The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 5A

MT&D to perform
play-within-play

"You. Shall Not. PASS!"
Immersive eckonin

ByJULIAN AIDAN
For the Daily
After a nearly five-year hiatus,
38 Studios has exploded onto the
2012 gaming scene with the hard-
hitting multi-platform action RPG
"Kingdoms of
Amalur: Reck-
oning." The
massive world King of
of Amalur,
whose story is Amalur:
" the product of Reckoning
famed novel-
ist R.A. Sal- PC, PS3andX-
vatore's mind Box 360
with artwork Electronic Arts
by "Spawn" and
"Spider-Man"
artist Todd McFarlane, is opened
to players determined to master
its vast lore and lands.
The protagonist is designed
by the player and as players gain
levels and experience, either
through combat or by complet-
ing the many quests available in
each of the different areas, they
acquire the ability to place points
into three skill trees, which
roughly correspond with the
archetypal mage, thief and war-
rior classes. Players are rewarded
for pursuing any combination of
character types with "Destiny

Cards,
tional
robust
option
The
thrust
and pt
on an e
covert
The
enough
may ot
ed to t
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less inl
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the nec
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rather
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Is
or.
The
polishe
few an
consist

" which provide an addi- camera angles and the occa-
layer of complexity to the sional "sticking" of characters
character-customization in invisible boxes, both of which
s provided. are simply cosmetic issues. Some
character finds themself aspects of gameplay can wear
into a world rife with war on the patience of adventurers,
wer struggles, embarking including the occasionally infu-
expansive adventure to dis- riating lockpicking minigames
heir destiny. necessary to obtain treasure and
game unfolds at a quick the quest log's tendency to never
pace to keep those who quite deplete.
herwise lose interest rivet- The combat system is extreme-
heir chairs, but it provides ly entertaining at every level of
opportunities to learn about difficulty, regardless of playstyle.
r while helping its hap- The massive, slightly cartoony
habitants. More often than world feels like it's at the players'
ae will realize that several disposal, with difficulty always
have been spent seeking pushing their decision making
cessary reagents for one of and encouraging them to try dif-
ree crafting professions or ferent approaches. The leveling
ng some auxiliary plotline system promotes multiple viable
than actually progressing choices for character progression
he main campaign. and doesn't feel as foreboding and
nebulous as that of some other
games.
The game promises upwards
this real life of 50 hours of gameplay for any-
f t y one willing and able to brave its
just fantasy? untamed expanses. With hun-
dreds of quests, incredible pro-
duction values, innumerable
options for character customiza-
game was released as a tion and a story Tolkien would be
ed work, and its bugs are proud of, "Reckoning" delivers
id far between, primarily a familiar yet fresh experience
ing of some unfavorable across three platforms.

Humor to hit
Mendelssohn
with 'Noises Off'
By ANNA SADOVSKAYA
DailyFineArtsEditor
If you think "Inception" com-
manded a novel approach to
entertainment, Michael Frayn's
"Noises Off"
may impress Noises Off
with its own
play-with- Tomorrow at
in-a-play 7:30 p.m., Friday
dynamic. and Saturday
The School at 8p.m. and
of Music, Sunday at 2 p.m.
Theatre & L
Dance is Lydia Mendelssohn
presenting Theatre
the come- From $10
dic '80s play
starting tomorrow.
Director and MT&D
Prof. John Neville-Andrews
explained that the show
revolves around a group of nine
actors in the midst of rehears-
ing their upcoming play. As the
performance evolves, "Noth-
ing On," the play-within-a-play,
begins to unravel as each actor
deals with personal drama.
At one point, the set flips
around and the show becomes a
portrayal of the backstage dra-
matics that ensue as "Nothing
On" begins its stage run.

"They've been on the road
for a month and things have
deteriorated," Neville-Andrews
said. "It's alot of fun (seeing the)
backstage. It's a lot of miming,
because obviously they can't
talk, so it's a lot of people walk-
ing around doing things with-
out talking. It's rather funny
because then another actor gets
involved, people are throwing
things at each other, and some-
one's always trying to find the
whiskey bottle."
Despite having taken part in
a multitude of other plays and
performances, Neville-Andrews
remains loyal to "Noises Off,"
and he said this play was one of
his favorites to direct.
"I always come back to this
play, even though it's incredibly
difficult - the timing, the pre-
cision. It needs to be extremely
precise or it doesn't hold togeth-
er," he said.
The difficulty of "Noises Off,"
according to Neville-Andrews,
comes from its dual-acting, its
set and its comedic timing. Each
actor must play two characters,
so they're essentially putting on
two plays. This entails a preci-
sion in all comedic interludes
and nuances so as not to confuse
the audience. The set, composed
of a split level and seven doors,
requires navigational timing as
well as quick spatial recogni-
tion.
"We were fortunate in that

