ARTS
Saturday, October 27, 1984
The Michigan Daily
Page 5
Greek tragedy shines at Trueblood
By Jennifer Callahan
Jean Anouih's Antigone, the Univer-
sity Players Showcase Productions'
latest play, is absolutely flawless.
Modernized by Jean Anouih from
Sophocles' ancient tragedy, this play is
a. work of genius. The settings and
costumes are perfect, the directing of
Kathy Devecka is brilliant, the acting is
engrossing, and, of course, the story it-
self is fascinating.
Profound themes of confused
allegiances cloud this introspective
play. Years before this play took place,
there was an awful civil war between
two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles.
After the civil war, the kingdomwas in
chaos, and it was up to the new king,
King Creon, to bring the kingdom into
order again. therefore, nothing could
come in the way of order-not even the
family. To make things more orderly,
Polynices (who was also a nephew of
Creon), was blamed for this was and
war refused burial after death.
- As the play opens. King Creon's
niece, Antigoner, felt that this was
wrong and decided to bury him-which
was punishable by death. King Creon
had to take the impossible position of
killing his niece to keep order in his
kingdom. Creon tried to give Antigone a
way out of her fate if she would forget
her strong feeling about burial, but she
felt that this belief was too important.
She firmly honored her conviction that,
"What a person can do, a person ought
to do."
Life was not that important to her
because she believed people were not
allowed to question their world as they
should. This belief produced conflict for
King Creon, however, because he didn't
want to kill her. She was his niece, and,
also, his son, Haemon, was in love with
Antigone. Haemon felt that if Creon
was king he should have been able to do
whatever he wanted, but King Creon
believed, "I am master under the law,
not above the law." King Creon stood
by this belief and had Antigone killed,
but this caused the suicides of his son
and wife, Eurydice. King Creon kept his
strong belief of the importance of the
state, but he paid the consequences
dearly.
With such a heavy plot line as An-
tigone, the sets and costumes could
have very easily been overdone, giving
an overwhelming show to the viewer.
Luckily, set designer Douglas J. Miller
and costume designer Annette R.
Schlaud had enough sense to keep sets
and costumes very simple. The effect of
the play is conveyed perfectluy without
diverting costumes and sets to further
clarify.
Part of the reason the play is so effec-
tive is that every action or inter-
pretation of a line is precisely ap-
propriate. This can be contributed
mostly to the direction of Kathy
Devecka, a doctoral candidate in direc-
ting and, theatre criticism at the
University. In the past, she has directed
"Home Free," "The Great Nebula in
Orion," "Village Wooing," and "How
Does Your Garden Grow." From these
experiences, she must have gained
much insight into directing because the
play seemed as though it was really
taking place.
The directing, however, can be all to
no avail if the acing is lousy. Happily,
these actors and actresses are very
well casted, and they form a har-
monious union with the directing. Even
with no words, the actors/actresses are
able to convey their emotions.
Eurydice, played by Gayle Cohen, was
the silent wife (of King Creon) who con-
stantly knitted sweaters for the poor.
Even though she never spoke a word,
Gayle showed intense feelings of sad-
ness through her face. Another brilliant
portrayal is that of Haemon (Atanis
Ilitch). When he is with Antigone, he
seems as though he is truly in love with
her. He basically seems like a typical
fiance. During the play, Antigone tells
him she cannot marry him, and he
shows that he is hurt, though he holds it
in. For her part, Pauline Gagnon, who
plays Antigone, shows a wide range of
feelings. She is able to show Antigone's
girlish, happy side and then portray
feelings of depression or fear of death.
She is certainly well cast for this
master role. What finishes off the play,
however, is-the comedic relief of the
first guard (Stephen Smith). The first
guard is the man who had to tell King
Creon that Polynices' body had been
buried. It is hilarious when he tried to
beat around the bush and make him-
self seem faultless. He is more than just
a funny man, however. Near the end of
the play, he has to sit with Antigone
before she is to die. He tries to be the
uncaring guard, but it is obvious that he
feels guilt and sadness. It is hard to be
the comedian, but it is even harder to
be the serious man as well. In truth, the
entire cast of Antigone is wonderful,
and it is very hard to talk only about
these five.
It is rare to watch a "perfect" play,
but Antigone is more than perfect. The
costuming and sets are just right, the
directing is tremendous, and the ac-
ting was superb. "Antigone" is genius.
Ismene (Kara Miller) tries to comfort Antigone (Pauline Gagnon) in the
University Players' production of "Antigone" at the Trueblood Theater.
