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THE TRIALS OF BROTHER JERO and THE STRONG BREED. Wole Soyinka, the foremost black African playwright, is being detained in a Nigerian jail, but his two one-acters have traveled well to Manhattan. Brother Jero, played with finesse by Harold Scott, is a delightful spoof of the self-declared prophets who hold ceremonies for their "customers" on the beach. The Strong Breed is more of a myth-play, delving into the realm of tribal taboos with the tale of a stranger who becomes a village's sacrificial scapegoat.
IN CIRCLES. Nothing happens in this 1920 play by Gertrude Stein, but it happens wonderfully well. Bound together by the free-ranging, eclectic music of Al Carmines, guru of the Judson Poet's Theater, In Circles is a word salad in mid-toss.
CINEMA
HOW I WON THE WAR. Richard Lester juxtaposes slapstick with hard slaps at the brutality of battle in his surrealistic film about a platoon (Michael Crawford, Jack MacGowran, John Lennon) of World War II tommies hell-bent on building an officers' cricket field behind enemy lines.
CHAPPAQUA. Conrad Rooks gives his own 82-minute phantasmagoric apologia pro sua dolce vita in which the ex-junkie-alcoholic takes himself into and then out of the world of addiction and related vice.
COOL HAND LUKE. This tough film about a cocky chain-gang prisoner (Paul Newman) who keeps his cool in the face of brutal guards makes excruciating viewing.
MORE THAN A MIRACLE. A flying monk, a gaggle of witches, 3,000 hexed eggs, seven princesses and a dishwashing contest stand between a peasant girl (Sophia Loren) and her prince (Omar Sharif), but only temporarily for this is a fairy tale, and a fanciful delight at that.
THE COMEDIANS. The title belies the inexorably arid and sere setting in which an excellent cast of villains and victims (Richard Burton, Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Ford) is touched by a vagrant grace.
CAMELOT. Joshua Logan's re-creation of the never-never land inhabited by King Arthur (Richard Harris), Queen Guinevere (Vanessa Redgrave) and Lancelot (Franco Nero) is about as enchanting as a Hollywood back lot, despite the regal talents and rich voice of the leading lady.
BOOKS
Best Reading
Children's books become more numerous each year, and each year they attract more first-rate authors and illustrators to the market. Some Christmas recommendations for children aged three to six:
FREDERICK by Leo Lionni (Pantheon; $3.50). A twist on the standard story of wise little animals storing away food for the winter ahead. Frederick, a field mouse, sits through the summer, collecting sun rays, colors and words while his friends gather grain. In the middle of winter, when his friends' food is exhausted, Frederick's warm colors and bright words make them forget their hunger. "Frederick," they acknowledge, "you are a poet."
HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! by Maurice Sendak (Harper & Row; $4.95). The leading American children's writer has turned out another delightful story this one about Jennie, a discontented terrier who leaves the lap of luxury to become an actress with the World Mother Goose Theater.