8A - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Basement Arts kicks off year with Mamet play You say "Bob Hope Humanitarian Award." Clooney says "Target practice." Clooney doing Clooney in lopsided The American' By BRAD SANDERS Daily Arts Writer Basement Arts is wasting no time starting off its fall season. Ina small collaborative theater project this summer, three School of Music, The- atre & Dance under- grads discovered the A .t nuances of "A Life ALife i the in the Theatre," a Theatre David Mamet play to open on Broad- Thursday way this fall. They through are bringing their Saturday at spin on this char- 7:30 p.m. acter-driven work Walgreen to Studio One this Drama Center weekend. Free "A Life in the Theatre" tells the story of two men: a mentor and his student who act together in a sea- son of repertory theater, played by School of Music, Theatre & Dance seniors Yuriy Sardarov and Paul Koch. As time goes on, their relation- ship evolves while the theater begins to have distressing effects on their lives. Koch and Sardarov are big players in campus theater. Koch appeared in "Orpheus Descending," which was directed by Kacie Smith, a senior in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, aswell as "Our Town." Smith is directingKoch again for "A Life in the Theatre." Sardarov appeared last year in Basement Arts performances "After Ashley" and "Twelve Angry Men," as well as films like "The Double," which stars Richard Gere, Topher Grace and Martin Sheen. Compared to a traditional audition process, this production of "A Life in the Theatre" has different roots - Sardarov and Koch presented the idea as an acting project to Smith. "We said that we wanted a col- laborative nature for the play. We are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other and giving each other our input," Smith said. "We found this projecttogetherandit's.muchmo fleshed out and complex show than I would have been able to accomplish on my own.", Accustomed to directing plays with large casts, Smith had some res- ervations about a two-man show. "I've been a fan of bigger casts - I like the dynamic of a lot of people in the room and I like staging for more people. I was a little worried coming into this that I would not be stimu- lated only working with two actors," Smith explained. "I'm so pleased to say that I was completely wrong. It's been very fulfilling because we've been able to delve deeply into the characters and actors in a way I haven't been able to do in past pro- ductions." Smith took a brief hiatus in August to go to New York City, leaving her assistant director Neal Kelley, School of Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore, to take the reins in her absence. Coming back, Smith had a new perspective on the work. "Part of the challenge as a direc- tor is, once you get sofamiliar with a work, it's hard to critique it from an audience point of view," Smith said. "Now I'm able to see and reinterpret things that I didn't necessarily see before." Smith is relying less on the visual aspects of theater and more on the script for "A Life in the Theatre." "We have basically done our own costume and set design, there are a lot of hats," Smith said. "It's not a design-heavy show, we are focusing more onthe acting. I tend to do spec- tacle shows, and doing something that's so low-tech and just elling the story without the spectacle has not been a challenge, but a wonderful experience." The play is just under an our long, with quick transitions between multiple scenes. The show takes you everywhere from the dressing room to the differentproductions in which the two characters act over a period of time. "It's really impressive from an acting perspective because you watch them transform repeatedly. One second they're two marooned sailors, the next they're in their dressing room, and the next they're two World War II soldiers," Smith explained. "It's interesting because we think Mamet is playing off major genres. It's taking these genres and stretching the style to make it really obvious that the play is in that style.' "A Life in the Theatre" is comedic and witty, butit also has serious mes- sages that outline the tolls of being an actor. "It's a very tragic view of the the- ater working him over, using his life, cheing him up and spitting him out," Smith said. "It's also about gen- erations, the younger outstripping the old and whether that's some- thing to be proud of or if it's some- thing to envy." Finding these themes is harder than it sounds; the play requires a audience member to really examin4 the characters' relationship in eacl scene. "The show is not in your face at all; it gives you a minimum amounj of information," Smith said. "W * have noticed that as characters, their relationship evolves while their rela, tionship backstage is also evolving; It's not as clear cut as you may wanj it to be." Meatless take on 'A Very Private Gentleman' fails to stimulate By BEN VERDI Daily Arts Writer It's becoming apparent that George Clo.- ney ("Up in the Air") has a singular distaste for being tied down. Why else would he keep agreeing to movies in which his character undergoes the same basic life transforma- tion? An isolated man obsessed with his career who only commits to brief flings involving occasional sex - this tagline could describe Americal Clooney in real life, the man At Quality 16 he plays in the award-win- and Rave ning "Up in the Air" or the life of his newest character, Focus an assassin of sorts (either 'named Jack or Edward depending on whom he's talking to), in "The American." While this Anton Corbijn ("Control") movie is well directed and well cast, there is little to sink your teeth into until almost the very end. Meaning, not alot "happens" in this movie. It's based on a book called "A Very Pri- vate Gentleman," and it appears this gentle- man truly didn't say much. It's clear that most ofthe story in the novel occurs in Jack/Edward's mind. While this almost invisible plot style works in a novel, it's a bit awkward when transferred to the screen. That said, if you're going to stare at one stone-faced actor this year and ask, "What's going on in there?" it might as well be Clooney. When things do happen in this story, they seem to carry .more weight than they would were the plot full of confusing action scenes and choppy dialogue. You can count the number of real conversations that take place in this film on your fingers. The sparse dialogue becomes more memorable and refreshing, like oases amongst the silence that dominates most of the 105 minutes. This ominous and dramatic silence pro- vides the movie with its greatest strengths and its most glaring weaknesses. While it does heighten the tension and anticipation in the viewer - whose patience is rewarded with a perfectly twisted ending - the lack of dialogue and action forces the camera to do a lot of the story's work itself. This can feel slightly annoying and heavy-handed at times, and by the one-hour mark you might find yourself saying "Okay, we get it!" to many of the things the screen insists on showing you. We get it: Clooney has sex a lot. We get it: Clooney has a dark past that he doesn't want to talk about. Even the de facto mentor and "moral oppo- site" toour antihero, a priestwhose character borders on stock, is a bit overdone. He looks like Tommy LaSorda and sounds like Vito Corleone. We get it. He's Italian. Nevertheless, the film ends by bringing its mumbled themes together in a creative way that almost forces you to agree with what Clooney seems to be saying (by deciding to be in this movie) about the potential conse- quences of settling down with one woman and taking your eyes off "the mission," so to speak. Women have hindered Clooney's char- acter from accomplishing his assassin-style tasks in the past, and "The American" ends with what, by Clooney and his character, is considered the most dangerous of human endeavors: falling in love. There are conclusions and analyses of the struggle between the desire for career-driv- en independence and allowing your fate to fall out of your hands - by falling in love - that can be made for years to come, but "The American" basically tells us something we already know. We get it: Clooney, you're the best. 'j ! JWJ DJ !9J Fit . Fun F antasy for students, alumn , faculty and parents. Use this exclusive coupon to get the best price on a Dett LIKE THE SCOOTER STORE, WE WANT TO!* IMPROVE YOUR MOBILITY. VISIT THE DAILY'S MOBILE SITE ,. .;> 4': t. r,; mention code: vixenedu "can not ombins wth other Verials or disromLS get $50 off HtPGL T5553 Ypsilanti -1795 WashtenaW Rd. inside Courtland Plaza Call or shop onin 800-695-8133 Youbr PC:U161 )ell.com/Michigan 0 Y11u r Pt simplified. Windows 7 Go to m.michigandaily.cor from your mobile web device.