The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomWednesday, October 22, 2014- 5A

CITY THEATER
From Page 1A
in Search of an Author, a work that
was - and remains - ground-
breaking in the way that it frus-
trates the
straight- Theatre
forward
character of de la Ville
theatrical performs'Six
production
by fore- Characters
grounding in Search of
distance an Author'
and conflict.
Pirandello, by Luigi
awarded the Pirandello
Nobel Prize
in 1934 and October 24and 25
a writer of Power Center
not only the- $26-48 ($13-24 with
ater but also student discount)
poetry and
fiction, was
centrally concerned with how
theater can serve as the venue for
questions of identity, genre and
writing in general, rather than giv-
ing audiences bland, naturalistic
morality plays as was the domi-
nant practice at the time (and the
belief for many today as well in the
United States).
Theatre de la Ville, which has
gone by a number of names since
its establishment in 1862, was built
as one of the modernizing proj-
ects of pioneering architect Baron
Haussmann and stands as one of
the premiere dramatic institu-
tions of the Francophone world. In
an interview with The Michigan
Daily, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota,
the company's director, discussed
the intellectual and aesthetic
labor that has gone into Theatre
de laVille's productionofthis play.
Michael Chase, one of the compa-
ny's administrators, translated the

interview between English and
French.
"It is one of the greatest plays
of the twentieth (century), a play
that brought a breach in European
dramaturgy. And what I'm inter-
ested in today, as I've been in love
with the art of theater since child-
hood, is how the play is an homage
to theater, the strength of imagi-
nation and the cruelty of life,"
Demarcy-Mota said.
Pirandello's play is a metathe-
atrical exploration of the pos-
sibilities and impossibilities of
theatrical production, focusing on
the six characters' confrontation
with their distance from their
roles as actors when they break
into a rehearsal of another play of
Pirandello's.
"I first produced the play in
2001 with the same actors, and
we've worked a lot on the depth
of the play - tragic character,
anguish, anxiety and at the same
time the comical - to try to make
the spectator understand and
show the audience how Pirandello
goes very deep into the human
soul," Demarcy-Mota said. "The
most difficult part for the actors
was to accept all the conflicts that
are in the play."
These conflicts concern the
relationship between director and
character, character and char-
acter and actor and character. In
this way, Pirandello provides the
framework for the characters to
work through their conflicts in
the simultaneously empowering
and anxiety-inducing borderlands
between character and character
or character and actor. Such a
skeletal account can do no justice
to Pirandello's gymnastic naviga-
tion and manipulation of the roles
of director, actor and character
that so many have been content to
see as stable or self-evident.

"The theme of theater within
theater allows us to deal with the
comedic aspects because it cre-
ates distance, which allows us to
see actors who are attempting to
play a character and their fail-
ure, which is terrible but funny
at same time. The comedy comes
from the tragedy; it is not separate
from the tragedy," Demarcy-Mota
said.
Pirandello was a playwright
who reveled in making these
kindsofcontradictions come alive
on the stage. And while the play
interests itself in understanding
the sorts of abstract categories
of self, tragedy, comedy, charac-
ter and performance, it is equally
interested in working through
trauma and violence, some of the
very emotional matter of everyday
life. The play concerns itselfin par-
ticular with an instance of sexual
violence between the Father and
the Stepdaughter.
"He (Pirandello) poses the ques-
tion of truth and reality as a theo-
retician creating fiction. Finally,
like Brecht, he writes fiction but is
posing questions about the theater.
'What is a character,' 'what is a
drama,"whatis atragedy'- within
these questions, he will build work
in which the greatest fantasies, the
greatest anxieties, the misunder-
standings between the people and
the dimensions of the impossibil-
ity of living together will appear,"
Demarcy-Motasaid.
For all of our community's the-
ater-goers, enthusiasts of twenti-
eth century literature and anyone
who wants to learn more about
theater, Theatre de la Ville's per-
formance of one of Pirandello's
theatrical masterworks will not
disappoint in its prompting of
questions that strike to the very
heart ofunderstanding oneself as a
self that lives among others.

