Saturday, December 8, 197

THE MICHIGAN GAILY

rage Five

Saturday1 December 8, 197:. THE MICHIGAN DAILY rage ?-ive

S/aw's warmest

and

wittiest

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By ALVIN CHARLES KATZ
Once in a while, a great com-
pany comes along with a great
production of a great play, and
the result is a theatre experi-
ence of the highest order. The
Shaw Festival Theatre of Cana-
da production of You Never Can
Tell, which runs through Sun-
day at Mendelssohn Theatre, is
such an experience.
George Bernard Shaw wrote
You Never Can Tell in 1895, os-
tensibly to prove that he could
produce a fashionable comedy
suitable for London's popular
West End theatres. The play is
witty without the customary
Shavian didacticism - Shaw off
his soapbox and abounding with
warm, contagious humor.
The play examines some fav-
orite Shavian themes, including

women's liberation, love, and the
battle of the sexes, as three chil-
dren finally meet their estrang-
ed father after eighteen years.
Some wonderfully funny episodes
follow as a penniless dentist and
an opportunely discreet waiter
become enmeshed in the family
affairs.
The Shaw Festival company,
based in Niagara-on-the-lake,
Ontario, is the only professional
theatre company in the world de-
voted solely to presenting the
works of Shaw and his contem-
poraries, and they do Shaw as
well as anyone anywhere. It was
really a pleasure to watch so
fine a company work, the cur-
rent effort being as close to a
flawless production as I have
ever seen.
Director E d w a r d Gilbert

strikes just the right balance be-
tween le-ity and seriousness,
and keeps the play moving at a
brisk but comfortable tempo. The
entire production is extremely
handsome, with rich costuming
by Hilary Corbett, sumptuous
sets by Maurice Strike, and ex-
pert lighting by Donald Acaster.
At the heart of Shaw Festival's
production is some superlative
acting, from top to bottom. Rich-
ard Murdoch is delightful as the
tactful waiter, portraying the
proper English servant flawless-
ly. Paxton Whitehead (the com-
pany's Artistic Director) is per-
fect as the impoverished dentist,
his performance standing out
above a bevy of fine efforts. Ri-
chard Farrell is suitably grumpy
in the role of the father, and Pa-
trick Boxhill is nicely starchy as

an aging solicitor.
The women fare equally well,
with Shiela Haney performing ab-
lv as an early feminist. In addi-
tion, Patricia Gage is excellent
as a liberated femme fatale who
has finally met her match.
I particularly enjoyed 'Wenna
Shaw and Peter Blais as a loqua-
cious sister-brother pair who
seem to talk as one person, and
.James Valentine in a small but
funny part as a pompous Queen's
Counsel.
In general the cast worked to-
gether extremely well, display-

ing fine comic timing and sense,
and the polish which comes only
from plenty of practice and dedi-
cation. As everyone in Thursday
night's audience learned, The
Shaw festival Theatre of Cana-
da is truly a first-rate company.
The real star of the show,
though, is Shaw. You Never Can
Tell is Shaw at his warmest and
wittiest, affably joking and keep-
ing his scolding to a minimum.
In the hands of a great company
like the Shaw Festival, You Nev-
er Can Tell is a theatre event
which shouldn't be missed.

Daly Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKI
Japanese music comes alive
Professor Malm, one of the three experts on Japanese music in the Western hemisphere, conducts
the last concert of the semester at Rackham Auditorium for the Japanese music students last night.
Student Laboratory Theater:
An opportunity for all to act

