The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Monday, October 27, 2008 -5A


An 'Argument' worth having

By MOLLY McGUIRE
DailyArts Writer
Aristotle will take the stage
tonight at the Lydia Mendelssohn
Theatre, decked out in modern
dress instead of his trademark
toga. He'll be
delivering a pas-
sionate lecture
on his "Poetics,"
an influential
meditation on '
the nature of
poetry, theatre " " "
and tragedy. GREENSPAN
The real Aris-
totle may be long gone, but this
might be the next best thing. In
the one-man production of "The
Argument," David Greenspan
stars as the great
thinker from
ancient Greece. The
Greenspan's Argument
Aristotle stands OCt 27
alone on stage, 7:30p2m
revitalizing
timeworn texts Lydia Mendelssohn
with a touch Theatre
of whimsy and Free
without the help
of a set or props.
The play is a fusion of Aristotle's
"Poetics," the writings of clas-
sits scholar Gerald F. Else, and a
little input from the solo actor and
playwright himself.
"I put this in a drawer thinking
nobody's going to be interested in
this piece. I'd written it out of my
own interest and done a reading
here and there, but I thought, this
is not going to play," Greenspan
said.
But "The Argument," directed
by David Herskovit, is a winner
of an OBtE (Off-Broadway Theater

Award), and has been extremely
well received by New York crit-
ics. The New York Times called
Greenspan the "classics profes-
sor of a bored college student's
dreams."
Lasting a little over 40 minutes,
the play is almost a dense lecture
on the "Poetics," but in combi-
nation with Greenspan's charm,
movement and a little backstory,
the show becomes less like a lec-
ture and more like theatre.
"Part ofthe idea behind it is that
a lecture is by its nature perfor-
mative. It's a bit of a performance
already," Greenspan said.
"Poetics," and by extension,
"The Argument," is partly a
story of a student responding to
his teacher. At the heart of "The
Argument" is Aristotle's refuta-
tion of Plato's attack on poetry in
"The Republic."
"The drama and the theatre
comes from this personal rela-
tionship as well as the theatrical
analysis," Greenspan said.
In a somewhat metatheatri-
cal way, "The Argument" brings
to life a work about the nature
of drama itself, the influence of
which extends to today's stage
and also to TV and film.
"The principles of screen-writ-
ing, for instance, actually go right
back to Aristotle's 'Poetics,' " LSA
Greek and'Latin Prof. Ruth Scodel
said. "Anybody in the theatre, even
if they've never read the 'Poetics,'
they know the 'Poetics' without
knowing that they know it."
"The Argument" is coming to
Michigan to celebrate Prof. Ger-
ald F. Else's tooth birthday, who
spent most of his academic career
at the University and served as
chair of the Department of Clas-
The potency of the filmis derived
not only in witnessing crazy con-
traptions - like swinging steel
pendulums of death - but also in
imagining what you would do if
caught in such a dangerous, albeit
unlikely, situation.
While the premise is slightly
demented, the movie has a lot of
entertainment value if you're look-
ing for cheap scares. "Saw V" is
vicious fun.
HANS YADAV

sical Studies. Greenspan worked
from Else's translation of "Poet-
One-man show

analysis, "Aristotle's Poetics: The
Argument," a meticulous com-
mentary on Aristotle's difficult
opus.
"We're thinking of this as the
Classics Department gives a little
present to the whole community,"
said Scodel, the current Chair of
the Department of Classical Stud-
ies. "It's somethingreallyinterest-
ing and different and free. What's
not to like?"

H,-,,


800.424.8580 www.peacecorps.gov

ARTS IN BRIEF

Film
All in gory fun
"Saw V'
At Quality 16 and Showcase
Lionsgate
Nothing says Halloween season
like another "Saw" movie. "Saw V"
is the latest installment in the noto-
rious franchise and diehard fans
won't be disappointed.
The formula hasn't changed
for "V," but there are even crazier
situations than before and more
moments when you'll want to
scream out at the characters, "Are
you really that fucking stupid?!"
in the traditional, horror heckling
way.
From the moment each new tor-
ture is introduced, we're hooked.
Arguably, the best part of the movie
is hearing all the gasps that go up in
the theater when the camera focus-
es and someone wakes up with all
the deadly machinery surrounding
them.

The Fr. Gabriel Richard Lectures
Calling us to examine current issues in light of our faith
Thursday, October 30, 2008
4:00 p.m-Rackham Assembly Hall
Speaker: Jack Miles, Ph.D.
Pulitzer Prizc-Wmmnng Author
Co-Sponsored by:
Commonweal Magazine; Centerfor Ethics in Public Life
Center for International and Comparative Studies
Department of Political Science and St. Mary Student Parish
The Commonweal Speakers Programismade
possibleby agenerousgiftfromJames H. Duffy

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