PAGE TWO
TILE MICHIGAN DAILY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1966
PAGE TWO TUE MICHIGAN DAILY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1966
DANCE
Rumanian Ballet:
Popcorn and Stew
Cassandra' Production Little
More Than Trojan War Gossip,
There is something charming
about robust ladies and cherubic
gentlemen tumbling and flinging
each other about in an aura of
green, glitter, white and orange.
In part, there was something
very delightful about last night's
performance of the Rumanian
Folk Ballet as the group squealed,
stomped strutted and twitched
through exciting acrobatic and
back-bending choreography.
The dancers, dressed in their
traditional garb, accompanied
themselves with the old-country
side slapping, with occasional yelps
and whistles in between. Their
musical accompaniment added to
the traditional flavor of the per-
formance by use of the panpipe
the melodic ten-string guitar and
the cymbalom. Perhaps it is be-
cause the Rumanian Ballet lacked
a certaintrefinement and indi-
viduality that the apple-cheeked
girls, vibrating zithers, and breathy
panpipes all become assimilated
into a bouncy, frothy Rumanian
stew.
However, what the performance
did not lack, was an unlimited
amount of energy.
The dance numbers. neverthe-
less, were exciting and alive; un-
fortunately, there were not enough
of them and musical solos dom-
inated the performance.
Panpipe solos played to herds
of sheep are fine in the field;
however, the accoustics in Hill
Auditorium somehow squelch the
effect of mountains in Moldavia
and the result is a whiney, high-
pitcher frequency from a mis-
placed goatherd.
What should have been mis-
placed was some of thesentimen-
talism and corn which was bred
throughout the cheek pinching,
hand-kissing routines of the two
wedding scenes; as well as the
cheery apple-cheek rendition of
"Yankee Doodle" on the panpipe.
The thirty dancers, all dressed
the same, jumped and danced in
a lively and enjoyabledmanner
which reminded the breathless
spectator of a lively pot of Ru-
manian popcorn. Yet, like popcorn,
they were enjoyable while there
but left little aftertaste.
-By BETSY COHN
"Monsieur, combien avez-vous de
pieces de theatre en France?" dit
Candide a l'abbe, lequel repondit:
"Cinq ou six mille.-C'est beau-
coup, dit Candide: combien y en
a-t-il de bonnes?-Quinze ou
seize, repliqua l'autre-C'est beau-
coup," dit Martin.
-Voltaire; "Candide"
After the TV fare proferred by
the Producing Manager's Com-
pany (POM) twice thus far in Hill
Auditorium; after seeing Ander-
son's "The .Days Between," cour-
tesy of the American Playwrights
Theatre, which didn't deserve fi-
nancial success; and now seeing
the Gilfred's "Cassandra," I quite
agree with Voltaire.
The play produced by the Uni-
versity Players amounts to little
more than a resume of all the
Trojan War gossip known from
Greece, delivered in an enormous-
ly long, dull solliloquoy by Calchas
(Charles Patterson) while stand-
ing over the unnecessary corps of
Agamemnon's pet slave.
On cue, Agamemnon (Douglass
C. Sprigg), Cassandra (Anna Car-
pelli), and Ajax (Singer Buchan-
an), walk on stage looking like
flanelgraph illustrations of a Sun-
day School lesson-Agamemnon
shows the whites of his eyes to
look like a Greek statue, Cassan-
dra screams and tears her hair
at the word "rape," and Ajax
looks verile and villainous at the
word "sex."
The dialogue, what there is of
it, describe at meticulous length
the pleasures taken of the women
of Troy by the Greek soldiers.
It describes the pleasures taken
of Cassandra by Apollo. Then of
Helen by Paris. Then of Clytem-
nestra by Aegistus. Then of Aga-
memnon by Cassandra, etc.
'Then Agamemnon concludes
from arguments unknown to the
audience that the gods were creat-
ed by men, and Apollo sends Aga-
mamnon from his pleasures with
Cassandra to his death at Lesbos.
The characters are never more
than flanelgraph cut-outs. There
is no communication between
Ajax, Calchas, Agamemnon, or
Cassandra. There is almost no
character development at all. I
pitied the actors, especially Anna
Carpelli, who really tried to act.
But their task was really impos-
sible as there were no parts to
play.
"Cassandra" was chosen by the
drama department as a substitute
for the customary original play
from a creative writing class in
the English dept. of the Lit.
School. But in this case it was
not necessary to risk an unknown
playwright as they did.
