4 Wiu 1 Arts & Entertainment THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, February 18, 1977 Page Five PLAY LACKS LYRICISM: Cihekov s any 'dies By MICHAEL JONES commercial. "ALMOST everything h a s There were some scenes in been destroyed already, which Barton seemed to have but nothing as yet has been cre- the right feeling for her role. ated to take its place." In Act Three, when Yelena and These words, spoken by As- Sonia (Susan Perkov) were trov in Chekov's drama Uncle speaking to one another in con- Vanya, focus on the play's ma- fidence, we got a glimpse into jor theme: decadence which the type of characterization nec- brings on indolence - the in- essary to carry this play. ability to act on one's desires THERE WAS a great deal of or dreams - leading inevitably overacting in this production, a to despair. thing that, is especially fatal to t Inthe PTP's current produc- a performance of Chekov, but tion of Vanya this theme is not on the whole the actors did, developed to its full potential make a valiant attempt at For this reason it lacks the achieving workable character- charm and lyricism intrinsic to izations. Perhaps they were; Chekov's dialogue.: trying too hard, which might CHARACTERIZATION is the' explain the presence of so many chief problem working against different accents popping up the PTP attempt. George Ax- here and there throughout the ler's Vanya, while perfectly in- performance. effectual, does not operate In terms of set, costuming, through an undercurrent of lights, and make-up this show is emotional outrage. As a result, very mediocre. The set is con- Vanya appears as more of a structed well, but it really does complete bimgler than a sensi- not look like a thirty-eight room tive and bitterly cynical man;. country state, even if the coun- Axler does not build the audi- try is Russia. The fighting de- ence sufficiently towards Van- sign served its pri ary pur- va's outburst in Act Four, and pose, but was not very interest- as a result the play loses its ing. And as for the make-up, the lines penciled in on the actors faces were very visible from the audience. One of the most important characteristics of this play, that which gives its beautiful° lyricism background, was al- most totally ignored: sound ef- fects. I missed the sound of the rain falling, the crickets chirp- ing, and the scratching of pens across paper. The only sound background left in this produc- tion was, thankfully, Telygin's guitar playing. Despite the production's flaws, the audience on opening night seemed to enjoy what they saw. The performance does in- deed have several good qualities and, at times, is entertaining. CINEMA WEEKEND Friday - The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Arch. Aud., 7 & 9:05); Hollywood Boulevard (MLB 3, 8:45, 10:30); Reef- er Madness and Sex Madness (MLB 4, Reefer at 8:45 only, Sex at 7 & 10:30); plus short, Best of Betty Boop; Romeo and Juliet (Nat. Sci., 7 &.9:30); Images (Aud. A Angell, 7 & 9); Bang The Drum Slowly (Couzens Cafe., 8 & 10). Saturday - Bang The Drum Slowly (Couzens Cafe., 8 & 10); Idi Amin Dada (Aud. A,, Angell, 7 & 9); Little Big Man (Nat. Sci. Aud., 7 & 9:30); The Godfather, Part I (Arch. Aud., 7 & 10); The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe (MLB.3, 7, 8:45, 10:30); Bed and Board (MLB 4, 7 & 10:30); Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (MLB 4, 8:45 only). Sunday - This Sporting Life and Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Arch Aud., Sporting at 7, Loneliness at 9:05); Experimental Film Night (MLB 4, 7 & 9:30); Story of a Love Affair (Aud. A, Angell, 7 & 9), All weekend - Network (State, 662-5296); Fun With Dick & Jane (Michigan, 668-8480); The Cassandra Crossing, Twi- light's Last Gleaming, A Star is Born, Pink Panther Strikes Again (and ,again, and again - Briarwood, The Movies, 769-8783); Rocky (Fifth Forum, 761-9700); Face to Face (Campus, 668-6098). DailyP hoto by BRAD BENJAMIN It grows o n SOI * Yes, it's back, that epitome of the 'hippy' rebel'ion against crewcuts and excess clothing- 'Hair'. It was performed by M. M. Productions last night in the Mendelssohn Theater. But if you missed it, don't worry. It'll be back Sunday night. 