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August 01, 1959 - Image 2

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Michigan Daily, 1959-08-01

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I.

Sixty-Ninth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Stratford

Festival Potpourric

hen Opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Truth Will Prevail" STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
JRDAY, AUGUST 1, 1959 NIGHT EDITOR: THOMAS HAYDEN

Il Problema la Bicycletta:
A comic Opera in Four Acts

HE WEEK is always an interesting thing.
to review. This should be kept in mind
en dealing with what will follow almost im-
diately.
)ne of the perennial problems faced by stu-
its is the phenomenon of misdirected admin-
ators. This week a startling announcement
s heard echoing exultantly through the halls
the Administration Building. The source of
this noise was traced to the Office of Stu-
it Affairs.
't seems, according to the solons who in-
bit that venerable den, that 'bicycles are
ising problems. The fire marshal has been
ed with fear that thousands of students
>uld be trapped by fire in a campus build-
: with bicycles blocking the exits. This has,
turn stampeded administrators, glad to have
nething at last to do, to come up with the
e idea of impounding bicycles parked in
nt of certain buildings which arecreating a
e hazard, of sorts. It seems unusual that the
wds of students can get into the buildings
the first place, but they almost always seem
TELL, FANS, impounding bicycles is an ad-
ministration answer. Pick up bicycles
rked in 'front of the Undergrad Library
GLI) and charge students three dollars to
them back. This argument ignores the
ef problem, misplaced bike racks. And who
ced them? The administration which is now
arging students for not falling into the same
y trap.
Where are the bicycle , racks placed, say
Fund the UGLI? Well, they are about a
ndred feet away (a nice distance to walk,
y, in the rain). They are conveniently placed
the dark so that when the library closes you
n't see to undo your chain lock. Well, they are
splaced.

Now, because students conveniently park
their only means of transportation (the ad-
ministration has conveniently ruled out cars,
you see) in the place the -rule-givers should
have thought of for bike racks, they will be
fined and inconvenienced.
The student is left with four possible solu-
tions to this meddling, any one of which will
eliminate the need for impounding bicycles
and will prove that the whole thing was a
false alarm.
W ISE STUDENTS will heed these suggestions:
1) Park your bicycles in front of the UGLI
anyway. As they, are carted away, 'keep park-
ing more there. When the administration col-
lects 10,000 or so bikes, let them figure out
where to store them. If they decide to put
them on auction, bid so low that they owe you
money.
2).Surround the Administration Building
with every bicycle on eampus. Then light a fire
inside the building. If everyone gets out alive,
the safety scare is over. If they don't, well,
nasty break.
3) Begin parking jyour bicycles in the Ad-
ministration Building parking lot. Let the ad-
mnistrators be the ones to figure out where
to park.
4) Unbend the bicycle racks near the UGLI
and form a long pole with them. Then place
this pole up to a,top-floor window. In case of
fire, a quick means of exit will thus be pro-
vided. In the meantime, there won't be any-
place inconvenient to park bicycles.
If all these measures fail, try a strike, a boy-
cott, selective bombing or other direct means
to tan end. In any case, use some ridiculous
solution; the problem seems to warrant it.
-ROBERT JUNKER
Co-Editor

EXHIBITION HALL--A feature of the complex of buildings near the Avon River is the exhibition halls, showing nearly everything the visitor
could conceivably be interested in: Canadian Eskimo art from Baffin Island, complete with Eskimos, other Canadian handicrafts, a theatre
and book display and The Merton Puppet Theatre (which is already finishing its engagement). The refreshment stand (right) operates in a
largely uncommercialized atmosphere at the Festival.
Players Make 'As You L ike It' Riotous Comedy

