TV NOTHING could have TV NOTHING could have demonstrated more vividly the enormously greater impact of sight and sound than of sound alone than the final phases of the World Cup match between Brazil and Hungary. When the vision broke down, the commentator continued in his clear and brilliant vein. But the viewer felt completely frustrated, especially when he heard of the unprecedented scenes when the defeated Brazilians started a series of free tights with the triumphant Hungarians. The commentator did his best to console us with the reflection that he was glad so awful a sight was hidden from our eyes. But he only whetted our appetites the more.
Meanwhile I was thinking ruefully that the relatively well behaved Hungarians came from a Communist country-one player sent off was an M.P.-while the disgraceful Brazilians were Catholics, one of them having made the Sign of the Cross on entering the field. Perhaps it was well. after all, that vision broke down. A Chekov play is always something special, but to my way of thinking the "Three Sisters" sue ceeded too often in suggesting a farce about Russian life rather than the complexity of human emotions as they reveal themselves even on the more banal of social occasions.
Wondering why this was so, I asked myself whether it could be due to the directness of the impact of TV screen on audience. Most social conversations in real life are only made tolerable because we are wondering what we are going to say next, and in a theatre distance and the occasion seem to create a veil between us and the characters. When we get it too direct, we are apt to laugh at the wrong moment. The new parlour game, "Music, Music, Music," went off to an amusing start owing to three members of the panel, but one wonders whether it has enough stuffing and variety to endure. The number of variations on ihe theme seem limited.
1 see that the third instalment of "The Liberators" (July 11 and 15) takes us to Korea, and the play revolves around the personal struggle of a priest. lain MacCormick may give us something to think about, as he writes intelligently.
M. B.