Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 16, 1986
Troupe tackles issues
By Deborah Applebaum
D URING the past year, the
Resident Hall Repertory Theatre
troupe has offered the University
students an alternative to conven-
tional theatre. The group was formed
last September by Scott Weisman, a
Resident Director at Markley, who
saw the need to educate the average
student about social issues ranging
from sexism to racism. The 18-
member group has accomplished this
goal by performing their plays at
University dormitories. The troupe
has already performed two plays this
year, both of which have dealt with
Social issues relevant to the Univer-
sity students.
Their first play, entitled Masks,
which was performed last October,
addressed the issue of the many
sexual roles in our society. Their
second endeavor, entitled Welcome to
Conditioning discussed the problem of
racism, which has proved to be an
important moral dilemma for both the
U.S. and S. Africa. Both productions
were written by the troupe members
and proved to be quite successful am-
among the students, attracting up to
100 people per show.
The group's most recent play, The
Relationship Show, will be performed
in room 126, East Quad, this Wed-
nesday at 10:00 p.m. The play will
contrast real life relationships with
the typical cardboard relationships
promoted by the media. Scott
Weisman and his fellow thespians
hope that "The show encourages
people to develop a self-concept in-
stead of a dependance on others."
They hope to teach the audience
that they must not judge their
relationships' according to media
standards. The media, in particular
television, is unrealistic in the way it
deals with relationships. Often a con-
flict which would have destroyed a
real-life relationship is solved in the
show's half-hour time slot. The
Resident Hall Repertory Theatre
hopes to combat this problem tonight
in their production. The admission is
free but the lessons learned from the
players could prove priceless.
What would Fre
By Greg Ferland
THE MOVIE poster for the new
film, The Ladies Club states,
"Men who attack women have two big
problems, The Ladies Club is about to
remove both of them." Well, this film
has more than two problems...a lot
more. One of these problems is quite
major, mainly the plot, one of the
most ludicrous and inane plots in a
long while.
The film begins with the first of two
graphic and brutal rape scenes. The
victim is policewoman Joan Taylor.
When her three attackers come to
trial, they are found not guilty
because the jury is convinced Joan led
them to her home, wanting to have
sex.
When this story hits the papers,
4oan gets over one hundred letters
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from women saying the same thing
happened to them; they were raped
and their attackers found not guilty.
All these letters say "something must
be done." In response, Joan and her
doctor, who's daughter was raped and
killed, form the seven member
"ladies club."
The role of this club is to lure career
rapists to the members, slip them a
drugged drink, carry them to the doc-
tor's house where she castrates them,
then return them to a bowling alley or
some other location. Real probable,
right?
It is astounding this film is loaded
with so many heartless and tactless
people. When Joan is recovering in
the hospital, her boyfriend says
something to the effect of, "I don't
care that you got raped, just that they
beat you up." Joan too makes her own
faux pas. When she learns her doc-
tor's daughter was murdered she
says, "Oh I am so sorry. Tell me what
happened." You've got class, Joan.
If the tactless characters and dumb
dialogue aren't enough to make you
WhataoP,
By Garg Staffer
I T'S SLAG time here at the Big U,
and the Gargoyle is doing its share
by releasing its most vicious issue
ever. It's called the Burn This Issue
(includes free match) and if I were
you I wouldn't buy it because it sucks.
It's not in the least bit funny.
It's not worth the paper it's printed
on, and to be quite truthful, it smells
in a bad way.
ud say?
nauseous, there are two disturbing
rape scenes, a castration operation,
and an especially pleasant scene
where the doctor slices the neck of the
unconscious body of the child-
molester who killed her daughter.
It is difficult to tell in which direc-
tion this film wants to go. At first I
thought it was a feminist movie gone
mad, but it then portrays
policewomen talking only of where
they will go for lunch, the sexy new
police officer down the hall and the
like. The women do one idiotic thing
after another. They go alone into cars
with rapists and spray mace at
already unconscious rapists to name
just a few.
This film has only two merits: the
eerie music by Lalo Schifrin (Dirty
Harry, Sudden Impact) and the fact
that the movie is under an hour and a
half long. The writers thoughtfully left
the end of the movie primed for a
sequel, but judging from the opening
night audience of eight people, a
sequel won't be necessary.
