The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 1

THE PROVINCE, Friday, June 4, 1971 World chess match 1 Best for decade Fischer A 1 '(S Va 4f difficulties he met by playing in Vancouver. The 10 hour time difference was particularly difficult to adjust lo. Fischer complained of crowd noise here, where there were seldom more than 200 spectators at a game. In Moscow there would be at least 2,000 spectators at each round. The world title match will be a 24 game event and at least 12 will be played in Moscow.

U.S. Chess Federation vice-president Ed Edmundson said if Fischer reaches the final his organization will press for a venue outside the Soviet Union. Of the last 14 championships, nine have been held in Moscow. The Fischer-Taimanov match was the first world title elimination series played in North America. For litis reason the calibre of play in the Vancouver match comes as a double letdown.

As Aleksander Kotov, of the Soviet federation told Fischer; "The games will be in all the hooks for beginners." the world title will be blocked by Soviet grandmaster Viktor Kurchnoi. The 46 year old Taimanov said he will cuntinue his chess career despite his severe setback in Vancouver. "Anyone who knows chess will know the circumstances under which 1 played here." He usually plays two international tournaments a year and another two in the Soviet Union. That, however, is only half his professional life. He is also a concert pianist of international repute.

A graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory of Music, Taimanov became a chess grand mastet at 27. He was Soviet champion in 1956, but until this year had never been in the running for the world title. Although he will "have a bad memory of Vancouver forever," he will take good reports of the city home to Spassky who is to play in the Canadian open championship here in August. If Fischer meets Spassky in the final, he said the American will have to play in Moscow and experience some of the "The present system is a farce. Draws shouldn't be allowed1.

The player who wins the first game in this kind of match h.s a tremendous advantage. But this time it backfired on them." Fischer won tne opening round, but he said if Taimanov had won that game he could have played for draws. "If I become world champion I'm going to insist that draws he disregarded or that only clear victories count as points." Fischer, who became a grandmaster at the age of 15, said the world title would be worth to him at least $100,000 a year and he would retain the title for at least 10 years. Taimanov, in an interview, paid tribute to Fischer's ability but predicted the American would lose to Spassky. Of the five games Fischer and Spassky have played, he said, Spassky has won three and two were drawn.

He expects Fischer to defeat Bent barsen of Denmark, but said the road to By PAUL RAUtil'ST Bobby Fischer sat inconspicuously in the hulel kibby, waiting fur the official ceremonies to it art. He was early; everyone else was late. With Fischer it's usually the other way around. Mark Taimanov of the Soviet Union had conceded the sixth ami match-deciding game to the U.S. grandmaster earlier in the day, and the ceremonies were, the final act in this world chess championship quarter-final.

It was an easy victory, Fischer agreed, but he had not seriously thought it possible to win in six straight games. "If 1 get to meet Spassky (world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union) I'll take him easily, too," he said. "I feel I've been the best player for 1(1 years and i should have been world champion years ago." The Russians, he said, have deliberately set up roadblocks in the past to keep him nut of title competitions. "They're afraid of tne; I know it. i ArfV Tommy HOUGH YEAR I OR BLACK STUNTMEN Jobs as Hollywood blunt-men are scarce this year.

Television is downplaying violence and the studios are depressed. Ernest Robinson (above), president of the Itlack Stuntnien's Association, says even the busiest members probably haven't earned $2,500 since Jan. 1. When working they get $125 a day for their fights and fails. Promising actress star of play by Williams Student rock opera effective stylization By DON HUNTER VICTORIA-First niijht of Centennial Showcase (B.C.

Drama Festival). Three one-acts: A loser called bosers, a Tennessee Williams play that nearly made it and showed an actress from Campbell River with great potential and a piece of buffoonery that has to be acknowledged if only for the gall of Victoria Theatre Guild for presenting it. The Victoria did The Grandmother, a short melodrama by local writer Joan Mason Hurley. What they did to it was, I'm sure, in accord with the author's intent in writing it. It's a blatant put-on, with the sole intent of having and giving fun.

That it turned out to be entertaining, too, speaks well of the actors involved. The cast romped through it right to the non-ending. Susan Belford had nice style as Jennie Hie Innocent and Ron Way and Alan Wyalt were acceptably riissolule as the twin villains. Way remained contained even when the descending curtain hit his head. The Campbell River players gave us Williams' bong Slay Cut Short, a sleazy, depressive vignette of the rejection of an old woman.

The play can have a quietly savage impact when thoroughly explored. The Campbell River trio had moments when they achieved this and Anne Enns (Baby Doll) was outstanding in these moments; powerfully sluttish and handling the Southern drawl wilh ease. bosers, Part Two ot Brian Friel's buyers, provided excellent, material for the workshops that are running all week. The Yellow Point Drama Group from Nanaimo demolished a beautiful play. It's Irish, and never was the Irish lilt given a more devastating tongue whipping.

