10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 21, 1994 Acting and humor make 'Zevi' enjoyable By DAVID M. GRAHAM Slapstick philosophy? "Sabbatai Zevi" has it, all courtesy of a manic- depressive comedian/messiah. This new play by Brook Ziporyn depicts the life of the 17th-century pseudo mes- siah, fromhis forcedrevelation ofmes- sianic status to his apostasy and even- RC Auditorium October 19, 1994 Zevi offers a difficult challenge for any actor because he has two distinct per- sonalities: a bombastic messiah and a confused, depressed creature who no longer can remember why he used to be a messiah. Herman plays a very well- rounded Zevi, including an amazing fast-speaking messiah. However, the incessant whining of the non-messi- anic half of Zevi is grinding and diffi- cult to listen to all night long. Herman is appropriately dressed for the part in an old red bed-robe with a beard and a large afro. This getup provides the per- fect image for Sabbatai Zevi: the fresh- from-the-mental-institution look. Playing second and third to Sabbatai Zevi are Nathan of Gaza (Gabriel Regentin) and Jakob Frank (Dan Messinger). Nathan is Zevi's egotisti- cal prophet and the backbone behind the mass Sabbataian movement. Through smooth talking in every situ- ation, Nathan coerces many people into believing that Sabbatai Zevi is themes- siah, including Sabbatai Zevi himself. Jakob Frank acts as a sort of narra- tor, since he was not born for a century after Sabbatai Zevi's lifetime. In his role as the narrator, Jakob speaks di- rectly to the audience and interacts with the other characters to keep the show moving. Both Regentin and Messinger do well in their roles as Nathan and Jakob. These two, along with Herman, create aforceful male trio that is fascinating to watch. All of the action takes place on a set colored and lit black and white: pure white lights shine on a black backdrop over a black stage set with white stone steps. This harmonizes with the dialec- tics illuminated throughout the play: good vs. evil, contradiction vs. sense, and the split personality of Zevi. These dialectics seem to be the pri- mary philosophical concern of play- wright Ziporyn. Whether he is able -. or even tries-to provide a solution to these questions can only be answered by the individuals of the audience. Ziporyn, however, often becomes caught up in tangents which cause the specific philosophical arguments present in the play to suffer. Philosophy and religion are only a part of "Sabbatai Zevi." The play's also has comical moments which are mostly bizarre or slapstick in style. Perhaps the most brilliant and certainly the most funny scene of the play arises when we meet the revered prostitute and soon-to-be-messiah's-wife, Sarah (Carrie Keranen). Though hidden be- hind a screen that shows only naked ankles and feet, Sarah and Nathan en- gage in polite conversation and a hilari- ous series of sexual acts that must be seen in person to appreciate. Keranen, when she finds clothing and takes her place as messiah's wife, adds immea- surably to the play. Perhaps the best feature of"Sabbatai Zevi" is the vocalization skills exhib- ited by the cast. Different voices and inflections augment the acting and make certain scenes (such as those where the ensemble gossips about the messiah) work extremely well. Kudos to not only to the cast for a good show, but also to their director, Rob Sulewski. SABBATAI EVI runs tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. at the RCAuditorium in East Quad. Tickets are $5 ($3 students), and are available at the door. 0 tual death. "Sabbatai Zevi" provides a wonderful opportunity to show off a versatile and talented cast, explore philosophical ideas and share a few funny moments. Many of these moments are cour- tesy of Jeffry Herman, who plays an energetic Sabbatai Zevi. He certainly should sleep well after all the exercise he gets on and off the stage (like when he climbs overseveral rows of chairs in order to harass the audience). Sabbatai "Sabbatai Zevi" is just another slapstick comedy about philosophy. Gen-X authors find inspiration in b eer By KIRK MILLER Cowan found inspiration in Jon beer. "It was July of '92," the 29-year- old writer explained over the phone. "We (co-author Rob Nelson and Jon) were going to go to grad school. One day we were sitting around having a brew, trying to decide whatto do. Ev- eryone wanted to do something ... but no one was." At this point the two friends de- cided to ditch higher education and form their own political organization, Lead or Leave, a move that seemed to lack any coherent thought. Two years, 25,000 members, appearances on MTV and a cover of Time Magazine later, Cowan and Nelson have become sur- pisingly visible and popular with both tle mainstream media and college stu- dents. Spurred on by their success, they have just released their own political agenda in the form of the new trade paperback "Revolution X," which nakes the startling claim as the "Sur- vival Guide For Our Generation." Cowan recently left the Lead or Leave headquarters to on a small promotional topr to stir up interest in the upcoming elections and defend his book title. ""We have to cut through the