Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, September 21, 3 972
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 21, 1972
U
,a
theatre
Cage'
By RICK PARKS
"Justice! Justice! The people
demand justice! Justice is first;
reason is later," exhorts the
magistrate to the court and jury.
The results of the application
of "justice" as it is currently
executed are made appallingly
apparent in the play "The Cage"
which was presented last night
following Dick Gregory's lecture
at the Power Center.
The play is entirely the crea-
tion of those who have lived the
prison experience. It was writ-
ten by an inmate and performed
by four ex-convicts on a stage
adorned on ly by four blankets
depicts
and a toilet, the symbolic seat of
power.
The most striking aspect of the
presentation is the acting ability
of the players and the dramatic
force they are able to summon.
The script is very abstract, writ-
ten in the style of theatre of the
absurd, and relys on the ability
of the actors to give structure
and a sense of movement to the
story.
The scenes of psychological
brutality and homosexual activ-
ity are particularly convincing
and effective. The four actors
are able to make the audience
vicariously participate in the ag-
t=
MUSIC
Band's 'Rock' fails
By HERB BOWIE
Rock of Ages is The Band's
latest failure-to-comeback album.
It's also their first live album.
As a failure-to-comeback album
it's great, probably their best
yet. As a live album, though, it
stinks.
There are several things a
group can do to make a live re-
lease a little more interesting
than a greatest hits album. It
can engage in extensive impro-
Channel 50 offers
musical entertainment
Two of the most talented come-
dians in the entertainment world
are Cheech and Chong. They will
make a special guest star ap-
pearance on "Rollin' " this Fri-
day at eleven p.m. on Channel
50.
Many people are already "turn-
ed on" to this riotous team
through their best selling record-
ings including "Big Bambu."
This was proven this August when
the first of their tyo appearances
at Ford Auditorium was entirely
sold out.
WKBDMTV offers fun entertain-
ment to the viewer every week-
night at eleven. Monday, it's
"Stand Up and Cheer"; Tuesday,
"The Nashville Music"; Wednes-
day, "The Mancini Generation";
Thursday, "The Golddiggers";
and of course Friday, "Rollin'"
is the Channel 50 cure for the
news blues.
visation. The Band does so rare-
ly here. It can rearrange its
songs so that they don't sound
like the recorded versions. The
Band took a shot at this on the
album, adding a horn section
playing charts written by Allen
Toussaint. Unfortunately, no one
actually rearranged the songs to
make the horns an integral part
of the arrangements. Toussaint
just superimposed some horns
on the old, already musically
dense, versions. It can also play
songs the group hasn't already
recorded. Out of seventeen songs
on this two-record set, one is a
"new" song called "Get Up
Jake" that Robertson wrote a
couple of years ago; there's
"Don't Do It," a Holland-Dozier-
Holland song, "(I Don't Want to)
Hang Up My Rock and Roll,
Shoes," by Chuck Willis, and
seven minutes of pseudo-classical
doodlings on organ, referred to
on the album as "The Genetic
Method."
Of course, the other thing a
band can do to improve a live
album is to play well, which no
one does very consistently here.
The horns get in the way about
as often as they help, filling in
holes that should be left empty
and providing needless introduc-
tions to songs. The improvisa-
tion falls ,in the same category.
Robertson's solo on "King Har-
vest" is all right, but his lead on
"This Wheel's on Fire" destroys
the whole mood of the song.
As I said, a pretty crummy
live album. The only way The
Band could fail to come back
any better, though, would be to
rename themselves The Hawks
and go back to Canada.
'Justice'
ony taking place on stage. The
pressure builds in your chest
and your sense of dispair and
impending horror is manipulated
and well-brought out by the
scenes leading up to the violent
acts.
The action is basicly centered
around the admission of a new
inmate to a four-man cell in a
large prison and his acclama-
tion to prison life. Having failed
to correctly learn to play socie-
ty's games, the young, fragile in-
mate is subjected to the worst
fantasies and insanities that the
other three men in the "cage"
can muster.
A sort of balance is kept in the
cage. Each inmate participates
in the "gamnes" and violent, psy-
chotic diversions of the other
inmates. Each one takes his turn
dominating the scene. Infighting
between pairs of the inmates
threatens to break down this so-
cial structure, but each time a
new game saves the day.
The climax of the play comes
with a beautifully written parody
of a criminal trial, with the new-
est member of the cage charged
with the murder of his girl-
friend. The author keeps the pro-
ceedings close enough to "real"
court proceedings to make his
criticism of the advesary sys-
tem poignant and revealing.
Defense Attorney: "Objection!"
