Wednesday, October 25, 1972
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three ..
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
Today and Thursday-4:10 p.m.
THE STUDENT LABORATORY THEATRE
PRESENTS
MUZEEKA
Visions of futility
0 0
by JOHN GUARE
dir. by GARY.
Adaptation by Elaine May
Directed by Jamie Farbman
FREE ADMISSION
A. KLINSKY
COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL
JONES SCHOOL (401 N. Division)
By DAVID RUTKOWSKI
"TomassTranstromer"nthe an-
nouncer says; "was sent to us
by Robert Bly." True enough,
the 40 year old Swedish poet
seems to be Bly's spiritual
brother. Both are independently
involved in the effortto revitalize
the language of modern poetry,
using basically the same method
-the transformation of the poem
into a search for experience
realized through the metaphore.
At first, Transtromer, reading
his poems - yesterday in the
UGLI Multipurpose room, ap-
peared to be the more conserva-
tive of the two. In his plaid
sportcoattand tieless, Transtrom-
er stepped to the podium looking
a bit like a Swedish businessman
"en vacances" (Remember
1970, when the ponchoed Bly
chanted incantations?) But it
soon became obvious that the
European was keeping up his
end of the literary venture, and
in a way Bly could well admire.
To say Transtromer's poems
are 'dark' is like saying the In-
quisition was 'uncomfortable.'
The dominant vision in the poems
read was one of futility, sinking.
there are battlegrounds within
us
where we, bones of the dead
fight to come alive.
But even in translation (only
three ofvthe poems were read in
the original Swedish) the poems
exhibited Transtromer's uncanny
sense of just the proper bounds
to overstep.
Images that might seem flip-
pant out of context (likening
words in a letter to apes jumping
around) took on an air of ser-
iousness. The flow continued un-
broken, each poem filling like
a web-making its full impact.
Beyond the individual images,
Transtromer's poems are not-
able for the world view embodied
in them. Life and work at times
seem to become oppressive, crip-
pling forces.
With his work, as with a glove,
a man feels the universe.
At noon he rests awhile, and
lays the gloves down
on a shelf
There they suddenly start
growing, grow huge,
And make the house dark from
inside.
The answer tothis oppressive-
ness may lie in the individual, in
the healing process of being
alone. "Ten minutes every morn-
ing/Ten minutes every night/
and nothing to be done." Or it
may lie in the ability to perceive
oneself in a larger context, as a
part of mankind.
We all line up to ask each
other for help.
Millions.
One.
But more important than
avoiding what is unpleasant in
life, one should be able to experi-
ence the mystery life presents.
Here, I believe, can be found
the greatness in Transtromer's
individual achievement, the per-
fect merging of thought and lan-
guage to depict this mystery.
Yet Transtromer the man, pas-
sively reciting his poetry, seem-
ed detached somehow. Was the
mystery beginning to pass him
by? In the final passage of his
last poem, the oracle shows him-
self to be an equal:
Fantastic to feel how my poem
is growing
while I myself am shrinking.
It's getting bigger, it's taking
my place,
it's pressing against me.
It has shoved me out of the
nest.
The poem is finished.
CU[LTU CAILE.NDA\[R
MUSIC-The first concert of the 1972 Contemporary Music
Festival will be held tonight in Rackham at 8. Admis-
sion is complimentary. The program includes Seymour
Shifrin's String Quartet No. 5, played by the Stanley
Quartet, with guest violinist Alfio Pignotti from EMU;
Pierre Boulez' Eclat; Berthold Paul's Serenade, perform-
ed by the Contemporary Directions Ensemble; and
George Burt's Music for "New York Hat", a silent film
with accompaniament on Arp synthesizer andelectric
pia.
DRAMA-University Players continue to bring Beckett's
Endgame to the Frieze Arena stage tonight at 8; If you're
into avante guarde, Student Lab Theatre presents two
off-broadway hits. John Guare's Muzeeka and Elain
May's Adaptation this afternoon at 4:10 at Jones School
(401 S. Division).
