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 p resents 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 r L ENNON N ------MM omew Shows at 1:30-4:30-8:00 P.M. Matinees ........$1.25 Evenings & Sunday .... $1.50 Children ...............75c 1 TODAY I I1 NTERNL TEA Broaden your perspectives (and meet some great people) Winner of 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Y1AUDREY HEPBURN "REX HARRISON mmmummmm j NEIL F-.. uI~ ~II I I' 4:30-6:00 P.M.-East Quad, South Lounge c' p SWEETEN YOUR " "r : }MORNING COFFEE h~h . h;-'p,"w i th Subscribe NOW and SAVE! Call 764-0558 rI L. 50c a U I r 4 "-"'" DIAL 8-6416 2ND WEEK TODAY ONLY At The STATE SHOWN AT 1:30-4:30 AND 8:00 P.M. ACTUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF GREAT BRITAIN 1:30 Show .... $1.50 4:30 Special Student Show ... $1.00 8:00 'Show ......$2.25 LAURENCE .:::: ~OL V ER The greatest Othello ever by the greatest actor of our time. A B.H.E.PRODUCTION ALSO STARRING ANTHONY HAVELOCKALLAN and JOHN BRABOURNE TECHNICOLOR PANAVISION*FROM WARNER BROS. FRIDAY ONLY "NEVER TOO LATE" WITH SNEAK PREVIEW AT 7 P.M. ThOe Laved. I MeEU ROP E BOU ND' TALK TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN THERE TRAVEL TIPS!! MOVIES!! TONIGHT Michiaan Union Rooms 3R and 3S . The University of Michigan 0 INTI ERFRATERNIITY COUNCIIIL announces IF C COMMTTEE MIEMBERSHIIP OPIENIINGS 'S ..e Open to All Fraternity Members, II 111111~11 i ~Ai £ AI a " 11I