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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2004)
YOUR SNOW BOARDING HEADQUARTERS www.bor9ssnowl101nlsho11.ciHn 13th & Lawrence • Eugene • 683-1300 mmn Giyndi, Coathead, Last Chapter, U^ty litter Hard Rock $5 at the door, 8:oopm ■ Saturday ■ loules Graves ERhythmethod, Freedom Power Folk $10 advance, $12 door, 8:00 pm Royer dyne £ The Peacemakers, lohn Shipe £ The Scapegoats $10 advance, $10 door, 8:00 pm ■ Wednesday ■ Mates of State, HawnayTroof, Royue Wave Indie Rock $10 advance, $10 door, 8:00 pm ■ Thursday, Feb. 5 ■ An Acoustic Evenmy with Floater i $10 advance, $10 door, 8:00 pm Community Canter tor the Pertannfcty Arts ■ Friday ■ ■ Monday ■ Rock Acoustic Rock AH Ages Welcome • 687 2746 Twists on Greek classic make Thread7 Second Season presents an update of the Greek myth of the Minotaur in ‘A Thread in the Dark’ starting Feb. 4 By Ryan Nyburg Senior Pulse Reporter Sometimes, with a little rework ing, classic tales can have relevance to modern political situations. This is the common theme reappearing in the University Theatre Depart ment's Second Season productions. Meant as an outlet for small-cast productions and experimental plays, Second Season productions are performed in the "black box" Arena Theatre in Villard Hall. Fall term's production of "Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief" was a feminist reworking of a Shake speare's "Othello." This term's pro duction has a similar take on a dif ferent kind of tale. A new take of the Greek myth of the Minotaur, "A Thread in the Dark" by Hella Haase, also changes the perspective from a male to a fe male lead, but with a different pur pose in mind. Lauren Wimer Photographer (Left to right) Margie Kment, Connie Hymer and Erica Smith perform a scene from their upcoming play "A Thread in the Dark," which opens at the Arena Theatre Feb. 4. "In this working, the Minotaur represents those secret fears that people have and that politicians ex ploit," director Elizabeth Helman said. "It really makes it relevant to today's political situation." Helman has directed a number of productions for the theater depart ment, such as "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," as well as productions for children through the Mad Duckling Theatre. She decided to put on "Thread" after reading it in a West ern European theater class. "It's an obscure Dutch play that was first performed in Holland in 1962," Helman said. "I think this will only be its first or second per formance in the United States." Cast members were also interest ed with the subtext of the play and the possibilities for political com mentary that it holds. "1 think it's great to come at a classical Greek story from a such different perspective," actor and University senior Eli Levine said. "It's interesting to show a take on a famous myth in a way that makes it still relevant to today's politics," ac tress and first-year graduate student Connie Hymer said. "This play deals with how governments use fear as a way to control, how they create an en emy to keep people subservient." The original myth told the story of a half-man, half-bull called the Mino taur that was kept in an inescapable maze called the Labyrinth on the is land of Crete. The hero Theseus entered the maze and killed the crea ture and was able to find his way out using a ball of thread given to him by Ariadne, daughter of the king of Crete In Haase's retelling of the myth, Ari adne is the central character. Her deci sion to expose the truth about the Minotaur, which her father uses to keep his subjects frightened, has be come the central source of drama. "I love the way all the classical structures and archetypes are used to this end," Helman said. "I was also drawn to the strong female pro tagonist. The character of Ariadne becomes a form of political activist. The play also raises many interest ing question, such as what is the rel evance art has to politics." Working with a play which much of the audience will not be familiar with also gives Second Season the freedom from any preconceived no tions, Helman said. The black-box style of the Arena Theatre, where the seats rise above the sparsely decorat ed stage, also allows the seven-per son cast to be close to the audience. And over the course of the play's six performances, the cast is looking forward to the challenges the pro duction presents. "A Thread in the Dark" will be playing Feb. 4-7 and Feb. 12-14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the EMU Ticket Office. Prices are $4 for students; $5 for seniors, faculty and staff; and $6 for the general public. Contact the senior Pulse reporter at ryannyburg@dailyenierald.com. Mario and Luigi reunite for enjoyable plot At long last, Nintendo has paired up the Mario Brothers again for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga By Travis Willse Editorial Editor In an Apollonian blend of the fa miliar and the foreign, the sacred and the pro fane, Nin tendo has crafted a _ unique gaming ex perience in the recently released role-playing game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. GAME REVIEW First off, Mario & Luigi is just that: It's the first Mario game in a long, long time to feature both brothers (with the exception of rac ers like Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and the Super Smash Brothers fight ing game series). And the game reaches much deeper than control ling two identical and separate characters: Players use the pair in tandem, utilizing each brother's unique abilities to surmount obsta cles. Need to get to a high ledge? Use Luigi's high jump. Need to light a fire? Use Mario's firebrand (fire el emental) power. The combinations of abilities are robust, and players will have to learn and use all of them throughout the game. The convoluted but enjoyable plot is definitely a variant on a fa miliar theme. During the introduc tion, on an otherwise idle day in the Mushroom Kingdom's court, an emissary from the neighboring BeanBean Kingdom — presumably, these non-democratic governments haven't faced regime change — vis its under the guise of diplomacy, only to steal Princess Peach's voice and disappear, replacing it with an "explosive vocabulary." Mario and Luigi set out to the BeanBean King dom (with perennial Mario villain Bowser, who briefly teams up with the duo) to steal it back. Once there, they get entangled in an offbeat, epic opera of good versus evil, entertain ing side games, goomba-smashing and occasional cross-dressing, all centered around control of the pow erful Beanstar artifact. Combat in the game mostly fol lows the generic RPG formula: Dur ing each battle, Mario, Luigi and their enemies take turns attacking, until one side's characters all run out of hit points (health). Nintendo af fords small, very welcome breaks from the traditional turn-based for mula: By pressing buttons at just the right moment, the brothers can do more damage with their attacks and avoid (or even counter) their ene mies' attacks. And by expending so called Brothers points, the two brothers can team up and execute a powerful attack that requires precise button timing. As Mario and Luigi fight more battles, they gain experi ence points, paving the way for in creased power, defense, speed and more. The game proceeds at the per fect pace, too; the brothers pick up skills speedily enough to keep play fresh, but not so quickly the player can't keep pace. Players can cus tomize their heroes, too, by purchas ing various clothes and "badges," each of which offer various offensive and defensive benefits. For those familiar with the expan sive Mario canon, exploring the BeanBean Kingdom and spotting similarities to the more familiar Mushroom Kingdom proves very re warding. Familiar enemies, like bob ombs, spinies and cheep-cheeps, roam the land and seascapes, but so do tanoombas (goombas with rac coon-like ears and tails, a la Super Courtesy Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the latest Nintendo game to feature the brothers, has some features from games past including yoshis and Birdo. Mario Bros. 3's tanooki suit) and troopeas (variants of the Mushroom Kingdom's koopa troopas). Great cameos and nods to earlier Mario games are ubiquitous, too: A mission has Mario and Luigi collect beanfruits to feed to yoshis (di nosaurs who first appeared in Super Mario World), Birdo of Super Mario Bros. 2 lore shows up in side-splitting plot-twists, and even primary-colored viruses from the sublime puzzle game Dr. Mario make an appearance. The recommended Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, which was released in November, makes an excellent addi tion to a Game Boy Advance collec tion, even for RPG greenhorns. Contact the editorial editor at traviswillse@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. Oregon Daily Emerald/ADVERTISING Advertise,.Get results. Call 346.37 1 2 |
