of cinerama's
famed roller-coaster ride .'.
A TRULY REMARKABLE HIGHLIGHT"
-Variety
P
Iq
wo
co
FIELDS
I
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS
'69
FEB. 13
Union Ballroom
10 p.m.-Dawn
Admission free
LOVE, SEX and RELATIONSHIPS
A teach-in conducted by
Robert Rimmer, author of
"The Harrad Experiment"
HURRY !!
HURRY!!
ENDS
SUNDAY
Thy..,
are j od
wps~*and ' m
r hen'
Feb. 16 SEN. WAYNE MORSE
Union Ballroom
2 P.M. $1.00
Feb.19 & 20 GENESISI
League Ballroom An underground film festival
Everybody's favorite dirty old man is back in town. Putting it down once more for a whole
new generation of potential Fields' cultists. And a whole generation of devoted Fields' addicts.
Whatever the subject, whatever the treatment, W. C. Fields' humor is more up-to-date than
the hippest of contemporary flicks.
Catch "My Little Chicadee" with the incomparable Mae West. And "You Can't Cheat An
Honest Man." That's all it should take to make W. C. your favorite dirty old man, too.
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