Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, September 11, 1971 Page Two THL MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, September 11, 1971 arts Alley: Bringing blues music home By BERT STRATTON Luther Allison is at the Alley tonight and tomorrow. The Alley is what Canterbury House used to be, and Luther Allison is the Chicago guitarist who plays electric urban blues and does it well. A crowd of typically-nuts blues freaks welcomed Allison to town last night, where his show got off to a surprising start with the sudden appearance of another great bluesman, Fred McDowell. Mississippi Fred walked on stage, passed around a bottle of wine, and revealed his Electric Fred dimensions by jamming with Luther's group. The strange possibiilties, old Fred, one of the great bottle- neck guitarists, playing with one of the youngest and flashiest black bluesmen around, Allison. It was that way last night, walking into the Alley, seeing rows For the student body: LEVI'S CORDUROY Slim Fits ... $6.98 (All Colors) Bells .......$8.50 DENIM Bush Jeans . $10.00 Bells ....... $8.00 Pre-Shrunk . $7.50 Super Slims . $7.00 CINEMA II TONIGHT A THOUSAND CLOWNS 1965 comedy starring Jason Robards-Jr. and Barbara Harris "I saw a horrible sight today: I saw people going to work." Aud. A-Angell Hall 6 4 -Daily-Terry McCarthy R.C. Players present student written production of Skull' EDITOR'S NOTE; The following review was written during the sum- mer whentheeR.C. playersorigin- ally presented Barry Garelck's SKULL. By CHRISTOPHER WHITMAN The Residential College is possesed of some people who are determined-at all costs, it seems-to produce plays in their new auditorium. A serious, di- verse and sometimes brilliant crew, they have in the last year made East Quad the scene of an uncommon number and variety of theatrical experiences, some well-polished and compe- tent, others disappointing in their unsureness, but all of them transmitting the special vitality which informs and by now iden- tifies the R.C.'s adventuresome spirit. This summer a small number of these theatrical amateurs :read that in the French sense) stayed in town, secured funding from the College's ever-watch- ful Representative Assembly, found various means of visible support, and instituted "R.C. Summer Theatre," a basically student-operated producing unit which set out to stage four full- length dramas. Tonight and tomorrow the R. C . Players will present SKULL at 8 p.m. in East Quad Auditorium. SKULL is an ar- resting original one-act by Barry Garelick, and R.C. senior and major Hopwood Award win- ner. The 45-minute play is a narratively conceived mono- logue in which an old man, Trembor, tells us, in alternate attitudes of scornful superiority, craftiness, paranoia and desper- ation, how he has managed to construct his life so as to defy the ultimate Void of human ex- istence. "I couldn't wait to be- come old, so I became old all by myself," he boasts. "It never had a chance to catch up with me." Touting his self-made in- vulnerability to time and world- ly care, he talks and acts us through his vast store of mem- ories, fantasies, and philosophi- cal calculations in a free-asso- ciational manner punctuated by emotional outcries and violent physical actions. Tremblor is the only actor on stage, but other characters par- ticipate in his timeless, isolated existence. The chief entity is the one we see first: Skull, an over-sized, grinning white-on- black death's head, posted above Tremblor's stage which almost diverts our attention perman- ently to those insistently grim features. But the playwright is aware of the dramatic hazard of fix- ing upon a stage border a visual symbol of such obvious and per- meating significance. He makes skull - that is, of death, vio- lence, nothing-ness, inscrutable power. The "always old" Tren- blor possessively reminds us of his mentor's constancy; he de- scribes the image's admirable features: he pleads for Skull's solace, rails at Skull's unendur- able silence. At one point he of- fers Skull tea by lashing the full cup savagely against the immo- bile countenance. Another time he frantically tosses one after another of his dozens of shoes up to Skull, gasping "Come on, Tremblor violently insists that he never had a son, but he's intrigued momentarily with the notion of dismemberment. He toys with it, as he has done with the other ideas, fantasies and memories that haunt him: murder, crying voices from the tedious world, complicity with Skull's machinations, and, most important, "keeping one small step ahead of the whole world." This is the most confounding fantasy entertained by this self- defined seeker after immortality. He would achieve it by reject- ing the anxious fools of the world and becoming the beloved apostle of "Nothing-Matters" Skull. But dismemberment is not the way any more than baseball skill, possession of lots of shoes, or nagging rationality. "Don't talk to me about dis- memberment," he says. "Not for me, thank you.-I'll have tea! Tea is for the old . .. and Him." With that, he hurls the tea at Skull. The play has a good portion of comic moments, sudden swerves away from the intro- spective heaviness into broad and subtle explosions of Trem- bor's. and our, seriousness. The opening lines set up the possi- bility for further verbal and at- titudinal paradoxes. Trembor enters through a distorted door, closes, knocks on it. listens, and says: "He's never there. He is always never there. As rlongas I am old, he is never there." Later he says: "Never use 'nev- er' in a sentence." Still later, he tells us: "T never had a girl friend or a wife. I never wanted them; they never wanted me. (pause) Everything is so sym- metrical;" This extended description of the play is offered by way of recommendation to see this pro- duction by the 'R.C. Summer Theatre." It is unmistakably a substantial work by a very pro- mising writer, Patrick McCord of the narrative rhythm of Trembors extended speeches and is especially convincing in the abruptly energetic moments of emotional eruption. But a one-man show like this is extre- mely demanding. The unrealis- tic conjunction of all the The Michigan Daily, edited and man- aged by students at the University of Michigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan. 