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Dance Away Tonight and Tomorrow
The Dance School will present its MFA Concert tonight and tomorrow
night at 8 p.m. Graduate students will be giving their final performances
in pieces choreographed in conjunction with the concert. Tickets cost $5
and will go on sale at the Betty Pease Studio (behind the CCRB) at 7
p.m. If you're not interested in that, check out the hippie rock of
Leftover Salmon and Little Sister at the Blind Pig tomorrow at 9:30.
Page 9
Friday,
March 31_ 199-5
AI 5 1 1 1.7.7:,
Hear the sour sound of 'Sirens'
p
By Melissa Rose Bernardo
Daily Theater Editor
If there is something positive to be
said for "Sirens," it's that the play
means well.
Darrah Cloud's play, which is re-
ceiving its third-ever performance this
weekend and next in the Trueblood.
Theatre, deserves recognition and a
certain amount of praise for its treat-
ment of the sensitive, timely issue of
domestic violence. But the script is
such a wreck that it becomes almost
impossible to appreciate the play's
good intentions.
The play revolves loosely around
-thelives offive women who experience
domestic violence in different ways.
Cloud attempts to introduce the women,
outline each of their backgrounds,
present (to a certain extent) their re-
spective abusers, display the pattern of
- abuse in which each is trapped, and
bring each to a climactic action (like
murder)-- all in the first act.
And if you're confused now, just
wait until the ghosts come in. After
the half, Cloud's tactics get more and
more farfetched and the script sounds
more and more like an episode of
"Beverly Hills, 90210."
What's even more amazing is the
amount of genuine emotion the actors
manage to wreak out of such shoddy
material. The characters for the most
part are underdeveloped, but what's
there gets played to the hilt. Guest di-
Sirens
Trueblood Theatre
March 30, 1995
When: Tonight and Saturday at 8
p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.; April 6-8 at
8 p.m., April 9 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $12 ($6 students) general
admission. Call 764-0450.
rector Lynn Thomson has assembled a
stellar cast from beginning to end--the
one glaring exception being Jared J.
Hoffert, who I'm convinced was cast
more for height than acting ability.
Rebecca Winston gives a digni-
fied performance as Eileen, the most,
sorely underdeveloped character in
this play and probably in the top 25 in
all of contemporary American drama.
Elif Celebi is quite good as Margo,
the pathetic shell of a woman who
learns to take care of herselfonly after
she's dead (?), and Cadi Sutter does
well as the spirited Brooklyn girl
Teresa. (Sutter also holds her accent
for over two hours, unlike Hoffert,
whose accent traveled around the
globe and back again.)
It's hard to assess what Cloud in-
tended with the character of Gertrude,
but let that pass; it's always a pleasure
to see Lakeisha R. Harrison. Though
her character is not quite rooted in the
rest of the script, Harrison creates a
place for herself, and gives a perfor-
mance that left many audience mem-
bers wanting more.
The most well-written character
also yields the evening's most excit-
ing performance, in the form of
Heather Dilly. As Sparky, a woman
whose identity has been shaped by
various forms of violence, Dilly's
performance goes for thejugular; she
is hard-hitting, unrelenting and genu-
inely emotional-everything Cloud's
script wants to be.
Thomson's methods are almost as
obscure as Cloud's. Apart from some
well-choreographed fight scenes,
Thomson's staging is cluttered and
confusing. Of course, Thomson was
working around a strange conglom-
eration of transparent movable walls,
which complicated things even fur-
ther. Fortunately, Beth Turomsha's
lighting does wonders to cover the
unsightly blemish of Karen Lim's set.
Wispy white cur-
tains are tough to
light, and
Turomsha does it
quite admirably.
But the
overarching prob-
lem with "Sirens" is
still the script.
Cloud's dialogue is
unrealistic - those
water metaphors are
just out of hand -
her situations un-
natural (the exotic
dance scene?), and
her conclusion
shaky. But the larg-
est and most mad-
dening flaw in the "Sirens" runs th
script is the flagrant
lack of sympathetic male characters.
In an interview preceding the show,
Thomson argued that "Sirens" was not
a "male-bashing" play; she even main-
tained that the script went out of its way
to depict sympathetic men. But the only
male character whom Cloud shades
with any amount of sympathy is the gay
neighbor/lawyer. (Howeverhateful his
character may be, Paul Molnar turns in
a wonderful performance as Dennis.)
In Cloud's favor, Hoffert's po-
liceman friend does take a turn to-
ward the positive, but that revelation
doesn't happen until 10 p.m. (Some-
one should send Cloud back to
Playwriting 101 and tell her that two
hours into a 2-hour and 15-minute
show is not a good time to begin
character development.)
Another puzzlement: Thomson is
the dramaturglliterary manager for
Circle Repertory Company, one of
the country's most fertile breeding
grounds for new scripts. Can such an
accomplished dramaturg not recog-
nize the sorry state of this script?
The tragedy of domestic violence
needs to be brought to a more enlighten-
ing level, such as the theater. But the
success of the theatrical expression be-
gins with the script. Fine performances
can - and do, in many ways - aid that
representation, but at the end of the
evening, the state of Cloud's script
emerges as the larger tragedy.