IF THE Stratford production of
"As You Like It" must be char-
acterized in one word, that word
would most likely be "riotous, 'or
perhaps "boisterous." Certainly not
"desperate" as the stuffy New York
club claims. Stratford productions
of Shakespeare's comedies always
tend to stress the humorous, with
appropriate props, pantomime, and
what have you; and the poetical
nature of these plays is perhaps
de-emphasized.
According to the authorities, "As
You Like It" is a complicated sat-

ire the pastoral scene, carefully
contrasting the clean and decent
country living with the grim reali-
ties of Administration, graft, cor-
ruption, status seeking, and the
like.
* * *
IT SEEMS ridiculous to recapit-
ulate the plot, so suffice it to say
that, although the play did not, in
part, fulfill the doctoral require-
ment for W. Shakespeare, al-
though the terms "security con-
sciousness," "social mobility," hid-

den persuader" and "organization
man" never appear in the play, it
is a sociological analysis of a seg-
ment of the sixteenth century
scene.
Staging is incredible. Oliver does
not merely enter, he bursts out of
a sedan chair. And a collection of
chariots, floral arrangements, and
elegant costumes puts this produc-
tion on an equal footing with last
year's "Winter's Tale." The musi-
cal compositions of John Cook are
well executed by the chamber or-:
chestra back-stage. And so it goes.

IRENE WORTH plays Rosalind
with an excess of energy. This is
more than matched by Douglas
Campbell who manages, almost by
sheer exuberance, to animate the
role of Touchstone, one of Shakes-
peare's grimmer clowns.
Peter Wood's production of "As.
You Like It" is, then, a represen-
tative sample of the Stratford way
with Comedy. Fast and furious, a
much-needed change of pace from
the tension of "Othello."
--David Kessel

TODAY AND TOMORROW:
A Visitby IMAK.?
By WALTER LIPPMANN

Art, Swans
On Display
THE TRADITION at Stratford
seems to be-one tragedy, one
comedy, and assorted odds and
ends to fit.
This season, "Othello" and "AS
You Like It" will be given at the
Festival Theatre until Sept. 29.
Offenbach's satire of the Orpheus
legend, "Orpheus in the Under-
world," in English translation, is
at the nearby Avon Theatre until
Aug. 8.
After Orpheus leaves, a New
Revue called "After Hours," cer-
tainly a name of intrigue, will last
from Aug. 11-15. Next at the Avon
is a Scotch fantasy by Robert
Kemp, "My Heart's in the High-
lands," Aug. 18-22. Finally, a
series of foreign and domestic
films will be seen Aug. 24-Sept. 5.
Meanwhile at the Festival
Arena, an immense white struc-
ture near the refreshment stan'd,
is an Eskimo Exhibit and a Cana-
dian Art Exhibit, with real Eski-
mos at the first and, presumably,
real art at the second.
* * *
THE FESTIVAL Exhibition
Hall, a smaller building on the
other side of the refreshment
stand, will house a showing of
Canadian Handicrafts, and a
Theatre and Book Display until
Sept. 19. The Merton Puppet
Theatre joined the Handicrafts
and Books July 11, but has al-
ready gone.
A deluge of other events fill in
the Stratford season; Orchestral
Concerts, Chamber Music, Folk
Singers, and what have you.
Stratford represents an uncom-
'mercialized climate almost un-
known to visitors from the lands
South of the Border (e.g., the
United States). Large cartons of
lemon or orange drink sell Aor a
bare ten cents in the Theatre
lobby; contrast this with the
twenty-cent spot of giner ale at
Northland Playhouse. There is a
post card and information stand
downtown where sits a' friendly
girl full of information and post-
cards.
Nearby, at the post office is a
stamp machine which, for one
Canadian quarter will spill out a
booklet with assorted stamps pic-
turing a live Queen instead of. a
dead President.
A SLOW-MOVING river, which
shall be nameless, floats through
Stratford, often filled with a va-=
riety of boats, including canoes
which can be rented by feafless
travellers. The region is also well
stocked with swans, which peck
vigorously at bits of food, smaller
fish, and outstretched fingers. No
particular pecking order can be
observed, although some psycol-
ogists were investigating the miat-
ter, at last report.
Once the afternoon's play Is
over, the river front between'
Stratford and the Festival The-
atre becomes the scene of stroll-
ing visitors, picnics, greedy swans,
and an occasional portable lem-
onade stand operated by enter-
prising Stratford y o u n g s t e r s.
Across the river, the natives stare
curiously at the crowds, then re-
turn to tribal ceremonies.
The Festival Theatre itself Is a
remarkably well constructed af-
fair, with thirty-four sides, a con-
ical roof, and an Elizabethan
stage. The seats are arranged in
a 270-degree pattern so that both
balcony and main floor offer
viewers an excellent sight of the
proceedings.
Shortly before each perform-
ance, ,a small group of trumpets,
'trombones, and drums -play fan-
fares to summon the audience to

