Page 8-Tuesday,:Augvst 12, 1980-The Michigan Daily
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A mlystifying'ne tet

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By ANNE GADON
Whether in paperback, on film, or on-
the stage, mystery thrillers are one of
the most successful audience pleasers
around. The Mousetrap, by Agatha
Christie, is still playing in London's.
West End after two decades and Ira
Levin's Deathtrap, which visited Ann
Arbor thisyear during its.national tour,
is enjoying a long run on Broadway.
Picking up on this zeal for suspense, the
Black Sheep Repertory Theatre has
chosen Patrick Hamilton's spine-
chiller, Angel Street for its concluding
summer production.
If the company's intent in choosing
Hamilton's play is to mystify then they
certainly have succeeded. There are.
quite a few other thrillers available that
have more interesting plots and

characters than Hamilton's tale of a
husband's attempts to drive his wife in-
sane.
BUT THE Black Sheep production,
directed by U-M faculty member Jim
Martin, is plagued by more than stilted
dialogue. Deborah Seymour's set of a
Victorian living room is overcrowded
and- Martin has compensated by
staging half the scenes with the per-
formers standing in doorways or
seated. Thus the actors are prohibited
from moving purposefully about the
stage. They appear more.like football
players than performers, dodging a
table or overstuffed couch to make
their way to the exits.
Another problem with Martin's

production is its protracted pacing.
Several of the show's suspenseful mom-
ents are weakened by the intermittent
pauses between speeches, par-
ticularly the conclusion of Act One,
when Sergeant Rough, a detective,
discovers some valuable rubies that the
husband is searching for. For this
"thriller" to live up to its name the
dialogue must move at a vigorous pace,
instead of the lethargic progression
presently adopted.
The Black Sheep's not so heavenly
Angel Street also suffers from erratic
performances. In the roje of Bella
Manningham, the persecuted wife,
Kathryn Long displays varying levels
of dispair by alternately wringing her
hands, raising her fist to her mouth,
and other such tiresomely


PRIME RIB
A
RARE PRICE.

melodramatic gestures. From the first
scene Long projects an aura of a broken
woman, which she maintains
throughout the play. Her continual
whimpering triggers irritation more
than empathy.
AS SERGEANT Rough, Theatre
department faculty member, James
Reynolds, gives a more favorable per-
formance. Reynolds has underplayed
the jocular side of Rough's character,
preferring to emphasize the charac-
ter's brusqueness. But by muting
Rough's mirthful spirit, Reynolds
overlooks some the the evening's best
laughs.
Although Rough is as well-
meaning as Santa Claus, he's not above
a bit of sauciness with the ladies. He
also harbors a fondness for Scotch
whiskey which he always carries with
him in a flask "for medicinal pur-
poses." Reynolds is a sterner Rough,
emphasizing the detective's
businesslike manner With an inapt air
of disapproval, which he characterizes
by pulling his head back and glaring
like a snapping turtle readying himself
for attack.
As the scheming husband, Jake Man-
ningham, Terry Caza is appropriately
heartless, Caza has an air of cold in-
tellectuality about him that effectively
expresses Jake's nature. Not one of his
moves is wasted-in contrast to Long's
wavering performance as Bella. As he
toys with Nancy, the pretty young ser-
vant, or reduces his wife to
powerlessness, Caza conveys a delight-
ful sense of the spider baiting the fly. At
last, something in the play to make us
shiver in expectation.
In the secondary roles of the servan-
ts, Patricia Rector as Elizabeth and
Lorel Janiszewski as Nancy provide
weak support to an already lumbering
production. Rector is an overly stodgy
Elizabeth, the maid and mother hen to
the Manningham's. Instead of ap-
propriately clucking, she is painfully
passive. During a climactic moment in
Act One when Jake almost discovers
Sergeant Rough hiding in his dressing
room, Rector is left alone on stage with
the responsibility of conveying the
growing level of suspense. In a.
bungling attempt at dramatic gm-
phasis, she clutches the back of a chair,
while her face remains immobile.
Rector's movements are too wishy-
washy. From her subdued presence its
hard to believe that she has much at
stake in the proceedings, despite her
character's countless claims of affec-
tion towards the family.
Janiszewski is a pretty enough Nancy
but is quickly wearisome as the maid
who lusts after her master. Part of the
fault lies with the playwright who has
constructed an overly long tete-a-tete
between the servant and master. Still, a
little illicit behavior would add a
pleasant spark to the play, but
Janiszewski fails to take full advantage
of the moment. Her pursuit of Jake is
more like that of a lap dog eager to be
petted. A bit more serious seduction is
in order on her part. Janiszewski is not
alone in her inability to command at-
tention. Even counting the grapes on
the trim of the Victorian furniture is
more alluring than watching the tedium
on stage.

Generous cut of tender, juicy Prime Rib
roasted to perfection.
Crisp, garden fresh salad.
Your choice of
steaming hot baked potato,
French fries or rice.
Fresh bread and butter
$ 99
$79
At a time when most things are going up, we're doing some-
thing rare -bringing the price of Prime Rib way down. This
standard cut is served every day, except Friday and Saturday,
during our regular dinner hours. And The American Express-
Card is always welcome.

I
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OUNTAIN
300 South Maple
Ann Arbor, 665-1133

Valid through
September 11, 1980.

The American Express'Card.
Don't leave home without it 6m

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