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Summer Nebraskan
Tuesday, July 9, 1968
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TFwt's Left
bv bob "inn
I don't know where the term "New Left" came from
but like most generic terms especially those in the field
of political science, they are better left undiscovered. Today
there is a new thought on the left. It is an amalgamation
of idealism, participatory democracy and violent insurrec
tion. It differs from the Traditional or Old Left, the
democratic socialists and humanists, mainly in its
acceptance of violence as a viable political tool. The
ideology is the same but the styles differ. The new style
is reflected in the new symbols.
Che Guevara, Bonnie and Clyde, Malcolm X are the
now christ figures. They are the symbols of the new style
of life. The young activists as well as the young radicals,
a differentiation I'll explore later, are both willing to lay
down their lives socially, economically and sometimes
literally for the cause of a new society, a new humanity,
the American dream of democracy for all and the Judeo
Christian dream of universal brotherhood. Thus changes
in thought and action have occured on the left but the
term New Left is too limited to really portray the scope
of change.
What is generally termed the New Left, is really a
massive noncoalition of four groups: 1) radicals; 2) ac
tivists; 3) liberals: and 4) moderates.
The radical feels that violent revolution is the prere
quisite for the new humanity. They see reconcilitation
with the current American structure of society as a trap,
a way to tame the discontented masses in America without
any real change in the structures and hence in basic
relationships. In other words, reconciliation is only another
name for appeasement within the context of the existing
structures of society. Needed are new structures which
the radical feels can only be created by revolution, probably
violent. The radical rejects working within the system
as a viable way to opt for change. Insurrection becomes
the number one political activity because in his eyes violent
revolution is the catharsis step to true humanity and even
tual brotherhood. He doesn't ponder what will come after
the revolution because a revolution does not need goals.
His cosmology tells him- that the revolution in itself will
produce needed change automatically, naturally.
9
It's Not Broadway, But . . .
Difference
The significant difference between the radical and what
I call the activist is that the activis has not rejected
using the system to change the system. The activists
participates in the radical's insurrections at Columbia, Fort
Hood and Berkeley but always has a plan so to how
to use best the efforts in political pressure plot or
publicity campaign. The activists are the majority of the
New Left as I best understand the usage of the term.
The radicals must also be included because the activist
will use radical violence to further his more pragmatic
goals.
The liberals are also opting for social change but
do not want to risk anything. The radical and the activist
will give up their careers, upper middle class status, and
many other social and economic creature comforts to die
for the revolution. In the civil rights campaign many died
literally. The liberals support what the radicals and activists
are doing with contributions and subscriptions to some
of the many radical-activist journals and even in some
cases with participation in socially sanctioned marches
where no trouble is expected. They also participate in
the pleasures of Socratic debate and the writing of columns
like this one. They have the same ideology as the radical
activists including the accepting of violence as a viable
tool. Liberals are also deeply involved in the political
party system supporting McCarthy and Kennedy.
The Moderates are usually activists who haven't decided
to be activists. They have bumped up against the reality
of America in the twentieth century. A reality of rats,
poverty, violence, hatred, divisiveness and death. They
recognize the need for social change yet hate to leave
career plans askew while off fighting the revolution. The
reason I include them in a discussion of the New Left
is that often show up in minor-league insurrections
especially after some traumatic national tragedy like the
death of Martin Luther King or Bobby Kennedy. They
also, like the liberals, were forced to get into the fight
at Columbia when the police with tin-foil over their badges
started clubbing faculty and student dissidents. They knew
something was happening there that was wrong and decided
to get involved without the support of principles or long
range goals.
Misinterpretation
The reasoning behind this rather long polemic on
the composition of the so-called New Left is that many
people are misinterpreting the size, experience and ef
factiveness of new young leftists. The New Left is not
an organization, it is disorganization. The Students for
a Democratic Society claim only 12,000 members in 200
chapters and are far and way the largest organizational
expression on the Left. Most of the organization of the
New Left is in small but numerous ad hoc committees
on this or that, and a few strongly-titled but thinly-populated
groups like Allies of Black Liberation or Radicals for
a Revolutionary University of Nebraska.
