The Michigan Daily-Friday, July 11, 1980-Page 11
Arts~m.
A sleepy 'Midsummer Night'
By ANNE GADON tranced with Helena, (Helen Oravetz), ce Demetrius and Helena dance around of Egeus, Hermia's father. Flynn is a
As every high school student learns the best friend of Hermia (Terry W. each other in variations of the box step. standout from the moment he opens his
when they receive their token dose of Hallquist), Lysander's lover. They pur- In the first scene with the craftman the mouth.
Shakespeare, the Bard wrote his plays sue her with an all-consuming desire, characters stand in a line for the entire Susan Titman in the role of Puck,
for the common folk of Elizabethean violent in its intensity. The link between time they were on stage, moving only shows promise as a classical performer
England. To keep such a crowd enter- the fairy king, Oberon, and his fairy during their speeches and stepping as she outshines the other fairies with
tained, the playwright included myraid queen. Titania, is one frought with back into line when they are through, her boundless energy and
sexual overtones in his works. A Mid- competition and sexual tension. The The fairy sequences suffer the most. mischieviousness. Francis Flute, ear-
summer Night's Dream, which opens physical contact among the individual The bulk of their movement is confined nestly portrayed by the boyish Hans
the Michigan Repertory Theatre sum- fairies as they tumble over each other to running up and down the weed Friedrich is hilarious in drag as Thisbe,
mer season, is normally chock full of in sprite-like enthusuasm resembles covered step unit that serves as the the female lover in the play within a
lusty innuendoes, but director Janice lovemaking. chief piece of forest scenery with oc- play. He milks the audience for laughs
Reid has ignored the passionate BUT REID and her cast members casional breaks for games of ring- but never launches into schtick. Pat
suggestions of the romantic comedy in understate these passionate overtones. around-the-rosy. Garner as Bottom is the biggest disap-
favor of a more frivolous inter- Oberon/Theseus and Titania/Hippolyta Reid's ultimate unwarranted piece of pointment of the evening. Garner's per-
pretation. By doing so Reid has portrayed by Warren Hansen and Ellen direction occurs during a moment when formance as the artisan transformed
removed the meat of the production and Sandwess, lack strength and spirit in Oberon expresses his anger towards his into an ass and courted by the fairy
left a bare bones story of four foolish their dual roles as rulers of Athens and queen for not obeying his command to queen is extremely understated. Bot-
lovers and their misadventures at the the fairy kingdom. The struggle bet- give him her serving boy. He throws tom is an ass, a spectacle for the fairies
hands of a troup of mischievous fairies. ween them is reduced to childish himself to the ground and lies face amusement. Garner's portrayal is too
Relationships between Shakespeare's bickering without the erotic dimension down for a few moments while his cape modest. He is suppressing the talent
characters in the Dream exemplify the of their relationship. Similarly, the billows around him like a sail. Not a that marks him as one of the most able
passionate nature of his work. A drop of lovers are portrayed in a more very graceful, fairy-like action if you comedians among the University's un-
ointment on the eyelids of the male frivolous lightthan Shakespeare inten- ask me. dergraduate theatre students. He needs
lovers, Demetrius and Lysander (John ded. They mince their way through the THE CHIEF problem the Michigan to be a bit more of the buffoon.
A. Hardenbrrok and Gregory Jbara) dialogue, never rising above the Theatre Repertory company has with Although Reid is certainly to be en-
causes them to fall in love with the first stereotypes of the star-crossed lovers. Shakespeare is Shakespeare. With a courgaed for trying to bring a fresh in-
person or thing that they see. When In a word, Reid's staging is few exceptions most of the cast cannot terpretation to one of Shakespeare's
they awake, both immediately are en- monotonous. During the chase sequen- handle the classical language. The most frequently produced works, she
most polished performer onstage is has missed the mark. Shakespeare
" 1 * Christopher Flynn, choreographer of purists should, look elsewhere for
'Dream, who appears in the minor role pleasanter "dreams."
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(Continued from Page 10)
Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Roll
Over . Beethoven," "Memphis,"
"Carol" segued with "Little Queenie,"
"Nadine" and a show ending duet with
daughter Ingrid on the slightly naughty
"Reelin' and Rockin."' Interspersed
among these gems, we also got to hear
a slow blues (performed with feeling),
an uptempo autobiographical song and
a brief descent into kitsch in the form of
a medley of "Jamaica Farewell" and
-"Ramblin' Rose." (Chuck Berry doing
Harry Belafonte and Nat "King" Cole
didn't really make it.) "Havanna
Moon" or "Brown Eyed Handsome
Man" would have been better choices.
Like The Beach Boys, who liked
Chuck's melodies so much they even
used them directly, on occasion ("Sur-
fin' U.S.A. is "Sweet Little Sixteen")
Berry's strongest material is the oldies.
Although Chuck's last LP, "Rock It,"
recorded just prior to Chuck's incar-
ceration on a tax evasion beef, had
several fine songs on it, they basically
consisted of new lyrics surrounding the
classic chords.
Creative pop music demands the con-
struction of new ideas and new styles,
or at least the creation of apparently
new forms. Chuck's current show, with
its golden oldie orientation, places it
outside of the evolving pop framework.
Taken strictly on its own terms, the
show was probably successful and
definitely entertaining. Chuck remains
in great voice and although I counted
only one leg-split and he duck-walked
across the stage but a couple of times,
the performance was vigorous, and
energetic.
It was also neat to discover that Chuck'
Berry still does the Chuck Berry guitar
riffs better than anyone else. With his
guitar dual-amped, the tone was per-
fect and the sound was surprisingly
powerful. His playing super clean and
very rhythmic, Chuck's sense of timing
and dynamics remain impeccable.
However, the four piece back-up band,
while capable enough, offered no extra
inspiration to the master.
The Final Box Score: The music had
a good beat and the kids seemed to en-
joy dancing to it. I liked it. I'd give it
a 95.
ENERGY.0
We can't afford-
to waste it.
-II
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