Thursday, September 6, 1973
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Pace Sevarlu
Thu rsday, September 6, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
F %.Svc ti7C V -- I t
I
Surv ing
By GLORIA JANE SMITH
Scanning stages cross-campusa
it becomes immediately obvious
that Ann Arbor is indeed a hot-
bed of dramatic activity. Produc-
tions, both amateur and profes-
sional, conventional and experi-
mental, are presented by no less
than a d o z e n active theatre
groups
Outstanding on the local thes-
pian scene is the University's
Professional Theatre Program
(PTP), an organization that hosts
top - notch professional produc-
tions, some already New York
hits, many in pre-Broadway en-
gagements. Last; year saw such
notables as the 1925 musical
comedy No, No, Nanette, Tony
Award - winning mystery thriller
Sleuth and the musical Godspell.
PTP also sponsors small prom-
inent theatre groups such as last
year's performance by the New
Phoenix Repertory Company.
It is undeniably PTP that has
given Ann Arbor its reputation
as a national theatre center.
Audiences from communities as
distant as Detroit, Toledo and
Windsor travel here for their
productions,
THE "OFFICIAL" s t u d e n t
theatre group is University Play-
the
ers, affiliated with the spe
partment. Each term, th
ers produce a varied sche
plays, sometimes with s
success, sometimes
failure.
Highlighting last year's
was their Showcase Produ
which they presented a
experimental approacht
ter's Old Times. Other i
ingly progressive prod
were Beckett's Endgaw
.Rabe's anti-war play The
Training of Pavlo Humm
A more informal exten
the University's drama p
is found in the Student L
'hotbed'
aech de- atre which presents student-pro- act:
e Play- duced one-acts a l m o s t every ofn
edule of week io the intimate surround- abl
tunning ings of the arena theatre in the (Mi
dismal Frieze Bldg. Too
In addition to this, various lan- for
season guage departments, including eve
.ction in French, Spanish, Latin and Ger- L
novel, man, present classical and mod- Wes
to Pin- ern plays throughout the year, Sho
nterest- such as the classical depart- N
ductions ment's Seligson Players presenta- were
ne and tibn of Plautus' Haunted House. gro
e Basic sen
el. AFFILIATED with the Resi- the
ision of dential College d r a m a depart- ed
rogram ment are the Residential College
ab The- Players, a group that presents C
a variety of avant-garde plays, thri
some of them original, student- are
written works. Last year saw Sull
such works as Williams' Some- und
thing Unspoken, Ionesco's The dom
Lesson, and Chekov's The Three gre
Sisters. A
There are also a variety of gro
of
ive groups that are comprised
non-drama majors, most not-
y Soph Show and MUSKET
Ichigan Union Show, Ko-eds
). While Soph Show is only
sophomores, MUSKET is for
ryone.
ast year MUSKET brought us
st Side Story, while Soph
w presented Cabaret.
Newly organized this past year
re v a r i o u s other amateur
ups. The UAC Players pre-
ted Play It Again Sam and
South Quad Players present-
a play entitled Apple Tree.
OMMUNITY THEATRE also
Ives in Ann Arbor. Musicals
presented by the Gilbert and
ivan Society, a group which
erstandably p r e s e n t s pre-
minantly the works by the two
at masters.
nother a c t i v e community
up is the Ann Arbor Civic
Ir ama
Theatre, which last year pre-
sented a variety of productions,
including Lion in Winter.
An interesting, although not so
active group is the Ann Arbor
Theatre Company, who present
original adaptations of books and
poems. This year they presented
Dracula.
A final youth-oriented com-
munity group is the Junior Light
Opera which last year presented
Mousetrap.
There is also an occasional
appearance by out-of-town
groups, such as last year's visit
by a Chicano guerrilla theatre
group supporting the lettuce boy-
cott.
To say the least, Ann Arbor's
theatre scene is bountiful and
diverse. There is literally a play
presented for every dramatic
taste.'But go out and experience
it for yourself.
Friendly Atmcsphere .
plus POOL TABLE, COLOR TV,
and
r
"
PIN BALL
all at
LUI3rE kf7Y I IMlN
COCKTAIL BAR
112 West Liberty-Ann Arbor
668-91 63
(GRILL FOR LUNCH)
-
Poetry readings:
Oral gratification
-
R
B
*<
GUITAR
D
A
y
", I
D
A Hash Bash ... Out of the
closet and ri ht on the Diag
By ERIC SCHOCH
supplement co-editor
What campus event this past
year drew the largest crowd (not
counting football and basket-
ball)? No, unlike years past it
was not a student protest againt
the war, the Regents, or any-
thing else. It was, in fact, an
event whose only point was to
openly. smoke marijuana onl the
Diag,' the' Second Annual Ann
Arbor Hash Festival.
As two seemingly disinterested
members of Ann Arbor's finest
looked on, 5,000 students, freaks
and one state representative
toked up on dope and generally
had a good time.
The first hash bash was held
on April 1, 1972, the day the new
state law reducing possession of
marijuana to a misdemeanor
went into effect. That day, 500
participants braved freezing tem-
peratures and snow flurries to
flaunt their dope and their of-
fiilhash bash T-shirts.
LAST YEAR, however, it was
a different story, as people be-
gan gathering early under blue
skies until their numbers grew to
a peak of 5000. Five hours later,
1000 die-hards were still at it,
braving a late-afternoon drizzle.
All during the day, a lone evan-
gelist urged the crowd to repent
of their sins and turn to Christ,
but he seemed to make little
headway.
The most famous participant at
this year's event was liberal
state representative Perry Bull-
ard (D-Ann Arbor), who posed
with his joint for the benefit of
news photographers, saying with
a giggle, "There's nothing wrong
with it."