their seats. Shortly after, a can-
,non Is fired and the play begins.
Shakespeare at Stratford is
produced with a flair for action,
costumes, musical backgrounds,
and props. But more that, this,
there is a uniform excellence so
that the spectator soon is assured
that he is seeing a performance
which will not soon be equalled.
-David Kessel
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity "of Michigan for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no edi-
torial respondbility. Notices should
be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ing, before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication.' Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
SATURDAY, AUQ. 1, 1959
VOL. LXIX, No. 29-S
General Notices
Clasical Studies Coffee Hour: Tues.,
Aug. 4, Rm. 2009 Angell Hall, 4 p.m.
'Prof. Dhu'n."Latin Inscriptins in

Y
.('
Y

'

THERE IS a certain amount of talk, which
the President has now encouraged, about
inviting Mr. Khrushchev to come to Washing-
ton. Some who favor it believe that .while the
exchange of visits by Mikoyan, Kozlov, and
Nixon, can do something to make Mr. K. un-
derstand this country and its attitude, it is
one thing to understand a distant and un-
familiar land and another to realize what it
is. There is no substitute, they feel, for seeing
the sights and hearing the voices one's self
and so to put flesh and blood where there were
shadows and abstractions. A personal visit,
they hold,. is the only, way to make Mr. KK.
realize the size and vitality of this country,
its determination not to abandon West Berlin,
and its will to peace.
There are a few others, more sophisticated
in power politics, who would like to see an
Eisenhower-Khrushchev parley because, they,
have come to think that this is the quickest
and most likely way to reach a tolerable com-
promise arrangement. The argument here' is
that on the Soviet side only Mr. K. can or
will make the exchanges of concessions that
would seal a bal-gain, and that he is more
likely to do this in a two-power parley than
in the more complicated summit talks. On the
Western, side, the argument is that negotia-
tion is difficult and clumsy between the Soviet
Union acting alone and the three powers who
are four powers because West Germany is con-
sulted in every stage and is virtually present.
Advocates of a two-power parley, such as
the "Economist" in London, go so far .as to
think of it "as an alternative to the summit."
FROM THE American point of view there is
amidst all the subtlety and pitfalls of this
question one clear and certain rule of conduct.
We cannot appoint ourselves to negotiate with
Mr. K. on behalf of the Western world, and
even an intimation on our part that we were
thinking of a two-power parley as an 'alterna-
tive to a Summit meeting would be resisted
furiously in Bonn and in Paris.
A visit by Mr. K. to Washington has its ad-
vantages and its dangers. But if it takes place,
it should follow, it should not precede, a sum-
mit meeting in which Gen. de Gaulle is present
personally and Dr. Adenauer is present by
proxy. It is not certain that anything sub-
stantial can be accomplished at such a summit
meeting.' But the Western allies are committed
to the idea that this is the right way to nego-
tiate substantial things rnd that is the only
Editorial Staff

