a

6A - Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

F E i
'Altruists'to use
humor and politics -

Basement Arts
to present multi-
faceted dark comedy
By REBECCA GODWIN
DailyArts Writer
Four topics not typically con-
sidered funny - murder, sex,
drugs and politics - make up the
primary ingre-
dients in Base- he Altruists
ment Arts's
latest comedy, Thursdayat 7
"The Altru- p.m.,Friday at
ists." 7and11p.m.
The show and Saturday
revolves at7p.m.
around Syd-
ney, who acci-Dama Center
dentally kills
a stranger and Free
must go to
her brother,
the leader of a radical political
group, for help. Her brother has
his own problems with his new
prostitute boyfriend. Throw in a
British playboy and a radical les-
bian who is not actually a lesbian
and what ensues is the award-
winning play by Nicky Silver.
In contrast to most stage pro-
ductions, "The Altruists" has
two directors, Jon Mangan-
ello and Derek Joseph Tran,
both of whom are seniors in
the School of Music, Theatre &
Dance. While having two direc-
tors could pose a challenge, the

actors find the two different
opinions helpful.
"Derek likes to focus on the
acting and getting the natural-
istic portrayal across and Jon
likes to'focus on the big picture,
so its not like they're completely
contrasting in their styles of
direction," said MT&D junior
Joe Dunn, who plays Sydney's
British boyfriend Ethan. "They
really complement each other."
Suggestions flow between
the directors and the cast, and
good ideas are never sacrificed
to maintain a particular vision
held by the directors. The actors
are at liberty to try anything
they want, often performing the
same scene multiple ways until
they deliver the best possible
performance.
"As a director, I want to
encourage my actors to be
fearless and to come into the
rehearsal room and bring some-
thing because they all have bet-
ter ideas than I could ever have,"
Manganello said. "I want my
actors to experiment and to play
and to really go all out because I
think that's the most interesting
theater."
A deeper message about the
hypocritical nature of humans
can be found beneath the slap-
stick exterior. The radical
group regularly protests a new
injustice, often mixing up their
causes in the process. Accord-
ing to Manganello, this is the
author's way of mocking those

individuals who claim to be
doing good in the world, but in
reality are not doing anything.
"Altruists are people who try
to help others, but in reality they
are just trying to help them-
selves by helping others," said
MT&D sophomore Elana Gant-
man (Sydney).
With a play that has so many
levels, constant experimentation
has proven vital to the actors in
helping them develop the subtle-
ties of their onstage counter-
parts.
"We did work on characters
in the first week and after that it
became more and more natural to
just slip into it," Dunn explained.
To ensure that their portray-
als remain as realistic as possi-
ble, Manganello and Tran begin
each rehearsal with a series of
warm-up exercises designed to
assist their cast into slipping nat-
urally into their roles. Through
a series of everyday questions
that the actors must respond to
in character, they're able to step
away from the limitations of the
script and just embody the role.
Though the show offers mul-
tiple messages for audience
members to walk away with,
Manganello has a very simple
wish: "I want them to come in,
have a great night at the theater,
have a laugh and, on top of that,
I want them to be able to leave
the theater and have a deeper
conversation about modern-day
politics and social movements."

a

I

"m falling apart to haiftime'"
Afa-ilsreaction to
Fall Out. Boy's return

0

ARE YOU FINE?
HELP US REDEFINE FINE ARTS.
APPLY TO BECOME A FINE ARTS WRITER.
E-mail arts@michigandaily.com

By BRIANNE JOHNSON
Senior Arts Editor
Fall Out Boy knows more
about me than I can comfort-
ably admit. The band has assert-
ed - multiple times - that I'm
"Crashing, but (I'm) No Wave."
I've been interrogated: "Don't
You Know Who I Think I Am?"
I do, Fall Out Boy.
You're "Like a Lawyer with
the Way (You're) Always Trying
to Get (Me) Off." And, now, your
songs even know what I did "in
the Dark."
Well, my favorite skinny-
jeaned comeback boys, when
you released your new single,
"My Songs Know What You
Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"
on Monday, along with the
announce-
ment of First seen on
album, new --the filter

Save Rock and Roll, and a tour,
I did only one thing in the dark-
ness of my bedroom: I cried
softly while texting my middle-
school best friend. The message
read as follows: "FOB TOUR IN
MAY PLEASE PLEASE LET'S
GO OH MY GAWD."
Little punctuation. All caps.
All inappropriate fan-girl
enthusiasm.
But not everyone shares my
excitement. Despite "Light
Em Up" 's climb to No. 1 on
the iTunes chart, I scroll past
tweets defending the sole qual-
ity of FOB's original album,
Take This to Your Grave. I read
jokes about "Fall Out (of rel-
evancy) Boy" and criticisms of
the band's foreign "new sound."
Well, tweeters, if you'd take
your head out of the grave that
is your ass, you'd note that FOB
has gradually dug itself from
the confines of pop-punk riffs,

and this "new" glamour rock-
meets-2 Chainz, though not
everyone's red Solo cup of tea, is
not too far a cry (or a song) from
the band's 2008 album, Folie a
Deux.
On his official site, bassist
Pete Wentz explains that Save
Rock and Roll "doesn't sound
like the other FOB albums, but
it sounds exactly like Fall Out
Boy in 2013."
This ain't a
scene ... it's
a goddamn
reunion..
As someone who'd been
raised on the band's signature
over-indulgent song titles and
eyeliner (not to mention that
growl-y face that Wentz used to
make at the paparazzi - be still,
my heart!), and as someone who
once bonded over the maybe-
criminal act of carving the lyr-
ics to "Of All the Gin Joints in
All the World" onto her wood-
shop table in the eighth grade
with her future best friend, I
think I can handle Fall Out Boy
2.0.
But do Ihave to call you "Fall
Out Man"?

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RELEASE DATE- Thursday, February 7, 2013
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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42 Five-0detective, 37 Brazen
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S Broadwaylight ByMikesuckley2/
(c)2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc.0210713

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