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Friday, October 19, 2012 - 5


EVENT PREVIEW
Poetry to reunite
student, teacher

More than a 'Wallflower'

By JOEY STEINBERGER
DailyArts Writer
Stop. Pause. Breathe. Take a
minute or two for poetry, that
beautifully elusive form forgot-
ten by pop cul-
ture and the
mainstream, to One Pause
receive atten- Poetry Fall
tion from only
enthusiasts Conference
and academia. Reading
Living in Ann
Arbor, we might Friday at7 p.m.
have an inflated METAL
sense of the
popularity of Free
poetry. Stu-
dents study it, the Neutral Zone
hosts poetry workshops for teens
and the University brings in poets
from around the world to recite
their work.
In 2010, a new organization
appeared on the poetry scene in
Ann Arbor: One Pause Poetry, a
nonprofit arts organization work-
ing to make poetry accessible to
all. They often organize poetry
readings and workshops around
Ann Arbor, in spaces that range
from an active metallurgy work-
shop to an organic farm.
One Pause Poetry will host a
reading at METAL with Matthew
Rohrer Friday night, a faculty
member of the Creative Writing
Program at NYU, and Residential
College Lecturer Ken Mikolows-
ki. The combination isn't happen-
stance - many years ago, Rohrer
was Mikolowski's student.
"Matt was always a good
writer, but then he started dis-
covering his own unique style,
which is very funny and yet he
is able to carry some emotion,
too," Mikolowski said. "There
is enough going on in his poems
that makes him complex and
always interesting to read."
The two have kept in contact
since Rohrer graduated, but this
will mark their first joint reading.
Rohrer won a Hopwood awrd
for poetry at the University, and
graduated from the Residential
College in 1992. Shortly after
graduating, he wrote his first
published book of poetry, "A
Hummock in the Malookas,"
which won the National Poetry
Series award.
"A Hummock in the Maloo-
kas" was Rohrer's first published
work, but not his first book. As a
student in the RC's Creative Writ-
ing major, Rohrer and his class-
mates worked closely with their
professors for multiple semes-
ters in courses called "tutorials."
Mikolowski, who supervises
tutorials, has his students write a
book before they graduate.
"You get to know someone
pretty well doing class and tuto-

rials because you share poetry,
it's pretty personal," Mikolowski
said. "The great thing about doing
that is you get to watch some-
one grow and develop as they go
along."
During his time at the Univer-
sity, Rohrer developed his dis-
tinct writing style.
Mikolowski started writing
poetry when he went to college
at Wayne State University. He
began college as an engineering
student but a writing class caused
him to change his mind.
"You should have seen the look
on my father's face when I told
him I'm going to become a poet,"
Mikolowski said.
Mikolowski has written three
books of poetry, but he plans to
read mostly from "That, That," a
book he is currently working on.
The book has approximately 75
poems, and its longest poem is
two lines.
Rohrer won the
National Poetry
Series award for
his first book.
"I keep getting briefer and
briefer and briefer," Mikolowski
said. "Haikus are too long for
me."
Mikolowski became more eco-
nomical with his wording after
running the Alternative Press
for thirty years. The press, which
published poetry giants such as
Allen Ginsberg and Robert Cree-
ley, was all hand-set and hand-
printed.
"It was a letter press. You set
the type one letter at a time,"
Mikolowski said.
Mikolowski's own poems
shrunk in length because print
ing longer poems, in the Altepna-
tive Press was such an intensive
process.
As part of their mission to
make poetry accessible to all,
One Pause Poetry records these
events.
"We record audio and video of
all our programs and put them
on our website so people can see
them if they don't get out to the
event," said Sarah Messer, the
director of One Pause Poetry.
The organization hopes to
work collaboratively with poetry
groups around Ann Arbor to help
the scene be more cohesive and
grow.
"We really want to be a place
with our website where different
poetry groups can come togeth-
er," Messer said.

Leading man Logan
Lerman discusses
passion for film
By ADITI MISHRA
Daily Arts Writer
The pressure of bringing a
beloved fictional character to
life isn't new to Logan Lerman,
who has previously played the
titular character of Rick Rior-
dan's fantasy series "Percy
Jackson" and D'Artagnan of
"The Three Musketeers." But
even he realizes the importance
of not disappointing the small
yet hugely devoted fan-base of
author Stephen Chbosky's "The
Perks of Being a Wallflower,"
one of the most relatable and
acclaimed coming-of-age tales
of this generation.
"From my perspective, I've
known characters in my life who
were similar to characters in the
book and the movie," Lerman
said in a recent conference call
with journalists. "At that age, dis-
covering who you are and being
comfortable with yourself are
relatable issues. I feel like (the
movie) is a very faithful adapta-
tion of the book, especially since
Chbosky wrote the novel and
wrote the screenplay forthe film."
Lerman's name isn't the most
recognizable in the industry.
In an era of absurdly popular
pubescent actors (who have
most probably depicted vam-
pires, werewolves, wizards or
all of the above), Lerman is rela-
tively unknown to even those
who've seen his films. In pub-
lit, Lerman appears shy and
reserved, choosing to let his
often more famous co-stars -
for "Perks," this includes Emma
Watson in one of her first post-
"Potter" roles - do all the talk-

