THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Saturday, June 5, 1976
Yeats players tour 'Baile's Strand'
By TIM PRENTISS
If W. B. Yeats is not resting
comfortably in his grave after
the U-M Yeats Ensemble's pro-
duction of On Baile's Strand, his
concern cannot be very grave.
He -has little reason to com-
plain.
The production was a benefit
for transportation costs to the
New Theatre Festival in Balti-
more this week. To the andience
gathered at the Arena Wednes-
day night, the experience was
consistently interesting, intrigu-
ing and encouraging. To the
eighteen actors involved it was
ohviously exhilarating, not to
mention tremendotsly educa-
tional.
WITH hAI.F of the company
posed in prone sleeping posi-
tions before the audience en-
tered, the drama began. Ac-
companied by nunting rec :der
mavic and strange sounds fom
all around, the stiti figgres were
awakened by masked, b-tn k-like
beings known a, "shape sian-
This set the tone fo what
turned oat to be a ms oal.
mystifving exlserieice ol \eat,'
version of pitetical drami tn-
troducing even the mythic, a
blind seer f retoid the story of
the isa? in pr'> tye fashion,
competing withs a todt-;srotest-
ing font
Mixed inmays ' lerh-ts. bat
image.s that served to cisc the
audience snto not onl, the par-
ticulars of the show ahead of
them but also the style. Whis-
pered responses from the rest
of the choral group punctuated
the blind man's tale, after which
the group melted into part of
the story itself.
use of movement forced mean-
ing from lines and segments
that would have otherwise been
plagued by vagueness. Crisp and
defined, all of the decisions
made helped audience under-
standing immensely.
ARTS
decisions to set work that at one
point in the rehearsal process
must have been improvisation,
but it worked. The poses had
life, and were not as contrived
or plastic as they might have
been. Mime work with Chuck
Metcalf shone throughout, much
to the production's credit.
FOR THOSE who like variety
in the theatre, this show had it.
From slow motion and step-
action in movement and sounds
that included chants,.shouts, se-
crets, song snatches, rhymes
and more, the evening was full
of the spice of life. And isn't
that what theatre should be
above all?
Yeats' drama is obscure,
dense, difficult and perhaps not
even entertaining on its own.
Here it was made not only palat-
able, but enjoyable. The text
was confronted with a boldness
and respect that is refreshing to
see coming from the Speech
Department.
The ensemble process of
searching and discovering, then
demonstrating these discoveries
is invaluable as a learning pro-
cess. Ultimately, it is just as
important to the achievement
of dramatic art, which is some-
thing too rarely seen at this
university.
The Yeats Ensemble was very
encouraging, though. I'd like to
see what they would do with
Brecht.
GOLD FIND
PRAGUE (M) - A Czech
farm worker killed a duck she
had been feeding for some
weeks for Sunday dinner. When
emptying its stomach she saw
a curious goldish-colored piece,
which she put into her pocket.
A trip to the local apothecary
confirmed she had enough gold
for a ring.
THIS WAS part of the overall
ensemble concept. Little dis-
tinction was made between main
characters and chorus members,
who were costumed in raggedy,
asexual gar'ments. The work
was clearly a case of dedication
and cooperation, resulting in a
show that wan fluid in: its use
of time, place and even char-
acter.
Also clear was the gr vthi
that came from five and a half
mnih tof research, i addilion
to physical and vocal explora-
ti(n. The vocal work was ex-
ceptional, aithough the integra-
tion of the verbal with the isual
vas the ihighlight of the even-
The pre-isely choregr-snhed
movement came directly from
the text, and the two were tied
to-gether closely. This percepive
AT ONE POINT, during a con-
frontation between the two male
characters, the ensemble split
up into two distinct groups, us-
ing only physical variation to
distinguish themselves from the
others. Using the lines of the
character they were helping to
define, a richness of interpreta-
tion emerged rarely witnessed
in most theatrical productions.
This reaction against indi-
vidual characterization corre-
sponded well with the lack of
any realistic tendencies, moving
thc production far along the
rorad to liberated drama, drama
out of the drawing room. And
their use of demonstration, ac-
tually showing the physical at-
tributes of the conflict, made it
a good '"show" in the best sense
of the word.
The directors made conscious
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ANN ARBOR CHURCH
OF CHRIST
530 W. Stadium Blvd.
(one block west of
U of M Stadium)
Bible Study - Sunday, 9:30
a.m.-Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Worship-Sunday, 10:30 a m.
and 6:00 p.m.
Need Transportation? C a 11
662-9928.
CAMPUS CHAPEL
1236 Washtenaw Ct.
Pastor: Don Postema
10:00O am.-Morning Worship
6:011 p.m-Evening service.
UNIVERSITY REFORMED
CHURCH, 1001 E. Huron
Calvin Malefyt, Alan Rice,
Ministers
9:30 a.m.-Church School.
10:30 a m.-Morning Worship.
UNIVERSITY CHURCH
OF CHRIST
Presently Meeting at
YM-YWCA, 530S. Fifth
David Graf, Minister
Students Welcome.
For information or transpor-
tion: 663-3233 or 662-2494.
10:00 a.m.-Sunday Worship.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST,
SCIENTIST
1833 Washtenaw
Sunday Service and Sunday
School-10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Testimony Meet-
ing-8:00 p.m.
Child Care-Sunday, under 2
yearn,
Midweek Informal Worship.
Reading Room -306 E. Lib-
erty, 10-6 Monday and Friday;
10-5 all other days; closed Sun-
days.
ST. MARY STUDENT CHAPEL
(Catholic)
331 Thompson-663-0557
Weekend Masses:
Saturday-5 p.m., 11:30 p.m.
Sunday - 7:45 a.m., 9 a.m.,
10:30 a.m., noon, and 5 p.m.
(plus 9:30 a.m. North Campus).
FIRST UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH
State at Huron and Washington
Worship Services:
8:30 a.m.-Communion Service
-Chapel.
9:30 and 11:00 a.m.-Worshii
Service-Sanctuary.
9:30 and 11:00 a.m. - Church
School.
Worship Services are broad-
cast over WNRS-AM (1290) each
Sunday from 11:00-12:00 noon.
UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN
CHAIPEL (LCMS)
1511 Washtenaw Ave. 663-5560
Alfred T. Scheips, Pastor
Sunday morning worship at
9:30.
Sunday Bible study at 10:45.
LORD OF LIGHT LUTHERAN
CHURCH (ALC-LCA)
(Formerly Lutheran Student
Chapel)
Gordon Ward, Pastor
801 S. Forest Ave. at Hill St.
Sunday Service at 9:30 a.m.
UNIVERSITY CHURCH OF
THE NAZARENE
409 S. Division
M. Robert Fraser, Pastor
Church School-9:45 a.m.
Morning Worship-11:00 a.m.
Evening Worship-7:00 p.m.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
1432 Washtenaw-662-4466
Worship -- Sunday, 9:30 and
11:00 am.
Young Adult meals-Sunday,
12:30 p.m. Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.
($1.00).
Study and discussion-
11:00 a.m. Sun d a y: Adult
study.
12:00-1:00 Thursday: Thursday
Forum (lunch, $1.25).
Chancel C h o i r - 7:00-8:30
Thursday.
For more information about
the Young Adult Program call
Jo Ann Staebler at the church,
662-4466.
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