8A - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 22, 2002 ARTS Lively cast bolsters atmospheric 'Dancing' By Charity Atchison Daily Arts Writer Set in 1930s Donegal, Ireland, "Dancing at Lughnasa" is Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa Arena Theater Thurs. thru Sat. play about five unmarried sisters and the return of their brother, Father Jack, from Africa. The play, set in the summer at the time of the festival of Lugh, which celebrates the god of light, is told through the eyes of Michael, the son born out of wed- lock to the youngest sister, Chris. The lives of the Munday sisters center around Michael. Complicating the pic- ture is the return of his father, Gerry, for a brief stint. When Kate, the eldest sister, returns from town one afternoon, the discus- sion turns to the Harvest dance. The sis- ters decide that they should attend as they did when they were younger. Their characters capture a vivaciousness of spirit despite the rough conditions of their Balleybeg farm. Kate, a school teacher, serves as a grounding point for her sisters, who include the simple minded Rose, Agnes, who is Rose's companion, Christine, the youngest sis- ter and the light-hearted Maggie. The process of creating tho right atmosphere for the play was aided by the cast learning about Irish culture. Sandra Abrevaya, the play's director, bought a tape of Irish dialects for the cast to practice with. The cast also learned a few Irish dance steps as part of their work for the play. Each perfor- mance of "Dancing at Lughnasa" will also feature local musicians as a back- drop. Benjamin Klein, as Michael, serves as the play's narrator and the young son. He said that in portraying his character, he was "torn between story telling for the audience and remembering for myself." The role of Michael was a challenging one, because of the charac- ter's nature to be a player and an observer in the play. Klein also com- mented that the play can be likened to a bar story, due to the manner in which it is told. The return of their brother Jack, a priest who has been to Africa, serves as our entry into the story of the Munday family. Jack's arrival in Donegal serves as the catylst for the play. His sisters see him as a different man than the man who left Ireland years before. Bryonie Maros, who plays Maggie, says she is just like her character, who breaks out into songs and jokes. Maros has three scenes with Michael, which were initially practiced without Michael. At first the scenes were chal- lenging when Michael was brought in. The cast had a liveliness in rehearsals that will boil over into their stage pro- duction. Of working on "Dancing at Lughnasa," Maros said, "I leave in a good mood." Maros as Maggle, Ben Klein as Michael. r Fire walks with DVD~ 'Peaks'set By Andy TayloNFabe Daily Film Editor Get out a fresh piece of cherry pie and a mug of piping hot coffee, and get ready for one of television's strangest and most watched phenom- ena, because Artisan has released the first season of David Lynch' campy but irre- sistible series "Twin Peaks" on .Pk DVD. Full of Twin Peaks: bizarre features Season One and excellent DVD picture and sound, the set is Artisan Entertainment worth getting even if yo weren't among the millions glued to your TVs every week during the original run in 1990. The seven episode set concerns the events following the murder of Laura Palmer, a popular high school student and all around "good girl." Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle McLachlan, who redefines deadpan) is called to Twin Peaks after another girl is found injured (and possibly attacked by the same person that killed Laura). Both Cooper and the local sheriff, Harry S Truman, soon realize that the case goes deeper than they could have imagined, but when Cooper has a bizarre dream, he begins to sort through the maze of secret relation- ships and hidden motives that exist in the town. Like a soap opera on acid, "Twin Peaks" has some of the strangest characters to grace the idiot box. The set has one major flaw: The pilot episode, which is currently tied up in litigation, is not included with episode one through seven. Although there is a detailed descrip- tion of the events of the pilot episode, if you want to truly enjoy the experience, your only option is to scour e-bay for the Chinese boot- leg, since it is currently out of print. Despite this rather sizable omis- sion, the four disc set is excellent. The interactive menu is one of the most innovative of any recent DVD, with eerie music and the cracking of electricity filling your ears. The episodes themselves look and sound perfect, with the high defini- tion transfer and the DTS digital surround sound taking the episode light years beyond the previously -a grainy and dark pictures and muf- fled sound. On the DVD, every gloomy and unnatural scene and every note on the deliberately sac- charin synthesizer soundtrack is crystal clear. Each episode has optional features that can be turned on, including introductions by the Log Lady (if you don't know what that is, there's no way to explain it). The episodes also feature directoi commentary, which ranges from insightful observations to somewhat boring technical details. There is also an optional feature that allows you, during an episode, to jump to a screen where an explanation of deleted material is given, but take heed, because occasionally, secrets from the second season are given away. The extras, listed under the head-4 ing of "Tibet," are plentiful, but some of them are just plain boring, and it becomes clear that David Lynch had little to do with the pro- duction of these features, most like- ly since he has been tied up getting www.davidlynch.com up and run- ning. Interviews with everyone from the woman who owns the so-called "Double R Diner" to a painfully long phone call with series co-cre-4 ator Mark Frost burden the largely uninteresting special features. The "Introduction to David Lynch" section is laughable, because Lynch doesn't appear once in the entire set of interviews. The most bizarre and hilarious fea- ture is "Learning to Speak in the Red Room," in which the "man from another place" tries to teachyou how to (withoutg giving anything away) speak the way that he does inaCooper's infamous dream, which seems like a good idea until you realize that he really isn't mak- ing any sense. Overall, the features suf- fer from a distinct lack of Lynch. It used to be the end of a great night. It could soon be the start of a great day. FORTUNE 100 BEST -- TO WORK FOR c°i At Ernst & Young, we believe that when you wake up in the morning; you should be excited about the day ahead. The challenges of the workplace should keep you stimulated, your capabilities should be stretched, and your horizons continually broadened. Because only when our people grow, both professionally and personally, do we grow as a company. Oh happy day! I I I I