On the other hand the typologies of the New Left
are having to account for more and more experienced
radicals and activists. Effectiveness is on the increase
too. A small but dedicated group like ABL or a single
SDS chapter has done much with disciplined practical
insurrections.
Again though not many, the New Leftists are noisy.
The Underground Press Association boasts a membership
of 60 offset tabloids most of which appear regularly each
month and are printed professionally. There are three
or four nationwide radical-activists journals. Ramparts,
Evergreen, Guardian, and New Left Notes (an SDS organ).
A few Old Left journals also carry New Left writers:
Dissent, The Minority of One, The New Republic.
This has been an effort to define the New Left, not
defend it or damn it. Nebraska is definitely within the
context of New Left thought. Carl George Davidson attended
the graduate school here and is perhaps currently the
most quoted spokesman for the SDS and New Left radicals
(remember the typology). Lincoln has an underground
paper, The Rag, currently very underground. Omaha boasts
two underground alternative papers, The Buffalo Chip and
The Asterik. Allies of Black Liberation in Lincoln plan
to open what looks to be a sophisticated and effective
Freedom School in the Fall. The Nebraska Draft Resistance
Union is still alive and will have a Chicago trained counselor
in September.
Next Week: What the Old Left Is Up To.
iiiAjn! i irr i wM 413, '
I..... . ,
'We Interrupt This Movie For
An Unpaid Political Message'
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Ant i-war demonstrators
need not picket "The Green
Berets" their feelings are
generally well-known and
would only add hostility.
BUT. . .
Every mother, father, wife
or sweetheart who has so
meone in Vietnam should
gather up sips and head for
the Varsity Theatre with in
dignation.
If this is supposed to be
THE movie which is to bring
America to its senses, which
would mould support in the
current war-effort to stop
Communist domination of the
world, well, it deserves to be
protested.
I left the movie after a
scene in which a restroom (at
some special forces training
camp stateside) is named
"Provost's Privy," honoring
one of the film's heroes killed
during the climactic battle
scene. Provost had noticed
upon arriving at Da Nang
that the air fields,
commissaries, etc., were
named in honor of war dead.
He was worried throughout
the movie that his name
would not sound right in front
of some type of building. On
his deathbed, nestled in the
arms of his leader John
Wayne, he whispers a final
request and dies with a smirk
on his face.
Wayne unveils the
nameplate and says "it really
sings," in familiar
johnwaynese, meaning o f
course, that "Provost's
Privy" is euphonious. It, like
the movie, is malodorous.
That little episode came 146
minutes after the indoctrina
tion period on "why we're
there." Aldo Ray and a black
Green Beret (there are all of
three black soldiers in the
company dramatized, a gross
misrepresentation in itself)
explain to scores of interested
Americans touring the
training camp just what a
Green Beret is. "I'm just a
little 'ol housewife" one
woman says while she jumps
to her feet, "so please tell
me what it's like."
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Well, it isn't easy for the
soldiers. There happens to be
a dovish newspaperman in
the foreground, who keeps
saying "there are of lot of
Americans who don't think we
should be there.'.' Mouldoon
(Ray) replies "you could fill
volumes of what isn't printed
in the newspapers" about this
war. So Beckworth t h e
journalist joins the group
heading for duty to see it like
it is. Predictably, he leaves
Vietnam to tell Americans
"what it's really like" even
though he may lose his posi
tion with the a n t i - w a r
newspaper for which h e
worked.
Well, the war Beckworth
faces is the standard model
that Hollywood has dished out
since the Japanese introduced
the kama-kazi. There is the
pilfering sergeant (straight
out of "The Great Escape")
which can manage to get
anything from any branch of
the service.
Then there is the cute little
waif who buries his dog dur
ing the height of the V.C.
seige.
And the commander who
gets killed the night before
leaving for home.
And the rough-and-tough
career man with a wit
straight out of Man's Adven
ture and a heart of gold.
But a new character has
been added for dramatic ef
fect: the Vietnamese soldier
tr'nm T I nnni tirVirt will 'rafiiiti I
ii uiii iiaaui rf uu n iu i vim w
home after every one of those
stinking V.C. are killed." .