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues- day through Sunday morning Univer- sity year. Subscription rates: $10 by carrier, $10 by mal. Summer Session published Tuesday through Saturday morning. Subscrip- tion rates: $5 by carrier, $5 by mail. strands which constitute Trem- bor's role calls for profound control of body and mind and demands the utmost of an ac- complished ability to make clear transitions from one objective to the next. McCord's perform- ance lacks sufficient variety and definition, both in voice and movement. Normally, this fault could be attributed to the director, but the show has none. This is unfortunate, because the script is strong and a perceptive director could have enhanced it with some hard work on Mc- Cord's movement and vocal timing. He is an untrained act- or, but he is strong, determined and able to appreciate the play's material. Use fire carefully. Human Rights- RadiczI Independent Party open meeting and rows of chairs, no more tables, and even more chairs, packed so close, and there you had it, not the old Canterbury House randomness but complete- ly straight lines of chairs, peo- ple in every one of them. Allison was on a new stage, not in the same corner as the old Canterbury stage, he was with some new young musicians, he had a newel guitar than the one he brought up to Ann Arbor three years ago (when he played free in the Union), his first con- cert before college people. His music wasn't too new, a bit more polished, no nervousness, a bit of stage presence even, and there was Luther Allison playing some very old music-B.B. King tunes, Howlin Wolf, and even Chuck Berry rock and roll. Fred McDowell sat in the first row and approved. The owners of the Alley must have approved too, they'll be do- ing all right the way they packed us in last night, but who's to complain about stuffy air and close seating when we're getting a chance to see Commander Cody next week and Fred Mc- Dowell the week after, and the great Albert King next month -all at the Alley. Peter Andrews, the Alley book- ing agent and part-owner and general entrpreneur is about to bring Ann Arbor some nrasic, not like the nothing we heard last fall-no concerts-and not like the old Peter Nero-Bob Hope we used to get a few years ago. There will be blues concerts three times a month, with local bands as opening acts. Last night's Bob Goldenthal'a Blues Band did a real good warm-up to Allison, Goldenthal playing Little Walter-like har- monica if you want to go that far, and if not it was still very good. The Luther Allison Blues Band is playing well-cooked blues, the crowd is eating it up, and Ann Arbor is again being stuffed with its proper share of good music. For the student body: Genuine Authentic W Navy PEA COATS $25 S.es 34 to 50 CHECKMATE State Street at Liberty 1214 S. University DIAL 8-6416 Twin Features -Playboy Magazine Jea Lois riniganot ewsLetter in "The aColu ormcios" "A dazzling Movie" -Canby, N.Y 1Tines State Street at Liberty ..:. r.'rvi":.Y"::: ................................................... " .: i"'rY::::::":"::: :" ... .,.. ...... ..... rn. r .... s.:"."r: R vR:" :":::: ,.. . .":' .......:.. :.-r."i:".i"Y:".":":::ci{? "". ................... .....:::. ::.v:: .. ...... r. ..v....r .... rahiiw::::::.... . F. ;..; . r...:::::::: a... .....; .... ...... ....:4YY:":":.... r..". a"::>: :.::"::':.'::.".::v:::::4:vi:'}i::{i4:i"i:"};}Y.4::"i:::::.v:r::::::.::.vrr:r:r::.........t ................................r.... ...... ........ r.".............." ..".............................,........... :: f :<::: 4 ?:: j is :. .,. I i 'ii: 'i:: I : : I :i II , . Ili '' : : : I _: : is :<: I ::: _, I I }: THE ALLEY CINEMA J PRESENTS MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY Sept. 13-FLESH-by Warhol ................... at 7, 9, 11 p.m. Sept. 14-SHADOWS-dir. John Cassavetes . . .. at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Sept. 15-BEAUTY AND THE BEAST- dir. John Cocteau .........................a.at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Sept. 16-WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES- Swedish fantasy documentary .... ............at 7 and 9:30 p.m. 330 MAYNARD forrrierly Canterbury House $1.00 The Alley Cinema is sponsored by Ann Arbor Film Cooperative as part of our continued effort to raise money to support Ann Arbor filmmaking. All profits earned in this theater will be invested in the co- op's editing and production equipment, our filmmaking schools and various other cooperative pro- jects. We have built a new projection booth at the Alley, and a new sound system and a new screen have been installed. CHECKMATE 7 and 9:00 75c _ 1 .1.1 . and ARBOR CITY MUSIC PRODUCTIONS PRESENT IN CONCERT wl II Ragamoffyn New Heavenly Blue Performers of the rock opera Jesus Christ Su- perstar and scheduled at the Newport Jazz Festival Leaves of Grass $1.50 SAT., SEPT. Tickets $2.00 11 LYDIA MENDELSSOHN THEATRE Tickets available at Univ. Cellar and at the box office on Saturday O v I Electra Rec. Artist Tuesday-7 SAB :30 p.m. BILL MARTHA COOK BUILDING OFFERS: Convenience Hot Breakfasts Sun. Nite. Meal Linen Service Maid Service Gracious Life Spacious Garden Aesthetic Surroundings CALL TODAY 769-3290 VANAVER guitar, banjo; tambura opens the Ark with a dynamite act that will set you forward about ten years. 330 Maynard people's Record 1103 South Univ (thru Arcade) (near Est U.) d., pl.c ."' . *4 DIAL 5-6290 CAT ST EV EN S LIVE L.P. with purchase of 5 other I.p.is Salvation has the v HUMAN RIGHTS- RADICAL INDEPENDENT PARTY ANN ARBOR MEETING I DISCUSSIONS ON: " Child Care " Voter Registration & Education " Abortion " City Council & School Board " Labor WILL "superb instrumentalist" "so funny at times I wished he were a comic with a sense of music rather than a musician with a sense of humor." JOHN WILSON N.Y. Time= best selection music at the lowest prices on record and of funky tape and the best buys on cultural accessor- ies in town. 7:30 P.M.-TUESDAY SAB i __ . _.. - COUPON - We are nno~n frm S- COUPON- ;