.Mime troupe bri
political dir
The San Iranci:.co Mime Tro jpe, 3
renowned guerrilla theatre company, wdl
bnr.g its unique and controversial drama
to L'NC Friday, Oct. 29 Their repertoire
includes a new full-length production,
"The Dragon Lady's Reverse," a
production centering around the drug
crr,;s in Southeast Asia and satirical skit,
performed by the Gutter Puppets and
Gorilla Marching Band.
Influenced by the tradition of
Renaissance Italy's f'ornmedia dell' Arte,
'hey use a tiny stage (12 feet square J with
sv.ee ping movement, exaggerated gestures
and f requent "asides" to in. re a v.
audience involvement and a feeling of
intimate contact.
According to the I.os V.ele . limes.
' tro-ipe has found ways to make the
lommedia style a Mngulatly apt vehicle
f',r political drama."
1 ounded in Y)V) as an alternative to
-ommercia! theatre, the San f-rancisco
ers
by Bruce Mann
.1 v.iMunl 'cjlurc l-i!it"r
lour national leaders in the held of
they're art. in Miapcd Hill Saturday to
attend the Institute oi Outdoor Drama's
'Mh Annual Managers and Directors
Conference, see outdoor drama as an
mcrea-.mely important constituent of the
American theatre.
I lie four were Charles Mark,
consultant to the American Bicentennial
Commission; Mrs. Ruth Mavleas, 'I heat re
Program Duector, National Pndowrnent
lor the Arts. William H. I ng! is. Associate
I ecutive Director of the American
111-.. itre Association; and Frederic Vogel
oi the Foundation ior the I te:ision and
Development t t h e American
Professional Theatre.
lire increased importance of outdoor
drama is perhaps best reflected in the
support accorded it by federal groups.
Speaking for the Pndowrnent for the
Arts. Mrs. Mas leas said that "There has
been assistance to outdoor drama in a
number of eases, through the states."
The Bicentennial Commission, too, is
Httempting to faster private grants for
outdoor drama through its time-limited
resources.
"At the least, the Bicentennial
Commission will encourage outdoor
drama with kind words and promotion,"
said Maik.
"At the most, support might
conceivably take the form of some
sponsorship and encouragement in the
development of outdoor dramas where
thev don't exist at the present time or
where there is a hope of development."
Noting the continuing interest and
increase in attendance of outdoor dramas
across the country. Inglis spoke of the
solid business management of these
production which makes them such
unusually stable theatrical concerns in
comparison to other types of theatre
across the country and which accounts
for their growing artistic strength
"The large number of outdoor dramas
are pretty well managed and well
promoted. They also have the tourist
attraction factor, and since there has been
a tremendous growth in the number of
outdoor dramas recently, more and more
people are seeing them and supporting
them.
Inglis also feels that "outdoor drama
is experiencing increased popularity
because theatre in general is becoming
snort' and more a part of the lives of the
pc ople."
Vogel, in his remarks, cited the
themes of outdoor drama, as much as
their business management, as the reason
for outdoor drama's popularity and
theatrical importance.
"One of our problems in this country
is that so much of what we have done has
been imitative of other countries and
oilier cultures. But I think outdoor drama
is cry organic to us not that they don't
luxe pageants in Furope but there is an
Readers
presenting
anthology
The UNC Read-TS will be presenting
"A Candid Look at Doroths Parker" this
Wednesday night at S p.m. in the Student
I'nion Coffee House.
The program, adapted bv speech
graduate Diane Dees and R TV MP
graduate Jim Huckman. is an anthology
of poems, short stories, anecdotes, quips,
and book, and play reviews bv and about
Dorothy Parker.
Considered b mans to be the greatest
"American wit of the 20"s and 30's.
Dorothy Parker was at (.Mice the epitome
of frivolity and one of the most tragic
persons imaginable.
"A Candid Look at Doiotln Parker"
attempts to expose the main sides oi tins
talented writer and critic.
Readers for the show, all trom Mrs.
Martha Hardy's Speech 141 class, include
Beverlv Barker. Anita Gallitier. I on is
Harrington and Daniel l.evine.
Lead
of
outdooi
ama
'dime Troupe atta.ks :n form and content
many renerally accepted conditions of
American life' and art. Without the
support of c:ty. -tate or federal funds, the
'dime Troupe has created a theatre which
is committed to so. is! protest ;n an effort
to teach, dire.t toward change and to he
an example of change. It tas solvent by
passing the hat jfter summer park
j.iO 5
.- h
CO:iege
e . : tz j t e : '. , e . i -.
"in the name of
commitment and tresh air" the Troupe
has wen prare from cTiti.s throughout
America and in Y' was awarded an
o:f-Broa Jwj "Ob,?" Awarj.
