•
from 5 , 0 clock,
rT
By PATTIE PLATZ
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
"On a Ledge Sitting Sideways," the
season's third 5 O'Clock production is,
according to' director Fred Mirbach, a
play about need.
~ eßasically, the story revolves around
Jerry, a ,strugg,ling young writer, and
%Molly, a kooky sometime-actress, who
!).-% meet on a window ledge many floors
, • above, the .busy,city streets below. Both
..‘ „hall planned' to jump and end it all, but
they eventually "begin to realize that
, ' , they don't need to jump; once they
, Oimalize that 'Hey, you're looking at me
and listening to me,' " Mirbach says,
they become more optimistic about
themselves and each other.
?On a Ledge," written by Peter
. , Michaelson, is a situation comedy,
, . although the audience will find itself
~A il reacting more to the craziness of the
, ' situation than to the characters them
. :.on the top, and bottom,
• . , ,
fly PATTIE PLATZ
Daily CollFgian Staff Writer
Tbe fourth and final 5 O'Clock
production of the season should be, if not
the most unusual, then certainly the
most controversial.
"Doo Doo," written by Paul Malluk, a
third year graduate student in theatre,
wrote the play about three years ago. "I
have always had a fascination with the
Wabsurdist movement in theatre," Malluk
said, "so I thought I'd give it a shot, and
tried to write it in that genre." But now,
after a few rewrites, Malluk isn't sure
what genre it belongs to.
Malluk has many things to say about
s is .
is ® a
, 0 11, ~ fli • 0 • ,
_I I . 1 a 11l lIP,
By. PATRICK J. KIGER
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
He had a fiercely frizzy blond beard and long
wavy locks that draped over the Hell's Angels
Beicloo tattoo poking out of the sleeve of his tight
,black T-shirt. A pair of cardboard three-D
glasses tangled on a thong around his neck like
some kind of bizzare pendulum as he explained
that Jerry Garcia was God with a guitar in his
hands, and Bob Weir was not far behind. And as
foi"the Grateful Dead's performance last night
at 'Rec Hall, it was, well, pretty much un
beßeveable.
"This show was just about the best one they've
done this year," he said. "And I should know.
) fr
e
Rt. 322 2 N. Atherton St.
*4O V
Banquet Fabilities Available 237-8634
00'
vp.
edge
to
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICE OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE PROGRAMS
• OFFICE OF HOUSING
AND FOOD SERVICE OPERATIONS
. .
SPECIAL NOTICE TO UNDERGRADUATES WITH
FALL TERM 1979 RESIDENCE HALL CONTRACTS
The VOLUNTARY CANCELLATION deadline has been extended to Friday, June 1,
1979. Undergraduates cancelling their contracts by written notice to the Assign
ment Office for Campus Residences, 101 Shields Building, University Park, PA
16802, will receive a full refund of their $45.00 Advance Payments.
•
Students considering off-campus housing for Fall Term 1979 are advised to make
their decision prior to the new deadline.
The estimated number of students scheduled to be assigned to temporary ac
commodations in Residence• Halls Fall Term 1979, will not permit CONTRACT
- EXCHANGES to be made prior to Winter Term 1979.
Therefore, students holding Fall Term contracts and wanting to avoid financial
responsibility for the 1979-80 academic year, should cancel their contracts now.
Full refunds of the $45.00 Advance Payments are not authorized beyond the
voluntary cancellation deadline (June 1, 1979).
Questions should be referred to the Assignment Office, 101 Shields Building, 865-
7501.
selves. Jerry and Molly are both very
likeable people, and despite their out
ward instabilities, "you're not worried
about them jumping," Mirbach says,
"It's not being played that way." There
are a lot of laughs with the physical
situation, yet there is no anxiety about
any actual fall.
The play is good for the actors to work
with, Mirbach said, because it "provides
an external danger point the ledge
as well as the actors' objective in the
scene." The actors' concentration is
split: they must work with both the
physical and the emotional.
Approached through a different kind
of style, Mirbach says, the direction was
made less difficult by keeping the play
"energized in a low-key fashion," with
the actors "taking time to find answers,
to find their needs." Many im
provisations and games were used as
exercises.
his work; it basically "shows a man
which society would consider the lowest
form of degenerate life." The play takes
a particular view of human existence,
Malluk says, and is important because it
shows "why this man is this way
because of environmental, cultural apd
social pressures, and all the double
standards that exist in the world."
"Doo Doo" explains how the main
character is a victim and/or product of
such things, and "about how we as
human beings are conditioned in certain
roles," Malluk says. His play shows that
people "don't strive to know each other,
rather than strive to play the games."
I've seen them all, like for the past five years or
something, in fact. I think this is my last tour,
though. It's getting too intense."
". . .a bizzarely powerful per
formance that left the Dead
heads in the first row still danc
ing in a spasmodic frenzy. . ."
And intense, if not a completely adequate word
for last night's sold-out, jammed-beyond
capacity gig by Garcia, Weir and Co., will simply
have to do until a few new adjectives are added
STEAtrHOUSE
Two plays about survival . . .
About the 5 O'Clock experience,
Mirbach says this is a "workshop
theatre" more than anything else. He
said these plays are of the type which
can be played on a bare floor, as opposed
to the full sets of "Li'l Abner" or "A
Midsummer Night's Dream."
