Page 10 --The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 6, 1989
REVIEWS
Cbntinued from page 9
Dylan's versions of "Don't Think
Twice, It's All Right," "Highway 61
Revisited" and "Like a Rolling
Stone" were only unique in that they
were so good. Dylan and Smith, the
showy guitarist from the Saturday
Night Live band, played off each
Other as if they had been jamming
together since Blonde on Blonde.
The stuff from Oh Mercy, his
latest album - including a sniping
version of "Man in the Long Black
Coat" and a Little Richard-style pi-
ano display of "Disease of Conceit"
- easily stood up as well as his
crowd-pleasing encore of "All Along
the Watchtower."
With the nostalgia craze for the
1960s, Dylan could have easily sold
his name and produced a hyped-up,
star-studded tour like The Who or the
Rolling Stones. Instead, his show
was much like Lou Reed's with both
former "prophets" choosing to move
past the hype and focus on their cur-
rent work rather than on their past
glory. Oh Mercy and the show
move past the hype and prove that
some '60s dinosaurs have more con-
structive things to do than prostitute
themselves.
-Steve Knopper
L ys is tra ta
captivating
Lysistrata, presented by The Ann
Arbor Civic Theatre, proved itself to
be a successful, entertaining, and
provocative adventure for all mem-
bers of the family over the age of
17. It's not that the play contains
elements of outrageous sex or vio-
lence, but that the earlier promise of
a brief history lesson that was on the
playbill fell through. It's doubtful
that anyone under a certain age can
appreciate the play to its full extent.
However, the Main Street crew, with
the direction of Anne Kolaczkowski
Magee, interpreted Aristophanes' lit-
erature well enough for the audience
to have a sense of the basic back-
ground needed to understand the sto-
ryline. And for a group of volun-
teers, the cast conducted an excep-
tionally professional performance.
Nevertheless, it was a voluntary
project, and there were several visi-
ble shortcomings in the production.
One that became apparent right away
was the way the auditorium was laid
out. The edge of the stage and the
rows of seats don't quite hug the
same curve. Very often, the actors
found themselves speaking to only
the very center of the audience, ne-
glecting the three columns or so of
seats on the far ends of the house.
There were some points of the play
where the actors addressed the audi-
ence directly, and they did it rather
well by taking advantage of the
small crowd. However, more oppor-
tunities were there, where the use of
the same interaction could have been
more effective than simply deliver-
ing the words to another actor on
stage. These opportunities were un-
fortunately overlooked, and thus
there existed an inconsistency in the
relationship between the stage and
the house.
The words that the actors deliv-
ered were mostly very loud, but at
times not too clear. This happened
especially when an actor got over-
zealous, or was acting over-zealous,
then fell into a habit of slurring out
the words loudly, so it would sound
something like, "Whaisidlischrada?!"
The cast also ad libbed very well. At
times these moments were the most
comedic in the play. Then again, at
other times, it was overdone. When
seven people were intensely mur-
muring something in the back-
ground, it drew attention away from
the two people speaking downstage,
and pulled the focus upstage, where
what was meant to be some kind of
subaction took place.
Aside from these minor errors,
though, the Main Street crew put
together a great effort for Lysistrata.
The energy level was kept high from
the beginning to the end, the detailed
improvisations showed attention and
skill, and the interpretation of the
script was surprisingly appropriate.
It's a recommended see for everyone,
and for you Great Books people out
there, it's a must!
Second
-Kenneth Chow
City
gives a taste
of A2
The national touring troupe of
Second City dazzled its Michigan
See REVIEWS, Page 11
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