Judge: "How does that objec-
tion sound to the People?"
Prosecuting Attorney: "The
People object to that objection."
Judge: "Objection denied!"
Of course, the three old in-
mates are the judge, defense at-
torney and prosecuting attorney
and the new member is on trial.
But the proceedings are fright-
eningly realistic.
The play is performed by the
Barbwire Theatre of California,
four remarkably talented men.
It was a shame that the same
weat, scratchy sound system
which hurt Dick Gregory's speech
was allowed to detract from the
excellence of their performance.
Dear KALIEDOSCOPE:
Whenever I take pictures out-
doors in bright sunlight, the
shadows come out inky black
with no detail in them. How can
I avoid this in the future?
This often happens when a pho-
tographer follows the "through
the lens" meter reading from
his/her camera without think-
ing. The rule of thumb is to ex-
pose for the shadows when shoot-
ing black and white film and to
expose for the highlights when
shooting color slides.
Black and white film has much
more latitude for overexposure
than for underexposure. By ex-
posing for the shadows you are
actually overexposing the high-
lights and this procedure results
in a negative which gives more
details in the shadows. When
working with color transparency
film, one is forced by the fixed
nature of the processing to ex-
pose for the highlights properly
and to let the shadows fall where
they may.
--THE DAILY PHOTOGRAPHERS
* * *
Dear KALIEDOSCOPE:
Tell me more about the musi-
cal instrument portion of your
column.
Well, the column is for you
and I hope that you will help me
write my portion of it by sending
in questions-any questions about
musical instruments-like "I'm
thinking of getting a (guitar,
banjo, mandolin, lute, recorder,
balalaika, bagpipe, dulcimer, etc.
... ) and how do I tell a good one
from a bad one?" Or you might
also ask about how to improve,
create or restore an instrument.
Seasonal changes (humidity,
temperature) do affect your in-
strument, and you may want to
ask about what you can do to
prevent shrinking and expanding,
changes in sound, cracks, etc.
Your questions may also con-
cern selection of the proper pol-
ish, wax, strings, etc., for your
instrument.
But in any case-whether you
play all the time, or once in
awhile; whether you are thinking
of buying aq instrument or mak-
ing one- -I am willing to answer
your questions.
-HERB DAVID
KALIEDOSCOPE is an experi-
mental column. Hopefully, it will
evolve into a helpful information
source for our readers. But then
again, if you don't let us know
that you have questions in need
of answers, the column will die.
So please keep those letters com-
ing ... write: KALIEDOSCOPE,
c/o Arts Editor, The Michigan
Daily.
Have a flair for
artistic writing?
If you are interest-
ed in reviewing
drama, dance, film,
poetry, and music,
or writing feature
stories a b o u t the
arts:, Contact Arts
Editor, c/o The
Michigan Daily.
--- -- -f
41
1
1 1,
THEATRE COMPANY OF ANN ARBOR, INC..
ANNOUNCES
FRI.,"SEPT. 22 AUDITIONS SUN., SEPT. 24
7-10:30 P.M. 1-4 P.M.
FOR PERMANENT COMPANY MEMBERS
Prepare two audition selections of two minutes each--One serious
selection, one humorous, one modern, one classical. A recent
snapshot will be appreciated.
701 E. University East Quad Aud.
FOR FURTHER INFO CALL-487-9496
Persons interested in costuming please contact
company at these times
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
featuring: T & T
Wed.-Sat. 9:30-1:30
SUNDAY: Jam Session
3:00-8:00
04 e 208 W. Huron
LUNCHES DAILY
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RETROSPECTIVE
PROGRAM 2
Maya Deren: MESHES OF AN
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Marie Menken: VISUAL VARI-
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Williard Maas: GEOGRAPHY
OF THE BODY.
Kenneth Anger: FIREWORKS
AND LOOPS.
Len Lye: COLOR BOX AND
TRADE TATTOO.
Friday: L'IMMORTELLE
Dir. by Robbe-Grillet
ARCHITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
341 South Main @ Ann Arbor 769-5960
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"For Burton
there have been
assembled eight
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and every one
of them
endowed far
beyond the a.
Jean-Pierre Leaud in FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT'S First Feature Film
THE 400 BLOWS
(French dialogue-English subtitles)
" WINNER New York Critics' Award
" Director's Prize, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL (1959)
First and foremost of the New Wave masterpieces is this moving story of a young boy turne.d outcast.
Not loved at home or wanted at school, he sinks into a private and fugitive existence that leads to re-
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"Brilliant ... Tremendously Meaningful."-NEW YORK TIMES
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THIS FINE FILM IN THE ORIGINAL 35mm
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