Politics, drama meet at Loft The Michigan Doily-Tuesday, April 15, 1980-Page 7 Thursday, April 17, 1980 IROWBLACK Department of Neurology Cornell Medical Center Regulation of Neuronal Development MHRI Conference room 1057 3:45 to 5:00 p.m. TEA 3:15 p.m. MHRI lounge By GILLIAN BOLLING . Athol Fugrard's plays prove that political theater can be exciting, power- ful and moving. Featured as part of the Canterbury Loft's Festival of South African culture, The Island and Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act are two plays which grab the viewer and won't let go. This is intense drama and the issues raised here are not easy to look away from. Fugard spent most of his life in South Africa and his personal involvement in issues of racial discrimination adds to the emotional nature of the plays. Brought to the Loft through a grant from the U-M Committee on South Africa, Fugard has found an extremely talented group to work with. The Island features Rhoonie Washington and Roy Harris as John and Winston, two men sentenced to prison terms for their beliefs and their, race. The play is assembled from a eries of improvisations from Fugard and fellow authors John Kani and Win- ston Ntshona, telling the story of colleagues who spent time in the island prison. The play begins with the two men working in a quarry. They are then shoved into their cell and the audience with them, as we witness the unraveling of their stories. Actors Washington and Harris exhibited very physical acting. The agony of imprisonment which went beyond words is shown through their grimaces, breathing, andtthe ripple of their muscles. The two men have spent almost three years in the same cell and Washington and Harris recreate their interaction with power and sensitivity. They show the sensual attachment of the two men venting their frustration on each other while keeping each other alive mentally. DIRECTOR Kay Long uses the small platform with a simple burlap back- drop very creatively in forming the cell. Movement is constricted and claustrophobic but never monotonous, giving just the right feel of how it would be to live day in and day out in this small space. Throughout the Island there were both sibtle and overt shifts of emotion keeping the tempo lively. Washington takes the audience from laughter to solemnity in a sequence where the two men fake a phone call to a friend in the outside world. Their questions about their families and responses about life in the cell are at first funny, then become unbearable as the game highlights their loneliness and isolation. Washington swings through several shades of characterization. He displays unleashed joy at news of his release, frustration at his need to wait, and sad- ness at what he has been reduced to. Each mood is precise, distinct and carries the play through each sequence. HARRIS' character is totally engrossing. Even without seeing the sweat roll from his brow, it is evident that Harris was working tremendously hard. He displays each emotion to its peak. From the pure satisfaction he displayed when he closes his eyes and puffs on a stolen cigarette to the rage of jealousy he feels at his cgllmate's release, he acts with a ferocious in- volvement. During a long speech when Harris begs not to be forgotten and tells of his fear of turning to stone in his sentence of "living death," Harris lowers his voice to a lilting rumble, holding the audience in a vise-like grip. The Island contains exhaustingly dynamic acting and a strong theme. Wound through the play is a version Qf The Trial and Punishment of Antigone which the prisoners perform. This raises an interesting parallel to the issues of honor and resistance to the law which the men themselves are facing. THE SECOND play, Statements Af- ter an Arres Under the Immorality Act concerns the relationship between a BEBOP AT MICHIGAN THEATRE: black man and a white woman. It is in- spired by an account of arrest due to the law in South Africa which forbids sex between the races. The lights went up on the nude couple and the playwright's point is clearly seen when he stated that the nudity was "not a gimmick. It adds to the vulnerability of the couple." The nudity works very well and heightens the sexual theme and sense of laying bare the couple's thoughts and fears as well as their bodies. Unfortunately, Statements suffers throughout from problems of pacing. Director Long has the actors stand and step