Then there's "charlie"
he's the bad guy. There must
not have been enough orien
tals stockpiled in California
for the extras needed for the
battle scenes . . . charlie is
seldom seen with a face and
often he looks like a greased
up Caucasian. (Not unlike the
cowboy-and-Indian movies of
a decade ago.)
After charlie takes over the
camp and raises the V.C.
flag, two U.S. bomber pilots
radio in that they are in posi
tion to take care of the mat
ter. Wayne orders them in on
the target; "It'll only take a
minute," one of the pilots
says, with an impish grin on
his face. And there ensues one
of the more vicious blood
baths in the history of screen
violence.
The most disturbing part of
this sequence is the peals of
laughter that arose from the
you th-dominated audience
when the V.C. are shown
standing with their backs to
the camera, bullets riddling
through their bodies. O f
course, there had been many
horrible and disgusting at
tro cities of the V.C. But, in
the movie, we just see the
after-effects of their
bloodletting, not the splendor
of clothing giving way to lead,
bodies hanging on barbed
wire after being napalmed.
Just a healthy way for
Americans to leave the living
room, tired of "Garrison's
Guerillas," to enjoy a
harmless night of entertain
ment Larry Eckholt
By Kenneth Pellow
NU Department of English
For theatre-lovers, this la the most
exciting summer on the campus ever
University Theatre is presenting three full
scale dramatic productions, plus an opera.
Two of the three "plays of protest"
all contemporary opened their
repertory runs during the past week. The
two are Eh? by Henry Livings (originally
produced in London in 1964), and The
Hostage by Brendan Behan (1958).
Eh?, the lesser-known of the two,
opened the summer season here, under
the direction of William Morgan. In
several ways, this is a very Shavian play,
especially in the delineations of some of
the characters: rhe English clergyman,
for instance, and the scheming "boss"
of the bleach-and-dye factory in which
the play is set. But Livings employs much
more of a farcical touch than Shaw would
be apt to, though his range of satiric
subject-matter is just as great. Given
plenty of ironic treatment in this play
(as Fielding's Mrs. Slipslop says "treated
with ironing") are: Western industrialism,
Mods and moderns, establishment
religion, welfare-minded governments,
unwelfare-minded governments, industrial
. psychology, and transcendental
meditators. Mainly, however, the jibes are
aimed at all things and persons that con
tribute to the "impersonality" of mid-twentieth-century
life.
For the most part, though, Eh? Is
just frantic fun. It Is not in the least
didactic; indeed, it is frequently
"pointless" that is, has no particular
axe to grind. About all it "proves" is
a point that perhaps doesn't really need
proving: that humor is its own raison
d'etre.
The outstanding features of Morgan's
production are timing and tempo;
paradoxically, these constitute both
strength and weakness. The line-to-line
timing and the matching of lines to block
ing and action are excellent. However,
in attempting to maintain the rapid-fire
comic tempo, the actors sometimes run
away from their dialects words that
would, at best, be difficult to understand
become almost impossible to catch. Yet,
this play can survive even without some
of its lines, so perhaps slowing the attack
for the sake of enunciation would not be
a worthwhile alteration. In any case, the
problems with dialect constitutethe pro
duction's only major shortcoming.
One of the enjoyments of attending
Eh? is in seeing the return to Howell
Theatre of Frank Vybiral, whose comic
abilities are outstanding. As Aly, the
Pakistani coal-shoveller, Vybiral's "Oh,
joy!" line, late in the show, is a near
show-stopper. Equally entertaining, in a
much larger role, is Bill Lacey, as Price,
the factory owner. Dana Mills, who had
already shown considerable ability in a
serious role (his Gloucester in King Lear
was one of this year's best University
Theatre performances), demonstrates a
flair for comedy also, as the Reverend
Mort, a latter-day proponent of "muscular
Christianity" (among other things).
The show's two female roles are also
well taken care of. Roni Meyer is excellent
as the kooky young Betty (a well
developed, sweet-young-thing type), the
sweetheart and later the wife of
the main character, Valentine Brose.
Roni's pantomiming, in the scene in which
she and Brose engage in a session of
"sex-think," is especially fine. In addition,
she maintains the character of the wide
eyed, unworldly bumpkin very consistently
Although Cheryl Hansen is perhaps
one of the best young actresses to show
up on this campus in several years, com
edy, it seems,is not her forte. As Mrs.