Director Audrey Scofield appears to have completely missed the author's intent. Friel's grim acknowledgement of people who are losers, was lost in a laniHe of burlesque. Harry Jepsun as Andy Tracey pantomimed to the audience to an embarrassing extent, saying in effect; "book, this is really funny." Adjudicator Gordon Peacock said lasers came the closest of the three plays to achieving its purpose. Apart from disagreeing with his assessment I believe he is being benevolent and, consequently, unfair to the players. on dreadful irrelevances like Hello Dolly and Annie Get Your Gun.

However, with Tommy's first performance on Wednesday, Churchill shattered my complacent disdain. It was one of the first times I have felt students really enjoying what they were doing and it was one of the first, times I have ever really enjoyed watching what they were doing. The themes and subtleties for this adaptation were picked over and selected by Marek Norman, a Vancouver City College student who conceived and masterminded the project, arranged the music and took the lead vocal part. The production was shouldered entirely by Norman and the Churchill students, with no aid from the faculty. It was an interesting, lively performance, not without flaws or technical difficulties.

One problem was that, for some reason, the performance was limited to abuut 40 minutes, which reduced its impact. Nonetheless, the shorthanded version was respectable. Tommy, functionally deaf, dumb and blind, goes through almost all the changes and abuses oritri-nally called for in the lyrics. On the whole, Tommy works well, a nice combination of choreography and instrumentation. There are no actors, as such.

The figures on stage mime the actions described by vocalists singing the Who's exuberant music, The result is an effective stylization. Slides flash on walls, freaky people dance and sing, Tommy suffers, is martyred and rejected, parents are By AM READ One of the delights of the rock opera Tommy is that it is open to so very many interpretations. Even though it has a pretty definite starting point for thematic material (Tommy, the hero, is repressed by guilt stricken parents), there is no way Tommy, the production, can be tied into a neat little conceptual knapsack and carted off into people's heads intact. I have even come across, in other productions, other versions of what actually happens to Tommy and his parental -societal oppression. There is no dialogue except in the songs, in true operatic tradition.

There are no stage directions other than can he elicited from the music. Sn what holes are left ate ready to be filled with an endless variety of themes and theatrics. The director can choose any number or combination of ideas and develop them. Even so, the audience is still free In decide for themselves what the whole thing is about. As I see and hear more of I am becoming convinced that The Who's Peter TownshentJ just sat down and wrote some brilliant music one day and let the subtleties of plot fall where they may.

So with all the possibilities 'inherent in the work, I was more than pleased to see that Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School was going lo take a crack at it. High school productions have almost invariably depressed and bored me. So much creative energy is ritually wasted Bass ihc oiilslandin" singer at VAG Iiiiicli-liour concert if till in. WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUU SCHOOLS? cruel cousin Kevin (John Moffat) takes time to play with Tommy (David Winfielrl) at Winston Churchill Secondary School. Vancouver nightscene Mediocre entertainment reigns supreme By LAWRENCE CLUDERAY Robert Schumann's wide literary interests and his intuitive understanding of poetry led him inevitably to set to music translations of Spanish, Scottish, English and Greek poems as well as those of his own country.

The most ambitious of his Spanish efforts is undoubtedly Ihe set of Spanische biebeslieder, Op. 138, but the earlier Spanische bied-erspicl, Op. 74, is also worth an occasional airing. It was this set of pieces consisting o( five duets, two quartets and three solos, plus three Bach chorales which comprised the program by soprano Edith Mcbellan, alto Anne James, tenor Mcl Erickson and bass Tom Graff at Wednesday's Vancouver Art Gallery lunch hour concert. I surmise that the three chorales were included in order to spin out the program.

Alas, they also served to emphasise the fact that, whatever the individual merits of the four singers, their combined efforts were poorly balanced, in blend, and sometimes tentative in attack, in addition, Harold Brown's tempo in the extended chorale from Bach's Church Cantata No. 147 (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) was so slow that Ihe music seemed in danger of coming lo a stop long before il actually did so. As for tne singing in the Schumann cycle: while Graff may be a little short on inches, his singing of Der Contrabandist (Smuggler's Song) stamped him as a young man head and shoulders above his colleagues in matters of voice, sense of characterization and general musical sensibility. By contrast, in their solos Mcbellan and Erickson each produced one or two desperate high notes and were generally less impressive than 1 had expected, their vocal limitations being revealed at moments when limitations inexorably spelled failure. As for the concerted numbers, they suffered from the same deficiencies as the Bach chorales.