they built the set for us early
and we were able to work on
the set from day one," Neville-
Andrews said. "Actors can't
really rehearse this play with
the take on the floor."
Despite the play being in 1982
- the time' it originally ran -
Neville-Andrews emphasized
that the comedy translates eas-
ily and audiences today will
enjoy it as much as in the past.
"We're going back in time to
where things are very different,
but it is an out-bound comedy
which is something important
and rare this day and age in
theater," Neville-Andrews said.
"We (as an audience) are not
being asked to think a great
deal. We're being asked to col-
laborate and enjoy what we see
in front of us."
Neville-Andrews added that
theater comedy provides audi-
ences with something that they
wouldn't be able to get from a
movie or Netflix binge, provid-
ing a live connection in which
audience members are able to
interact with the show on stage.
"You're obviously making a
contribution when you're in the
theater. Here (in the theater) we
can make them cry, make them
feel mad or make them laugh
their backsides off," Neville-
Andrews said. "There's contact
between the theater people and
the audience, which always has
to be taken into consideration."


Conference to investigate
dance and LGBT identity

HBO
"I choose you, Pikachu!"
Getting into the'Game'

By ALICIA ADAMCZYK
Daily Arts Writer
Dance is a beautiful, inspiring
art form - it is a physical mani-
festation of our innermost desires
and emo-
tions, a way Meaning and
for our bod-
ies to express Makings of
what we oth- Queer Dance
erwise would,
or could, not. Tomorrow
For many through
people, it is a Saturday
sanctuary of Various locations
creativity and
self-explora- From$65 -
tion.
But for some people, dance
- especially ballet - can be an
intimidating practice. With this
in mind, the "Meanings and Mak-
ings of Queer Dance" conference
was established to help alleviate
the pressures of traditional bal-
let classes for LGBT individuals,
as well as to explore the ways in
which dance and gender relate to
each other on a larger scale.
"Meanings and Makings of
Queer Dance" is a special-topics
conference led by the Congress
on Research in Dance, a non-
profit organization focused on
uniting dance professionals. The
conference will bring individu-
als involved in LGBT studies and
dance studies together in Ann
Arbor to see how the two disci-
plines can work with and benefit
from each other. Developed by co-
chairs Clare Croft and Peter Spar-
ling, the conference will showcase
performers, panels, workshops,
movies and discussions on dance
and gender relations.
Croft, a School of Music, The-
atre & Dance associate professor
and post-doctoral fellow in dance,
said she was inspired by two previ-
ous conferences at the University,
"Queer Shame" and "Doing Queer
Studies Now." She wanted to host
the conference to start a dialogue
about the place of gender in dance

while establishing the importance "(Dance) is a way ... not to just
of dance in other academic disci- learn about something you don't
plines. know, but to actually experience
"While Michigan's dance another world and have to think
department is extremely strong differently, and I think that that's
and well thought of, dance isn't potentially really powerful," she
necessarily something people said. "To recognize with whom
think of as being important for you identify with, with whom do
the University," Croft said. "Part you not identify with, what does
of the idea was thinking about that mean about who you are."
a topic a bunch of people care The conference has four main
about in a range of disciplines components: dance workshops,
and bringing all of these people paper panels, screen-dance view-
who are interested in queer stud- ing and live performances. Cho-
ies together inside of the dance reographer and MT&D visiting
department." dance instructor Andee Scott will
Croft explained that though be teaching a workshop at the
there is a stereotype about peo- conference titled "Gay Ballet,"
ple within the arts identifying as which aims to provide asettingfor
LGBT, she wants to investigate the members of the LGBT community
full spectrum of gender and sexu- to learn ballet without the tradi-
.ality present within the dance tional gender expectations of the
community. dance.
Scott said she thought of the
idea for "Gay Ballet" a number of
B ranch outand years ago, after friends expressed
an interest in ballet but were too
try 'Gay Ballet.' intimidated to attend regular
classes.
"Ballet is very traditional in
many ways," Scott said. "There
"There's a lot of homophobia are a lot of structures and social
in the way that people talk about pressures set up around ballet
dance," Croft said. "That men are and the teaching of ballet and the
supposedly more effeminate in watching of ballet, so this was an
dance, which is not true - there's opportunity to make it accessible
a huge range of masculinity and to everybody. It wasn't that only
femininity in dance .. I think if the gays could come, but it was kind of
only way you can imagine a bunch our joke that gays were prioritized
of people coming together is in in this situation."
male-female partnerships, then Scott said the conference is
that really limits your options as important because it creates a dis-
an artist." course for people to question who
"If part of the work of art is to they are and what their role is in
figure out how to think differ- society.
ently and think broadly, it seems "I don't want to make it too
that thinking about queer ideas overblown, but it's about talking
and queer politics might be a way about queerness and understand-
to just see the possibilities in the ing what goes on in dance and
dance space really differently," those questions around 'what is
she added. queer dance?' "she said. "I think
According to Croft, dance can that there's also this kind of 'call-
be a haven for the LGBT commu- ing it what it is' kind of a thing and
nity because it allows people to creating a space for a potentially
come together and get a sense of marginalized population. It just
their true identities. opens a conversation."

