The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 19, 1999 - 9
Network's 'Private Eyes' offers comical sleuthing
ly Lauren Rico
)aily Arts Writer
Just as lies and deceit convolute the
ives of the people which they involve,
o this phenomena.occurs in the play
Private Eyes." We witness the
lection of the lives of four people
as the deceit of
, two characters
spins all four into
a web of suspi-
Private cion, paranoia
EyeS and ultimately,
Performance revenge.
Network Using the
Feb. 12, 1999 premise of a play
within a play, this
performance suc-
ceeds in inter-
twining the real
lives of the char-
acters and the
roles that they
ake on in their professional careers.
With the utterance of "Our biggest
egrets begin with the most innocent of
topes,' the stage is set for the com-
ilexiy that awaits the protagonists.
Life is simple until Lisa is cast
plite her heartbreakingly innocent
Lusband Matthew, in a two-character
Having lost the excitement of life, he
appears to exist on the brink of bore-
dom. And what better way to emanci-
pate himself from this unfortunate
slump than to indulge in an affair with
a younger married woman. He suffers
from no scruples at the thought of lift-
ing the wife of his co-worker from
right out under his nose.
Lisa is convincing as a woman who,
feeling the loss of the exhilaration in
her life, strays from her vows in an
attempt to fill the void. But as with
most egocentric ventures, hers will
leave her more alone than she has ever
anticipated.
Put these two together and it's a sure
bet that they won't spend their time
playing bingo. As Adrian bluntly pro-
poses an affair, he makes no effort to
hide his intentions. "It's better to jump
than wade in," he states, but once
they've jumped, they can't save them-
selves from drowning.
The loser in this whirlwind of deceit
appears to be Lisa's husband Matthew.
Although Matthew is not oblivious to
the philandering of his wife, his suspi-
cions go unfounded due to his fear that
she no longer loves him. He instead
finds refuge on the couch of a thera-
pist, who guides him to the doorstep of
his fears. Although his desire for
revenge seems genuine, he finds that
he simply cannot bring himself to actu-
ally hurt the woman that he loves. His
fantasies of vengeance remain dor-
mant within the boundaries in which
they originated, leaving him to deal
with his anguish on his own.
One does not know how long the
charade would have endured, had some
outside force not intervened. Itis like-
ly that the affair would have fizzled
out, leaving Lisa and Adrian to non-
chalantly return to their former lives.
But Adrian's past lurks up on him in
the form of a private eye by the name
of Cory. It appears that Adrian, too,
has skeletons in his closet.
Terry Heck, hilariously delightful as
Cory, pulls double duty in this perfor-
mance. We first see her as Cory, the
conspiring waitress in Matthew's
vengeful fantasies. She turns up again
later as the disgruntled, ousted wife of
Adrian. Posing as a private eye, Heck
is pure entertainment every time she
waltzes into each scene with her sassy
sleuth get-up and heavily exaggerated
accent. She later reveals herself to be
the wife that Adrian so keenly forgot to
mention. But unlike Matthew, Cory
actually fulfills her vows of retaliation.
Playwright Steven Diez structured
his play in a dichotomic fashion to
convey the complexity of the charac-
ters and the mess in which they find
themselves. Each scene's course of
action could be applied to the play, or
the actual lives of the characters. This
element of surprise is revealed just
when the audience believes they have
it figured out.
Like Matthew, we are in constant.
limbo, never knowing the truth until it
has already transpired. A scene that
finds Lisa and Adrian in bed actually
turns out to be Adrian demonstrating
to Matthew the way in which a partic-
ular scene should be executed. This
coexistence on two planes of reality,
gives the audience the opportunity to
observe art mimicking life. Or is it life
mimicking art?
"Private Eyes" will continue to run
throughout February at Performance
Network, 415 W Washington. Dates
are Feb. 18-21 and Feb. 25-28.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday
through Saturday and 2 p.m. on
Sunday. Tickets are available by
. phone (734) 663-0681.
Stephen Angus, John NevsIeAndmws and Peggy JohCambe perfonn In "Private Eyes "
sketch. The pair, played by Peggy- theater and drama Prof. John Neville-
Johns Campbell, and Stephen Angus, Andrews, who fills the director chair
respectively, portray a seemingly con- as the amusingly immoral Adrian.
tent, married couple, whose lives are Andrews is devilishly fun as the mid-
about to be drastically altered. Both dle-aged director who appears to be
actors are cast under the direction of suffering from a mid-life crisis.
N4aschina returns to Pig for monthly Ann Arbor gig
ly Adlin Rosh
aly Arts Writer
tashina is a rock band. One of the first
hi you will notice about them when you see
hem live, however, is that they lack that one
hing that people associate highly with rock
ands: a guitar player.
"One of the things we as a group decided on
was that there was just
way too many guitar play-
ers out there as it is and we
. might as well not add to
Maschina that epidemic in society;'
e Blind Pig jovially explained
Maschina's singer Seth
Tonight at 9 p.m. "Queen Maschine"
Hitsky. "Furthermore,
we've kind of developed a
self-righteousness about
playing rock without a
guitar!"
Instead, a saxophone is
used and the results more
than cover for the missing
strument in their rock sound. Handling the
lec trumpet duties is Mark "Bubbles"
;icbenmann who, " plugs his sax through dif-
wrent guitar effects, not unlike what Miles
)avis experimented with," Hitsky said. The
;roup is rounded up by bassist, Alana Rocklin
nd drummer John Maloney.