Technicalities aside, however, my general impression was that, apart from Graff, Hie singers had not really got inside the music which needs more interpretative insight and polished advocacy if it is lo arrest and hold the attention. Mario evidently doesn't have the imagination. Neither dues he have a good arranger. On top of it all, Mario doesn't even look sincere. When he talks to the audience, we all know he is gelling paid for it, and that he's rehearsed it to death, it's all just tiresome.

To finish things off on a happy note, Ann Mm ti fee is back at lie Gastnwn Saloon this week. It is her final Vancouver engagement before she leaves for Winnipeg to start rehearsal for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet version of George Ilyga's Ecstasy of Rita Joe, for which she composed the score. She has some good new material written, is gelling better on her new 12-string guitar and generally holds court wilh grace and confidence. Jimmy Wehli lour cancel led Jimmy Webb's scheduled appearance at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 1H has been cancelled. Although Webb's fame as composer of such hits as Up, Up and Away, By The Time I Get to Phoenix, MacArthur Park, Wichita bine-man, and Didn't We, is phenomenal, apparently no-one wants lo see him because, while they are wailing for the audience lo gel their own momentum going, they're laying down a steady series of numbers by some of the most dynamic rock groups available Chicago, Cold Blood, Moody Blues, etc.

Perhaps they lose spontaneity by concentrating so hard on reproducing recorded sounds perfectly. But once they loosen up and forget to think about their postures, the energy grows admirably. They improve wilh the lateness of the hour, and eventually turn out to he one of the most consistently rianceabie and full-bodied groups Vancouver can claim. Oil Can Harry's Back Room has done it. again.

Mario and the Power Formula are there until June 9. About the only good thing one can say for Ihcm is that yes, you can dance lo their music. Passably. Not enthusiastically. Other than that, the perfect word to describe Mario and the boys is, indeed, formula.

Decked out in identical uniforms and two-stepping in unison, Mario and bis six attendant puppet, musicians are the epitome of formal lounge-dance acts, But why not, If one is going to use a formula, spice if up a little? Really do it, with style and spectacular showbiz flair. If it's going to be corny anyway, make it super-corny. At Sneaky Pete's in the Marc Building, Hudson is back until the end of the month. Hudson is one of those groups that makes certain no-one mistakes them for people. They are a Service, a Commodity.

They say almost nothing to the audience between numbers, they make sure their guitars are just loud enough but not too They are well behaved. They are sharp dressers, but not too flashy. Remember, no one is supposed to notice them, either way. This is ail really too bad, because given some freedom Hudson could become an inter- esling group. As it is, they just play dance music, four anonymous, virtuously faceless guys, four-part harmony, guitar, drums, bass, congas.

Nice original material. Nice copies of other people's material. Nice lo dance to. They seemed to keep the people happy. 1 guess they were, like everyone else, just doing their job.

Pharaoh's on Cordova has relinquished its hold on Toronto's Everyday People, and now offers the Thin Red bine, a local group, until June 12. The bine seem to he students of image rather than of music, and consequently don't really take the time or effort to generate initial excitement. They are contradictory in this sense SJL'JEADtS The BBC version of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, seen Wednesday via Ihe I'HC, was such a good representation of the real event that il is likely to produce a similar effect on public opinion. As the television ncwsreels of Ihe Chicago riots arrived in viewers' homes, By ISAM HEAD Mediocrity is the norm again in Vancouver clubs. With few exceptions, the performers just barely manage to do their job, and not much more than that.

Which isn't good enough. It would seem that one doesn't have lo be above average to entertain Vancouver. I think it's a matter of rising to the occasion, and we have demonstrated that we aren't discriminating enough to force anyone lo rise to anything. Unfortunate. At any rate, Hie beginning of the route is the Bayside Room, where the Bob Braman Show opened this week for a three-week engagement.

With any degree of exposure to Rayside-calibre acts, it becomes obvious that for the most part the predictable clutches of five or six or seven so-called entertainers are really (he ones who haven't made it yet or won't make it ever or are on their way down, banded together strength in numbers, It's a safe recipe for the performers, hut one that rarely works for the audience. In the case of the Boh Braman group there are six of them, a drummer, organist and guitarist, two girls who occasionally sing and mostly stand around with tambourines, not. looking particularly decorative, and Boh himself, who sings, plays trumpet and does imitations. One could conceivably do quite a lot with a line up like that, the girls could be sexy instead of doll-like, there could lie friendly, easy interaction on stage, there could be musical arrangements that take advantage of vocal harmony. But the group does none of it.

Instead, the tired numbers they do (would you believe Granada, Those Were Hie Days, Everybody's Talking, Ilaindrops) are bare of vocal involvements. Boh sings, each girl sings, almost exclusively by themselves. When they do work up mine harmony, it's a great relief. Braman imitates John Wayne and Dean Martin, and the redhead (the blond Is more demure) actually demonstrates dances that kind of gimmick hasn't been used for years. It goes on like that.

