THE MICHIGAN DAILY atrciov ,r,,, hrirv . I 19(;9 aV .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. i LI E IFIEf ROMEOr (JUIiLIET 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 I f 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. III~rw 1 5 1 a I""A^ Nk1T 1 m A I ~i= kAA A Lull I III I i