,UUR rALEAR
MUSIC-The Ark presents Marshall Dodge tonight and Steve
and Mary Addiss tomorrow both at 8: Barnaby Bye per-
forms at the Promo Showbar tonight and tomorrow;
Jimmy Reed plays at King Pleasure tonight and tomor-
row; Renaissance concert by Oberlin Collegium Musicum
in St. Andrews Episcopal Church at 8 tonight; South
Quad Council presents Smitty's Coffeehouse at 8 tomor-
row.
DRAMA-PTP presents Corwin's Richard Kiley Plays Cer-
vantes today and tomorrow at 3, 8 at Power and Shaw's
You Never Can Tell in Mendelssohn today and tomor-
row at 3, 8; Medieval Renaissance Collegium performs
Everyman in Main Lounge, Lawyers Club tonight at 8;
University Players present Shakespeare's Cymbeline in
Trueblood, at 8 tonight; R. C. Players perform a work in
progress tonight and tomorrow at 8 in East Quad Aud.
MOVIES - Cinema II shows Huston's The Kremlin Letter in
Aud. A at 7, 9 tonight and Renoir's Madame Bovary in
Aud. A at 7, 9 tomorrow; Cinema Guild presents Mc-
Lean's Monkey Business in Arch. Aud. at 7, 9:05 tonight
and tomorrow; Bursley Hall Enterprises shows Kubrich's
2001: A Space Odyssey at 9 tonight in the cafeteria.
ART-Artists and Craftsman Guild present an Art Fair to-
morrow from 12-6 in Union Ballroom.
MUSIC SCHOOL-University Wind Ensemble tomorrow in Hill
at 3.
$2.00
This Weekend
FRI.-SAT.
MARSHALL
DODGE
MAINE HUMOR
AND STORIES
SUN.
Steve and
Mary Addiss
(A benefit for the LaLeche
League and the Ark).
-_ _ _1421 Hill St.-761-1451
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By NANCY HOLSON
So you're not Paul Newman
or Jane Fonda. Maybe you're
just a frustrated actor looking for
some experience on the stage.
University Players may be too
professional or time-consuming.
But there's an organization that
encourages people like you to
develop your theatrical talents
before live audiences.
It's the Student Laboratory
Theater, the baby of the Univer-
sity's speech department. De-
signed to give Advanced Direct-
ing students the chance to direct
real one-act plays, the program
presents such pieces as The Ef-
fect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-
the-moon-Marigolds in the Arena
Theater.
Produced on the average of
two every three weeks, most of
the plays this term have been
contemporary - works by Har-
old Pinter, Maria Fornes, Is-
rael Horovitz, and others. Next
semester the emphasis will shift
to period plays.
Under the direction of Prof. Ri-
chard Burgwin, students in the
program are exposed to all the
problems and rewards of an ac-
tive director.rThe productions
themselves are simple enough.
The director is restricted to the
usage of a minimum of props,
lights and scenery.
Anne Harrington, a graduate
student who serves as coordinat-
or of the Student Lab Theater,
explains, "All the productions
come from the individual direc-
tors. They choose their own
plays and casts, decide what
they want for sets and lights,
make up their own rehearsal
schedules and take full responsi-
sility for the final product. Which

means essentially that they're
actually doing a full production."
The roles are open to whoever
wishes to audition for them.
Schedules are posted before each
audition on the first floor of the
Frieze Bldg.
Harrington, recalling the first
play she directed through Stu-
dent Lab Theatre, explains the
experience of the student direc-
tor: "You get so involved with
it," she grins reminiscently. "No
matter how it turns out, it's al-
wvays exciting in some way."
Biannually, two original one-
act plays are presented. Writ-
ten by members of the directing
class, it is indeed entirely a stu-
dent effort. One such piece,
Sideshow by Timothy Cox, was
produced this term as a finished
product, complete with a realis-
tic script, interesting story line,
and fine acting.
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Sideshow, the story of one
man's mental breakdown, was a
creative, interesting experience
for both the audience and stu-
dents who took part. Student Lab
Theater offers anyone who has
an empty Wednesday or Thurs-
day afternoon the chance to see
an often enjoyable performance
free of charge.
Harrington, smiling from be-
hind a desk cluttered with pap-
ers related to Student Lab Thea-
ter activities, remarks, "Work-
ing on a show and discovering
things about how a play works
and how an actor works may not
result in a finished product, but
it's always an exciting educa-
tional experience."

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EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
MAJOR EVENTS COMMITTEE
PRESENT
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