"You simply don't understand. Hogwarts is real"

ing.
But all it takes is a phone con-
versation with him to quickly
realize that YouTube videos
shouldn't be mistaken for real-
ity. Without a camera in front
of him, Lerman is seemingly
unafraid to joke candidly about
kissing a male co-star, pretty
generous with F-bombs - which
he admits is his favorite curse
word - and has none of the arro-
gance that one would expect of
an actor who has been in show-
biz for over half of his life.
"I haven't really grown up in
the spotlight," Lerman said. "I
did films but no one really knew
who the hell I was, and they still
don't. So it's nice having some
sort of anonymity."
Most noticeably, Lerman is
nothing like the introverted, bor-
derline-depressed character he
plays in "Perks." Living in 1990's
Pittburgh, his character, Charlie,
is an unconventional and intelli-

gent teenager whose only friend
in high school is his English
teacher - in other words, Char-
lie embodies the very definition
of "wallflower." For Lerman, it
wasn't an easy task to get into his
character's head.
"(Charlie and I) are very dif-
ferent. I'm not as introverted or
naive as he is, but he reminded
me a lot of close friends of mine
and I definitely understood his
perspective," Lerman said. "It
was pretty tricky to figure out
his intentions, just getting in the
mind of such a sweet, genuine
guy. That was tough."
Anyone who has read "Perks"
knows that this book doesn't
just document Charlie's depres-
sion. It introduces him to Sam
(Watson) and Patrick (Ezra
Miller, "We Need to Talk About
Kevin") - two somewhat crazy,
live-in-the-moment seniors who
embrace Charlie as one of their
group and breathe life into his

otherwise dull existence. His
entertaining divulgence into the
life of the "cool kids" is a neces-
sary break from the more seri-
ous aspects of this film.
"I loved the whole Charlie-
getting-stoned for the first time
sequence. That was a lot of fun...
a little break from the depress-
ing scenes that were hard to get
into," Lerman said.
"Perks" is a distinct book-
to-screen adaptation; it's writ-
ten and directed by the book's
author. But working with the
man who would accept noth-
ing less than perfection for a
story he so passionately created
wasn't as scary for Lerman as
one would think.
"It wasn't intimidating at all.
I was nervous about my charac-
ter, he was nervous about mak-
ing a film for the first time. We
complemented each other a lit-
tle bit," Lerman said.
See PERKS, Page 6

ERar tob riist tO ssiCS

By PAIGE PFLEGER
For the Daily
"A Bard by Any Other Name"
would smell as sweet, or at least,
it's anticipated to in Ann Arbor
Civic Theater's
Studio space. b
Residential A Brd by
College gradu- AtyOther
ate and local Name
playwright
James Ingagio- Friday and
la re-imagines Saturday at
three of Shake- 8 p.m. and
speare's most Saturday
popular plays and Sunday
- "Hamlet," at 2 p.m.
"Macbeth" and
"Two Gentle- A2CTlCivicTheater
men of Verona" From $12
- in the style of
modern play-
wrights Harold Pinter, Tennes-
see Williams and David Mamet,
respectively.
Though the Bard's work over
the years has been interpreted in
myriad ways, Ingagiola's vision
is distinct, according to Director

Amanda Barnett.
"There are a lot of movies
out that are loosely based off of
(Shakespeare's) stories, like how
'Ten Things I Hate About You' is
based off 'Taming of the Shrew."'
Barnett said. "We do a closer rein-
terpretation with a very specific
style, making it very unique."
Each play has been consolidat-
ed so all three can be presented in
one showing. Due to the extent of
each show's settings and charac-
ters, Ingagiola and Barnett opted
for a minimalistic approach to the
show. The actors will wear their
normal street clothing, and props
and extraneous scenery are kept
to only the essentials.
These staunch differences
between "A Bard by Any Other
Name" and a typical extravagant
Shakespeare production are pur-
poseful. Barnett hopes that the
minimalistic approach will elimi-
nate distraction for the audience
and make the language of the
text take center stage. Barnett
means to avoid the feeling that
the audience is being placed into

someor
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ne's life, or being trans- change them or bring them up."
to another time or place. With the help of the diction
ticipates that the show will and stylized voice of the modern
i be an experience that the playwrights, he creates humor
ce and the actors can enjoy from these absurdities.
er. The works of British play-
giola draws from what wright Harold Pinter are known
n audiences find to be for sparse language and the use
ous in Shakespeare's origi- of pregnant pauses, a style that
rks and the humor created Ingagiola applied to "Hamlet,"
'se absurdities. However, giving the play a more menacing
hakespeare's plays in a dif- edge by creating horror movie-
light wasn't as easy as the style tension.
uff had hoped. Author David Mamet has a
similar style to Pinter, but with
a more American sensibility. His
k a work is paced faster and has a
more colloquial dialect. "Two
am et Pinter Gentleman of Verona" is reinter-
preted in this style and re-inter-
[d W illiam s prets the play similar to Mamet's
"Sexual Perversity in Chicago".
"It's somewhat crude," Ingagi-
olaadded. "But crude in an almost
iat was difficult was that poetic way."
peare's plays aren't per- Tennessee Williams has writ-
great as they are," Inga- ten Pulitzer-Prize winning hits
aid. "I had to try to come like "A wStreetcar Named Desire"
ns with the imperfections, and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," ele-
ecide whether I should See BARD, Page 6

TIME IS RUNNING
OUT.
IT ALL ENDS AT MIDNIGHT.
HELP US BEAT STATE!
TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
WE DON'T WANT TO WEAR GREEN.

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