FILMS-To Die Today, UGLI multipurpose room today at 4;
Fellini's 81/ shown by Cinema Guild tonight, Arch. Aud.,
7, 9:30; Le Barbier de Seville tonight at 8, Pioneer High
Aud.; AA Film Coop shows Beauty and the Beast tonight,
Aud. A, 7, 8:45. About this film, Daily reviewer Sheldon
Leemon comments:
In Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the
Beast, the director's flare for the fantastic is used, for
once, to enhance, rather than supplant, the original
story. Mood and setting play an important part in Coc-
teau's vision of the enchanting fairy tale.
POETRY-Ann Arbor Black Theatre presents Demon reading
his poetry tonight at 7:30 at the Community Center.
BOOKS-Ida Pettiford will speak on. the best-seller Open
Marriage; a New Life Style for Couples this noon in the
Main Library's Meeting Room.
HOMECOMING-"Those were the Days . . .": Beach Party
Flicks, Union Ballroom, tonight at 8.
ART-Detroit Art Institute lecture series: "Eva Hesse" by
Lucy Lippard, art critic and author, tonight at 8, Lecture
Hall.
Daily Photo by ROLFE TESSEM
Tomas Transtromer
-cinema
Centurions lacking in force
UAC-Daystar presents
STEVIE
WON DER
Sat., Oct. 28
8 p.m.-Hil Aud.
$2.50-4-4.50-5.00
By CHRISTOPHER PHILLIPS
These days when a Nixon land-
slide over McGovern is antici-
pated and arch-conservatives like
Frank Rizzo and Spiro Agnew
have become Middle American
heroes, films like A Clockwork
Orange with their proliferation
of sex and violence are patently
unpopular. It's not profitable to
be liberal anymore, so the
makers of The Strawberry State-
ment and In the Heat of the
Night have given us The New
Centurions, Hollywood's answer
to the demands of growing right
wing audiences for law and order
in their society and culture.
Director Richard Fleischer
examines the role of the police-
man through a familiar, almost
trite, format that smacks of Jack
Webb. A bright young rookie
(who is working his way to law
school) is paired up with a tough,
experienced, philosophic cop. To-
gether, they cruise the streets
of L. A. in their "black and
white," encountering a variety of
crime situations.
These episodes are played
mostly for their entertainment
value. There are a couple of
good action sequences like the
bank robbery and the gang fight.
But some, like the "whore
wagon" scene when George C.
Scott and Stacy Keach drive a
bunch of prostitutes around the
city until they're too drunk to
work, are burlesque comedy.
Too superficial to be meaning-
ful, Fleischer is more determined
to cater to the fantasies of
middle America than to explore
anything in depth. None of the
episodes present a true picture of
the social conditions that shape
a policeman's attitudes.
The New Centurions also ig-
nores significant issues that
could, just by their mention, put
the police in an unfavorable light.
Police corruption is absent and
a case of police brutality is dis-
missed when Scott roughs up a
landlord who is exploiting Mexi-
can "wetbacks." It's really noth-
ing that any other indignant "red
blooded" American wouldn't do
in the same situation.
Much of the "on duty" time of
Centurions is spent expounding a
strange sort of solipsistic social
philosophy. Kilvinski (Scott) pro-
nounces platitudinous rules, dub-
bed "Kilvinski's laws," which
seem to mock justice in their
See MORE, Page 10
ARTS
/1 4
The Stevie Wonder stage show is something
very different from what audiences expect from
Motown performers.
The great hits are still there ("For Once In
My Life," "Ma Cherie Amour," "Heaven Help Us
All"'). But his new music isn't calculated for Top
40. Backed up by the Wonderlove Band and singers-
dancers, the Stevie Wonder show is a full evening
of entertainment.
