Ele
Ensemble entertains
The Michigan Daily-Sunday, December 11, 1977-Page 7
Menander drops in at RC Aud
By ANNE SHARP
S HAKESPEARE and Moliere, as well
as Latin dramatists Plautus and
Terence, copied the comic style of a
Greek named Menander. For centuries
Menander's works were lost to modern
Samla (The Samian Woman)
by Menander
Residential College Aud.
Moschion.................... Anne Groton
Demeas.................... Peter Bing
Chrysis..............Roberta Stewart
scholars. Then, in early 20th century
Egypt, excavators accidentally
discovered a few plays by Menander
printed on papyrus, fragmented but
preserved by the arid climate. New
digs produced more fragments, and
classicists have patched together some
fairly intelligible versions of this pre-
Christian Neil Simon's works.
One of these plays, Sarnia or The
Samian Woman, returned to the stage
Friday night at East Quad auditorium
after an 1800-year absence, revived by
the University of Classical Studies.
Director Gerda Seligson, whose
ebullient presence dominated the
small, well-filled theatre, got the show
going when she rose from her seat to
explain the absence of the little girls
from St. Nicholas' Orthodox Greek
Church who were scheduled to dance
the entr' acte (8 p.m. was too late for
them to be out).
Samia is, basically, an ancient Greek
sitcom, full of mugging and broad hi-
jinks, with a throwaway plot involving
mixups over a baby with two mothers, a
young twit .(Anne Groton) so in love
with the girl next door that she has just
given birth to his child, and his aged
father (Peter Bing) who supects him of
dallying with his Samian mistress
(Roberta Stewart).
The actors, all Greek and Latin
students, made smooth transitions
from passages of dialogue spoken in
Menander's original tongue to English
interpretations. Although audience
members versed in ancient Greek had
the full advantage of the gags, the com-
pany made also use of mime and
humorous English interjections ("Oh,
Father!" exclaimed Groton, in the
midst of a torrent of Greek. "Far
out!"). What the Seligson Players
lacked in theatrical finesse (which they
might work on in future productions),
they made up for in sheer enthusiasm,
and the audience loved it.V Welcome
back, Menander.
Although banned by the Koran,
Islamic music has always been a
healthy, popular art form. Muhammad
himself, it is said, practiced the can-
tillation of the Koran, claiming that it
did not require musical training and
was therefore permissible.
(Continued from Page6)
lated modes. Most of the singing was in
Latin, except for the piece "Edi beo"
(Happy be thou), which was sung in
Middle English. Also as expected, the
accompaniments were simple, always
supporting the voices and never com-
peting with the words.
THE SECOND section was composed
Of carols from the 15th and 16th cen-
turies. A readily noticeable difference
between these works and the pieces of
the first section was that a majority of
the carols were in English, a few in
Latin, and some in both languages.
The carols were mostly rejoicing in
some feature of the Christmas story.
The bells and portative organ were
used effectively to convey a festive
spirit. The instrumental aspects of the
music were given increased importan-
ce, with the vocalists at times giving
the music over to the instrumentalists
completely or becoming equal partners
with them.
The term "ballad" originated in
medieval England. Although the word
is currently used to denote romantic
and often sentimental narrative songs,
the first ballads were dancing songs.
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The third section was mainly Scots
airs and dances of the late 16th and 17th
century. The hurdy-gurdy's drone tied
this section together, much as would
the bagpipe that we associate with Scot-
tish music. We were treated to a re-
markable countertenor solo in "I come
from hevin heich ..." and a virtuoso
pipes piece in the last instrumental
dance.
The ensemble was decidedly pro-
fessional, giving a very impressive per-
formance in the intimate atmosphere of
Rackham Auditorium. We left the con-
cert with a new admiration of and re-
spect for the people who perform - and
who wrote - this often complex and
highly sophisticated music.
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A GENERALFEELING
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PRODUCED BY CHUCK MANGIONE
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THREE MORE CHUCK MANGIONE ALBUMS
THAT CAUSE THE SAME EFFECT:
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