A listen to the group's "Purple Finger
Syndrom" solidifies the success the group has
had with instrument line-up as the band still
manages to produce a full rocking sound.
"We've decided to rise to the challenge of cre-
ating a sound with what we have. So far I think
we've been pretty successful. We even do cov-
ers, such as Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs,' that
have gone down really well, which we haven't
been able to shake off our set since people real-
ly like it," Hitsky explained.
Another terrific aspect of the group is the
amazingly varied vocal styles utilized in the
group's music. "Well, I went to the University
for musical theater, and I am sure that the expe-
rience from that program has been an enormous
influence in how I approach performing and
how I approach, sort of like, the theatrical nature
of how we have been performing as a group."
Hitsky tries to go up on stage as a character
and not just going up on stage to do a set. "I've
been in rock bands for a long time now. I've
been in bands throughout high school, so it's a
funny mix of styles from pop music that I was
growing up with to voice professors in college.
Maschina also boasts of an odd recurring
theme around fingers. The group's album is
called "Purple Finger Syndrom," they have a
song called "Feel My Finger" and the group's
production company is called "Fingrrr
Records."
"Well, the finger is a very useful human
appendage. It's got many uses, ranging from the
musical things it can do, to beyond," Hitsky
said.
Maschina started out under a different name,
and in the process of jamming and coming up
with songs Hitsky had said, "feel my finger,"
and Alana it should be the title of the song.
"'Finger' was actually a candidate for a band
name for a while, before we settled on
Maschina," Hitsky said.
The group was originally an Ann Arbor-
based band, but has since relocated to Chicago
to expand its opportunities. Despite residing in
Chicago now, the group never fails to make an
almost monthly appearance in Ann Arbor. "We
have a good crowd in Ann Abor. We were all
originally students from the School of Music at
U of M, " Hitsky said. Not disappointing this
routine, the group will be making an appear-
ance tonight at the Blind Pig.
The only unexplained question remaining is,
with its bold '80s Metal font outlining it, what
does Maschina mean? "Well, Alana picked it. It
used to be the name of this Israeli band in the
'80s called 'Maschina,' in Hebrew of course,
they were sort of a Nirvana-esque band. They
no longer exists! So that's how we've managed
to get away with it. Supposedly, in Hebrew,
'Maschina' means 'monster of rock,"' Hitsky
explained.
Mark Kirshenmann, John Maloney, Seth Hitsky and Alana Bass compse the band Maschina.
MIeryl Tankard presents 'Furioso'
ly Lauren Rice
ly ArsWriter %
Hitting the Ann Arbor scene this5
veekend is none other than an import
rom the land down under. Meryl
ankard's Australian modern dance
ompany is making its Ann Arbor debut y
a leaps and bounds with its perfor-
iance of Furioso.
Something exciting is in the air -
ot it be the dancers? If you didn't get
o ill of cupid last weekend, here's
our chance to watch love glide through
he air. Although the dancers are posi-
oned in aloft the stage, that's where the
imilarities with the sappy holiday mas-
ot end.
Most dance endeavors are entertain-
rig. Some have us walking away exhil-
rated, and others prefer to explore the
speets of life which make us uncom-
o e. With its passionate music, and
exploration of
love as both grati-
fying and enslav-
ing, Furioso
Meryl Tankard accomplishes
Australian both.
Dance The use of
Power Center ropes to suspend
Tonight and the dancers, while
Tarorrw at 8 unusual, furnish-
es the production
with a dynamic
feeling. As
Tankard, choreog-
rapher and head
of the production,
xplains, "Most people have been in tiurtesy oripa
ave at one point in their lives, so they Dancers from the Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Company perform "Furloso."
an relate. The excitement and passion
hat comes with a relationship can also traditional vocabulary as a means of neglected or shortchanged. From the
ive way to feelings of entrapment. The explaining her dances. "I prefer not to passionate music, the strength of the
op help to express the parallel exis- confine myself to such structured defi- dancers, all the way down to the fabric
° f freedom and confinement." nitions; I like to invent the movements, of the costumes, all the bases are cov-
Afthough this may be her first time therefore, I cannot simply say that we ered," Tankard said.
etting foot in Ann Arbor, she is no use tap and ballet, because it is a com- In addition to detail, the special
tranger to the rest of the world. Having pletely different feeling that you walk touches haven't been forgotten. "The
oued extensively, written, acted and away with," Tankard said. Not surpris- costumes which are made of crushed
rected, Tankard obviously doesn't sit ing, coming from the woman who has silk, are designed in 18th Century style,
till for long. Audiences all around the chosen ropes in favor of convention. giving the dancers a timeless look as
vo4d have enthusiastically embraced Tankard credits Furioso's success to they soar through the air."
he ompany's diverse style. This may the combination of strong dances and ickets for Meryl TankardAustralian
e credited to the fact that she doesn't equality among the elements of the pro- Dance Company's performance of
-eat formula and latch onto it. Not duction. "Every aspect of the produc- "Furioso" are $16-$32, and can be
IT'S 11:59 ON NEW YEARS EVE.
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IN THEATRES THIS FEBRUARY
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