The Michigan Daily-Sunday, October 21, 1979-Page 7 'Boom Boom, 'you're dead By JOSHUA M. PECK The last David Rabe play to be staged in East Quad before Musket's current CI the Boom Boom Room was 'Streamers; brought to the R.C.'s little brick auditorium two years ago by the Attic Theater. Aside from the more in The Boom Boom Room David Rabe Residen tiatCollege Aud. . October 19-21 Chrissy;.......... . Dominique Lowell Harold:.... ..... ...Ted Badgerow Susan............Amy Rothman Guy .......Jim Herrold -ic-..Richard Hayden 1........ ..... .......... Howard Andress ',alphie......... ...........Greg Rosenberg * Eaniel Ziegler director; Scott Kaiser, set designer; Gregory Mazre. lighting; a New Musket Co. pro- duction. ,practical virtues of general thespian strength and qualified directorship, the -Detroit troupe had the advantage of :working from a far superior script. -While both of these plays, like all of Rabe's work, have very specific and strong statements, Streamers unveils its message by suggestion, effectively. forcing its audience to make the con- hection between the violent but Inicrocosmic actions of the characters on the one hand, and the broader anti- war plea on the other. It seems never to have occurred to the author to reveal so much as a single nuance by suggestion in Boom Boom -Room. He screams his every notion at this audience, oblivious to whether the argument is of sufficient interest to be, -tolerated. The play's- concerns oc- icasionally scale the heights to (quasi-) universality, but for the most part dwell in the lonesome cellar of the leading lady's tiresome little life. Few of the miseries that confront poor Chrissy are poignant or common enough to win the sympathy they beg of their observers. She is even more alone, then, than Rabe intended; even the world beyond the edge of the stage is indifferent to her. IT IS TO BE hoped that Musket's per- fect matching of director to script was coincidental, that the play's pathetic groveling was not deliberately handed to the 'inept Daniel Ziegler for em- phasis. Ordinarily, directors will tell their players to overplay reactions when reading lines early in rehearsal - the theory being that it is easier to tone performances down as opening date approaches than it is to push con- tinuously for "bigger" and more evident expression. The problem here is that Ziegler seems, in several instan- ces, to have neglected the second part of that process. Yet toning down is, what most definitely is needed of three of the men in supporting parts, and all too frequently of Dominique Lowell in the starring role. Ted Badgerow, for example, in striving to create the -impression of a slightly sleazy codger well on the other side of mid-life crisis, gives vent to his frustration by piping out his lines all over his vocal range. His unmotivated leaps from octave to octave over the course of a single word remind one of the word "Omnipotent" as sung in the Hallelujah Chorus. This is no oratorio. Jim Herrold plays an outrageously ef- feminate homosexual with ostensibly comical} extremity. But comedy ends where humanity does. The absence of even a glimmer of non-stereotypical behavior out of Herrold strangles the humor. For similar reasons, Mike Morrissey's cameo misses in its attem- pt at quintessential creepiness. His characterization is so heavy-handed that it drowns in its own oil. And all the director would have had to do is fit the actors with some reins. The stuff of solid performances is lurking in each of the three, begging for extraction by way of moderation. Dominique Lowell, one of the better aspects of last year's Taking of Miss Janie, is another victim of the direc- tor's shaky hand. Parteof the problem is the un-unified, rocky progression from scene to scene that wrestles with the drama all evening long. However radically Boom Boom Room seeks to depart from the usual standards of sub- ject and style, it still wants an un- chaotic build to whatever profundity it has in store, rather than the orderless stops and starts of energy and tension that mar the play. Ms. Lowell, who ap- pears in nearly every scene, seems