MICHIGAN UNION M-F 11-6, SAT. 12-3
SALVATION RECORDS M-S 11-9, SUNDAY 1-4
COMMANDER CODY on Sale Union only
sorry, no personal checks
to
0
m
I
I
DIAL 668-6416
TODAY IS BARGAIN DAY
75c until 5 p.m.
ENDS TONIGHT
PETER FONDA
DENNIS HOPPERE
COLOR *
ReaeE !vcoiu +au URS
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL WINNER!
"Best Film By a New Director"
ALSO
Elliott Gould
in
"Getting Straight"
* THURSDAY *
Marx Brothers Festival
"THE COCONUTS"
and
"MONKEY BUSINESS"
toni ght
6:00 2 4 7 News, Weather, Sports
9 Eddie's Father
50 Flintstones-Children
56 Maggie and the Beautiful
Machine
6:30 2 4 7 News
9 Jeannie
50 Gilligan's Island
56 Making Things Grow
7:00 2 Truth or Consequences
4 News, Weather, Sports
7 To Tell the Truth
THE
BACH CLUB
presents for your sensual
enjoyment
ANN BARTOLOMEW, Oboe
CAROLYN HOHNKE,
English Horn and Oboe
ELLEN SADRA, Oboe
LAURA CAMPBELL, French Horn
LOUIS STOUT, SR., French Horn
BRUSE BAUER, Bassoon
HEIDI HARVEY, Piano
playing works of
Vivaldi, Ditterdors, Haydn,
and Ludwig Van
Thursday, Oct. 26, 8:00
in Greene Lounge,
West Quad
Refreshments for your palate.
People For . .. Whatever
9 Beverly Hillbillies
50 I Love Lucy
56 Zoom
7:30 2 What's My Line?
4 Family Classics
7 Wild Kingdom
9 All Outdoors
50 Hogan's Heroes
56 Consumer Game
8:00 2 Carol Burnett
4 Adam-12
7 Paul Lynde
9 News, Weather, Sports
56 A Public Affair/Election '72
50 Dragnet
8:30 7 Movie
"Family Flight" The question
is survival.
4 Cool Million
9 Human Journey
50 Merv Griffin
56 Playhouse New York
9:00 2 Medical Center
9:30 9 Interview: Prime Minister
Trudeau
56 Actors' Choice: Langston
Hughes
10:00 2 Cannon
4 Search
7 Julie Andrews
9 News, Weather, sports
50 Perry Mason
56 Soul!
10:20 9 Nightbeat
11:00 2 4 7 News, Weather, sports
9 Cheaters
50 Mancini Generation
11:30 2 M~ovie
"A Man Called Adam" (66)
Sammy Davis Jr. breaks into
the world of jazz.
7 Dick Cavett
4Johnny Carson
9 Movie
"The Counterfeit Killer" (68).
50 Movie
"The Lost Continent" (6) Me-
chanical monsters..
1:00 4 7 News
1:30 2 Movie
"Blondle Meets the Boss" (39)
3:00 2 News
wcbn today
9:00 Morning After Show
12:00 Progressive rock
4:00 Folk
7:30 Rhythm & Blues
11:00 Progressive rock (runs until 3)
By LARRY LEMPERT
Album III, by Loudon Wain-
wight III (Columbia KC31462)
A glance, a thought, an off-
the-cuff comment-for most of
us, the objects and events of
everyday life seldom leave a
lasting impression. But Loudon
Wainwright-somehow he cap-
tures those passing shadows and
he shapes them into songs.
The songs offer as little and as
much as a simple haiku. They
set forth an image, a situation,
an event. They drop it in the
listener's lap and say, "Do with
it what you will."
The woodpecker
Keeps on in the same place:
Day is closing.
