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« I \ PRESENTS HALLOWEEN DANCE Order Your Daily Now- Phone_764-0558 r 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