as confused by the flurry as anyone in the house. She can scarcely be expected to concentrate with the pacing and mood oscillating so wildly. In her favor are the few times that Chrissy lets her troubles get to her and either blows up or breaks down and cries. The actress' instinctual gifts show themselves at these moments; shorn as they are of the excessiveness all around. AMY ROTHMAN, as Chrissy's bisexual friend Susan, is just the op- posite of her colleague. It is during her casual scenes (fortunately the great majority) that she seems least hurt by the general ineptitude. Cold and mat- ter-of-fact about her lot in life, Roth- man is by far the most unaffected per- former in the production. There are other bright spots. Howard Andress is remarkably comfortable with the lengthy monologues through which he, like too many of his comn. patriots, must ramble. The trick here is for the actor to visualize the scenes he is describing, a technique that Andress: seems to have mastered. Too, he ad- dresses whomever else happens to be on stage at appropriate moments, unlike some in the cast,who whirl bet- ween the audience and other characters sans rhyme or reason. Shelly Ballmer has grown enor- mously since playing a pitiful simperer, in the Summer Rep flay Fever. As Chrissy's mother, she is shrill and sharp, with a malevolent streak of cruelty keenly understated. And Greg Rosenberg could give Jim Herrold lessons in how to add dimensions to potentially stereotypical material His peculiar quirks and eccentricity as the acid-mad Ralphie are the m'ost savory of the production's sadly rare delights. One never sees the performers after Chrissy leaves the stage for the final time. Ziegler evidently believed that a curtain call would shatter the stunning impression of the play's closing moments. But Musket's first non- musical effort is stunning for all the wrong reasons. A change in mood would have been most welcome. As yRtom 'hUn I tI~ S$1 off membership with coupon 1... - - - - -- - .. . . .........mm--.-.-mm- m m m m -m m.m -. ,TODAY is your last opportunity to see one of the most controversial ays of our time. - The NEW MUSKET CO. presents IN TEROOM BOOM ROOM a drama by DAVID RABE Residential College Auditorium Today at 2 & 8 East Quad Tickets $3 C.W. Pabst's 1928 PANDORA'S BOX The pioneering playwright. Franz Wedekind idolized by the young Germany of the 20th century, stressed sexual frankness and a Niezschean will to power. His most remarkable creation is the female world spirit, Lulu---a moral, bisexual, the ruiner of lives, fated to meet Jack the Ripper. A triumph of Expressionist art, with hauntingly beautiful LOUISE BROOKS'as the demon- lover. Man: Kurosawd's RED BREAD (Free of 8) Tues: Bergman's SHAME V .b '! °I R CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT 7:00 & 9:05 OLD ARCH. AUD. $1.50 4th Record Breaking Week! l -. I I 1 T ) I I 1T l I - - --v 00--y- U-4 1 -1 - - I I. I Formerly Fifth Forum Theater Will Brian be stoned for writ- ing anti-Roman graffiti on the wall of Pilate's Palace? . . . Will he be crucified for incor- rectly conjugating a Latin verb? SEE FOR YOURSELF! Fri, Mon, Tues 6 30, 8:20, 10:10 Adults $2.50 til 7:00 (or capacity) Sot, Sun 12:50, 2:40, 4:30, 6:30, 8:20, 10:10 Adults $1.50 till :30 (or capacity) Midnite Show Fri & Sat 4I JL, -A.- dn . . 1 17. ry.. a,, J .... III L I 'II "'a _ _. ... M I .._._._B_ _ALl A NOTHER WORLD SERIES has come and gone, and once again the Detroit Tigers did not win, or even participate. Still, some of the games were interesting, and the Pirates showed a lot of character in coming from behind as they did. Back here in Ann Arbor those not intrigued by-baseball played in sub-zero weather were surely delighted by the antics of that old graffiti monarch Dr. Diag, who appeared in surrogate form last Tuesday. For those still unamused, there's always the movies; Eraserhead played yesterday, and it made a good "first date" film. Or of course onc an simply alter one's driver's license and A-go to the arLor an evening of alcohol-induced fun. What one cannot do for fun is read the graffiti in the Mason- "Angell