mber H
Friday • November 14, 1997
Lifestyles
-
■
LOVE
V-'
1111
If
1
-ALL US I DEREK DEMERE/The Battalion
Iall Voil Jpara Pannell, a senior theater arts major, practices the lead role for the Theater Arts Department’s “The Good Woman of Setzuan.”
Good Woman of Setzuan’
me
poses questions of morality
ot been clemi
een a security
The port
| the intruders
nth.
f APTAIN.
PORT TO
SUABLE
CAPTURE
|RS, AND
Ikareesh.
By Marium Mohiuddin
Staff writer
P laywrights have the capabilities to move hearts and minds
and to shape opinions. Bertolt Brecht was a German play
wright who asked the questions of life in his plays and let
theaudience answer them. His view of life was both optimistic
and pessimistic.
"The Good Woman of Setzuan” presented by the Theater Arts
partment brings to life one of these morality questions. It is a
file of a woman who is commanded by the gods to be good. In
rcturn, they will save her from prostitution and poverty.
Dr. Robert Shandley, director of “The Good Woman of Set-
Eian” and an assistant professor of German, said he chose this
play because he has studied 20th century German drama and
believes Brecht was the most influential playwright of that time.
“Brecht is one of the popular playwrights of this century,”
Khandley said. "He wrote this play when he was in exile. It
was during World War II, and he was in a different mind set
than most people. He fled Nazi Germany, and then he fled
Ulrica during the McCarthy era. He had a utopian view of
pit is political theater and something that has not been
^ The theater is not there
just to entertain us but to
teach us to behave better."
Dr. Robert Shandley
Director of 'The Good Woman of Setzuan'
lone here before.”
Shandley said the play tries to present moral questions
tbout materialism and poverty in ancient China.
“The problems he sets up are not problems in Asia,” Pannell
Id. “He put it in China so people would not concentrate on
where the play is. For Westerners and Europeans at that time,
hina was as far away as you could get. It gets us to focus on
Reissues he wants to talk about.”
Shandley said Brecht is a moralist and believes the theater
s a moral and political institution.
“The theater is not there just to entertain us but to teach us
obehave better,” Shandley said. “The moral and political les
ion is how to be good and stay good without exploitation,
feuld we be good to each other if we were starving and only a
piece of bread was separating us? The theater is not there to an
swer the question but to leave it for the audience to answer. He
leaves the audience hanging at the end.”
Susan Kelly, associate professor of theater arts, coordinator
of the theater arts program and resident costume designer, said
this is the biggest production of the semester and the costumes
enhance the actors capabilities.
“The costumes are traditional Chinese costumes,” Kelly
said. “They are mainly green-gray and blue-gray. We used a
muted color palate. The play is harsh so the clothes have to be
in cooler colors. The costumes support the actors and their
characterizations. The little details bring out the characters. It
helps to solidify the acting.”
Kelly said Brecht’s plays are set in towns that do not exist, so
the costumes are not set in a certain time.
“The costumes were researched from Chinese pho
tographs from the turn of the century,” Kelly said. “The lead
character has the nicest costume. It is richer but still sub
dued. Nothing is flashy.”
Tara Pannell, lead in “The Good Woman of Setzuan” and a
senior theater arts major, said this is the first lead she has got
ten and has been preparing for this role since the beginning of
the semester.
“I play two characters, Shen Te (a woman) and Shui Ta (a
man),” Pannell said. “I am on the stage the whole time so it can
be difficult, and it is very emotional. It is hard to pull off a male
character. There is one part in the play where I have to change
between the two characters on stage. It is difficult because I
have to say a monologue at the same time with emotion.”
Pannell said to prepare for the role, she used instances from
her life.
“In acting you use emotional memory which is taking
things from your life,” Pannell said. "But you cannot use your
grandfather’s death because those emotions do not relate. It
was easy to portray these emotions because all women have
been through situations of unfairness in society. The other
actors also do an incredible job, so it is easy to react and work
off of them.”
Pannell said playing a man was difficult because she had to
change her actions.
“Playing the woman was not hard because I could relate to
her wanting to please everyone,” Pannell said. “It was hard to re
late to the man because he is hard, mean and unattached. It was
weird because as the woman, yoq care so much about a charac
ter, and then you have to turn around and be unemotional.”
Pannell said she turned to many sources to aid her in de
veloping her male character.
“I was told to watch The Godfather and to pay close atten
tion to Michael Corleone,” she said. “I watched him because
his mannerisms are deliberate, and he does not move much.
“It was a struggle playing a man. I had to change everything
from the way I walk to how I smoke a cigarette.”
“The Good Woman of Setzuan” will be playing at Rudder Fo
rum from Nov. 13-15 and Nov. 19-22. Tickets are available at the
MSG Box Office.
A New Breed
of Laughs
‘South Park’ proves to be
more than a comedy of
flatulence and cursing
Travis Irby
Columnist
A merica has a new bunch of antiso
cial animated icons to look up to —
the youngsters of the TV series
“South Park.”
They make Bart Simpson look like a boy
scout, and Beavis and Butthead look like a
couple of small timers when it comes to
these juvenile delinquents.
Kenny, Cartman, Kyle and Stan are the
stars of “South Park,” Comedy Central’s
new animated series.
The foul-mouthed quartet has worked
their way into America’s heart, courtesy of the
show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
The show revolves around the adven
tures of the aforementioned 8-year-olds
while inhabiting the small mountain town
of South Park, Colo.
Here Kenny, Stan, Kyle and Cartman
deal with a variety of issues, such as aliens,
tolerance, euthanasia and celebrity wor
ship, with the vocabulary of a sailor and
the sophomoric wisdom of a child.
“South Park’”s animation style looks like
a bunch of cardboard cutouts pasted on
construction paper.