Gen-, eration X labels and political apathy," he claimed. "Our generations will be facing serious problems." Among the several the book points out are the enormous national debt, the doubtful fiure of Social Security and the lack of attention politicans pay to students. It's nqt exactly the stuff usually considered worthy of political riots and inspira- tional movies, but Cowan thinks the book will have an effect. "Our generation could be the most important voting block," he said. "We can break the myth that young people can't change politics." He adds that most young people today are economi- cally conservative and socially moder- ate, two ideas he stresses in the book. It's heavy on economic reform and social equality, presenting ideas as "postpartisan," or lacking the political baggage that has forced Congress into gridlock. However, for him the key is just to be heard, not to follow one person's opinion. "The book is our personal agenda," he admitted, noting that it is not supposed to represent the views of Lead or Leave. The most important idea is involvement. "The book is for those who don't vote or participate," he stressed. "We can knock down a wall on our society. But if you sit on the sidelines, every- thing gets decided by somebody else." Along with the new book Cowan and Lead or Leave are trying to start a grassroots campaign to register stu- dents to vote when they register for classes. Their efforts have been lauded by Senator Bill Bradley (one of Cowan's political idols) and by MTV News. Despite the generational stereo- typing, thelast one didn'tdistub Cowan at all; in fact, he found it very inspira- tional. "Hey, I think it's cool Tabita Soren has a voice in our generation," he laughed. JON COWAN was supposed to be at Borders tonight. He cancelled. It's a slacker thing, you wouldn't under- stand. Authors Jon Cowan' and Rob Nelson: Beavis and Butt-head for intellectuals How to fit into By KIRK MILLER What if we reduced the entire po- litical system down to an MTV spe- cial? The self-proclaimed "Survival Guide For Our Generation" at first looks like one big Tabitha Soren ghost- written handbook. Rock the vote! The music revolution starts here! Kurt will Penguin, paperback rise and lead the children! The first chapter is titled "Unplugged;" does this give you a hint of what is to come? OK, it's not that bad. Actually, as a primer for the politically uninformed "Revolution X" is quite handy. The statistical data on social security, gov- ernment spending and anti-poverty policy are easier to understand than any textbook on the subject, without oversimplifying the processes. The book is divided into seven chap- ters, interspersed with small factoids like debt statistics and quotes from various twentysomethings. Some of it is justcliched generation postering. "A generation that reads 'Details' and 'Spin,' watches 'Melrose Place,' 'Seinfeld,' and 'The Simpsons,' and waits in line for the StairMaster after work is probably not going to be taking to the streets with guns or Molotov 'Revolution X' cocktails anytime soon," the authors claim, perhaps forgetting the L.A. riots and assuming that we are all white and middle-class. What's worse are the comments from our generation thrown in for no apparent reason; all we get are random first names and ages of people who apparently represent our entire genera- tion. "AIDS ... is starting to affect the mainstay of the population: the adoles- cents, heterosexuals, and increasingly teenagers, " claims "Rick," who as a 29-year-old actor is the perfect person to dissect a life-threatening disease. It might have been nice to show what the average twentysomething thinks, but the authors destroy their original intent of defending our generation by making us into whiny brats. Despite all of the stereotyping and simplification of the political process, the book works entirely through the earnestness of the authors. It really does have some great information on how to get involved, the impact of voting and the first accurate and simple explanation of the US budget defecit. Statistics such as "less than 12 percent of total federal benefits go to those at near or at the poverty line" are not bogged down in scholastic rhetoric, but allowed to speak for themselves. Cowan and Nelson mightstraddle a fine line between being seriously con- trived and achieving Gump-like ear- nestness, but fortunately the general "we can make a difference" theme holds up over the lame attempts to be hip. RECORDS Continued from page 9 pop music's greatest mysteries. Of course, subtle gimmicks are not the only things thatthe WeddingPresent execute brilliantly. Tracks like "Click Click" and "Hot Pants" show off the Wedding Present's usual talent forcom- ing up with the perfect guitar riff to base a song around. However, "Watusi" is not without a few flaws. Near the end of the album, the acoustic strum-along "Big Rat"falls more than a little flat, and "Catwoman" would be almost completely lost if not for David Gedge's campy crooning. These are minor problems, how- ever, and nearly every other track on "Watusi" is a pure winner. No matter how much the Wedding Present change their sound and style around, they al- ways seem