again, calling him a coward, “the quarrelnis now fair,” for there is legitimatencause for a duel. Serving as a counterfoilnto such honor in high places is ansubplot involving two plebeian characters,na hulking Cornish wrestler and hisnservant, who, in imitation of their superiors,nstrive to learn a type of “roaring”n(fanciful insulting) in order to pick theirnown quarrels in style.nEngland’s leading comic writer, AlannAyckbourn, lent his usual light satiricntouch to Bedroom Farce which, after ansuccessful run at the National Theater,nmoved over to a West End playhouse.nAyckbourn sets the action in three separatenbedrooms side by side on stage,nwith action fading in and out from onenbedroom to the other. Three interlockingnmarriages fall victim to a maladroitnfourth couple who keep popping in andnout of the bedrooms, trying to patch upntheir own impossible marriage and, innthe process, bringing ludicrous discomfortnto the three sympathetic couples.nCharacters are one-dimensional, thenwelter of action provokes uncomplicatednlaughter, the pace is rapid—it’s anfarce. The unifying element is protagonistnTrevor, a teddy bear of a mannwith a gift for messing up his own andnhis friends’ lives. Yet he remains supremelynconfident that he will be ablento fix everything up if only he can getntogether with his latest victim andn”communicate” with him or her. Althoughnhe never really succeeds inn”communicating,” he does manage tonsend the British audience home in anlively mood. Which is what a farce isnall about, at least in a theater. DnThe American ProsceniumnRock Musicnin CincinnatinThe Who, a rock group, did not stopnplaying as eleven bodies lay in front ofnthe Cincinnati concert hall where theynwere performing. If those victims hadnbeen casualties of even a nearby trafficnaccident, a sense of tragedy and respectnwould have demanded silence and a dimmingnof the glowing light of festivity.nIt would have—in another time andnanother culture. In the culture spawnednby The Who and their liberal admirers,nsuch gestures of humanness and civilnsensibility are superfluous. Time magazinenhas rewarded The Who with a covernstory in which they are extolled as husbands,nfathers, and multimillionaires.nThose who were trampled to death bynThe Who’s fans are of lesser importancento Time. Concerning the next day’s concertnin Buffalo, one of The Who said,naccording to Time: “If we don’t playntomorrow, we’ll never play again.”nJudging by the tone of apology and glor­n40inChronicles of Culturenification which suffused Time’s paeannfor The Who, this would have been anthreat to Western civilization.nLike most of the liberal media, Timenblames the tragedy on concert promoters,nlack of police supervision, the greednof the rock operators who wanted to packnas many people as possible into Cincinnati’snRiverfront Coliseum. Wenblame it on The Who’s music—violent,ncynical, destructive, overtly contemptuousnof any moral and social norm. Thisnkind of music creates a cultural climatenin which cruelty, idiocy, and inhumanitynflourish, and people turn into mindlessnbeasts under the pretense of emotionalnelation and gratification. “The excessnthey want, group and fans together, is anrelease, an explosive culmination ofnenergy . . .” Time praises The Who andntheir “art.” Its writers and editors seemnunable to make any cognitive connectionnbetween the idealization of “release” andneleven dead bodies. Time’s delight andnsubsequent promulgation of the “excess”nand “energy” of The Who exonerates thennngroup from any guilt by association. Thisnmakes Time an accomplice in the entirensociocultural process which promotesnpsychic obtuseness in the face of tragicndeath, this society’s abused civilizationalnstandards, and its recklessly exploitednyouth.nThe fact that, after what happened,nonly one city has canceled The Who’snappearance is a civic calamity whichnproves that American municipalities andntheir mayors are the helpless pawns ofncynical rock promoters who would stepnover any pile of youthful corpses to getnto their Rolls Royces and Malibu beachnhouses. Some of the mayors expressednfears that cancellation could lead tonriots. Such moral atrophy, or cowardice,nmust sooner or later affect the very fabricnof a lawful society. The fact thatnneither the Department of Educationnnor the Baptist White House has anythingnto say about it is another appendixnto the dissolution of moral commitmentnon the part of those who are supposed tonlead this country.nBut sooner or later it must dawn onnthis society that the rock subculture isna dangerous, bloodsucking parasite. Itsnpractitioners reap material rewards outnof any proportion to economic sanity;nthey turn the market system into an ignoblenparody. Its egomaniacal, illiteratenheroes, subhuman by any criteria knownnto us, wallow in riches which cancel anynnotion of ethics. Rock managers andnhustlers violate any measure of societalnrationality and rectitude.nEmotionality of and fascination withnpopular music are nothing new. GrandnOpera used to cause political mass demonstrationsnin 19th-century Europe.nJazz and swing moved huge crowds tonrapture. The crooners of the 40’s madenteen-age mobs swoon. Early rock generatednstormy turbulence. But people begannto be killed only when rock musicndegenerated into a drugged throbbingnand a total denial of civilized bonds duringnthe infamous 60’s, when allegedlynhuman amoebas in all the Fillmores andnWoodstocks began to pulsate with thenhelp of hi-fi technology, while their glor-n