The Troupe's unusual Gutter Puppets
mil j'j'i.iJ .! ar..i. . :g I j a . . u hi s i a t c a e l
of satirical skits I r: day. Oct 2' at noon m
the Pit.
Admittedly and in ten no-alls
irreverent, the Gutter Puppets and Band
mix art and politic'- in their revue. As the
role
theatre
additional thing m that the outdoor
drama deals with us as a people."
So it you go see any outdoor drama
sou see that which deals with some part
oi our histors. some part of us as a
nation, which we are then more likely to
look at and see in that portion of our
identity."
In summing up the importance of the
outdoor drama in American theatre, Mark
said that outdoor drama, in bringing live
performances to audiences who might not
normally attend the theatre, "has helped
make the arts more acceptable" to a
greater number of People.
Leaven Cabal
laud
ee Sweetback
Melvin Van Peebles "Sweet
Sweetback's Bad Asssss Song" is probably
as ugly a film as has ever been made. Yet
precisely for that reason because Van
Peebles is a black man who looks at white
America with soul-wrenching hatred and
contempt, and a director of dizzying if
undisciplined skill-"Sweetback" is
required viewing for any serious
film-goer.
"Sweetback" stars "The Black
Community." and because Van Peebles is
a quintessential- visual director who
communicates through concrete symbol
and juxtaposition, this means all the
artifacts of a people who have been
corrupted, brutalized, and bestialized by
white society: the sagging breasts of a
black whore, the shoddy perversity of a
sex show, the squalid "luxury" of a pimp,
and all the physical and spiritual filth that
disfigures the ghetto.
But Van Peebles lets his
preoccupation with surfaces lead him
astray. Apparently we are supposed to
witness the awakening of Sweetback's
racial and human dignity, and his
realization that the black sub-culture in
America is nothing but the bastard child
of a dying white society. But the point is
never driven home. Van Peebles' whites
lack the human and moral complexity
that makes evil terrifying: they're anemic
bullies and hypocrites, apish Hell's
Angels, or scrawny cops who maim or kill
their black victims for the sheer fun of it.
And the blacks. Sweetback included, are
hardly more attractive.
Lacking this kind of development.
"Sweetback" becomes literally an
anthology of the possible in film editing.
It is an incredible tour de force of
cinematography, but eventually it is Van
Peebles' abundance that makes him poor.
"Sweetback" starts in overdrive and can
go no higher; there is no relative pacing,
no repose, no chance to catch one's
breath, and the ultimate effect is
oppressive.
And in seeking the photogenic side
even of degradation. Van Peebles' camera
becomes so shot - oriented that one
finally begins to suspect that the torture,
blood, and perverse sexuality serve no
other purpose than to titillate the
audience. Occasionally Van Peebles does
conceive an entire sequence -as when he
captures the almost miasmic quality of a
motorcvclc is its breathless camera work
and its moral ugliness. In both these
attributes "Sweetback" is pecuiiarlv
modern. It is a descent into hell, and even
if. as I suspect, that hell exists mainlv in
the director's soul, it is nevertheless a trip
most people will want to take.
"WALKABOUT" WAS SHOT entirelv
in Australia, bv Mike ioHov and Tonv
Richmond, and it is a cimematic marvel.
It overflow n with gawkv kangaroos .md
koala bears, meticulous close-ups of
exotic insects and delicatelv -colored
lizards, and spectacular dawns and
sunsets, wholk appropriate in the
context of the primitive, untouched
landscape. Maggots devouring .in animal's
carcass are gruesome but not frightening,
and an aborigine leaping graceful!) over
the sands is the embodiment l a stj
fom " I tie I milk o; 1.in."
If it sounds something like National
Geographu . it )s to its .idvant.iee Idle
ngg
.here
Detroit
su:J the Tm.pe "
the-, a J ire-- themccl-
; - - c e .
C , V. r -. -
i- .
. e i
. i:Cj .
1
Tr -re will
, . ! ...
rjdi.ai ilterr.itivts. The !:';.- include
the pohti.s behind the G-cit h t
S.are. the Bell Telephone SMerrt. the
draft, and army life. The Troup-.- w:l;
r- ..r'V r f - -. t ; r !--'" -s
t ' i--.- -r"- c.c . .ic .
The troupe will present its nenta:
mysterv -thriller. "The Dragon. Lady";
Revenue." at p.m. the same Fniay'm
Memorial Hall.
The "Revenge." the Mime Trsupe "s
newest full-length produvtr n. i suid t .
he an an expose of the dreg ir.
Southeast Asia. Since the anti-drug pia
opened one month ago m the parks of the
Bj Area, audiences have been a.ed to
fill out a questionnaire indicating their
experience with addictive narcotics and
whether they find the information
provided to be credible.
