ARTS_ Page 5 The Michigan Daily Friday, February 13, 1981 A fluttering 'Birds Sing' 8mmfest this weekend By ANNE GADON You can compare it with a commer- cial network adopting a public television format - there's a sudden in- flux of the new and different. In the past *few months, for each established play produced in Ann Arbor, an original work has come out also. With I Can't Hear the Birds Singing, the University has joined the plethora of theatre groups mounting original shows. I Can't Hear the Birds Singing,by budding dramatist Brenda Faye Collie, depicts a struggle common to many other plays about black life - that of the black man wanting to improve his station in life. Walt, Collie's central character, is not hurt so much by racism as by his past. Fifteen years earlier, Walt was involved in the killing of one of his best friends in the factory where he works. Retribution is coming - Walt cannot escape punishment, and causes his downfall through the fear of it. An old co-worker of Walt's demand $10,000 from Walt, threatening he'll tell of alt's involvement in his friend's odearth. Walt, scared that such a revelation would lose him his promotion, realizes that he is trapped and must get the money. Shortly after he learns that he was not given the promotion, but he continues to search fop the money, possessed by his guilt over his dead buddy. Walt has a double-edged spirit, but the two sides don't match. One one hand, he's a proud man, wanting to support his wife in only the best man- ner, offering a home to the son of his 0 dyad friend. But he's also driven with guilt intense enough to keep him sear- ching for the $10,000 which will keep his co-worker silent on the issue of his friend's death. Walt is determined to tell all in his path to wipe out his history. And, of course, it doesn't work. It's also not believable. Neither is buddy One Arm's freakout or the struggling relationship between Allen, the dead friend's son, and his wife, Bev. 0 Collie is in too much of a hurry to bring her characters' problems out into the open and then solve them. The Janice Reid (above) and guest artist Earl D. A. Smith are husband and wife in 'I Can't Hear the Birds Singing,' an original drama running this weekend at the Power Center. Brenda Faye Collie's play has some structural problems but the performances are impressive overall. result is overwhelming. The play seems to have clear-cut secondary characters - each of them has enough history behind them to have a play of his or her own. Guest Artist Earl D.A. Smith does his best with Walt, but the playwright has left him too many loose ends for him to coalesce the pieces of character into a solid performance. There is no doubt to the man's professionalism - he moves about the stage with an air that simply commands notice. His role may be shrouded with inconsistencies, but he is a consistent performer, trying in vain to pull the meat of the drama to the sur- face. The script doesn't work, exactly, and Smith doesn't know how to save it. Janice Reid as Lady, Walt's wife, exudes class, as usual. The others around her do not fare so well, and again it is mostly due to gaps in Collie's writing. Charles Jackson as Allen, the quintessential modern young black man wanting the best for his people. At least that's how Collie begins. But when his wife starts to nag, he turni into a bastard. She leaves him and then she comes back, but nothing really changes. There's still that mutual anger burning underneath. Jackson and Catrina Ganey as Bev are trying, but it's difficult to follow Collie's character maze. Goodness knows they try, impressively so. Brenda Faye Collie's main fault is that she tries to do too much. She needs to pare down her play and concentrate her energies more heavily on one or two characters rather than shooting for equal representation and a modern day version of Greek drama. What she has to say is worth hearing, but she needs a smoother way to say it. By PATRICIA SCHAEFER Independent and experimental film- making in Ann Arbor doesn't begin and end with the spring's 16mm Festival, though that event still tends to grab the majority of attention in the media and film world. Its less heralded, but no weaker, younger sister will launch its 11th year tonight as the annual Ann Arbor Eight Millimeter Festival opens, with shows at 7 and 9, in the School of Education's Whitney Auditorium. As the sophistication of 8mm equip- ment and filmmakers has grown (fueled by the increasing expense of working in the 16mm mode), the A Festival has become a widely respected showcase for works of surprising polish and imagination. Prize offers amoun- ting to more than $2200 help encourage entries by those who may never have considered, or had the opportunity to, publicly exhibit their work before. ACCORDING TO Festival Coor- dinators Tim Artist and John Fialka, getting public reaction is essential to the development of the beginning filmmaker as a means of judging his success as an artist. 