DESPITE THE ostentatious
consumption of the illegal weed,
no arrests have been made either
year. The first year, three uni-
formed police were in view, and
a few plainclothesmen tried to
look inconspicuous in their trench
coats and crew cuts, but police
attitudes toward the hash fests
were summed up by one's dry
comment, "I don't see anything."
Organizers of the festivals have
remained mysteriously anony-
mous, spreading the word by
festival lies, of course, in the
basic hedonism of many students
mouth, leaflets, occasional clas-
sified ads in The Daily, and ex-
tensive use of bathroom wall
graffiti.
Part of the success of the hash
and freaks, but the timing of the
hash fests has its influence as
well. After the long gray Ann
Arbor weather, with its rain,
cold, snow and bitter winds,
campus residents find the first
day of April to be just a good
day to get high and have a good
time.
By DIANE LEVICK
supplement co-editor
ff tortured high school word-
by-word analyses haven't turned
you off to poetry altogether, you
may find that Ann Arbor's num-
erous free poetry readings by
the authors themselves open up
a whole new enjoyable experi-
ence.
Leading off the list of sponsors
is the University itself, which
runs one of the most active
poetry reading programs in the
U.S. "We're the envy of other
schools," contends Donald Hall,
poet and University English pro-
fessor who has given several
readings locally.
Consulting Hall and others, En-
glish Prof. Bert Hornback puts
together the poetry programs
with financial backing from his
department and its Extension
Service. Averaging 20 readings a
year now, the program brings in
nationally famous as well'as
local poets.
FOR INSTANCE, Robert Hay-
den, winner of the Grand Prize
for Poetry at the First World
Festival of Negro Arts, gave a
reading of his works in the
Modern Languages Bldg. last
March. Having taught creative
writing classes at the University
since 1969, Hayden seeks a wide
audience for his poetry: "I want
people to understand what I
write and react to it . . . I don't
want to be so obscure that only
intellectuals can understand me."
Among nationally-known poets
in the reading program have been
Richard Tillinghast, poet- and
songwriter from Berkeley, Calif.;
Galway Kinnel; Richard Wilbur;
Robert Bly; and poet-in-resi-
dence at the University, Russian
exile Joseph Brodsky.
Once held in the UGLI Multi-
purpose room, the readings have
been moved to the more com-
fortable Modern Languages Bldg.
The atmosphere of the readings
varies, but most of the poets
are "very personable people,"
according to one poetry fan, and
are happy to answer questions
on their personal lives and philos-
ophy of writing.
THE GROWTH of the Univer-
sity's poetry reading program
has been sparked by favorable
student response. Hall says that
the audiences vary anywhere
from 60 to 400 and frequently
overflow the available room.
He reports that this fall's
poetry reading schedule is not yet
finalized, but those he expects
"for sure" will include: Robert
Duncan from San Francisco,
Michael Harper, George Mac-
Beth from England, and Lemual
Johnson, who teaches at the Uni-
versity.
Both Johnson and Hall partici-
pated in poetry readings at the
Ark coffeehouse on Hill St. this
past year. The free Sunday night{
readings were organized by Hop-
wood winner Linda Silverman.
She and six to 12 others-many
of them teaching fellows in the
University's English dept.--haveI
held a poetry workshop for three
years. Designed for those who
are very serious about their
poetry, the workshops give par-
ticipants a chance to work col-
lectively on their pieces. Silver-
man says the workshop will con-
tinue this fall and hopes to carry
on the readings at the Ark.
ANOTHER OUTLET for stu-
dent interest in poetry is, sur-
prisingly enough, the Pyramid
Gallery on N. Main St. The art
gallery ran a series of six poetry
readings this spring and intends
to run another program this fall.
Gallery director Marty Nyrk-
kanen says the poetry is "part
of the idea of getting involved
in more than just the visual
arts."
I
L
Instruments, Accessories, Lessons
Instruments MADE and REPAIRED
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ULRICH'S BOOKSTORE
"A FUN PLACE TO SHOP"
209 SOUTH STATE
665-8001
(upstairs)
I
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E
ijjS
t
I
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,.
k/hat ol
'-U
ad
'74
A "Bell Party"
is your birthday celebrated at
the PRETZEL BELL.
Any
Monday
or Tuesday evening, bring your friends, sign in the
register, and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of Clint
_ _ -t
"Bell Party"
Flick's
Bar'
The best-known guide to edible (ond non-edible)
The best-known guide to edible (and non-edible)
mushrooms, designed for use in the field-
Alexander H. Smith
THE MUSHROOM
HUNiTERS
FIELD GUIDE
Revised and Enlarged Edition
"As an introduction to the art of
mushroom hunting . . i can think
of nothing better than Alexander H.
Smith's The Mushroom Hunter's Field
Guide
Donald Malcolm, New Yorker
Usi this guide, beginners as well as
experts can identify mushrooms in a
matter of minutes. The descriptions
are tinged with humor and wisdom,
making the use of this q u i d e a
pleasant and rewarding experience.
Nature lovers, photographers, and es-
pecially those for whom the mush-
has
LIVE
ENTERTAINMENT
Monday-Saturday Nights
9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
(BLUES: 4 nights per week)
Castor's PRETZEL BELL. Michigan students have been celebrat-
ing "Bell Parties" for years, and as the oldest restaurant in Ann
Arbor, the PRETZEL BELL will continue to combine the pleasure
of food and drink for your enjoyment.
Enjoy the R.F.D. BOYS' BLUEGRASS MUSIC,
live Wednesday through Saturday nights
SC/imt CaOto
i'i~Wel
- 11
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it
F lini
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