However, Mirbach says, "that doesn't
mean that the actor and director don't,
work to achieve some satisfaction in th ey
total end result." The play has been
brought to the level of performance; the
actors mainly are "looking for un
derstanding of character, tempo,
timing, pace and believability."
"On a Ledge Sitting Sideways" stars
Eric Wolf (12th-management), Shelly
Feldman (6th-theatre) and Katie
Sikorski ( 4th-theatre). The play
premieres at 5:30 tonight at the Pavilion
Theatre, and tickets are free.
edge of life
"Doo Doo" is the type of play where
the viewer is left to make a judgement
on his own, Malluk says, and he leaves
judging both the main character and
himself.
However, the play is not a heayy
drama. Indeed, it is just the opposite. "If
the play's not funny the meaning is lost,"
Malluk says. "We as man have to be able
to laugh at ourselves." Above all, the
play is meant to be entertainment.
This is not a show for children, due to
the obscenity and harsh language of the
script. Malluk says, however, he hopes
"that the language will be seen as
poetry, because it is." The lines can be
to the English language. The Dead, quite
possibly the most enigmatic band in rock music,
gave a bizzarely powerful performance that left
him and the rest of the Dead heads in the first
row still dancing in a spasmodic frenzy long
after the house lights had finally gone up.
The Dead, who for their last few albums have
been heading in a progressively jazzier, more
commercial direction, surprisinglyopened with a
set of hard driving countryish blues-rock
"Mexicali Blues," "Momma Tried," "Scarlett
Begonias" and an energetic cover of an ancient
Rolling Stones hit, "It's All Over Now," giving
the distinct impression that the band is headed
includes baked potato or
french fries, toast
plus
....- ~. ....,...,., r'.1.%., ~,,
1
S.
SALAD BAR
369
Joe Seefeld, left, and Chris Hanzsek are featured in 5 O'Clock's premiere of "Dim, Doo," opening tonight in the Pavilion
following "On the Ledge."
taken and understood in many ways,
which is just what Malluk is striving for.
"The play is a risk," Malluk says, "but
it's a positive risk. We are doing it
because it is a risk, and because we feel
we have something to say."
Malluk says producing a 5 O'Clock
play is exciting for everyone involved; it
is an opportune experience for the ac-
Cavan
z ' 21=11
EBBE
• OVER THIRTY YEARS OF QUICK ,QUALITY SERVICE FOR THE
AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER.
•.• .
• GUARANTEED REPAIR SERVICE -' .• .. '• ' '. ' . .. ' ,
•IN HOUSE PHOTOFINISHING .: . ` ... ': , 1 • ' '
321 WEST BEAVER AVENUE imommimms
back toward the style that endeared them to the
older brothers and sisters of the college-age dead
fans in attendance. Perhaps .Garcia, • now
pushing fortyish and showing a more than a
trace of gray in his flowing beard and hair, is
trying to turn back the clock in search of the
vitality to make it through another decade.
Certainly, if his red-hot guitar work on "Stagger
Lee" the lone recent number performed by the
Dead in the initial set is any indication, he
should make it with no sweat.
After a brief intermission, the Dead did come
back to perform some of their newer,
progressive-styled material such as "Fire on the
CENTRE FILM LAB,INC.
YOUR CANON HEADQUARTERS
tors, in that they are bringing the
characters alive for the very first time.
"It's the birth of a new theatrical ex
perience," Malluk says.
Malluk says he would like to write
more plays, and he is anxious for
response from "Doo Doo" as he can
sharpen his skills and hone in on his
unique style.
"I'm excited about all the buzzing
PRESENTS
Match-needle metering with
electronic flexibility.
Conventional photography redefined
7 ca - no rl nClearly
a tins; Creative
Versatility keynotes this selection of fine Canon FD
lenses. With them, any creative challenge is within
your scope—and you know that you will meet it
with the technical excellence you demand. Canon
lenses are renowned throughout the photographic
community as some of the finest optics ever
produced. Once you've used them, you'll say
the same.
The Daily Collegian Wednesday, May 9,1979-
about it," Malluk says. "I want people to
talk about it."
No doubt they will. "Doo Doo"
premieres tonight and continues through
Friday at the Pavilion Theatre. It will
follow the production of "On a Ledge
Sitting Sideways," which begins at 5:30.
Tickets are available free at the
Playhouse box office, and at the door.
Mountain," "Samson and Delilah" a vocal
showcase for the youthful-looking Weir and
the magnificent "Terrapin Station." Also in
cluded was a medley of "Playin' in the Band"
and "China Doll" strung together by a 20-
minute-long abstract improvisational jam
between Garcia and keyboardist Brent Mydland,
a number that demonstrated the Dead's unique
ability to be simultaneously boring and cap
tivating. After "Good Lovin" the band exited,
but returned for an encore of the discoish
"Shakedown Street," during which Garcia
smiled for probably the only time of the evening.
After nearly four hours of performing, it was
probably getting too intense even for him.
: I:*.*: 0.1.4 ii't itre
• Match-needle CdS metering for
critical exposures
• Super compact and light weight
• Accepts Power Winder A rapid
film advance, Speedlite 155 A
automatic electronic flash and
Databack A data imprinting system
• Uses more than 40 unsurpassed
Canon FD and FL series lenses
• Extra large, bright viewfinder and
specially designed body for faster
focusing and easier handling