12 -- The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 14, 2000 Intimate stage helps By Jaimie Winkler Daly Arts Writer HAMTRAMCK - Theater just doesn't get more intimate than this. In the Planet Ant Theater's produc- tion of "This is Our Youth," the phrase "if these walls could talk" gets a chance at some real life appli- cation. The audience literally becomes two of the walls in the set and the play will leave you talking. The set, a college studio apart- ment, has detail so meticulous that the radio actually works, the the- ater's bathroom is incorporated, the records are real as are the pictures on the walls. Audience members line two sides of the stage in two rows about five feet from the action. The other two walls are those of the theater build- ing and the door to the apartment is the theater's backdoor. But the script and the wonderfully realistic performances, directed by Michelle Murphy, are what really make audience members feel like flies on the wall. "This is Our Youth," written by Kenneth Lonergan, who wrote "Analyze This" and "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," originally premiered several years ago on the East Coast. The story follosws three rear-adults for two days as they deal Two guys, a girl, and a bevy of na Kenneth Lonergan's "This is OurN with just being themselves in th early Reagan-drenched 1980 Lonergan's dialogue has so muc bite and originality. Lines such a "My parents pay for this apartmen not throw me out of it," are funn and screaming to be analyzed. Acting as a long exposition, th script reveals influences on th characters lives right up until cur tain. The two young men in the pla are hard-core drug addicts. Denn is a dealer and Warren has ju 'Youth' break wall with audience a slice of these lives. It comments comfortable. The scene where she on social issues, such as the decay and Warren meet will remind any of activism, the rise of conser- college student or graduate of that vatism, broken families, drug use, horrible hour when sitting in a room and the dysfunctionality of the with an unfamiliar, awkward upper-middle class. weirdo. Such intensity, intimacy and real- Weisfeld's Jessica goes through ism could not have occurred in any every emotion associated with a setting without the three phenome- one-night stand with all the grace nal actors who carry the entire and discontinuity of a confuse weight of this two-and-a-half hour teenager. show. Although the plot may be hard Speaking of discontinuity, Dennis to find at first, these three make (Travis Reiff), is the most obnox- their characters so believable that by ious college frat boy-burn out the end everyoneis thinking: What hybrid ever. Constantly changing will happen when Warren's father emotions so rapidly that it's jarring. finds out? Will Jessica and Warren Dennis flips from tearing down get together? Will Dennis ever stop Warren to play wrestling him, from being a jerk? laughing to yelling. Creating such a Courtesy of Planet Ant Warren (York R. Griffith) is character makes it nearly impossible rcotics add to the charm that makes wonderfully awkward. He, like the for Reiff to evoke sympathy for him, Youth" a memorable production. others, is not stereotyped beyond a but he does. For Reiff, Dennis ar sense of familiarity. Warren is the. his apartment are like home (cot ie stolen $15,000 from his father (who guy who wants badly to be liked, be because he designed the set.) s. is obviously involved in dirty busi- and is, but still doesn't seem coin- Intimacy is a necessary ingredient h ness) because he threw Warren out fortable around others. Griffith's of the show's success, but it seems a s of the house for smoking too much character shifts from dealing with shame that the theater only holds 40 t, pot. These guys obviously come off Dennis to his crush, Jessica, to his people and looks like just another .y as losers. But, revelations about father are amazing. Using his voice tree in the downtown forest. But, their yuppie parents and their and speaking mannerism he creates that's part of the definition of "hid- e attempts to sort out their heart- for Warren three different faces and den jewel." is wrenching lives make theit worth levels. Even in his awkward charac- "This is Our Youth," runs r- sympathy. ter, through Aug. 27 at the Planet A .y The script has several thought- Griffith is entirely comfortable Theater in Hauntraiek, tickets are is provoking, but not in-your-face onstage. His love interest, Jessica $10. Call 313 365 4948 for more st messages, while also acting to show (Miriam Weisfeld), is equally as injbrmuation. Game makes 'strides' from original Well, if it isn't a good two dimen- sional platformer. When was the last time you saw one of those on a con- sole? You even get the original Strider in the Grade: A- package, a fine looking older Strider 2 platformer in its For Playslation own right, if a generation or two Capcom behind in technol- Reviewed by ogy. Daily Arts Writer It's great to Ted Watts have two parts of a series that differ sastly in their technology. Strider 2 is a great modern 2d game, with shifiing angled backgrounds and beautiful cut scene stills. With some beautiful scenes, like a cyborg mammoth sub- boss tableau somehow reminiscent of Space Harrier, the game does right by the aging Playstation. You play Strider Hiryu, a ninja-like assassin who for some reason is trying to save the world from a dark force that seems to be controlling it for the worse. Hack, slash and brutalize your way through the forces of evil. It's old school, in both versions. Once you complete the mainmis- sion of Strider 2, you even have the option of playing as a character you meet in the game, and play through as that other character. A good thing,). since the game is not very long and there are unlimited continues. This is a recent problem in Capcom games, likely a result of people finding play to be too hard. Well, you can always choose to limit yourself to the number of continues you use. The older Strider (from 1989), is harder and actually gorier than the new version. You bloodily cut characters in half, and the continues send you back in space. It's good to have this much game in one little CD case. It even has a cybernetic gorilla as a sub-boss. It's nice to see the original and the way it forms the basis for the new game. So, you get two solid games that bridge together to form one big game. Now if the games had something bor- rowed and something blue, they could aet married. DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS. 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