complex. Its, I'regret to say, almost uniforynly dull. The bathrooms in Mason Hall are particularly offensive in this respect; they are filled with sordid sexual invitations that have no place in such a public area. It is not anyone's sexual preferences that I object to, merely the manner in which they are-advertised. Nowhere in the Louvre is there framed canvas rading, "For a good time, call Leonardo." Art is art, and per- sonal ads are personal ads, or at least that's how I was brought up. The few printable samples from Mason Hall tended to ex- press the same sentiment. "Unhappiness is ... sitting on the can with no graffiti to read." Below a politically oriented quote from a Blake poem was the request, "How about some limericks?" The reply beginning "My roommate's name is Jim Bailey ..." is mediocre at best. The inevitable "This place is boring" com- ment is seconded by a Ralph Williams-esque "Yea verily," to whch I heartily assent. In the Angell Hall auditoriums the picture brightens a little. The writing on the desks here is concerned almost exclusively with the idea of boredom. "Did you have a nice nap?" asks a solicitous student. "Psychology is bullshit-and if you want proof give me money and I'll research it," adds a disillusioned academician. Taking a more constructive approach are those who write down the number of minutes remaining in class, generating such sequences as "45, 27, 21, 9, etc." This, we are told, is the "Law of Diminishing Time." In every group there are dissenters: "My name is Ann and I love economics" adorns a table in Auditorium D. Others are beyond help, including the unfortunate who claims "I can't graffiti any more." A helpful colleague recommends "ISD-Synethesized Graffiti." Any number of loyal Wolverines have whiled away the hours drawing stylized "M"s, and then there's always the old favorite, "Nuke the Whales," which can be used as a sampler for the exercise of calligraphic skills. A note to those interested in doing their own research: the Rule of Inverse Proximity states that the density of- graffiti varies directly with the distance of the table to the professor. Speaking of research, the long-enduring mystery of 'Joe Licks Taint' seems to be succumbing to the investigative powers of the Daily. The meaning of the word "Taint" is now cler, and I understand why my mother, the dear Mrs. Pensman, never told me about it. I, in turn, cannot write about it without suffering terminal embarrassment; if you must know, ask your RA-that's what he's there for. RECRUITMENT REPRESENTATIVES MASTERS PROGRAM in FOREIGN SERVICE , GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL O CF FORE IGSEVC J 2-year professionally oriented program of interna- , tional studies located in Washington, D.C. also 4-year JD-MSFS and 2%-year MSFS-MA in Economics WH N: Tues. October 23 " 10 am-3 pm Career Planning and VIEREKe. Placement Office 3200 Student Activities Bldg. III Dominique Lowell plays Chrissy, the youthful go-go dancer in the New Musket Company's production of "In the Room B Ro om." GC INEMAIi PRESENTIS I , i RED DESERT-' (MICHELANGELO ANTONION!, 1961) In this, his first color film, Antonioni uses color to express beauty and suggest conflict, contrasting bright, lush colors with subdued tones. "I know of no film in which a greater tension exists between the movement of a story and the places through which it moves .. , it is the best use of color I have ever seen in a film, exquisite."-Stanley Kauffman. 7f t ANGELL HA ALL' $1.50 7:00 & Tues. SALT OF THE EARTH 9:10 ALL YOU CAN EAT EVERY SUNDAY: ITALIAN BUFFET Includes: Soup-Salad-Relish Bar BreadandAUEntrees $4.95 EVERY MONDAY: SPAGHETTI INTRODUCING THE NEW UAC MEDIATRICS HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS SERIES STARTS THIS SUNDAY, OCT. 21 Featuring ALL ABOUT EVE With BETTE DAVIS & MARILYN MONROE 7:00, 9:30 Coming on future Sundays: Oct. 28: DINNER AT EIGHT & hort (7, 9:15) Nov. 4: CAMILLE & cartoons (7, 9:30) Nov. 11: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN & cartoons (7, 9) Nov. 18: Bogie Night: BEAT THE DEVIL (6:30, 10) Hospitality & Student Night .f I