ARTS Tuesday, June 5, 1984 Page 8 The Michigan Daily The wretched Nurse Ratched (Linda Rice) glares at her formidable mental opponent Randall P. McMurphy (Jeff Smith) in the Performance Network's languid production of Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' F altering By Larry Dean ONE FLEW Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the all- time great American novels. You personally may not agree, but its universality, salience, and continued appeal have proven that it's place in our culture is assured. That's why the Performance Network's production of Dale Wasserman's Cuckoo's Nest adaptation is such a disappoin- tment. Author Ken Kesey is one of the few contemporary novelists-like Joseph Heller and Thomas Pynchon, to name two others-who takes time with his writing, and doesn't churn out a book-per-year. His craftsmanship and sensitivity show in Cuckoo's Nest, and in its shelfmate, Sometimes A Great Notion. There is a structure and emotional depth to Kesey's writing that is difficult-if not near impossible-to translate to other mediums. Milos Foreman's : film adaptation swept the 1975 Oscars, and for good reason-the film (and especially Jack Nicholson's performance as the braggart protagonist, R. P. McMurphy) succeeded, in most ways, in bringing Cuckoo's Nest to silver-screened life. On stage, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is no very dif- ferent from its celluloid companion. The story is the same: McMurphy (Jeff Smith) has the choice of either going to jail, or else allowing himself to be committed to a mental hospital. A fun-loving, and, to say the least, earthy character, McMur- phy has spent his life in and out of jails for incidents of minor brawling and social deviancy; but this time the state has Cuckoo him on the charge of statutory rape of a 15 year old ("She told me she was 17, and she was plenty willin'!" protests McMur- phy) Choosing what he believes will be an easy sentence in the mental hospital, McMurphy saunters in and immediately begins to take over. His flagrant defiance of the iron-handed rule head nurse Ratched (Linda Rice) has over the other "acutes" wins him their respect, and the sheer exhuberent anarchy of his presence helps to soothe the sanitized in- stitutionalization that has furthered the patients' illnesses, rather than helped them. The main conflict in Cuckoo's Nest comes when McMurphy and Ratched's wills clash. There is also a lot of underlying sexual tension between them, which is supposed to add fuel to the fire. Director Raymond Masters doesn't seem to know what to do with either his actors or the script. This version of Cuckoo's Nest is staged so stagnantly, and with so many dead spots in the "action" (meaning merely the occurrences in the play), that no real tension develops. Actors are constantly upstaging one-another, and many of them seem confused, as if they have no reason for being on stage. This conclusion only alientes the audience, when they should be deeply-and emotionally-involved. The actors also suffer under a weak directorial hand. As McMurphy, Smith punctuates his stiff lines with bursts of forced laughter, and animates his character with perfun- ctionary gestures. Although he "looks" the part, he has little understanding of what McMurphy's all about. See CUCKOO, Page 10 Fahey strums up a storm By Andy Weine T HE CROWD that filled the Ark Saturday night numbered well over capacity. Knee-to-knee on chairs and floor cushions, captivated folk fans listened to over an hour of virtuoso per- formance by John Fahey. From the moment he sat down on stage, Fahey never gave the audience a break, holding their attention for over an hour. Many of his pieces were over ten minutes long. Just when notes dwindled and listeners expected the end of a song, Fahey would branch off on a new melody, and another movement would proceed. Fahey himself mumbled less than twenty or thirty words the whole time, and none of his music had vocals. Hut what he lacked in words orvcharisma, he more than made up for in playing. His music draws upon 'several dif- ferent influences. His beginning pieces had a Scottish or Irish tint to them. Others had the flavor of blues and ragtime, and some songs sounded almost bluegrass. Somewhere in bet- ween these styles, Fahey has developed a style of his own, a style that is usually fast-paced, light, happy, and rambling. Fahey did more picking than strum- ming. His melodies were complex, of- ten having several musical motives or quickly changing from one theme to another. He also made some exotic sounds with a metal slider, using it to play the oddest variation of "Silent Night" ever heard. The rainstorm played a significant role in Fahey's performance, too. With all its doors open, the Ark reverberated to toe rumbling thunder that often complemented Fahey's music. (In one of his earlier albums, he uses rain and thunder.) Once, just after a song dwin- dled away with the last soft notes, a well-time clap of thunder, filled the silence. The smaller thunder of the audience's applause followed. Ragtime guitarist Ray Kamalay warmed up the audience with some amusing blues, including a song about a comet that missed its pass by Earth. His music contrasted well with Fahey's; it gave the concert a balance of style, length, and vocals over instrumentals 0 0 . -- A selection of campusfilm highlights The Man Who Loved Women (Fran- cois Truffaut, 1977) No, no, no. This isn't the muddled, insipid remake starring Burt Reynolds. This is, however, the won- derful Truffaut classic about a man who simply loves women-in every way, shape and form. (Wednesday, June 6; Michigan Theater, 7:30) Shampoo (Hal Ashby, 1975) A classic Warren Beatty vehicle in which our hero portrays a Beverly Hills hairdresser who will do anything to keep his customers happy. Those who are kept happy include Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie and Carrie Fisher (in her pre-Princess Leia days). (Thursday, June 7; Michigan Theater, 7:30). The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir, 1983) Campus films An intriguing film not to be missed by fans of either director Weir (Gallipoli, Picnic at Hanging Rock), Mel Gibson (The Bounty, Gallipoli) or Sigourney Waever (Alien, Eyewit- ness). Gibson plays a reporter covering the Indonesian rebellion of 1965 who views the poverty and op- pression of the war-torn country. Lin- da Hunt gives an Oscar-winning per- formance as his photographer-friend Billy Kwan. (Friday, June 8; MLB 4, 7:30 & 9:40) The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Ker- shner, 1980) For all you Star Wars junkies who need that summertime fix, here's your chance. The second installment in the trilogy, Empire introduces us to Yoda, that loveable Jedi master. (Friday, June8; MLB3, 7:30 & 9:45). Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1975) One of Mel's funniest films parodies not-so-modern medical science and one doctor-who shall remain nameless-who abuses his surgical skills. Gene Wilder is the mad doctor, Peter Boyle is the mad monster. (Saturday, June 9; MLB 4, 9:15) Godfather I & II (Frances Ford Cop- pola, 1972 & 1975) Two of the most powerful motion pictures ever made deal with the Mafia underworld-looking at both its human and brutal aspects. With won- derful performances by Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Robert DeNiro. (Saturday, June 8; Michigan Theater, 6:30 & 9:35). "