forward during speeches as if they were making pronouncements and this leads to a rather choppy effect and minimizes the physical believability of the situation. By the end of the piece, pauses are agonizingly slow and lines drag. WHAT STARTS as a languid glow between Pat Kihn as the white woman and Marvin Leon Sims as the black. man soon deteriorates into stilted lines and posed pauses. Each actor fares bet- ter when they drift into talking about themselves and their lives, but when they come together, the needed mag- netism isn't there. The woman's declaration of guilt without shame at being found by the policeman (Martin Walsh) ends up sounding a bit over- dramatic in the light of the rather tepid union between the biracial couple. All four actors make the audience feel the oppression of the world beyond the cells. In the second play, the "cell" is the woman's office where the man was forced to sneak in the back door and hide from the oppressive rules of society. In the first play, the cell is real and the oppressors are those who literally keep men imprisoned because of their ideals. The space in the Loft is ideally suited. in creating the intimate atmosphere for these two personal, impassioned plays. Fugard's plays provide a forum for ideas and a display of talents but they also refuse to let the viewer sit and be passively entertained. Instead they take advantage of one of the best properties of theatre - to stimulate thought and awareness while allowing the audience to enjoy themselves at the same time. NIGHT HAWKm -after 7 p.m. Buy 1 fragel or 2 cookies and get FREE 1 drink or another f ragel *Also--Were reducing our amazi cake from $1.00 to only $.79-a cludes a FREE drink! "Come in for a Night Nosh!I" BAGEL FACTORY 1306 S. University ing che nd tha "I Oper 8:30-11:1 Untilrn Fri.c IG SOON: EAL DEAL '@S@' itin- rn7 days 4 :00 p.M. midnight and Sat. F Gtfin keeps the faith L COMING APRIL 22 ICOMIPJ 1-2-3 FREE SPECIAL. I 25O MI BY MARK COLEMAN All of a sudden, it's cool to be a little old fashioned. There's a lot of rein- yestigation and rediscovery of roots Wmong jazz musicians of all stripes. Some of the heretofore forward-looking experimenters have turned around to explore the tradition that preceded Griffin injects this well-established style with a torrent of fresh musical ideas and improvisation. While not a domineering presence, Griffin is one of the most authoritative voices perfor- ming today. A master of sparcity as well as energetic abandon, the rest of the quartet seemed to play off the shifts chordal melody, the refrain em- phasized through a crashing rhythmic rejoinder. On Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" the group's well- balanced versatility was solidified. Griffin's'combination of restraint and offbeat inspiration lends a unique ap- proach to ballads. Griffin decorated the Ellington classic with respectful care, neither becoming overly ornate, or sloppily sentimental. Again the interac- tion between band members lent a dramatic but unobtrusive edge as the rhythm section gradually accelerated the beat to meet Griffin in- an exhilarating uptempo finale. The open-ended diversity of the Grif- fin Quartet's approach to bebop proved a marked contrast to the academically accurate but somewhat stiff readings of the vopening act, Richie Cole's- Alto' Madness Quintet. Cole, a thirtyish altoist, is more than proficient technically but for him bebop seems a stylistic limitation rather than a liberating point of departure. He's remarkably faithful in his adulation, but faithful to the point that his music seems a lifeless artifact rather than a reaffirmation. Cole's sense of history was best displayed in his work with vocalist Eddie Jefferson: he doesn't in- fuse enough of his own personality to make a distinctive impression as a leader. Unfortunately, his sidemen Saturday night seemed nervous, afraid (or maybe unable) to step out of their leader's shadow. Though their per- cussionist (whose introduction was inaudible) added some grainy texture to the cymbal-heavy highs with his visually exciting use of congas and assorted shakers, Alto Madness' set was a bit too sane and predictable. COLE GOT a chance to prove his chops with the Griffin band during their encore and he rallied to the cause with considerably more aplomb than he exhibited previously. Joined in the straight blues of "Now is the Time," Griffin and Cole contrasted the tonal