Arts
Friday, May 7, 1982

The Michigan Daily

Page 7

The middle ages
its farce and scatalogical humor. But
By Elliot Jackson the grandeur would be oddly lifeless
and the jests obscure-or merely ob-,
V ERY FEW of the ea~ger hordes of scene.
Ann Arbor theatregoers were Among the plays PLS performed
present at perhaps the moat in- were Fool Surgery, and The Stolen
teresting, certainly the most ideally Shrovetide Cock, by Hans Sachs, the
realized, performances of all that were one being a highly individual view of
offered them the weekend of April 16. how to deal with the fools of Lust, Envy,
ored mothite the weekend of ary .Sloth, et al, that lerk within us, the
For most, it was the weekend or r other an account of a domestic squab-
miniscule though appreciative number, (ble that ends up with two women
the weekend belonged to the Poculi (played bymen) engagingi hand-o-
Ludique Societas (PLS, or, Games and hand combat whist their husbands look
Drink Society for those of you to whom theon and pass akefield Cain n Mystery mPlays,
Latin says nothing). hthe kefieldfCy o r y Pls
This merry band of players was per which the group performed in Middle
forming on the RC Auditorium stage at English; Robin Hood and the Friar,
the behest of Dr. Martin Walsh, a lec-
turer in the RC drama program. They
had travelled to Arn Arbor, in fact, ex-
pressly to perform a translation by Dr.
and Mrs. Walsh of Hans Sachs' Fool
Surgery.
The PLS is a group of people, more or -
less loosely connectly with the Univer- MON, TUE, THUR, FRI, 7:30-9:30
sity of Toronto and its environs, who SAT, SUN, WED,
are devoted to resurrecting Medieval 1:30-3:30.5:30-7:30-9:30
and Renaissance plays from what they FnFn lender,
think to be an unjustly merited ob- i.
scurity. .cony____
Because of their concern for, and
interest in, producing the plays in a
condition as similar as possible to the
original, the skills in their command in-
clude juggling; morris-dancing (a
vigorous sort of country dancing, .
popular for many centuries); the
playing of odd and antique instrumen-
ts; singing; sword, unarmed, and quar- s r
terstaff combat; tumbling; versifying; i
and performing in the Middle English aamon
or Latin in which their texts were writ- R® (UPPER LEVE)
ten. MON, TUE, THUR, FRI, 7:45-9:50 ~p
To some people, looking at this exac- SAT, SUN, WED,
ting list of requirements, it might seem 1:30-4:30-7:45-9:50
unfair-superfluous even-that the PLS
should have to act as well, but it was its
acting, consistently well-thought-out S1
and polished, that made the works - , , , ,
vital, and thrilling in their immediacy.
The plays would be museum-pieces MON, TUE, THUR, FRI, 7:40-9:55
without the spark provided by actors ut- SAT, SUN, WED,
terly sold on the relevance and peculiar 1:35-4:35-7:40-9:55
beauties of their material, who manage THE FIRST FUTURISTIC
to be funny and affecting with equal MONSTER MOVIE IN 3-DI
grace, and who condescend not in the '
slightest to the medieval view of things. z
Lacking this spark of vitality, per- ,. r
formers may make us see the im- 19
pressiveness; ever serenity, of the ,.
medieval universe, as illustrated by its
carefully structured drama, or the 434-0130 LOO
hearty celebration of things earthy in UNCLE
DailyNOW OPEN
oEVERY NIGHT
BOXOFFICE r
SOPEN 8:00 PM
C lassifieds SHOWSTARTSATDUSK
BringSTATE 1-2-3-4 231 SO. S
B t1. "POLYESTER"
2. "PA RA SITE" In
3. "EXPECTATIOK
Results 4. "HAROLD and

aren't over yet
performed originally as part of a May actors, performed beth ably and en-
Day celebration in Merrie Olde, joyably; indeed, their versatility was
noteworthy principally for the oppor- the more impressive considering the
tunities it affords of fighting, dancing, See MEDIEVAL, Page8
and more fighting.
The crowning achievement, certainly '
of the weekend's performances, and INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
possible of the whole of medieval 5 * "eo 7''" 6-9700
drama, was Mankind, an allegorical WE0.SAT.SUN
play in which Mercy and Mischief (the only s1.55
latter aided by vices with bizzare and shanw sbore
colorful names), joust for the soul of
Mankind, who earnestly desires to do
good, but is not incapable of being led GENE
astray. SISKEI
Highly individual as each of these-
plays were, theme, content, and
demands, the PLS, as a unit of some six ROGER
SAY..
"IT REDISCOVERED
LANGUAGE!
GENE SISKEL
"IT'S NEW & DIFFERENT
AND ABSOLUTELY
MON TUE, THUR, FRI, 7:309:30 ANAOLT VE"
SAT, SUN, WED, INNOVATIVE"
1:30-3:30-5:30-7:30-9:30 ROGER EBERT
MY DINNER
you'vetWITH AR
MARIEL
SHEMINGWAY

SAT, SUN-
12:30,2:55, 5:10,7:15,9:20
FOOLED YA! HELD
OVER 'TIL THURS!
IT'S WICKEDLY FUNNY!
MICHAEL CAINE
CHRISTOPHER
REEVE
DYAN CANNON
DEATH f
FRI-7:30, 9:40
SAT. SUN