Page I1O-Thursday, Junte 4,> 1981---The AMchigan D
Power
struggle.
in Iran
esca lates
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(Continued from Page7)
Bani-Sadr was elected president in January 1980
with an impressive 75 percent majority. He seems to
have solidified his popularity by taking charge of the
war effort against Iraq.
MANY IRANIANS-at least middle-class city
dwellers-blame Iran's severe unemployment and
other economic ills on the clergy's meddling in
politics.
The left-wing Moslems of the Mujaheddin Khalq
have stepped up anti-IRP protests in recent months,
some ending in bloody clashes with pro-clergy elemen-
ts. Khomeini has warned the clergy against taking
too strong a political stance, and his leftist grandson,
Seyyed Hussein Khomeini, has spoken out against the
danger of "totalitarianism in the color of religion."
If Bani-Sadr is put on trial, "I would imagine that
the left would probably try tactics like street demon-
strations ... an attack against clerical hegemony in
Iran," said Professor Michael Fischer, a Harvard
University anthropologist and author of a book on
Iran's revolutionary politics.
BULLIET AGREES. "There's a very strong risk
that if they try to prosecute Bani-Sadr, this will rally
an awful lot of support in his favor," he said. "The
IRP may decide it's too risky and stop it."
This does not mean, however, that the IRP has lit-
tle public support. It has organized extensively in the
r countryside and is believed to retain the loyalty of
many of the poorer and devout people of the cities.
The Iran-watchers say they would not be surprised
if the IRP-dominated judicial system picks out other
Bani-Sadr underlings and supporters for punishment.
Some political analysts believe the potential for a
takeover by pro-Soviet leftists in Iran is often over-
stated in the United States.
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Common Ground reflects a
rainbow of backgrounds
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set out to accomplish. One of the
proudest offstage achievements of
which the ensemble can boast has been
setting off a creative impulse in the
community outside the University,
enabling "people of different
backgrounds (to come) together for a
celebration, celebrating the richness
and diversity of our culture," said
Bryant.
THE ALL-BLACK cast of "for
coloured girls ..." is composed of
volunteer guest artists from disparate
ethnic and geographic backgrounds. In
the four months that they've been in
rehearsal, the spontaneous wit of the
performers and their openness to each
other's suggestions has created a lively
atmosphere of comraderie at the
rehearsals.
The actors sobered as the dusk light
drained from the hall. The rehearsal
had distilled down to pure seriousness.
Voices were thickening with fatigue
and some of the artists were leaning on
chairs and each other for support; but
the number ended tighter than ever,
their supple motions evoking the pain
and fury of nameless women struggling
to liberate their trampled spirits from
the enveloping gloom of their environ-
ment.
Finally, the group rehearsed the
gospel number that closes the play with
the entire cast whispering as one har-
monious unit, "I found God in myself,
and I loved her fiercely." The whole
cast took an elegant bow and the
rehearsal ended with a throaty line that
built into a gutsy shout, "And this is for
coloured girls who have considered
suicide, but are moving to the ends of
their own rainbow!" They filed out
quietly and I did not move. I was con-
tent to sit very still and feel the
satisfaction and resolution that a good
closing line brings. Then, suddenly,
someone snapped on the hall lights, the
director announced "Again!," and the
rehearsal continued beneath artificial
lights.
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