The overwhelming majorits ot th e
who see the play indicate they believe
allegations that the CIA and
U.S. -supported Asian governments are
responsible for the production and
trafficking of heroin.
The plot of "The Dragon Ladv 's
Revenge" was inspired b these
allegations. Several characters are based
on real-life figures like Vice-President Ky
and Madame N'hu. The play is staged and
costumed as a burlesque of the oriental
melodramas popular in the N30's movies
with many satiric jokes aimed at the
unscruplous power structure.
Tickets for the San Francisco Mime
Troupe's Memorial Hall performance will
be on sale or SI. 50 beginning today at
the Union Information Desk. The
Troupe's appearance is sponsored by the
Union Drama Committee.
film captures Australia's awesome beauty.
"Walkabout" falters, unfortunately,
under a not - quite believable plot and
a patchedon moral. A 16-year-old girl
(Jenny Agutter) and her six year-old
brother (Lucien Bond) wander through
the outlands after their father has tried to
kill them. Failing that, he has killed
himself and set their VW on fire. The film
suggests that civilization has deranged
him, but perhaps he has just flipped out.
The point is not made clear.
As the children wander, hungry and
thirsty, they encounter a young aborigine
(David (jiimpilil) who feeds them,
shelters them, and leads them to a
deserted house once occupied by whites.
Up to this point the moral is
understated and director Nicholas Roeg is
content to let us watch an idyllic,
sometimes funny existence. (After two
days in the desert the little boy says. "I'm
fed up!") Animals are killed, but only for
food, and noiselessly, with spears.
Abruptly, however, civilization clatters
into the wilds in the person of two
ruthless hunters who destroy wildlife
indiscriminately. With their jeep and high
powered rifles, they represent a
destructive force against which the old,
"natural" life is powerless, and the
aborigine mourns its passing in a
ceremonial dance of death. The children
return to civilization, and we last see the
sister in her apartment, happily married
but dreaming nostalgically of her
adventure.
But this is hokey nostalgia. While the
little boy is young enough to accept the
primitive life matter-of-factly. his sister
cannot. Temporarily charmed by the
quaintness of primitive life, she dreams of
showers and clean sheets. The audience is
in the same boat. Roeg is obviously aware
that primal innocence cannot exist, or at
least endure, but he tries to make us wish
it could. His Australian Fden is a
fairyland, and a fairyland's charm lies in
its unreality. Surely he could have given
us the magnificent colors and graceful
forms without editorializing. They speak
for themselves.
Harding solos
in Hill tonight
John Harding, trumpeter, will be
featured in tonight's Tuesday Evening
Concert which will beein at S pm in Hill
Hall.
Harding will be assisted bv Dr.
RLhurd Buck, piano, who is an associate
professor in the Ceemistrv Department.
Several other instrumentalists will also
appear in the concert, which is free of
charge and open to the public.
The program will open with
Aldrovandidi's "Sonata tor Two
Trumpets.
Torelh's D maior trumpet concerto
will feature Harding on a german D
trumpet. Biuk on harpsichord, and M;-s
Logan, cello.
Other works on the program include
Arutiunian's "konert tur Trompete mit
Klavier and "Concert Piece tor Trumpet
and Piano (1''54)" bv W illiam Maver.
The final work in the concert will be a
new work bv Harding himself, titled
"Sw eel Battle Suite."
We're Expecting A Record
Traffic Turnout For
the Record & Tape Center's Post-Concert
Traffic Tie-In Sale
f SI 'J -CJ ".
xiuzm. to the umm
c $
s
. lec - jlSv
Ocxra
Tra'Sc etc
e To "Pie Caiff n
in
j Fic mtrmw,
The Crowd Came to Hear Traffic
and Left Talking About Fairport Convention
so . . . Good Old Rock & Roll R&TC
(always keeping in tune with your wants,
yea, even your demandsjis offering
All Fairport Convention LP's on sale
Both
Leon
Russell
LP's
And All Other
Shelter
LP's
ON SALE
Cat Stevens
LP's
CAT STEVENS S"
NOW
Tuiioa,. Octooer 19. 1971
Buy Any Traffic LP on
other LP of Your Choice
for the Sale Price Also . .
All 5.98 list Traffic LPs . .
All 4.98 list Traffic LPs
All LP's
5.98
list . . .
AfA
v J
In Response to the Doubtless
Demand for Leon Russell LP's
(after the TV program of last night)
1 v
5.98
list
NOW
Including "Mona Bone Jakon"
Tea
5.98
list
As An Added
Inducement
(If One Is
Needed)
2 LP Set
Great Live
Recording
The Dairy Jar He?
Sale, and Get any
(at same list price)
.
3.69
3.19
NOW
(thru
Thursday)
.
i .
lit v. -
for Tillerman" and
v v
Teaser and Firecat"
Q
El II
0
1mm