The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, January 23; 2009 - 5
Paying homage to a
rewarding connection
By BEN VAN WAGONER
Daily FineArts Editor
InOctober2006,1,000students
spent the night camped out in
front of the Power Center just for
the slim chance of getting tickets
to a Shakespeare performance. If
this sounds implausible, it is - for
any troupe other than the Royal
Shakespeare Company. But after
all, the RSC is the stuff of which
dreams are made, and the compa-
ny's three residencies at the Uni-
versity have been, almost without
question, the height of artistic
excellence at the University in
the past decade.
This Saturday, the Ford Hon-
ors Program will hold an event
celebrating the RSC's history of
performance at the University.
"These performances marked
the University in the world of
theatre," English Prof. Ralph
Williams said. "(The historic
cycle of first residency) was one
of the great productions of the
century."
Williams has been deeply
involved with the RSC'residen-
cies and is a personal friend of
Michael Boyd, the company's
artistic director. This Saturday
the collaboration between the two
dramatic giants will be honored
at the Ford Honors Program, an
annual event that recognizes out-
standing contribution to the arts.
"It's a sensational cheer for
what three great institutions can
do that no one of them could have
done on their own," Williams
said.
The performances were also
very much collaborative efforts:
They were produced by the
RSC, paid for by the University
and presented by the University
Musical Society. The University's
cooperation with the RSC was so
successful that its blueprint has
been used by the company in its
other partnerships.
"It's been stupendous for the
University," said Williams. "(It
is) a relationship which has been
mutually berleficial."
Observant art lovers may
notice that the program is
strangely out of place in January
- it's normally held in the rosier
month of May. Why the shift?
Simply to allow student the-
ater enthusiasts (and Williams
enthusiasts) access to the event.
The move clearly speaks to the
nature of the program. The resi-
dencies, and Williams's involve-
ment in them, have been in the
spirit of whole-hearted collabo-
ration - not just between com-
pany and university, but between
performers, professors, students
and community.
Ford Honors Program
honoring the Royal
Shakespeare Company,
Michael Boyd and
Ralph Williams
Saturday at 6 p.m.
Al Rackham
$20 fat sudents
On this point, Williams could
hardly restrain his enthusiasm.
Williams praised the pro-
longed nature of the residencies,
suggesting that the duration and
the additional programs made it
possible for a real dialogue.
"It was not just one concert;
people came in and sustained a
presence. (Audiences) talked with
others about it, thought about it.
(The plays) became a way for soci-
ety to talk about many of its cen-
tral issues."
Not only that, but the pres-
ence of RSC members like Pat-
rick Stewart and Harriet Walter
(Emily Tallis, "Atonement") at
everyday locales like the Ann
Arbor Brewing Company and the
State Street Starbucks gave the-
ater enthusiasts enough excite-
ment to last for months.
"They demystified excellence
for students," he said. "Seeing
them on stage, they're like..." Wil-
liams brought his voice to a whis-
per, "...gods." But RSC members'
involvement in University pro-
grams and their presence around
campus gave students a new
perspective on the possibility of
achieving true excellence - on
the mortality of the gods, as Wil-
liams would have it.
For all the celebrated success
of the residencies, Williams is
still hoping to achieve something
more. The Royal Shakespeare
Company has not made a formal
agreement with the University
to return. Although, according
to Williams, both institutions are
happy about their collaboration,
there are no guarantees. Instead,
the professor is proposing that
the University continue to build a
reputation beyond the RSC, and,
perhaps, beyond the football sta-
dium.
"This is a hope of mine," Wil-
liams said. "The University, in its
continued relations with alumni
and with the world, is known
much as the block 'M,' as the sta-
dium. That's good in my view,
but also, students typically love
(Michigan) because it lit up their
minds."
Programs like the residencies,
Williams proposes, are the key to
advancing the University's intel-
lectual strength and reputation.
"I should like to see us devel-
op a rhythm of residencies each
year - one year an American
(company), every second or third
a company like the RSC, a trans-
atlantic group," he said. "It is
deeply important to me that the
University present this possibil-
ity as well as the possibilities of
the stadium."
With figures like Ralph Wil-
liams and - as Williams names
him -"virtual godof the theater"
Michael Boyd involved, it seems
there are few things beyond the
reach of the University. We, as
the audience, can only be over-
joyed at what the RSC has helped
accomplish and hope ardently for
a future collaboration.
We will get a small taste: The
Ford Honors Program will fea-
ture a performance "by members
of the RSC of a scene from "Henry
V," and that, in its way, must be
celebration enough.
"I have candy. Come into my van."
