8 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 5, 1994 Playfest presents By KAREN LEE Once again, the future of Ameri- can theater will be on display at the fourth annual Playfest. Every day this week the students of OyamO and Kate Mendeloff'sPlaywriting Toward Pro- duction class will be performing staged readings of original plays in the Arena Theatre. OyamO, Mendeloff and about 40 students have spent the term develop- ing six plays. Initially, the pieces were read aloud in class and commented upon. About halfway through the term, directors were assigned to each play and auditions held. Everyone in the class has been involved in some way with the shows and, according to Mendeloff, "It's been a real group process, because everyone is familiar with everyone else's work." The playwrights greatly a ate that community input beca Sunil Iyengar put it, "The p comes very insular without ac teracting with a script in progr fact, one of his favorite part process of mounting his scrip Specialist," was delegating r his actors and hearing the pla their mouths. "Hearing them interact wit play gave me an idea of w should go and what changes be made," he said. So now, a the revisions, "The Specialis tale about a homeless madma on creating the perfect con dream; Iyengar called his cha predicament the "challenge taining a vision in a transitory' While the other plays are n budding playwights ppreci- as mystical as "The Specialist" is, and on Saturday, Elise Bryant's "River ause, as they are by no means less creative. Dreams," which is based on the true lay be- "Writer's Block," written by Gordon story of twoescaped slaves who settled tors in- Smith, is a farce about a writer with a in Detroit. ess." In cheating wife, two terrorist actors Definitely some wacky and wild s in the holding him hostage, a killer case of stuff. And the plays might even it, "The writer's block, and a religious door- change, because script revisions could oles to to-door salesperson chained to his be made right up until the day of the ay from couch. Jeffry Herman's "Eudaemonic performance. But who knows-these Systems," which is being performed students could be the new David thin the tonight, is "the unexpurgated, unau- Mamets, Marsha Normans, Ntozake where it thorized autobiography of Slothman, Shanges or Christopher Durangs. should defender of Truth, Justice, Hygiene They might even be the resurrection after all and the American Weight." of Broadway. st" is a The rest of the week will have The annual PLAYFEST will be held n intent readings of Adam Eisenstein's "Life from April 4 to April 9 in the Arena nsistent Is a Party," a coming of age comedy, Theatre in the Frieze Building, at S racter's on Wednesday; on Thursday, "Ex- p.m. each night. There will be a of sus- pecting," an examination by Sarah post-performance discussion after world." McCarthy of women's status as sexual every rectding. Admission to all ot quite beings; "The Specialist" on Friday; shows is free. IF I WERE A BELL 0 0 Crash Test Dummies God Shuffled His Feet Arista Hmm. It seems that Crash Test Dummies have sustained a few too many whacks on the head. Their new album, "God Shuffled His Feet," is utterly bereft of the humor and charm that made their debut, which included the single "Superman," so witty. In- deed, this album is smug, dull and thoroughly unappealing. The Dummies (as those in the know like to call them) have put out an album full of songs titled "How Does a Duck Know?" and "In the Days of the Caveman." Obviously, this is not a deeply serious album, but the Dummies' wackiness is pointless: the lyrics "When I'm sampling from your bosom / Sometimes I suffer from distractions like /Why does God cause things like tornadoes and train wrecks?" Huh?!? But perhaps the most pointless song on the album is the "hit" "Mmm Mmm MmmMmm"; it's about three kids who have bad stuff happen to them, so "mmm mmm mmm mmm." Huh?!? Musically, however, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is the best out of a mediocre lot. The band members are musically competent, but any musical talent or melody that the band has is immediately quashed by the tuneless bass rumble of head Dummy (is that a compliment?) Brad Roberts' voice. The album was produced by ex-Talking Head Gerry Harrison, who at least gives "God Shuffled His Feet" a certain sheen to its sound, but even he cannot salvage this worthless ex- ercise in "college music." It's hard to tell who are the bigger "dummies" - those who made the album or those who buy it. - Heather Phares READ BEST OFAN ARBOR: APRIL 14 II The Washington Post called him a "distinctive, extraordinarily talentea performer." Erstwhile child prodigy Joshua Bell takes up the fiddle for a recital tonight at 8 p.m. at Rackham Auditorium. With pianist Jonathan Feldman, Bell will perform such favorites as Sarasate's "Carmen Fantasy" and Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata; works by Handel, Tchaikovsky and Corigliano make up the rest of the program. Tickets range from $20 to $29; $11 student rush tickets are available at the Union Ticket Office and the North Campus Commons. Call the University Musical Society at 7642538. ---"_ ,reflably e _foicl LTd' o person alitY, loves toy travel . , SIRENS Continued from page 5 any aspect of female nudity within the Lindsay estate and casually flirt- ing with Giddy (Portia de Rossi), the only model with any innocence. But the question everyone is bound to ask is how Elle MacPherson fares on screen. Her character's personal- ity is intentionally blunt but appropri- ately accompanies her physically domineering appearance; she is not pushed beyond the limits of her act- ing ability and therefore does nothing to take away from the modeling as- pect of her performance. Clearly the roles of the models rely on sensual presence, precise cos- tuming and the picturesque setting, but they all manage to do justice to theO acting business and Duigan's bold portrayal of female sensuality. 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