ARTS- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 9 GREEK TO ME ARISTOPHANES CLASSIC BROUGHT TO LIFE AT EAST QUAD Cult favorite sci-fi thriller lands on DVD By Sarah Peterson Fine Arts Editor For anyone who took Great Books 191, chances are that the latest play being produced by Factio (the Universi- ty's Undergraduate Classics Club) will conjure nostalgic feelings. This week- end, the East Quad Auditorium will play host to a swirl of masks and a parade of togas in "The Acharnians" of Aristophanes. "The play (tells) the story of a man named Dicaeopolis, who is a malcontent Athenian citizen liv- ing during the Pelo- ponnesian Wars with Sparta," producer All The Acharnians of Aristophanes Thursday - Saturday at8 p.m. Free At the East Quad Auditorium Duncan said. "He the fact that there has always been war and anti-war movements, and that today isn't so different from 425 BCE." This production tries to stay true to the play's ancient Greek roots. The dress consists of togas, the set has a minimal feel and the characters are distinguished from one other through the masks they wear. Many classics (Shakespeare, for example) are taken out of their original time period in an effort to modernize the play, so the staging of the work in its original form will be, in the words of Duncan, "at least novel and unique." The script of the play, however, is a modern translation, and this makes it extremely easy to understand. The comedy will not be lost to the audi- ence. In fact, Duncan explained that the audience "can expect a lot of laughs. Not a minute goes by without a funny line, and the lines are really what carry the show." "The Acharnians" is not only a come- dy, but is actually the oldest theatrical comedy that we have from Western tra- dition. It is full of bawdiness and lewd innuendo, everything a good comedy needs. From a belligerent general to a woman trying to sell her daughters off as sows, this play promises to provide an entertaining and lighthearted evening. "We wanted to do a comedy because people like comedy and because life gets too down if everyone always does tragedy," Duncan said. By Katie Marie Cates Daily Arts Writer DVD REVIEW Any question about whether or not aliens landed in the desert outside Roswell, N.M., in 1947 is answered by the WB drama "Roswell." After a short and shaky three-year run, the first season of the sci-fi adventure, which combines elements of "X- Files" and "My So-Called Life," has now come out on DVD. Max (Jason Behr, "The Shipping News"), Michael (Brendan Fehr, "Final Destination") and Isabel (Katherine Heigl, "My Father the Hero") aren't from around here. They can walk through people's dreams and manipulate molecular struc- Roswell: The Complete First Season 20th Century Fox simply wants the liberties and happiness that come with peace." The anti-war and peace themes of the play are a large reason it is being per- formed. "One of the biggest challenges is making the play palpable to the mod- ern audience," Duncan admitted. With the current political situation being as it is, it was felt that the play would res- onate with a modern audience. "I think there is a lot of anti-war stuff going on around this campus, and it speaks for Courtesy of RC Players tures and have a strange affinity for Tabasco sauce. After years of hiding their secret identities from the world, a shooting in a local cafe prompts Max to save the life of Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby, "Swimfan"). With their secret revealed, the gang spends the first season running from the FBI, searching for answers about their past and exploring the intrica- cies of alien-human relationships. The DVD provides audio commen- taries on five episodes. Appleby and co-star Majandra Delfino are spirited and interesting in their comments on the episode titled "Sexual Healing," but their stories soon run out. Con- versation on the pilot by writer Jason Katims ("My So-Called Life") and director David Nutter ("X-Files") is worth watching and includes stories about casting and the development of the show. A behind-the-scenes featurette titled "Area 51" is an extensive 30- minute look at everything from casting to set design with inter- views from producers, directors, writers and actors. While most of the segments with the cast are from 1999, a much older and extremely talkative Colin Hanks receives far more airtime than his more signifi- cant counterparts. Unlike its original TV format, the DVD presents "Roswell" in wide screen format and offers high quali- ty 5.1 Surround Sound. Because of problems involving the copyrights to some songs, however, several have been changed and can distract from the original sentiment of cer- tain scenes for the observant fan. An issue that comes up over and over again on this DVD is the dedi- cation of the fans of the series. They were drawn to the intensity of the star-crossed love between Max and Liz, the themes of alienation and the exciting plot. Without these fans, "Roswell" may not have made it to DVD at all. Stone cold. Bravo's latest comedy in-'Significant' By Kevin Hollifield Daily Arts Writer TV REVIEW With the success of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," cable networks have been trying out new lines of programming, with varying degrees of success. Bravo, the home of the Fab Five, continues this trend with "Significant Oth- SignifiCant ers," a series of shock, spon- Others taneity and sex that takes an Tuesdays at over-the-top look at relation- 9:30 p.m. ships that are full of mistakes. Bravo The show centers around the daily lives of three couples, married for as lit- tle as three months or as much as 15 years. They have their problems, none of which are new to typical TV shows. In the first two episodes, Eleanor (Faith Salie) discovers she is pregnant, unwelcome news to her immature husband Ethan (Herschel Bleefeld). Bill and Connie (Fred Gross, Jane Edith Wilson) are a stereotypical middle- aged couple who no longer show affection. To complicate matters, Bill is unemployed and hav- ing an affair with Connie's sister. James (Brian Palermo) and Chelsea (Andrea Savage) are the sole bright spot of the show, portraying the straight-laced husband and free-spirited wife. James causes a commotion at Chelsea's art show when he finds out that she has slept with 200 men and learns she was previously married. Viewers also see the couples at therapy ses- sions, where the conflicts are usually revealed. This is also where most of the attempts at humor are made - with hit-or-miss results. Think of the sessions from "Annie Hall," only unfunny. "Significant Others" is touted as unscripted, as scenes are improvised and the actors work with- out a script, or for that mat- ter, an interesting plot. Words some would find objectionable are used liber- ally and are thrown in when the dialogue begins to stall. The cast of unknowns sin- cerely seem to be trying to make it work, but to little avail. "Significant Others" seems to belong on HBO due to content, not quality. Most premises here have been explored on other shows in more amusing ways. The viewing public should choose to divorce itself from these "Signifi- cant Others." Show: *** Picture/Sound: **** Special Features: ***i Courtesy of Bravo lip i' n s 9' >d5 e t z" rs 3 t C. * e t1 d,.7 R i ?e2 0° t r t s u° T t "'.. k f Y 4 S 3 .! t 5 A fir. ,. e r. . ... . .. .r ex. ''.frss ' ' . . Cx E ..... ',. . s... ..<., ....... . "