Game Theory, del Fu
By Dennis Harvey
It's a familiarly stupid thing, past
and present, to write off certain bands
as "Californian," as if their residence
in the golden far-left (on the map, not
necessarily in other respects) state im-
plied some kind of given re: mental
soft-headedness. Well, f. that. Between
the separate music scenes of San Fran-
cisco and L.A., California music
currently rules, and the calculation
and/or spaciness that west coast bands
often get slagged with is no part of its
wonderfulness.
Crucial among the happening things
west is the psyche-pop explosion
(which has been building eastward as
well), of which Game Theory - playing
tomorrow night at the Blind Pig - is
fast becoming a leading part. Still short
of the commercial success that the
dB's, Let's Active and other coolpop
practitioners have experienced, Game
Theory is as smart as the best of 'em,
and has hook-ability to lead the whole
gosh-darn pack.
Collegiate veterans of Davis,.Califor-
nia, Game Theory emerged from the
bones of another local outfit, Alter-
native Learning, to release a first
album Blaze of Glory of tentatively but
frequently ecstatic ("Bad Year at
U.C.L.A." "Tin Scarecrow") pop grap-
plings that came economy-packaged in
a white trash can liner and economy-
pressed in an edition of less than one
thousand. An EP last year, Pointed Ac-
counts of People You Know, achieved a
slightly higher visibility, and this
year's Distortion is one of the best
records of '84-proof not only of Game
Theory's promise but of the genius (if
any more proof was needed of 3 O'Clock
singer/mastermind Michael Querico,
who produced the amazing thing.
Distortion is as good as pop gets, from
its anthemic hardpop opener "Shark
Pretty" to the retro-'60s-whimsy-
gorgeous "9 Lives to Rigel Five"
to . . . goo-goo, da-da. Further com-
mentary would only degenerate into in-
coherent, thankful blubbering. Game
Theory is nearly guaranteed to go a lot
further, since their upcoming Real
Nighttime LP has been produced by
none other than retropop king Mitch
(Let's Active, R.E.M., etc.) Easter. See
you at the Pig.
Another highly promising new group
is the del Fuegos, a bunch of boy dirt
rockers who write (unlike Game
Theory, whose lyrics are extremely
shove-par-clever for their genre) about
absolutely nothing but teen angst and
girl troubles. There's somethiung to be
said for such purity, and there's a lot to
egos hit A 2
be said for the del Fuego's debut album
on Slash, The Longest Dgy. Excellent,
clearly produced rootsy rock-roll with a
certain '50s feel (but no conscious
revivalism), this is appealling raw
vinyl fun.
The band is led by guitar-playing
brothers Dan and Warren Zanes; the
former sings lead in a near-country
twang that, when coupled with bassist
Tim Lloyd's harmonies, sounds like a
gritter cousin of the Everly Bros.
sound. Veterans of the Boston music
scene, the Fuegos apparently tore 'em
up at Joe's Star Lounge two months
ago, and hopefully they'll do it again
Monday. As of this writing, local faves
Map of the World, who've just put out
the excellent single "Monkey
Paw''/''Disconnection,'' were
scheduled to open. Call Joe's for further
details.
Davis, California band Game Theory will bring their mixture of psychedelics and new pop to the
Blind Pig tomorrow night.
CFG to play at
East Quad bash
I
The
hwiekigw
Vaie
For as long as anyone can remember,
the East Quad Halloween party has
been one of the highlights of University
student's Halloween celebration. The
party has consistently drawn large
crowds, sporting some of Ann Arbor's
most creative costumes. As one LSA
senios explained, "if I'm going to go to
the trouble of getting a good costumes
together and dressing up for
Halloween, East Quad's party is one of
the places I have to stop at. Its one of
the places to go."
This year's party promises to be no
exception. The festivities begin tonight
at 8 p.m. with a spook house running un-
til 9:30. Dancing begins around 9 p.m.
and runs until 1 a.m. The music will be
provided by East Quad favorites, the
Civilian Fun Group, playing their own
brand of highly original dance music,
D.J. and WCBN luminary Eric
Pascareli, spinning the best in hip hop
and funk, and local funk and pop band
MVP (formerly Astralite). Other ac-
tivities will include a costume contest
with $150.00 in cash prizes and a mid-
night breakfast.
Tickets are $1.50 in advance and $2.00
at the door. Advance tickets can be
purchased in front of East Quad's south
cafeteria today during both lunch
(10:30-1:30) and dinner (4:00-6:30).
S
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-IEIA COUPON
0 30 THIS ENTIR E AD GOOD FOR TWO $3.00 TICKETS
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MIDNITE
PAUL McCARTNEY'S
"ADVENTUROUS ENOUGH FOR ANY BOND FAN!"_US Magazine
AMERICAN DREAMER
JOBETH WILLIAMS
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