I could have sworn I was taler," Plnk says, starint blankly into the endless sold of existence.
~Plnk, CItyand, Colour
collaborate on new L


You+Me find
folk success on
'rose ave.
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
For The Daily
Alecia Moore, better
known as pop/rock star P!nk,
and Dallas Green, better
known as
City and
Colour,
have come rose ave.
together
as You+Me You+Me
and RCA
created
an eye-
opening folk album, rose
ave. Considering the recent
obsession with EDM,
many might not consider
themselves fans of folk, but
after listening to Moore and
Green's harmonious duets,
music fans will be begging for
less bass and auto-tune and
more banjos.
Following, yearsi of
friendship, Moore and Green
finally found' 'themselves
with open schedules this past
March and began to work
together on a track or two.
Somehow, they ended their

short time together with an
entire album. But, their lack
of time spent on the record
did not sacrifice an ounce of
quality.
"Capsized" opens the
album with haunting vocals
overlaying a single guitar beat,
leaving listeners humming its
chorus long after the album
is over. What follows the
opening, though, is no less
impactful. Each track brings
out a different hue of emotion.
"From a Closet in Norway,"
poses questions about life,
before "Gently" can lull
listeners into a state of
comfort. But on the emotional
rollercoaster that is rose ave,
that comfort only lasts as
long as the track. You+Me
quickly move on to the most
memorable break-up ballad
in recent history. "Love
Gone Wrong," captures the
emotional back-and-forth
of the end of a relationship,
even more so than "Just Give
Me a Reason," a number one
from P!nk's previous solo
album. It pays respect to the,,
fact that no one is blameless,
and stylistically 'conveys the
message gracefully through
the unified climax.
The album moves from the
dynamics of a break-up to the

dynamics of love with "You
and Me." What's so special
about the track is how it
captures the essence of all
types love. It isn't written
distinctly for a lover; it can
be applied to friendship or
family. Even more important
than love itself, the song
emphasizes the importance of
being in tandem with others.
It's no wonder why this song
coincides with the duos stage
name: It captures the essence
of their entire musical style.
After a few forgettable
tracks, the violin of "Break
the Cycle" brings the record
back to life. A song written
for P!nk's mother, "Break the
Cycle," is another emotional
climax, and will resonate with
anyone on some level. The
album's closer, "No Ordinary
Love," juxtaposes slow verses
with a heart-wrenching
chorus, solidifying that this is
no ordinary record.
Moore and Green have
produced a folk album capable
of eliciting emotions listeners
didnot know they contained.
While there is a.handful of
filler tracks, You+Me's vocal
harmony and minimalist
approach piece together a
folk album which may bring
the genre back to pop culture.

Immaculately conceived
'Jane the Virgin' begins

CAPITOL NASHVILLE
You act like you've never seen a country music band before.
'Pain Kiler' is rea
record for any hoedown

Little Big Town's
sixth studio album
lives up to past hits
ByCHRISTIAN KENNEDY
For The Daily
Coming from someone with
Ok a fresh tattoo and rook pierc-
ing, country group Little Big
Town's
sixth stu-
dio album,
Pain Killer Pain Killer
lived up to
its name. Little Big Town
It certainly Capitol Nashville
numbed my
pain. Little
Big Town has slam-dunked a
record full of range, and done
what the group does best:
country summer jams.
LBT opens with "Quit
Breaking Up With Me," the
best track by a considerable
margin, with lyrics featur-
ing a strong Southern drawl
and calling in the humor from
previous number-one coun-
try hit, "Pontoon." And light-
ning certainly strikes twice; I
mean, "I'm the only one that
will put up with your censor-
ship"? It's redneck genius,
only reachable by Little Big
Town. The lead single, "Day
Drinking," speaks for itself.
After debuting in June, it still
has me ready to crack a beer

at noon.
"Pain Killer" was a solid
choice for the title track.
Backed by a rolling beat, it
demands to be swayed to at
every show. Plus, all of the
"la's" in the bridge deserve at
least an enthusiastic mouth-
ing (or shouting, if fans also
started drinking at noon).
Karen Fairchild sings,
"Yeah, I wanna taste her lips
... " *Head tilts* " ... because
they taste like you." OK,
now it makes sense. Not that
there is anything wrong with
a country-lesbian love song
sung by a female member mar-
ried to her male band mate. It
just definitely would've been
a first. Nonetheless, it is the
highlight of the low-tempo
tunes.
"Faster Gun" builds up
throughout the chorus, but
in the end it doesn't deliver
much. But that's okay because
it leaves the floor open for
"Good People" to swing in and
kill it. It's catchy and true.
"Good People know good peo-
ple," but great people know
this song is gold.
Go to any hoedown in the
nextyear, and "Stay All Night,"
will be played. And if it isn't
you must leave immediately
because that is no hoedown
worth taking part in. This
track is a classic get-down-at-
the-hoedown jam, guitar solo
included. "Save Your Sin" has

