With friends like his
he needs no enemies
brotherly love. She's so consumed in
By Jeff Frooman the theory of brotherly love that she has
no understanding of the emotional
H OW WOULD YOU feel if a whole aspects of it.
H family of strangers suddenly On a third level, the play also has
moved in and occupied your apartment, political overtones. The family, with its
simply because they wanted to get close strong sense of community and its
to you and become your friends? This is sharing of belongings, represents
precisely what happens to Man, the communism. The man, whose house
main character of Friends, a play by has been invaded, works in a cor-
Kobo Abe. poration, is materialistic, and wants to
The play works on many levels at on- do things on his own for his own benefit.
ce, with several themes interwoven into He represents capitalism.
the storyline. On a very human level the Although much of the play focuses on
play deals directly with the nature of the hypocrisies of communism, Kobo
friendships. We see that on the surface Abe takes time to point out the faults of
the intruding family has good inten- both lifestyles. But while quick to see
tions. They're convinced that their the flaws of both systems, Abe's play
company will help make the man less suggests no alternatives.
lonely. However, lurking beneath the Finally, on a fourth level, the play is
surface is something more sinister - allegorical. The characters lack names
something destructive in the nature of and the setting lacks those features that
their friendship. would tend to restrict it to any given
Basically, they've formed the frien- time or place. In short, Kobo Abe inten-
dship not for the sake of friendship, but ds us to see that the play is something
rather because they feel it's their duty universal.
to keep the man company. As a result, Therefore, even though the
the friendship lacks warmth and playwright is Japanese, and even
humanity - the most important though the play was originally written
qualities of a true friendship. in Japanese in the late 1960s, the lessons
On a second, more abstract and it teaches are still applicable today.
philosophical level, Kobo Abe's play This is one reason why Anna Watson,
shows us the dangers of blind idealism. the play's producer, decided to produce
and the adherence to cold theoretical it as part of her senior honors thesis in
concepts that lack consideration for the Asian Studies.
frailties of human nature. The performance of the play depends
The middle daughter of the invading solely on amateur talent, and in fact
family is almost fanatical in her deter- none of the actors have had any
mination to eradicate loneliness from theatrical training. However, what the
* society. Like a religious zealot she actors lack in professionalism they
believes so strongly in her mission to make up for with energy and en-
spread love and friendship that she's thusiasm.
willing to force her friendship on The play is free and all are welcome.
people, indeed murder them, in her ef- It will be performed Saturday at 8 p.m.,
fort to convert them to a life of and Sunday at2 p.m. at Lane Hall.
The Michigan Daily - Friday, June 8, 1984 - Page 9
subscribe
Sppt now!l
& rcall 764-0558
£ 9IIEgUi 1UIU
Bars and Clubs
The Ark-Saturday night it's Oscar
Brand, long-time collector and per-
former of folk songs, doing two shows.
The Blind Pig-There's no doubt
about it, the Suspects do it up Friday
night. On Saturday it's the
Fabulous Checkers.
Joe's Star Lounge-Ann Arbor's
finest rock 'n' roll trio, Steve Nardella
and Company, rock it Friday and
Saturday nights.
Rick's American Cafe-From out of
Boston, with a horn-flavored ska
sound, it isn't an old maid, but New
Man both Friday and Saturday nights.
The list
Concerts
Simple Minds-The Scottish quintet
that's taking the pop world by storm
comes to the Michigan Theater this
Friday in support of their new album,
Sparkle in the Rain. Known for their
moody sound, the band's lead singer
recently married the Pretender's
Chrissie Hynde out from underneath
the Kink's Ray Davies. Opening band
China Crisis is another pop sensation
that promises to be around for some
time. The show begins at 8 p.m. at the
Michigan Theater on Friday. Tickets
are $12.50 and available in advance
from the Michigan Theater Box Of-
fice, Schoolkid's, Wherehouse Recor-
ds, Hudson's, and all CTC outlets. For
more information call 668-8480.
Mimi Farina-Half of the famed
husband and wife recording team,
Mimi and Richard Farina, makes her
solo debut in Ann Arbor at the Ark.
Best known for writing beautiful,
poetic songs, Farina has had several
of her songs recorded by the likes of
Joan Baez and Judy Collins. Tickets
are $6 and available at Schoolkid's
and Herb David's. The show begins at
8 p.m. at the Ark on Thursday.
Theater
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest"-The Performance Network
presents the theatrical adaptation of
Ken Kesey's novel by Dale Wasser-
man. This production stars Linda
Rice, Jeff Smith and Joe Meshigaud
and features some multi-media effec-
ts by Eyemediae. Shows are Friday
and Saturday at 8 p.m. with tickets
selling for $6 and on Sunday with
tickets sellings for $5. In addition there is
a student/senior discount of $1 for al
shows. All performances are at the
Performance Network on 408 W.
Washington. For more information
call 663-0681.
"The Belle of Amherst"-Ann Ar-
bor Civic Theater presents this
dramatic one-woman depiction of the life
of poet Emily Dickinson. Starring
Susan Morris, this production is direc-
ted by Christy Rishoi Minadeo. The
show runs Friday and Saturday nights
at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater (338 S.
Main). Tickets are $4 and reser-
vations can be made by calling 662-
7282.