Percussion ensemble making noise around the world
By Mark Carlson
Daily Arts Writer
The University of Michigan Per-
cussion Ensemble has something for
everyone. "One of the really cool things
about the Percussion Ensemble con-
UNIVERSITY
PERCUSSION
ENSEMBLE
Where: McIntosh Theater in,
the School of Music
When: Sunday at 4 p.m.
Tickets: Free
certs is that everybody who goes will
find something that interests them,"
stated percussionist Andrew Kitchen
about the variety of the group's pieces.
Director Michael W. Udow selects
pieces for the group that vary in culture
and musicality, and all are challenging
to both the players and the listeners.
"Professor Udow really brings a
lot of eclecticism to the group," said
Kitchen, a freshman performance
major in the School of Music.
The group is made of 25 to 30
percussionists who belong to the Uni-
versity percussion studio, which is
headed by Udow. The songs are per-
formed by any number of students in
the group, playing just about any com-
bination of percussion instruments
that range from conventional bass,
snare and tom tom drums, to stranger
instruments such as the Lion's Roar
and talking drums.
The group is one of the more fa-
mous ensembles from the school and
has a reputation throughout the world.
The group takes several trips each year,
including many to the Orient, where the
group is well-received. Last month, the
group traveled to New York and deliv-
ered the world premiere of a work by
Dary John Mizelle to the World Music
Imagination Festival. The group's per-
formance was critiqued by the Village
Voice. Other accomplishments of the
group include performing with the
world-famous solo marimbist Keikoabe
and recording several compact discs
that have been released on the EQ and
Einstein labels.
For Sunday's performance, the
group has some great songs prepared.
Among otherthings, they will be play-
ing John Wyre's wonderful
"Marubatu." On the other end of the
sound spectrum, the group will also
be performing some pieces that aren't
as rooted in beat. They will be playing
the classic "Ionization" by Edgard
Varese, a song that has no real pulse
but is completely scored and strictly
counted. "Ionization has a lot of inter-
esting sounds," stated Kitchen, "It's
all about evolving textures."
Another highlight of the perfor-
mance will be John Polito 2's "mm-
hmm," an almost tribal piece with a
definite pulse that is complicated by
everyone's differentpolyrhythms. "You
know there's a pulse, but it's there in a
way that you're probably not used to
hearing it," described Kitchen.
Yet another song with a twist that
the group will be playing is "Why," a
piece by Gernot Blume that was origi-
nally intended to be played by a string
quartet.
The ensemble is certainly one of
the best resources we have at the
University and theirperformances are
definitely worth checking out. It is
also a great group for the students
who perform in it. Said Kitchen on
the matter, "It's been the most re-
warding experience I've had at this
University." The Ensemble will be
playing at the McIntosh Theater in
the School of Music this Sunday af-
ternoon, and another top quality per-
formance is expected.
The School of Art and Architecture's Slusser Gallery is beginning a
Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibit tonight. Featuring the works of Sherry
Lynn Jodway, '24 Hands and A Gallery' will run from tonight until
Tuesday. Tonight, the opening reception begins at 6 p.m. and lasts
until 9 p.m.; Saturday through Tuesday, the gallery will be open from
11 a.m. through 5 p.m. Admission is free.
The Dirt Eaters will play the Blind Pig tonight at 9:30 p.m. Their
inventive mix of ethereal pop and crunchy rock is an offshoot of the
critically lauded 4AD band His Name Is Alive. Fans of dream-pop
shouldn't miss this show. Naming Mary and Viola Peacock open; doors
open at 9:30. Call 996-8555 for more information.
I
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Academy Award Winner
Best Original Screenplay
"TREMNDouS FUN!'
- i~murmrnu
Acasdmy Award NaminM
Best Foreign Film
STRAWBERRY
and
CHOCOLATE
7:00 9:00
Student Organization Sccounts Service
[SORS]GeneralFund Rccountrconversion
Beginning September 1, 1995, and running through September 30,
1996 SOAS General Fund (GF) Accounts will undergo a conversion. As a result
of this conversion, student organizations can either choose to convert their GF
account to what is now referred to as a "University Fund" account, or to close
the GF account and remove the funds. All accounts remaining after September
30, 1996 will automatically be converted into an SOAS Account (UF).
Open forums will be held to provide information, and answer questions on:
* March 30.1995. at 3pm-4pm. Michigan Union [Wolverine Room]
April 11,.1995. at 4pm-Spm,.Michigan Union [Anderson ARE Room]
" September 25.1995. at 4pm-Spm,.Michigan Union [Wolverine Room]
9 September 28.1995. at 3pm-4pm. Michigan Union [Wolverine Room]
If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by the SOAS office
or contact an SOAS Representative at 763-5767. Our office is open Monday
,through Friday, 8am-5pm. We will be happy to serve you!
.
1
natio natalk show.
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Friday & Saturday 11:45 pm
1:30 Saturday & SundayOnly -11:00& 11:45 Friday & Saturday Only
Call Juliet or Jill collect at
(212) 582-1722 ext. 21 or 23 or (212) 246-6813
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