By ANNA SADOVSKAYA
DailyFineArtsEditor
At first, I was skeptical: Con-
sidering my already-draining
love affair with T, I wasn't too
excited by the prospect of add-
ing another show to my weekly
lineup. But after serious thought
and even more serious pressure
from friends, I heeded the siren
call of a lazy weekend and began
watching "Game of Thrones."
Before starting the now-infa-
mous HBO series, I was young,
naive. I wasn't prepared for the
in-depth soul-searching that
would result from hours of a
nonstop "Thrones" marathon.
For others coming into the game
late, a warning: there are spoil-3
ers below. .
The first episode started inno-
cently enough: a mass murder
of wildlings (the northernmost
human inhabitants in the world
of "Game of Thrones"). And then
a few men of a special guard, the
Night's Watch, are killed by said
"murdered" wildlings - though
one guard was spared for rea-
sons unknown. Then, Eddard
Stark (Sean Bean, "Lord of The
Rings"), lord of the northern
state of Winterfell, kills that lone
survivor for deserting. It was an
eventful 15 minutes.
I was overwhelmed not only
by the amount of action, but by
how quickly the series had estab-
lished death as a major motif.
Throughout ensuing episodes,
characters die left and right:
people you want to see live, sol-
diers who don't deserve to be
axed, honorable men and women
who fight for their beliefs. You
can't assume main characters
are untouchable: No one is safe.
This brings an aspect of vulner-
ability and reality to the fantas-
tical show. Warlords and kings

alike a
nience
Despite
connec
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"I'll m
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The
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re trampled at the conve- er. Ideally, everything should
of conniving characters. have a purpose - no small
e their status, wealth and action should be overlooked or
tions, main characters thrown into an episode at ran-
led off before I could say, dom. Where some series fail and
iss you, Boromir-I-mean- forget the errant stumble of a
character, "Game of Thrones"
thing that kept me from utilizes every lurch and brings
up into a ball of depres- it to a satisfying conclusion, pro-
as the unwavering per- ceeding to use that as a starting
ies of the remaining point for the next bend in the
ters. Without skipping a story.
Game of Thrones" buffers While character elements
aths with an overwhelm- and story development won
mount of bravery and over the critics, all it took for
eadednessi villains and me was the fateful first glance
alike continue on their into Robb Stark's eyes. Despite
without yield or doubt. all the money and time that the
en as young as 9-year-old writers, producers and directors
Stark (Maisie Williams) invested, I only needed to see his
.0-year-old Bran Stark copper-brown hair and scruffy
Hempstead Wright, "The beard to fall head-over-throne
ning,") courageously play for him. In fact, many of the
appy hands they're dealt characters caught my eye as the
than crumble to pieces at show went on - the naturally
misfortune. The queen's good looks of the actors mixed
r/lover pushes you out a with the impeccably smooth
w and you lose the use of personas they embody kept me
gs? Learn to ride a horse a clicking to the next episode as
,months later. Your father soon as I finished the last.
eheaded in front of the When I finally reached the
King's Court? Masquer- finale, I found myself in tears. As
a boy and take a casual I sobbed at the unfairness and
wn to the North Wall. cruelty of fate, I realized how
empty my life was. How brave
have I been? How adventurous?
Where is my life realistically
obb Stark is headed: to the King's Landings
of our world, or the proverbial
exy as hell. North Wall? I want to travel to
Pentos and ride with the Dothra-
ki. I want to join Robb Stark's
army as they move to King's
th and bravery aside, what Landing, even if my motives
kept me gripped by the aren't exactly war-oriented.
was the detail. The plot And please, for the love of the
:ps and turns everywhere, Old Gods, give me the chance to
like many shows that lose push someone like King Joffrey
way, "Game of Thrones" off the north side of the Wall. It's
every twist under control, time to break free from the rou-
g sure to carry out each tine and start down a new road
line to a rich cliffhang- with unwavering determination.

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