Photo by Linda Hart
John Ziegler and Peg French talk things over in this scene from the Boal Barn production of. "How the Other Half Loves,"
playing in Boalsburg through July 9.
'Other Half' an amusing farce
By DAVID HUGHES
For the Collegian
Sex, in its most - diluted and
theatrically palatable form, is the major
ingredient of the amusing farce "How
the Other Half Loves" which opened
Wednesday evening at the Boal Barn
Playhouse in Boalsburg. The play,
written by the talented Alan Ayckbourn,
is always clever, often witty and
sometimes downright funny.
The plot revolves around three
qouples, the Fosters, the Phillips, and
the Detweilers. The husbands work
together, the wives barely know each
tither; but Mr. Phillips "knows" Mrs.
Foster. All is fine until one evening when
our somewhat less than legitimate
4ouple stay out on the town a little too
Ip i ng, which causes their respective
spouses to become suspicious.
:To relieve their mates' suspicion, both
Icplain that they were only trying to
help the Detweilers with their marital
loblems. But, as luck would have it,
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(across, from - the ?act ofFice)
this explanation won't do the trick.
Unknown to them, the Detweilers are
coming to dinner.
With the exception of a few twists, the
basic plot changes very -little from this
point on. Ayckbourn sets the mood of
high comedy very early in the show.
play review
One of the most interesting effects
achieved by the author is a careful
mixing of time and space. Even though
several scenes take place at different
times and in different places; we are
able to see them develop simultaneously
in what appears to be (but isn't) the
same room.
With very few - exceptions the acting
varies from good to adequate. Peg
French; in her role as the "fabulous"
Fiona Foster, shows real polish and
skill. Her performance is the most
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consistent and believable of the lot. John
Ziegler portrays her husband Frank
with a great deal of energy and en
thusiasm, but often carries his innate
comic ability a bit too far.
I particularly enjoyed the per
formances of Peter Podol and Cindi Yost
as the amusing William and Mary
Detweiler. Pat Hazelton and Sabino
Ranaudo round out a fine cast.
The technical aspects of the show were
well-coordinated and skillfully executed.
The set, for the most part, was also good.
Only the brightly-painted floor, which
looked like it came right out of "The
Wizard of Oz," proved distracting.
The Boal Barn has done a fine job with
this production. It is, for the most part,
above average for a community theatre,
and provides a fine evening's en
tertainment.
You can see "How the Other Half
Loves" on July Ist and 2nd, and July sth
through 9th at 8:30 p.m. at the Boal Barn
Playhouse.
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LP mixes folk and electric styles
Steel eye's
By TOM MARCINKO
Collegian Staff Writer
THE STEELEYE SPAN STORY
ORIGINAL MASTERS by Steeleye Span
(Chrysalis)
A writer whose name escapes me once
described Steeleye Span's music as
"antique rock 'n' roll." I wish I'd said
that, because for me it brings to mind
electric guitars and amplifiers that you
have to crank up before playing,
speakers with big horns, like an old
Victrola, and wrought-iron microphone
stands with intrictate designs.
The phrase describes Steeleye's
music, a blend of modern rock and
traditional British folk, even better than
the title of the recent album "Rocket
Cottage."
"Folk-rock" can mean anything from
electric Dylan to Peter Crabriel's
"Solsbury Hill," but Steeleye Span,
along with Fairport Convention, was the
first to give the hybrid form a distinctly
British sound. Their music carries a
vaguely medieval air about it. Traffic's
"John Barleycorn," Led Zeppelin's
"Stairway to Heaven," and much of
Jethro Tull owes its existence to groups
like Fairport and Steeleye.
dtazCollegian arts
'Star Wars' best show in town
"Star Wars" is the first entirely
successful blend of the science fiction
and adventure genres. Time
magazine was right: it is the year's
best movie. Writer-director George
Lucas and special effects wizard John
Dykstra show how much fun you can
have at the movies while still keeping
your hands to yourself. Starring Mark
Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie
Fisher, Alec Guinness, and assorted
aliens, monsters and robots. It
deserves a bigger screen than the
Garden Theater's.