differences in their respective sounds in the tight harmony of the refrain, then broke up for some sinewy soloing: Cole asserting the reedy strain of his alto and Griffin releasing the full bodied thunder of his tenor in tentative, dramatic bursts. Bebop is a familiar and well- developed style, and Saturday night's performance offered some solid sup- port for its continued importance. No matter what stylistic upheavals may overturn. Bebop will never be con- sidered an anachronism, at least not while Johnny Griffin is still around. -4 Now PEyin at ButterfieldTheatres ADULTS FRI~ SAT: SUN. WEDNESDAY IS EVE 8HOLIDAYS $3.5o MONDAY NIGHT IS "BARGAIN DAY" EVENINGS . Soo "GUEST NIGHT" $1.50 UNTIL 5:30Ex MATINEES:UNTIL30 TWO FOR $3.00 EXEPT WAYSD CILDREN 14 UNDER $I 50 EXCEPT WAYSIDE M,=- J in ire 1214 S. Univeility 668-6416 MON, TUE, THUR FRI 7:30-9 15 SAT SUN, WED 1 30-3 30-5 30- 7:30-9:15 3020 whenaw 434-178 Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri 7 &9 Sat, Sun, Wed 1-3-5-7-9 Wed Matinee Adults $1.50 ,,. Until2;00 PM. "honor thy wife and everyone else's" MARTIN MULL-SALLY KELLERMAN 92 Walt Disney's Lady$'rm SUMMER JOBS Daily Photo by PETER SERLING Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin and bassist Ray Brown coax a recalcitrant note or two during their appearance at the Michigan Theatre last Saturday night. Also appearing was alto saxophonist Richie Cole and his group Alto Madness. *hem. Highly touted New York and pauses in his playing as much as saxophonist Arthur Blythe is reworking the riffs themselves. On their standard styles from swing to sixties avant- opener "Autumn Leaves" they pushed garde with his new group In The the melodic line past its breaking point Tradition, while the innovative trio Air through this tense interplay, effor- have released an album of adventurous tlessly sliding into a slowed-down vamp ragtime. behind Griffin's luxurious, lilting sax This re-focusing is refreshing, and it only to unexpectedly restate the helps shed a little more light on some original theme in swiftly swinging other performers who've diligently fashion. This number set a precedent of worked their style long since it was sorts for the evening: expect the unex- ashionable or trendy. One of the most pected within an established musical deserving (and unrecognized) con- context. stituents of bebop, Johnny Griffin, has BUT THEY are by no means con- returned to America after more than a stricted by their devotion to bebop. On decade of self-imposed exile. And after pianist Ronnie Matthew's composition just two years, Johnny Griffin has "Jean Marie' the tone changed from helped reacquaint an eager new hot bop to cool, with Griffin coloring audience with one of the most impor- rich tonal shades over Matthews' stark tant and innovative movements in jazz. BEBOP BROUGHT improvisation to the fore-front of jazz and though it's come a long way since the nineteen for- The Wrlters-n-R ies, bop has never strayed too far from at the Resid the indigenous swing that Charlie Parker and Lester Young incorporated presents c in their ground-breaking solos. "It don't :. mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" D o na ld Johnny Griffin told the crowd at the Michigan Theatre Saturday night, but author of 10 novels in that was the closest this veteran tenor saxophonist got to repeating any timeworn musical cliche. " " ENTER Toni TA M-rVUGA Located in beautiful Northern Michigan. Interviews Friday,. April 18 at Career Planning and Placement. Call 764-7456 to arrange appointment. i , Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri at 7:05 Only An American Dream Sat, Sun, Wed 1:304:30-7:05 Becomes a Love Story. SISSY SPACEK TOMMY LEE JONFS DAUGHITE~R doesn't scare you... You're AIiT " UMon, Tues, Thurs, Fri D ead!t 7 :00-9 :30 PHlANTASMI R Sat, Sun, Wed SHOWN EVENING ONLY 1:00-4:00-7:00-9:30 at 8:45 PM 231 S. State 662-6264 MON TUE, THUR, FRI 7:00-9:30 (UPPER LEVEL) SAT, SUN, WED Mon, Tue; Thur, Fri 7:15-9:45 1:00-4:00-7:00.9:30 Sat, Sun Wed 1:30-4:30-7:15-9:45 NOMINATED FOR AedoxyAWord ONli NaiNS 2 ACADEMY AWARDS PETER SELLERS BRECAK SHIRLEY MacLAINE BEING THERE United Artists P u nit er w drve-mn NOW OPEN EVERY NITEI 4100 Carpenter 434-0130 Box Office Open 7:00, Show of Dusk If thison doesn't ?OUPHANTASM5.1 ALS *"NNVCOEMBASSYPICTURES Release A Lso "N IGM TVI NG r -J l of esidence Program ential College a reading by McCaig cluding The Butte Polka ht 8 PM