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.