Murray, the factory's resident social
scientist, Cheryl is in perfect command
of her character in the calm, controlled
scenes; she is perfectly successful in sug
gesting the elemtn of strong, latent sex
uality of Mrs. Murray. Cheryl's outstan
ding single talent is her voice, which
would do credit to a professional
performer of much greater age; out in
hpr "fiusterea scenes, wueu uc nu-
modulated voice is not usable, she does
not move comfortably enough, or con
fidenlty enough, to offset the loss her
greatest strength. There is every indica
tion that she will lam more about stage
presence, however. Certlanly she is in the
kind of company that aids learning.
Despite the strength of tre supporting
roles, this show belongs to the lead, Bill
Szymanskl. Bill, who seems to get better
with each new role, "owns" the stage
whenever he is on ,not only because of
his garish Mod get-up, but because his
physical mannerisms stances,
movements, body positions command
attention eveen before he has said
anything. Nor do his comic talents end
there: he has a complete mastery of gag
delivery. His sense of burlesque is
magnificent! And this play in all its
"non-preachy" satiric fun is an ex
cellent vehicle for actors with such
sensitivenesss for the comic.
Since Eh? makes practically no
"point" at all, it's difficult to imagine)
a play with less "meaning". Yet, this
is what Brendan Behan has left us, in
The Hostage. If it's hard to take Livings
seriously (woodjoobleev the pun was
unintentional?), it Is almost impossible,
at times, not to take Behan seriously.
After all, people die in Behan's plays.
And If the "causes" for which they are
willing to be killed are riduiculous ones,
the threat of deatr is none the less im
minent. But wait! Just as we begin to
sense the seriousness of this play, who
is that we see leering at us from the
wings? That's right, it's "laughing boy"
Behan (were he still alive and were this
New York, he would probably literally
be up there), reminding us that this is,
after all, a play. It is not serious; it
is not meaningful. Come to think upon
it, says the playwrigrt, neither is life!
Consequently, even the seriousness of
death (which, of course, might make life
"meaningful") is undermined by "Bren
dan the leering leprechaun."
As Eh? is primarily Szymanski's
show, The Hostage appears to belong to
Denis Calandra in the title roleThe show
is considerably stronger in rhe second and
third acts, partly because the first is given
over to exposition (a complete anti-traditionalist
Behan ain't!), partly because the
latter two have brighter songs and livelier
dances, but mostly because Denny "takes
charge" and sparks the entire company.
He manages to make the young English
Private, Leslie Williams, a warm, loveable
buffoon who is in spite of his buffoonery
the most sane character in the play.
Calandra gets great support, mainly
from his wife. (Question: if she steals
a scene from him, can he sue for non-support?)
Mrs. C, the former Jean
MacLaren, is marvelously zany 'though
perhaps a bit too drunk in the drunken
scene) as Mrs. Gilchrist, the "sociable
worker." Both Szymanski and Lacey
repeat the quality of their comic roles
in Eh?, Lacey as a dedicated officer of
the I.R.A, and Szymanski as a dedicated
F-A-I-R-Y. Andy Backer and David Clark
draw upon experience to give dependably
strong performances; Backer's rendition
of "The Captains and the Kings" (sung
by the ancient I.RA. zealot who momen
tarily forgets that he's not really
English?) fully lives up to the judgment
made of it by another character: "Well,
that's brought the show to a standstill."
Barbara Bowman is a properly naive
Teresa, in addition to singing well and
dancing excellently. And one moe show
stopper is supplied by Steve Baines, an
I.R.A. volunteer assigned to guard the
hostage. His "Spanish dance" sequence
with the equally staid-looking Mrs.
Gilchrist is an evening's entertainment in
itself! In fact, perhaps the quality of this
production is best indicated by the casting
of sucr capable vets as Gaines and Clint
Jakeman in minor roles.
There are the usual technical pro
blems in The Hostage which Howell
Theatre gives any large-cast show with
songs and dances. The acoustical
engineering marvel of the nineteenth cen
tury swallows up some of the songs before
they get anywhere near the audience.
BBS
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