"The Deep" has a few slow spots
compensated by scenes of intense
suspense. Robert Shaw is effective as
a gruff old salt, but Nick Nolte gets a
lot of acting competition from a
moray eel. Jacqueline Bisset and Eli
Wallach are in it, too. Worth seeing at
the State.
"Rocky," the Oscar-winner for best
n
Arbyt
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music antique rock
Though I like Fairport Convention
very much "Liege and Lief" is par
ticularly recommended I prefer
Steeleye. Fairport's music, with few
exceptions ("Tam Lin," "Matty
Grove") is acoustic mainstream folk.
Steeleye's music is a true fusion of the
acoustic and electric forms.
"Original Masters" includes 22 of the
band's best cuts, culled from nine
albums. Most are traditional songs
arranged for modern audiences. That
the formula works says a lot for the
durability of the old ballads and the
flexibility of rock music. That Steeleye is
a strong enough band to use the same
formula for nine albums, and make it
work, says a lot for the group's talent.
album review
Maddy Prior's lead vocals are
ethereal or earthy by turns, sometimes
both in the same song. At her best she
projects slyness masked by innocence. A
really proper young maid wouldn't put
her voice to work on a grotesque ballad
like "Little Sir Hugh," the kind of song
Gahan Wilson would write if he were a
film of 1976, is still here. Sylvester
Stallone plays a nice-guy boxer who
gets a Big Break and makes it to the
top. Like "Star Wars," its popularity
reflects the public's desire for "up"
movies with good guys and happy
endings, and like Lucas' film, it gets
away with it without looking foolishly
optimistic. The Screening Room.
Otherwise, it might_ be a hot
summer but not for movies.
"A Bridge too Far" is a numbingly
dull war film which wastes an all-star
cast on a script by William Goldman
that should have been mercilessly
blue-pencilled. Director Richard
Attenborough portrays war as a
Sunday-school picnic until the Allies
start losing. War then, all of a sudden,
becomes hell. So does moviegoing.
Cinema I.
"The Other Side of Midnight" could
have been pleasant cotton candy for
rl
Arbgt
The Daily Collegian Friday, July 1, 1977-
Bob Johnson's lead guitar, though,
brings Steeleye into the 20th century. His
riffs, combined with typically catchy
arrangements, preserve the historical
roots of the music without compromising
the authentic rock sound.
Minor complaints: Steeleye's early
work was mainly acoustic. This
collection is slanted a bit too heavily
towards rock. My favorite, "Orfeo"
(from "Rocket Cottage") isn't on the
LP. No jigs, either.
Even so, "The Steeleye Span Story" is
two disks' worth of good folk-rock, and a
better introduction to the band than
you'd get by randomly selecting two or
three of their previous records. It's also
a fine introduction to an archaic but
appealing genre of popular music.
the brain if it were about 40 minutes
shorter and 80 per cent more
believable. As it is, Frank Yablans'
film about love and revenge leads one
to believe he set about deliberately to
insult the viewer's intelligence, and
bore him in the process. But no
director in his right mind would do
that. The Movies.
"The Exorcist II: The lleretic" is
John Boorman's inept sequel to the
1973 hit. The best thing about William
Friedkin's original was that, however
ugly it was, it forced even non
believers to temporarily accept the
existence of Satan. "The Heretic" is
so unconvincing that one must now
call into question the existence of the
devil, demons, witchcraft, ESP,
hypnotism, locusts, psychiatrists,
Richard Burton . . . Cinema H.
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musician instead of a cartoonist. Prior's
romanticism surfaces on songs such as
"Dark-Eyed Sailor."
Tim Hart, the male lead; is at his best
in "Allison Gross," "Seven Hundred
Elves," and especially "Fighting for
Strangers," in which he and Prior sing a
duet backed with light percussion and
little else. It comes as something of a
surprise to find an antiwar song cen
turies old.
—Tom Marcinko
Good at both locations:
111 Sowers St
400 W. College Ave.
offer valid July 1 & 2