way that they .can accept. This right way is by
four-power negotiation with West Germany in
fact though not in form making it a five-power
negotiation.
This method will have to be tested out by us
in good faith at another summit meeting. It
requires, as the present Geneva conference has
been demonstrating, that the four Western
powers, must be unanimous not only on the
final results, if any. They must also be unani-
mous in advance on each of the moves during
the bargaining process. We must adhere loyally
to this procedure 'through another summit
meeting.
But it will be with the knowledge that this
is not the only conceivable way to negotiate
with the Soviet Union. It is quite conceivable
that we could negotiate directly with the So-
viet Union, consulting in advance, consulting
whenever the negotiations arrived at some ten-
sive but substantial point of agreement, and,
of course, making no final agreement without
the consent of our principal allies. There is
more latent sentiment in Europe for this type
of negotiation than now appears on the surface.
THERE IS, also, the problem of an American
visit by Mr. K. My view is that it will be
imprudent until and unless there is a decided
improvement in the general atmosphere. This
improvement can come only if there is a provi-
sional agreement on West Berlin-an agree-
ment arrived at by the Foreign Ministers or at
a summit meeting later on in Europe. Mr. K.
should not come to Washington until there has
been eliminated the threat of a blockade and
the risk of our having to resist the blockade
and to retaliate.
There does not have to be a solution of the
whole German problem before Mr. K. comes
to this country. But he should not come while
West Berlin is in such a dangerous position.
I do not mean to suggest that an agreement
on West Berlin should be marked as the price
of an invitation, or that an invitation should
be treated as a reward for good behavior. This
approach is beneath the dignity of both coun-
tries. The reason for saying that the visit should
follow an agreement on West Berlin is that
then, but then only, will it have a good chance
of being useful to both sides. Only when the
threat of wai" has been eliminated can we ex-
plore successfully the chance of greater cul-
tural and economic intercourse.
Moreover, as long as the war clouds hang
over Berlin, this country could not protect Mr.
K. 'completely against unfriendly demonstra-
tions. I found in Moscow that this problem was
not well understood. They find, it hard to
believe that any government cannot keep per-
fect order if it wants to do so. The Soviet with
its police and its docile population can control

NEW THEATRE - The Festival Theatre is a thirty-four-sided
modern theatre with an Elizabethan stage and seats arranged in
a 270-degree pattern for excellent viewing. Outside, visitors listen
for the trumpet fanfare that announces the start of each perform-
ance.
'Othello' Wel-Paced,
Hih'Retains HghStandards

PHOTOGENIC SWANS-Large flocks of swans come out of the
Avon to rest, peck themselves and over-eager tourists, and waddle
about photogenically. Pienicers, catching a bite of supper before
the evening performance, occasionally brave the danger by eating
near the bridge.

POLITICAL and economic power,
it has been said, for many
years has steadily progressed from
east to west, from the Old World
to the New. Although it seems a bit
too early to generalize about ar-
tistic matters, the Stratford Festi-
val's production of "Othello" cer-
tainly gives food for thought for
anybody willing to risk his in-

"Well, Now To Find Some Facts"
s & '

tellectual neck on the artistic side
of such a theory.'
The performance, directed by
Jean Gascon and George Mc-
Gowan, is well up to the high
standard set by English Shake-
spearean productions, and well
above anything seen by this writ-
er in the United States.
Holding to a simplified, even
bare, production, the directors let
Shakespeare and his play speak
for themselves with a minimum
of what usually turn out to be un-
necessary and often 'even detract-
ing flourishes and gee-gaws.
* *
DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, by now
well at home in the Stratford
style, was a tremendously meso-
morphic Moor. At times one might
think that Campbell's portrayal
was just a bit too actionistic, sim-
ple and non-deceiving to be true,
but on reflection, one realizes that
it is exactly the simplicity and ac-
tionistic bend to his character
that makes the entire play pos-
sible. Campbell has a tendency
to speak somewhat too rapidly,
and then in periods of crisis, to
howl and foam, which sometimes
makes it hard to understand
Shakespeare's language.
Douglas Rain, as lago, surely
one of the first of the mad and
villainous psychiatrist characters
of world literature, is convincingly
devious and malevolant. Rain has
a sure sense of timing and pace,
and his scenes with Othello were
uniformly powerful and moving.
FRANCE HYLAND expires with
an appropriate amount of pathos
and sighing in the second act, but
altogether, she seemed somewhat
over-fragile and too pure to be
entirely convincing. For once, she
died with no (or at least a mini-

I

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