'Networkl combines talent, wit and breathless pace realistic medium and becomes pure farce., SMore disappointing than Ax-' ler's Tanya, however, is Dana Barton's portrayaltof Yelena. Barton's interpretation of the role is nearly contrary to the character Chekov designed. Missing is Yelena's decadent sophistication, her charming! wit, and her absolute boredom. Instead we are treated from time to time with Perkov's lugubrious Southern drawl, reminiscent of the lady who used brand B in that detergent By DOBILAS MATULIONIS. tionalismt Network (at the State), is a Other notable performancesc film which has the magical are given by Robert Duvall ands cinematic mixture - shrewd, Ned Beatty, both playing hard- witty entertainment and excel- working, fast-talking business- lent craftsmanship. What re- men who feel the pressure at suits is an interesting and mem- the top. All of the, characters orable movie which quite de- in the film get involved in so serves its impressive seizure of much hiring and firing and 10 Academy Award nomina- wheeling and dealing that the tions. viewer is often confused. Perhaps of paramount, im- Network beautifully cap- portance to the film's overall tures what life must be like in superiority is Paddy Chayev-; thressure cokermtmseke tepressure cooker atmosphere sky's erudite and clever screen- of a national network. People play. It keeps the film moving who work there are generally at a breathless pace, and the faded images (in the film) or! whole film has an unpredictable ;caricatures of themselves, from atmosphere. Network resembles? the banal technicians to the{ an absurdist stage play where empty-headed, effervescent tele- anything can happen and usu- vision personalities themselves. ally does. By contrast, the in- Even the television viewers are evitable ridiculousness of the portrayed as mindless sheep plot - which concerns the go- who do and say as the boob ings-on at a fictitious TV sta- b di tion, UBS - is fortunately cov-t t ered by the smooth stylistic THAT IS PRECISELY the flair with which Sidney Lumet message of Network - we are (Dog Day Afternoon), the direc- all being robbed of our free- tor, and ,his collaborators pre- dom by the media we watch sent the story. As a result, the (as stated a little too blatant- viewer laughs instead of feeling ly by Holden's final speech). insulted. The subtle pun of the whole The performances are exemp- film, epitomized by Finch's on- lary, but this comes as no sur- the-air discourse, is lost sim- prise with a cast like the late ply because we are watching Peter Finch, William Holden, a movie, not TV. "Turn your and Faye Dunaway. Holden television sets off right in the plays a tired and embittered middle of my sentence" insists news department head, while a frenzied Howard Beale. Un- Finch plays Howard Beale (Hol- fortunately, since we are watch- den's friend), a former news- ing a movie, the clever para- caster dox loses some of its effect. DUNAWAY is marvelous as Ideally, Network should have a programming head who, along been a made-for-TV movie; that with Finch, display a curious! way its quick pace and satiri- combination of business savvy cal overtones would have fit in and insanity that contrasts mar- Network, however, loses little velously with Holden's crusty else of its power by being a steadfastness and "insane" ra- film. Like it or not, we are, all television vidiots (to one degree or' another), so Network's mes- sage still hits hard. Live in Ann Arbor FITO. SALSA ROCK SUN.-WED. FEB. 24-21-22-23 COVER: $2.00 (STUDENTS 1.001 -- - VITTORIO DESICA'S 1970 THE GARDEN OF THE. I FINZI-CONTINIS This beautiful and touching adaptation of Giorgio Bassani's auto- biographical novel features excellent acting on the part of Dominique Sanda, Hemut Berger and Lino Coploicchio. As members of the younger generation, they seem indifferent to the Mussolini's Destruction of taly's Jewish Aristocracy. Short: SPHERICAL SPACE by Stan Vander- beek. Sat.: THE GODFATHER, Part 1 CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD. 7:00 & 9:05 Admission-$1.25 1972- ROBERT ALTMAN FESTIVAL -PRESENTS- IMAGE One of Altman's lesser-seen films, IMAGES is the frightening account of a woman's violent and sexual visions. A collection of startling visual images, effectively edited, leave the viewer in a mood both perplexing and forboding. Susannah York. CINEMA II TONIGHT AT: ANGELL HALL-AUD. "A" 7 &i9 Adm. $1.25 M_______ ___t TA t/ S. STARFIRE DISCO THURS- FRI-SAT. FINE DINING 11:30 AM-9:OO PM DAILY Diave Spar,pino 5-9p I I\ i AY r-- ,. i a