This centuries-old Japanese verse
expresses the mood wabi, ap-
preciative recognition of the
"suchness" of a very ordinary
thing. Compare Wainwright's
opening cut on Album III, en-
titled "Dead Skunk." The acous-
tic guitar strums in with a folksy
beat, and then:
Crossing the highway late last
night
He shoulda looked left and he
shoulda looked right
He didn't see the station wagon
car
The skunk got squashed and
there you are, you got your
Dead skunk in the middle of the
road
Dead skunk in the middle of the
road
Dead skunk in the middle of the
road
Stinkin' to high heaven
Wabi with whimsy, this musical
haiku. And the listener is off on
an unusual tour of everyday
events and situations, guided by
an artist whose unique sense of
humor and good feel for melody
and rhythm are guaranteed to
make the tour a success.
There is nothing abstract in
Wainwright's subject matter; the
artist sings from experience and
his' lyrics are well-grounded in
reality. "Red Guitar" tells the .
simple tale of an instrument
tossed to the fire in a drunken
mood. "East Indian Princess"
examines a foreigner in London
who, despite her native, dress,
has adopted the "Western mind."
"Hometeam Crowd" recounts a
sports fan's frenzied addiction.
With an eye for detail and a
touch of satire, Wainwright often
likes to analyze a situation from
all angles. In one cut, he con-
siders the view from inside a
bee hive:
The cutest bee that I've ever
seen
Is our own big, fat, sexy queen
It's true she hasn't got such
great legs
But you should see the girl
lay eggs
Another song considers the life
of a drunk:
Drunk men stagger
Drunk men fall
Drunk men swear
And that's not all
Quite often they will urinate
outdoors
The lyrics slide along well to
the competent accompaniment
of the back-up band, White
Cloud. Wainwright himself makes
good use of his guitar, drawing
the listener in with a mild, soft
picking for the nostalgiac mood
of "New Paint," a tune looking
back on the well-ordered pleas-
antries of 16-year-old dating. Or
stinging sharply to the verses on
bees. Or simply establishing a
solid, foot-tapping, sing-along
rhythm to breeze, the listener
through many of the other cuts.
The album is well-arranged,
both vocally and instrumentally,
for musical variety. It is con-
stantly on the move from song
to song: from folk, to blues, to
melodic strains, with a good
Wainwright: Whimsical haiku
share of snappy rock'n'roll.
Beyond the lyrics and music,
however, lingers the figure of
Wainwright himself. H a v i n g
twice experienced his perform-
ance at the Ark, I can't guaran-
tee that his album alone can
back up may perceptions of this
unusual artist.
i«
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Phone_764-0558
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London Wainwright
But his wry grin, even as it
appears on the album cover, in-
dicates a man too serious to
take himself seriously. So he
laughs a bittersweet song, always
aware of an ever-present irony.
If Wainwright were a movie, he
might be Little Big Man. If he
were a novel, Catch-22, or per-
haps Cat's Cradle.
This image of Wainwright rises
most clearly from the catchiest
tune on the album, "Say That
You Love Me." Alternating
rhythms and moods, indignant,
pouting, playful, both laughing
at and recognizing the reality of
the argument so many couples
can recall:
I must know you love me
There must be no doubt
Open you heart
Open your mouth!
Say that you love me
Say that it's true
Say that you love me
I said it to you!
CHUCK BERRY
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
Plus THE DRIFTERS and THE WOOLIES
FRIDAY, OCT. 27-8:00 P.M.
BOWEN FIELD HOUSE
E.M.U.-YPSILANTI
RFSERVED SEATS $2.00-3.00-4.00
We Don't Just
Publish a Newspaper
" We meet new people
" We laugh a lot
" Wefind consolation
" We play football
The University Cellar
Happens
Six Nights a Week*.
Open Mon. thru Sat.
Till 10 O'clock for:
Paperback Browsing
Art Supplies " Records " Yarn
School Supplies " Xeroxing
Housewares * Posters
"Course Book Selection Closes at 5.
1 J ________ 1
0
We make money (maybe)
We solve problems
r c*.e' than trees.
o(a a
We debate vital issues
" We drink 5c Cokes