The simplistic style makes “Beavis and
Butthead” look like a restored version of
“Fantasia.”
With its simple, unexaggerated style,
“South Park” offers one of the most com
pelling and complex shows on television
today.
One of the show’s strong points is its
unflinching look at the vernacular of to
day’s youth.
“Kick ass” is a favorite saying of the show’s
foursome — and that is one of the tamer say
ings of the lovable scamps.
The show has more censorings than a
Springer episode.
Sure the lovable cherubs of “South Park”
curse a blue streak, but they do it in a way
that illustrates concern for their comrades.
The show’s stars each represent a different
segment of society.
Kyle is the only Jewish kid in South Park,
and he must deal with the pressures coming
from religious conflicts.
Stan, the resident genius of the gang,
must deal with his romantic feelings for
his classmate Wendy.
Every time he gets close to her he
throws up.
Then there is muffled mouth Kenny, who
speaks as if his mom was Charlie Brown’s
teacher.
Every episode, Kenny experiences one vi
olent death after another.
In one episode, the Mir space station
crashed right on top of the orange-hooded
youth.
Cartman is a violent, ill-tempered fat
boy, who must deal with a smothering
mother and a speech impediment as bad
as Kenny’s.
These lovable tykes use gentle humor to
deal with today’s societal conflicts. The is
sue of tolerance was addressed when Stan
found out his dog was homosexual. Not
many shows would address the “pow-
derkeg” of homosexual housepets.
There was an episode dealing with the
ramifications of genetic engineering. Ge
netic horrors like evil, mutant clones were
shown, but positive aspects like animals
with four butts were given a spotlight. Not
since The Island of Dr. Moreau, which the
episode spoofed nicely, has genetic engi
neering been handled with such dignity.
When the children have trouble dealing
with these problems, like a modern-day
Aristotle in an apron, Chef is there to help.
Voiced by Isaac Hayes, the crooner of such
70s hits like “Shaft,” Chef serves the kids
their school lunches, while dispensing ad
vice in the form of songs like “I Wanna
Make Sweet Love To You Woman” and
“Love Gravy.”
There is a host of other characters in
cluding a psychotic teacher who speaks
through a hand puppet, a duplicitous
mayor, Stan’s mean, metal-mouthed older
sister and even Jesus is on hand with his
own cable access show.
This small, fictional town is a micro
cosm of the world.
It is a great country when a sense of hu
mor that can get someone fired from a job
or thrown in jail can also make a million
bucks. Credit Matt Stone and Trey Parker
for coming up with the best low-brow
comedy brainstorm since the phrase “pull
my finger.”
In the heart-moving words of Eric Cart
man, “Follow your dreams. They can come
true. I’m living proof of this. Beefcake.
BEEEFCAAKE!!”
PICK UP YOUR
COPY TODAY.
1997-98 Texas A&M Campus Directory
NOW AVAILABLE
D EPARTMENTS: You may charge and
pick them up at 015 Reed McDonald.
Cost Is $3 per copy. (Please bring a work
request with your part number, FAMIS
account number, account name, billing
address, contact person and phone num
ber where the directories should be
billed.)
S TUDENTS: If you ordered a 1997-98
Campus Directory, stop by room 015
(basement) of the Reed McDonald
Building from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday-Friday to pick up your copy.
(Please bring Student ID.)
If you did not order a Campus Directory
as a fee option when you registered for
Fall ’97 classes, you may purchase a copy
for $3 plus tax in room 015 Reed McDon
ald (by cash, check or credit card).
The Texas A&M University Directory includes listings of departments, administrators,
faculty, staff, students, other information about A&M, plus yellow pages.
mr, nm •nm-’ mr “«««" mr
On sale this week at the
MSC
*.€«FiC«
MSC Rudder Box Office
• MSC Film Society — Raiders of the Lost Ark Fri, Nov 14, 7 p.m.,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Fri, Nov 14.9:30 p.m. and
Air Force One Sat, Nov 15, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
• Theatre Arts — The Good Woman Of Setzuan Fri, Nov 14, Sat, Nov 15
and Wed, Nov 19 thru Sat, Nov 22, 8 p.m.
• Omega Psi Phi — Apollo Night Sat, Nov 15, 7:30 p.m.
• MSC OPAS Jr— Mr. Taps Sun, Nov 16, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
• bvso — “Carmina Burana” Mon, Novi7,8 p.m.
845-1234 or on the net!
http://boxoffice.tamu.edu
(K Call lo arrange for special needs.
AggieBucks accepted..
.tmwni, .gJMWPn. <«SSS**M
TBlatk
jfbrwit
Make Reservations
NOW
for Thanksgiving, after
"The Game” party &
graduation
Black Forest Inn
874-2407
2:00 - 9:00pm
Hwy 30
Wed. - Sat.
OFF CAMPUS AGGIES
AGGIE BONFIRE 1997
Last Bonfire Cut & Hog Log
November 15th & 16th
Meet in the back left corner of Zachary
Parking Lot (across from where Bonfire
burns) at 8:00am.
Saturday is Last Cut & Sunday is Hog Log.
Everyone is welcomed & needed.
Stack schedules will also be handed out.
For More Info, Call:
Derek Landry (Yellowpot) ...268-7250
Mike AhIemeier(Crew Chief)...822-9596 ext. 253
David Tyner (Crew Chief)...778-0617
What:
When:
Where:
Note:
Ladies 0 rBs
JL-j tws
TUXEDO RENTALS fr« m *49.95
FREE
SHOES, VEST, & GROOM’S RENTAL
(Ask us for details)
At the Texas Ave. entrance of A&M
Open Weeknights until 7 p.m., Saturday until 5 p.m.
764-8289