But the enthusiasm of the
drama dept., while unable to pro-
duce good theater, is doing every-
thing it can to catch public at-
tention. It is again sponsoring a
public discussion of the current
play today (Thurs.) at 4:15 in
the Arena Theatre of the Frieze
Building.
Discussions were also held after
several productions of Albee's
"Tiny Alice," and were, because
of the specific play, and again a
lack of forethought as to the
content of those discussions, hard-
ly worth attending.
Perhaps if the University Play-
ers, and the other theater-
sponsoring organizations in Ann
Arbor, did not involve themselves.
in so many off-the-cuff programs
as "Cassandra," APT, and POM,
they would belie Voltaire's state-
ment.
As it is, Voltaire quite sums up
theater in Ann Arbor.
-By JOHN CRUMB, JR.
The Quad System's
Coolest weekly
Coffee House
featuring
BOB GORDON
Folk & Blues
Friday Nights
8:30-75c-G 103
South Quad
HEAR THE
Huron River Ramblers
MIKEFOGARTY
attheARK ...1421 Hill
TONIGHT AT 8:00 P.M.
SPONSORED BY CHILDREN'S COMMUNITY
-M
I
PAUL BUNYAN BALL
Saturday, Feb. 19
League Ballroom, 8-1 A.M.
$2.50 per couple
D
Across Campus,
JOIN THE DAILY BUSINESS STAFF
THURSDAY, FEB. 17
2:15 p.m.-Richard Jung of Cor-
nell University speaks on "Schizo-
phrenia Discourse" in 1057 MHRI.
4 p.m. - University students
Richard Morrow, Grad, and
Charles Adamek, '66, will argue
against the British debate team
from Cambridge University in
Rackham lecture hall. The topic
will be, "Resolved: that America
has moved from barbarism to de-
cadence without passing through
civilization." The Cambridge team
will support the affirmative side
of the proposition, the University
debaters the negative.
7 and 9 p.m. - Cinema Guild
presents Rudolph Valentino in
"Blood and Sand" in the Archi-
tecture Aud.
8 p.m.-Prof. Milton Friedman
of the University .of Chicago's eco-
nomics department will speak in
Aud. B on "Intentions vs. Results
in Economic Policy." Friedman,
author of "Capitalism and Free-
dom," was the chief economic ad-
viser of Barry Goldwater in the
1964 campaign.
8 p.m.-"Cassandra" by C. B.
Gilford and Elizabeth Gibson will
be presented by University Play-
ers in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
8:30 p.m. - The Huron River
Ramblers will play a benefit con-
cert at The Arc, 1421 Hill St.
Donation: 50 cents, and coffee will
be provided. Proceeds go to the
Childrens' Community School.
FRIDAY, FEB. 18
7 and 9 p.m. --- Cinema Guild
presents Rudolph Valentino in
"Blood and Sand" in the Archi-
tecture Aud.
3 p.m.-Prof. Milton Friedman
of the University of Chicago eco-
nomics department will speak on
"Alternative Criteria for Mone-
tary Policy" in the Multipurpose
room of the UGLI. Friedman serv-
ed as Barry Goldwater's top eco-
nomic advisor during the 1964
presidential campaign.
7 and 9 p.m.-Cinema II pre-
sents "Dr. Strangelove" in Aud A.
. 8:30 p.m.-The University Mus-
ical Society Chamber Music Fes-
tival presents the New York
Chamber Soloists at Rackham
Aud.
SATURDAY, FEB. 19
7 and 9 p.m. - Cinema Guild
presents I n g m a r Bergman's
"Dreams" in the Architecture
Aud.
8 p.m.-"Cassandra" by C. B.
Gilford and Elizabeth Gibson will
be presented by the University
Players in Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre.
8-30 p.m Te University'Mus-
ical Society Chamber Music' Fes
tival will feature the New York
Chamber Soloists at Rackhan
Aud..
3RD WEEK
MMM4
aa
CINEMA
II
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Peter Sellers'
in
DR.
STRANGELOVE
or
How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and
Love the Bomb
FRI., SAT., SUN.
7 and 9 P.M.
UNIVERSITY
PLAYERS present
by C. B. Gilford and Elizabeth Gibson
TONIGHT hu SATURDAY,
8:00 P.M. Lydia Mendelssohn Thetatre
Box O4ffice open 12:30-8 P.M.
Tickets:
'"''""*am lowm
Diag and at the door
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Shows at 1:30-4:30-8:00 P.M.
Matinees ........$1.25
Evenings & Sunday .... $1.50
Children ...............75c
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