pitchy verses that are tough to
follow, but its chanting chorus
makes for another notch on
LBT's pain-killing belt.
The emotional pit of the
album comes with "Live For-
ever." Emotion is not exactly
the defining feature in Little
Big Town albums, but this
track is the album's first vocal
collaboration between male
and female Little Big Tow-
nees, and its a cappella verse
is close to musical magic.
"Things You Don't Think
About," is a mix of dirty south
and southern choir. The hook
(which is one of the best coun-
try hooks of late) puts fire in
the eyes, while the chorus
brings in the mist. Following
a (rather boring) instrumental
opening, the beat of "Turn the
Lights On," drops and it had
me throwing myself at every
light switch in sight. Where
the track starts and ends are
night and day. And it's hard
to understand why the album
closes with "Silver and Gold."
It's an OK love song, but cer-
tainly no way to close a record
like "Pain Killer."
Nonetheless, Pain Killer, in
short, killed it. By the time is
was finished, my tattoo was
at ease and my ear was so
pleased, even with a metal bar
through it. Little Big Town
has done it again, and have
cemented their place in coun-
try music royalty.

CW pilot is
complicated,
over-the top and
entertaining
ByHAILEYMIDDLEBROOK
For TheDaily
These days, seeing a vir-
gin portrayed on television is
about as rare as seeing Leo
DiCaprio

win an
Oscar -
frankly,
it doesn't
happen.
Shows
are sup-
posed to be
entertain-

Jane the
Virgin
Series Premiere
Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
The CW

ing, and
where's the drama without the
sex? From Samantha's outra-
geous pursuits in "Sex and
the City" to Blair and Serena's
lusty endeavors in "Gossip
Girl," viewers are seduced by
the scandalous glamour of it
all.
There comes a point,
though, where even the scan-
dals become tedious: another
flawlessly beautiful girl sleeps
with Mr. Brooding-and-Dam-
aged from the swanky, dimly-
lit bar. So what? It seems that
the tired sphere of dramatic
television is in desperate need
of a shake-up, which is where
"Jane the Virgin" steps in.
In the CW's new show, new-
comer actress Gina Rodri-
guez plays Jane Villanueva, a
23-year-old girl whose char-
acter stands in stark con-

trast to all of the Samanthas
and Serenas on TV. Instead
of lying around a penthouse
apartment, Jane is studying
to be a teacher and working at
a hotel, living with her Span-
ish-speaking grandmother
(Ivonne Coll, "Switched at
Birth") and her young, sin-
gle mother (Andrea Navedo,
"White Collar"). Rather than
attending elaborate brunches,
the three women spend their
time indulging in telenovelas
and grilled cheese. In a pool of
impossibly tall and statuesque
female characters, Jane is the
busty and bashful odd fish out,
who also happens to be a vir-
gin.
Though the show lays the
grounds for a dramatic Cin-
derella story turn-around, it
doesn't happen - at least not
in the way the viewer expects.
The pilot opens with a flash-
back to a discussion between
10-year-old Jane and her
grandmother about'-chastity;
by crumpling a flower, the
grandmother demonstrates
that once a girl loses her vir-
ginity, it can never be restored.
Jane takes her grandmother's
message to heart, despite her
own mother's persistent eye-
rolling, and keeps the crum-
pled flower framed above her
bed like a purity ring. The
flower's omnipresence is par-
ticularly felt by her boyfriend
of two years (Brett Dier), who
is understanding about her
decision, yet frustrated with
not being able to consummate
their relationship.
Naturally, chaos ensues
when Jane discovers that she's
pregnant. When the doctor

arrives with the news, Jane
and her mother promptly
erupt into hysterical laughter;
"I'm a virgin," Jane says. They
repeat the test; it's positive
again. Jane is confounded, her
mother believes that Jane's a
prophet, and her grandmother
assumes that she broke her
purity pact. To make matters
worse, Jane's boyfriend has
decided to propose, and she
now has to confess that she's
expecting a child.
Who's the daddy? None other
than Jane's boss, Rafael (Justin
Baldoni), the young and rich
"trapped husband" of a schem-
ing wife, and coincidentally the
man whom Jane had a summer
fling with as a teenager. So is
it a Cinderella story? Not quite
- it turns out that Rafael has
cancer, and the only way for
his wife to become pregnant is
by artificial insemination, but
because of a patient mix-up by
the distracted OB-GYN, Jane is
inseminated instead of Rafael's
wife.
Suddenly, Jane's life is like a
telenovela. After years of disci-
pline to build a future different
from her mother's, she's now
carrying a child out of wed-
lock, one that doesn't even
belong to her fiance, but may
be Rafael's only chance to have
a kid. A sort of everything-
happens-for-a-reason theme
is played out: even though the
baby is an accident, Jane her-
self was an "accident," and she
can't imagine not giving the
baby the same chance she had.
"Jane" is complicated, soapy
and at times completely over
the top, but it works. Who
knew virgins could be so fun?
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