I suppose that when you get right down to it the entertainment at the Bayside Boom is completely Incidental. As long ai someone is on stage at the right time, it doesn't lecm to mailer what they are doing. brought to mind in the original Irial slill outstanding: what, lo do with a senili and blind umpire and a bunch of kids who won't play the game right. ft was exciting television, even in its unbroken ISO minute formal. Except for Hie closing speeches in which the convicted men were given an opportunity to speak, it contained an understated wit.

Ihal probably revealed loo much of the BBC's electronic nationality. Ilia final minutes bettered anything that Perry Mason and Spencer Tracy could produce, much less Nyree Dawn Purler-Viewers who want to see even more of the trial can go to their bookstore, where paperback versions of Ihe Irial offer even more entertainment. i all a matter of iulerprelalion, hut I thought some of the best pails of Ihe Irial were missing. What can a TV editor do when he's condensing five months into one evening? those who were sympaUictic to Hie peace movement cried police brutality, and 'those who weren't cried beat 'cm again harder. The trial itself produced an-oilier split; To one side, Timing must be rigl.il for disaster By ANDREAS S( IIIIObDl ll Disaster doesn't always spell doom in I he publishing industry, particularly if the disaster is limed right and happens to the right kind of victim, i.e.

Jack McClelland. There were a few worried poets and other writers around when McClelland Judge Hoffman demoiislraled Hie sorry stale of U.S. justice with every remark he made. It was self evident. To those who didn't sympathize wilh Ihc Seven, Ihe attempts hy dclcnce at loriicys to disrupt the Irial deserved a jail scnlence will) Hie keys thrown away.

What has all of this have lo do wilh a television documentary, featuring talented actors speaking the edited hul-not-ehanged words of the original performers? For one thing, such an unbiased approach to television rcorliiig is rarely seen. It is also rarely possible, thanks to court restrictions on television reporting, thank) lo lima limitations, and Uianks lo Hie fact that all men are not created will) equal skills of debate. All of the actors on the BBC program were pros, which helped to equalize things from the start. The result of which was another irresistible force meeting slill another Immovable object, with the questions couldn't really expert lo count on public attention In bring the loans out of the woodwork. So he set lo work doing about the only thing left to do attempt, the resurrection of his sodden slock.

bee shortly Ihereaflcr reported that Ihcy'd managed to restore, at least for reduced sale, enough hooks to bring the operation hack Into something resembling an even keel. Not thai Anansi hasn't been set back a number of year in the process, but, at least, for the time being, it looks like the immediate catastrophe has been averted. Poela who had awakened one morning to find (in some cases) the bulk of their published books literally gone down the drain, have been notified that their work will continue to be available to bookstores, albeit a iillle stained and shaggy here and there. But mosl Important is Hie fact that one of Canada's least expendable publishers of poetry Is slill afioal. based publishing firm that prints more lop-notch Canadian poetry than all the heavy-weights put together, didn't manage their disaster quite so well.

Not only is Dennis bee, Anunsi's head man, not as unsiiikable as McClelland (though he's developing a fairly waterproof skin in record time), but his liming was way off or would have been had he been able to schedule the fire that destroyed the offices of a firm sit u-aled above Anansi's warehouse, Anansi's premises didn't hum, but the tons of water firemen poured into the office above strained through I he floor and flooded the hooks stored there as slock, and by the lime bee and his employees managed to push their way in for an Inspection, many of lliem were thoroughly water logged. Then they discovered that llicir insurance policy wasn't sufficient lo cover Hie slock on hand, and will) most people's literary sympathies already used up hy McClelland'i recent dilemma, bee went through his motions of throwing in the towel, but of course they needn't have worried; a man like McClelland knows hia politicians heller than he knows his hooks. The news that a THE UNDERGROUND Film Festival now at Hie York Theatre is win 111 seeing, but I'd recommend earplugs. Visually, such films as AI Ruulis' Aacou are enough to 'keep one's mind tingling for days. Unfortunately, my ears are slill ringing too from a less Ihan-enjoyahle assault caused by an over-enthusiastic projectionist.

Promoter Thor Tndoruk bills his iwn-hour program (running Ihioiigh Saturday as Cerebral Ercclion Cinema, and he promised to turn down the volume next show. It's more cerebral than erotic, although there's a good sexual spoof in the comedy category tilled Color Me Shameless, by Toronto film-maker George hiu har. hefty, low-interest government loan is going to bail the McClelland it Slewart Publishing Company out came as no surprise. But then, as 1 said, the timing on litis occasion was right. House of Anansi, Ilia young Toronto-.