Naturally goo
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r a tremendously of touring and critical acclaim
behind him, Vernon delivers a
[ccessful 2008, four-song EP to start 2009 off
with a bang - albeit a hushed and
1 Iver defends its pensive one, as only Bon Iver can
give us.
aim with new EP Blood Bank is short and sweet,
comprised of what appears to be
By MIKE KUNTZ an assemblage of remnants from
Daily Arts Writer the For Emma sessions. In this
case, the "outtakes" are a wel-
u were planning on becom- comed companion to the master-
bearded indie-folk artist at ful album, serving to enhance
int in your listeners' understandings of the
he time to somewhat enigmatic Vernon's
out some emotional inner-workings. On
chops is both Blood Bank and For Emma,
definitely BonIver there's an almost claustropho-
Given the Blood Bank bic sense of being enveloped in
rise of hir- pine needles and endless for-
ts like Iron Jagiagawar est - but for some reason, it still
ine, Fleet feels warm and fuzzy. Paired with
and Bon Iver, being a freak- the suppressed urgency of Ver-
is apparently all the rage. non's multi-tracked voice, there
in Vernon (the man behind is a unique honesty to Bon Iver's
in Iver moniker) emerged sound that's as freeing as it is
ar with the national Jag- gripping.
ar release of his debut Beginning with the title track,
For Emma Forever Ago, the familiar aesthetic ofFor Emma
sly affecting set of songs returns, with a heartbeat-strum of
organic, whispery quali- guitar and sparse drumming sur-
uld only have been created rounding Vernon's ghastly voice.
ecluded Northern Wiscon- "Beach Baby" comes next, with the
bin. Now, with a full year soft percussion of acoustic strings
and dreary slide guitar echoing
more patient lyrics like, "Only
hold 'til your coffee warms / But
don't hurry and speed." Percus-
sive piano strikes jolt the EP back
to life in "Babys," and are warmly
enveloped by the chorus: "Summer
comes /to multiply."
The first three tracks are where
Bon Iver shines brightest. But then
there's "Words." Like the bastard
child of a T-Pain single, Auto-Tune
reigns over this last track. While
the exaggerated experimenta-
tion with the synthetic may have
worked on, most famously, Kanye's
808s & Heartbreak, it doesn't fit
here.
Though "Words" will most
likely leave the Bon Iver faithful
scratching their heads (or beards,
as the case may be), its difficult
beauty shows potential for prom-
ising future experimentation. Nev-
ertheless, it's doubtful that the last
moments of Blood Bank suggest a
direction Vernon wil pursue in
the future. The trademark cozi-
ness of Bon Iver's sleeping bag of
sound is best kept out in the woods
where it belongs - and after two
solid releases with the rustic aes-
thetic under his belt, Vernon prob-
ably realizes that.
A failed act of 'Defiance'
By SHERI JANKELOVITZ
DailyArts Writer
"Defiance" tells the remarkable
true story of the Bielski brothers,
Belarussians who
hid over 1,200
Jews for sev-
eral years during Defiance
World War IH.
The film opens At Quality16
with the brothers and Showcase
- Tuvia (Daniel Paramount
Craig, "Quantum Vantage
of Solace",) Zus
(Liev Schreiber,
"The Omen") and Asael (Jamie
Bell, "Billy Elliot") - returning
home to find their parents and
neighbors slaughtered by Nazi
officers. Fueled by rage, the broth-
ers take to the woods and eventu-
ally find themselves charged with
guarding the lives of other Jew-
ish exiles, whose origins remain
largely unknown.
ThoughCraig'sperformancehas
beenthe most heralded, it's Schrie-
ber who gives the most fleshed-out
delivery. His desire to save Jews is
eclipsed only by his desire to kill
Germans, placing him in direct
contrast to Tuvia, who believes
the focus of their mission should
be survival, not murder. The strife
between the two siblings becomes
the film's main conflict, and for
some time it seems to be less about
Nazis versus Jews and more about
brother versus brother. Eventually,
the intense competition between
Tuvia a
as Zus
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and sad
and Zus comes to a head The film trips up in its inability
abandons the forest exiles to focus more on its title subject:
on the side of the Russian defiant Jews who actually fought
back against the Nazis (and pretty
s not to say that Nazis don't successfully too). They forged a
to play sporadically. Brief life within the woods that resem-
rowing action scenes show bles nothing of the life they had
p being bombed and shot been forced to leave behind. In the
3erman soldiers. Still, the camp, those who were once par-
ma comes from the scenes ents and professionals join togeth-
the camp. The film sets up er as freedom fighters.
subplots - a woman trying if the film chose to devote more
her pregnancy, a possible time to the inspiring resistance,
n within the camp - but, perhaps there wouldn't be such a
large cast, it has trouble disconnect between the charac-
ing them thoroughly. ters and the audience. "Defiance"
, "Defiance" chooses to should be a story of the resiliency
n the romances between of the human spirit; when the
nd Chaya (Mia Wasikows- film focuses on resistance and
's "In Treatment"), and survival, it works. But, frustrat-
tnd Lilka (Alexa Davalos, ingly, it refuses to dwell there
ist"). The love stories seem for too long, choosing instead to
become something akin to any
run-of-the-mill action film dotted
with shallow romance. Director
inspiring tale Edward Zwick ("Blood Diamond"
and "The Last Samurai"), may be
:f humanity to blame: his penchant for action
often sidetracks a strong focus on
:omes a mere real people.
Though some of the film seems
action flcck. too grandiose to be authentic,
the true impact of the story fully
emerges at the end. Because of
these brothers, 1,200 Jews were
rimarily Hollywood-spon- saved from the Nazis. Their surviv-
ove; the studio heads prob- al story is far more awe-inspiring
ured that most audiences than any big-budget Hollywood
need some good romance action scene could ever be. Unfor-
n all the scenes of violence tunately, "Defiance" fell victim to
ness. this inevitable pitfall.
cOURTESY OF UNIVERSITY MUSICALSOCIETY
English Prof. Ralph Williams has cultivated a close relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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PREVIEW OF 'GILGAMESH'
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