.R. man!
It's so awful, we've printed less
issues than we have inour illustrious
seventy-five year history. In fact, we
were so desperate for material, we
accepted submissions from Univer-
sity President Hal Shapiro. Hal was
so overcome by the issue (another in-
dication of the worthlessness of the
issue) he submitted enough material
to become the editor in chief.
We at the Garg are so certain of the
issues's cruddiness that we didn't even
trust the yellow dog Daily journalists
to review it, because we knew that
they'd be so repulsed that they'd
throw up and proceed to rake us over
the coals.
The issue's so bad that we can't find
one thing in it that's good enough to
give you a sampling of. The center-
fold pin up is repulsive, the lists of
crappy things in Ann Arbor are infan-
tile, and the cut out, build your own
"suck-o-meter" is just plain stupid.
The color separation on page 39 is
messed up, and we sent pages 8 & 9 to
the printer in the reverse order.
So whatever you do, make sure you
don't buy the Garg for $1.00 on the
Diag this week even if it does come
with a match.
And for God's sake, don't take a
copy from us if we offer to give it to
you for free.
Abandoned in the Everglades, the "Ha
Michael Carmine, John Cameron Mitc
Dirty Doze
By Kurt Serbus'
' T 0 YOU have the balls. . . to
cut it in Miami?"
That's what Vietnam vet Joe Tiger
(Stephen Lang) asks a disparate
group of juvenile delinquents to prove
in the slick, improbable, and com-
pletely hollow motion picture Band of
the Hand, a Diriy Dozen-meets-
Rambo-meets-Miami Vice snorefest
directed by Paul Michael "Starsky"
Glaser.
Dig on this plot: five up-and-coming
young thugs are rounded up and
dropped into the Everglades under
the auspices of Tiger as part of a biz-
zare rehabilitation project - if they
can forge a reluctant kinship and sur-
vive in "the Glades", they'll learn
self-esteem and how to put aside petty
differences for the common good or
something deep like that.
Tiger has bigger things in mind,
however. He's a man with a dream -
as we learn through several T. J.
Hooker-ish speeches - a dream to
Reco rdl
Clannad - Macalla
(RCA).
Already one of the few important
Irish bands with a major label con-
tract, Clannad is going for the big
time with this release. With their bet-
ter known countryman Bono (from
U2) contributing guest vocals, this
album has already gotten more atten-
tion than any of their others.
While the band's characteristic
sound is a moody, atmospheric blend
of flutes, synthesizers, and low-key
stringed instruments, it breaks out
occasionally with more energetic of-
ferings.
"Closer to Your Heart" and "The
Wild Cry" are probably the most in-
teresting cuts. Setting .Maire Ni
Bhraonain's (Marie Brennan) soaring
vocals against the backdrop of her
brothers' and uncles' quietly distur-
bing instrumental blend does produce
a wild cry, and they recall the most ef-
fective aspects of U2's The Unforget-
table Fire.
"In a Lifetime," featuring Bono in a
cle
and
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nd" is forced to work as a team in order to survive. From left to right
:hell, Danielle Quinn and Leon Robinson.
e e e'
,
n meets Miami Vice
an up the mean streets of Miami talking about intense character-
d make them safe for decent, up- development or thought-provoking'
.nding Haitian squatters. To this themes here, - I doubt that anyone's
d he plans to employ the Band in his going to walk into this flick expecting.
r against cocaine czar Nester Scorcese. However, some good ac-
ames Remar), a man so totally tion, a little suspense, and maybe a
dass that he pins a flunky's hand to slight sense of menace probably isn't
table with his hunting knife just too much to ask from a movie like
cause the guy was scoping out his this, right? Wrong.
man. Sure, the Band can survive There are only two major action
Everglades, but do they have the sequences in Band of the Hand, and
lls to cut it in ... Miami? they are both unoriginal and ant,,
really wanted to like this movie, climatic. The rest of the film is,
ear to God. The opening sequence packed with dull, shmaltzy, buddy-
great, a high-powered montage of buddy scenes as the members of the
various Band members getting Band learn to respect themselves and
bbed while Bob Dylan and the each other, which is an awful lot ofd:
artbreakers jam on the soun- time to waste on an awful lot of
ack. But after the excitement of characters whom we're not made to
e now-familiar Michael Mann care an awfullot about.