8mm film is unique in its attractiveness to the amateur sec- tor the Festival is trying to reach. "Eight millimeter film enables the filmmaker to carry around a much lighter camera," says Fialka. The film is much cheaper, and technically you can do almost anything with it. It's a good means for the independent film- maker - he can totally control his own work." This year's entries are among the best ever received, Artist and Fialka claim, with films submitted from 25. states, Canada, and as far away as Yugoslavia. They cover genres ranging from clay animation and pure visual experimentation to documentaries and detective dramas. Popular them~es haven't changed much from previous years - back again is the perennial favorite, beer-can pixillation, among other standards. An indication of the bizarre fun to be expected is one entry Fialka says to look out for: the unique Sneeze Through The Ages, which offers a historical view of sneezing, as seen thorugh various satirized moviemaking styles (the Ingmar Bergman sneeze, for example). JUDGING WILL take place during the public screening on Friday and Saturday and the winners will be an- nounced Sunday. The top money prize will be the Keith Clarke Memorial of $125, with the most valuable prize, wor- th $192, being an animation stand. The majority of other prizes will consist of manufacturer-donated equipment, lab service certificates and smaller cash awards provided by the Ann Arbor Film Cooperative, who is sponsoring the event. The judges will be - Gary Todd, from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, freelance filmmaker of in- dustrial and educational films, Bob Madigo, producer for instructive television at the University of Maryland, Baltimore; Rob Zibell, in- dependent filmmaker and coordinator for the Ann Arbor 16mm Film Festival; John Kelly, film theoretician, and Barb Tannnembaum, both Ph.D. candidates at the University of Michigan. The thirteen hours of film being judged this weekend were selected through an intensive initial screening process of approximately two hundred entries. Artist says, "We were looking for technique, style, content, originality and self-expressiveness." The winning films will hopefully show "good signs of craftsmanship and originality." The Ann Arbor Festival is the oldest film festival in the country devoted ex- clusively to eight millimeter film. In its eleventh year, its prestige among 8mm film festivals throughout North America is substantial, although Fialka admits, "Toronto h s us beat." The event will be covered by a Canadian Cable Television Station. Test Anxious- Performance Anxious? COPING WORKSHOP 4 SESSIONS STARTING: FEBRUARY 14, MASON 2402 9-11 AM. Under the direction of Dr. James Papsdorf, Laboratory for Applied Psychology Students and staff: $25.00 Non U of M: $75.00 information: Dorothy Holinger, 996-1704 I, U I: eveningsand weekends. Low hourly cost. Dedicated full- time staff. Complete TEST-n-TAPESMfacilities for review of class lessons and supplementary materials. Small classes taught by skilled instructors. ss Opportunity to make up missed Volumnos home"study materials constantly updated by research- ers expert in their field. " Opportunity to transfer to and continue study st. any of our over 80 centers. I SParadise Theatre '-the best of plastic . . . (313) 662-3149, w .,,Ann Arbor, Michigan, EDUCATIONAL CENTER 48104 TEST PREPARATION Outside NY State SPECIALISTS SICE 1938 CALL TOLL FREE: 800223.1782 The best thing that can be said about Styx is that they know their market. While other groups have lost popularity by expanding on their music, Styx remains loyal to its original success formula. The hollow lyrics, dense in-, strumentation, ordinary vocals, and catchy melodies that have been the group's trademark are all alive and w~el on Styx's newest album, Paradise Theatre. The theme (or gimmick) of the album is a show honoring a defunct palatial building in Chicago once known as the Paradise Theatre. Even though the songs relate to this theme, do not be mislead - this is no Sgt. Pepper. SIDE ONE (or Act One as it is called on the album) is by far the most worth- while part of the album. The high point is "Rockin' The Paradise", a new song that shows the Styx formula at its best.' The song features an excellent, fast- moving melody that makes the whole tune easy on the ears. Despite the corny lyrics, "The Best Of Times" also goes over well for the same reasons. Although the rest of side one is pretty much void of value it' is not too ap- palling While side one generally emphasizes the group's assets, side two is mostly filfer, or what should be called filler. The first track on the side, "Lonely People" is terribly annoying with all of - ii needless instrumentation. A com- $ex sound need not be bad (as Yes has proved), but here it is just wretched ex- ess. Not all of side two is as bad as "Lonely People" but most of it is not much better. As long as there are people who crave the slick, commercial sound, there will be groups like Styx. Those who loved Cornerstone and Pieces of Eight will probably love Paradise Theatre too because there is nothing new or in- novative on the album. But if you ex- pect something more than a plastic sound, Paradise Theatre is not for you. -David Ritter PREMARITAL WORKSHOP WHEN: Four consecutive Tuesdays, starting on March 3, 1981. TIME: Counseling Services, R. 3100 Union. WHO: Couples-living together, planning to live together, getting married in the near future, or recently married. LIMITED ENROLLMENT-Please call Anne at 764-8312 by February 16 for screening interview. a play by e SAM SHEPARD Feb. 13 & 14 at 8:00pm. matina Feb. 15 at 4:00m. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOO PEOPLE Wode.Trmn & Roodotei, Inc. 25185 Goddard Road Taylor, Michigan 48180 313 - 291-5400 Edmandi Engineering, Inc. 1501 W. 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