to hang on to their bizarre outlook on pop music that keeps their material consistently satisfying. -- Andy Dolan Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Let Love In MuteElektra Nick Cave has never been much of one for restraint or for doing things halfway. From his days with the thrash- happy, country-goth outfit the Birth- day Party to his present incarnation as a crooning solo artist backed by the Bad Seeds, Cave has revelled in the glory of true, over-the-top insanity. His latestalbum, "Let Love In," opens with the moody "Do You Love Me?" in which Cave relates how he found and, inevitably, lost his "lady of the Various Sorrows." From there, Cave tackles the subject of love from different angles, backed always by a perfect mix of organs and guitars. Gone are the elabo- rate string arrangements of "The Good Son" and "Henry's Dream." He sings the exquisite "Nobody's Baby Now" as if Sinatra was listening in, growls through the nightmarish "Jangling Jack" as if his life depended on it and begs for forgiveness in the rough and wonderful "Thirsty Dog." When he finally pulls out all ofthe stops for "Lay Me Low," it becomes clear why Cave is the ultimate showman for today: his tales of the down-and-out come from inside of him. He may not be Jangling Jack but when the dark tale forces its way from his soul, he might as well be. That's conviction and Cave has plenty of it. His catalogue is by no means short on brilliant recordings and "Let Love In" is easily one of his best. - Dirk Schulze Scots Pirates Scots Pirates Schoolkids Records What a disappointment. From Scott Morgan and Scott Asheton, two musi- cians who have evidently seen better days, comes Scots Pirates - a boring, bluesy rock mess that, frankly, I can't really explain. I mean Scott Morgan was in the Rationals - a great '60's garage rock band - and Scott Asheton was in the Stooges for Christ's sake. Can't they do better than a bad bar-band that gets better the drunker you get? I guess not. Schoolkids Records has something great going - a label for the veterans who have paid their dues, both local and national acts. But if the veterans sound like this, why bother? We aren't looking for the next cutting edge band of the moment like the Offspring or other such flatulence, just some good rock 'n' roll from musicians that have been jamming in four decades, and should know what soul is by now. We don't want kickdrums or sing- a-longchoruses, blueprintblues orkey- board breaks -just some soulful rawk. In some cases, the Scots Pirates have just that. "Sugarcane" is a prime ex- ample - the riff is simple and direct, and the song is tight and rumbling. Overall, however the energy on this recording is lacking. - Matt Carlson 54.40 Smilin' Buddha Cabaret Columbia The title "Smilin' BuddhaCabaret" should be warning enough that listen- ing to thelatest54.40CD will beequiva- lent to spending an hour searching des- perately for your inner child. "Deschooling grind breeds unrest / adult children get depressed," vocalist Neil Osborne philosophizes on the first track, titled (what else?) "Blame Your Parents." From there, the album weaves a fuzzy guitar trail of psychoanalysis, culminating in "Save Yourself," his ode to monogamous relationships. "I'm not not not not giving more /'cause it's not not not not enough / save yourself for me," he pleads to the evil, self- esteem bashing object of his love. Aside from the lyrics, 54.40's sound is also in an endless quest for identity. "Radio Luv Song" features almost Metallica-like thrash guitar, but the band scales down the instrumentals for a more relaxed, trippy sound on "Daisy." Osborne's "I'm a rock star" scream makes the beginning of "Be- yond the Outsider" sound like some- thing off an old Van Halen album. The combination of 54.40's alter- nating manic drum beats and slower, "classic rock" elements is actually what makes "Smilin' Buddha Cabaret" unique and worthwhile. Unlike some other bands whose songs run one into another, 54.40 manages to slam their sound home by varying the style and tempo of the music on each track. Besides, once you become mired in the band's philosophical ramblings ... you're too busy "searching for self' to tune out. - Kari Jones 4J The Department of Philosophy The University of Michigan announces THE TANNER LECTURE ON HUMAN 1994-95 VALUES Daniel Kahneman Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Professor of Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Princeton University THE COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSEQUENCES AND MORAL INTUITION Friday, October 21, 4:00 p.m. Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, Michigan League, 911 North University SYMPOSIUM ON THE TANNER LECTURE DANIEL KAHNEMAN JOHN BROOME Professor of Economics and Ethics University of Bristol VO A A Tif'%VQ TT A A AA I ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS If you would like to live in the U.S.A. after graduation but cannot, perhaps your future lies in Canada. CANADIAN IMMIGRATION OPPORTUNITIES for graduates with advanced degrees and work experience in Engineering, Computers, Sciences and Finance. 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:30 11:45 E ..' e, 4 1