uals wears off, we're left with a Cast-wise, the big disappointment
im that is pathetically dull in a big is Remar, who played such a
y. frightening genuine psycho killer in 48
Glaser is concerned that his pastel Hours. Here, he's reduced to a third-
nsets and way-cool camera pans rate impersonation of WilliamDeFoe
k good that he forgets there are from To Live and Die in L.A. The rest
her aspects to a film that might in- of the actors just stumble around and
est the audience. And I'm not even flash a lot of pectoral.
et with Maire, doesn't work quite as The Rolling Stones -
11. Bono needs a wilder setting for Dirt Work
energy to come out. Just as most iy
The Unforgettable Fire saw him (Rolling Stones Records)
rain work, shcomparisonds like The Stones have burst through the
s holding toomuch back.esnlske gloom 'n' doom of their last record,
'heldrestomutheamcalsheUndercover. Dirty Work features
the estof he lbumrecllstheaggressive, nasty, ballsy, Rolling;
nd's most recent release, Legend, Stonesish songs, re-establishing they
soundtrack to a British television band as a group of ne'er do wells that
'ies on Robin Hood. Once Maire's the moral mothers of America
Gals are mixed down, the entire feel shouldn't like.
the music changes. What has been Songs like"Fight, "One Hit (to the
the brink of exhilerating becomes Body)," "Dirty Work," and "Had it
tle. It's difficult to make the tran- With You," impress one with their
ion as a listener, but it's worth overwhelming propriety. This is what'
ying attention to each style. the Stones are supposed to do. I
;Ianaais erainy nt b desntmaterha~icisnlonei
lannd iscertil not for dentmtrthtMcisolng'
erybody. The extra attention Bono singing the songs - his gruff, throaty
s brought the band should bring in shout works well enough.
ough listeners to support future But as good as things get, there is a
eases, but never anything more. nagging cleanness to Dirty Work thai
worth checking out the band, keeps the album from working as welt
ause there really isn't anything as it might have. I respect the Stones
ite like it. desire to join the rest of us in 1986, but-
-Joseph Kraus the improvements in recording
technology do not serve this band. The
Stones sound terrific in living mono,'
snapping with force through a cheapt
radio, and this album is produced as if
the music was classical. It's just -as'
clean as can be, and co-producers.
Steve Lillywhite's most obvious "ad-
dition" to the Stones' sound is
godawful computerized back-up
vocals which damn near kill a song:
m o r like "One Hit to the Body."
gBeyond the vintage Stonesmees
on this record, there are a couple of
white-boy stabs at reggae, and a real
n c e gem of a Dylan rip-off by Keef entitle
"Sleep Tonight." "Sleep" is so damn~
good that one hopes that if Jagger is*
( too whatever-he-is to tour this fall!,
" that the rest of the gang hits the roa.
without him.,
The single, a cover of '60s chestnut
nation-wide, multi- "The Harlem Shuffle," isn't really
apany. representative of the album, and,
doesn't stand up to the better of th
ng or heart disease, new Jagger-Richards tunes. These
an acute respiratory guys will never be too old to rock.
conclusive: passive -John Logie
young and old, rich
's something wrong
such a drastic effect HUNAN GARDEN
vhen smokers' sides-
IHINFSF RESTAIIRANT
INTERESTED IN MUSIC PRODUCTION?
Position of Eclipse Coordinator Open for Fall 1986
Job entails:
J Booking Requirements:
" Promotion * Interest in jazz
* Production * Experience recommended
* Facilitating Group Meetings " Must be a student
INQUIRIES 763-0046
Great Experience for the Music Industry!
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In reply .. .
Is passive smoking
than a minor nuisa
or real annoyance
That's a broad and vague statement being made in a
million dollar campaign by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Com
For those who are fortunate not to have a chronic lu
who don't suffer from allergies, or who may not havea
illness that may be true. However, medical evidence is
smoking is injurious to a large number of individuals -
and poor, and from any ethnic group.
The majority of Americans are nonsmokers. There
with the system when those in the minority can have
on the majority. . . and that's what so often happens w
. , a ,-. - - - ---