SPECL1LISTS IN
CUSTOM GLASS PRODUCTS:
the Mideast conflict became the
empowering force behind the play,
which is set in New York City."
As Shanley worked on character
development, he thought of the general
character of each group being explored.
He then came up with sets of character-
istics that could apply to individuals.
Loren Bass of Ann Arbor plays
Brutus, and Shelly Gaza of Dearborn
takes the role of Wanda. Also in the
cast, directed by Gillian Eaton of
Plymouth, are Randall Godwin of
Milford and Phil Powers of South Lyon.
"This is one of the most unusual
pieces I've ever worked on," says Bass,
a Jew portraying a Palestinian. "The
character I present is very complicat-
ed, and the audience can enjoy the
play as a comedy while getting some
deeper ideas."
Bass, who studied theater at the
University of Michigan before finding
work in New York and Los Angeles,
returned to the area last year and has
appeared with the Detroit Repertory
Theater and the Performance Network
in Ann Arbor. While pleased to get
strong theater parts here, the actor at
the same time participated in a national
auto commercial.
Gaza, who recently completed her
master's degree at Wayne State
University and has worked in Chicago
and Denver theaters, also likes the
strong character she finds in Wanda.
"My role is that of a modem young
woman facing -iues we can all relate to,"
says the actress, a non-Jew portraying a
Jew and learning about Judaism and
Islam to give her background knowledge.
"I love that Wanda represents something
working with my husband, Harold
Orbach, who was too busy to appear
with JET before he retired as cantor
from Temple Israel. I'll be playing
Yenta, a non-singing part, as he gets to
perform wonderful songs written for
Tevye."
Mean Girls, written by Maddee
Sommers, illustrates the often-hurtful
ways in which girls treat one another
outside the classroom. Designed for
youngsters in grades four-nine, it will
be ready for staging next spring.
"We always interview educators
before we commission a new play,"
Orbach explains. "We found that the
issue of girls ostracizing other girls is
getting a lot of attention and certainly
can be very painful psychologically.
`All our plays for young people are
done so they can be discussed with
students and adults."
— Suzanne Chessler
• Eurostyle Frameless Shower Enclosures
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deeper and also relevant."
Shanley, who will be introduced to
the audience attending the opening-
night performance, has been a guest lec-
turer at the University of Michigan. He
hopes that some of Michigan's large
Arab population will come to see the
play.
"I think one of the big sources of
frustration in the Mideast Arab com-
munity is that there is an enormous cul-
tural history, but there is no major cul-
tural output going on there currently,"
Shanley says. "The people are living in
service to the past, and they know it."
Dirty Story, written just after the play-
wright collaborated on last December's
HBO film Live from Baghdad, is part of
a new direction in Shanley's career.
Until that time, his work had been
more personal, with plays like Danny
and the Deep Blue Sea, Women of
Manhattan and Italian American
Reconciliation. An exception was Cellini,
a play about a 16th-century Italian
sculptor and goldsmith.
"Writing is my primary method of
being an active member of our society,
and what I choose to write about is my
action in society," says Shanley, who
considers himself a spiritual person but
finds the idea of dogma antithetical.
"When I started writing plays [in col-
lege], they were immediately produced.
I've been fortunate that has continued
unabated. I only really started to make
money when I wrote screenplays."
Shanley thinks of writing comedy as
serious business, necessary to an
expression of combined emotions that
are part of the full range of human
response. He feels that he always learns
while he's writing.
"If I'm on a true journey of discovery
while I'm writing, the audience senses
that and will go with me," he says.
"Writing is like a mountain you look
at, approach, go up and down and then
look back at. The approach and after-
math are as important as the writing
itself." ❑
JET'S production of Dirty Story
runs Oct. 22-Nov. 23 at the West
Bloomfield JCC. Previews rim
Oct. 22-Oct. 26. Performances are
7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and
Thursdays; 8 p.m. Saturdays; and
2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. There
also will be performances 12:30
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, and 2
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12. $20-
$32, with senior, student and
group discounts available. (248)
788-2900.
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