The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, November 5, 2015 — 3B
By MARIA ROBINS
-SOMERVILLE
For The Daily
Five family members gather
around a makeshift dining room
table, angrily snapping open
pistachios
and hurl-
ing scowls
and swear
words
across the
tabletop.
Direc-
tor
Greg
Strasser,
a
School
of
Music
Theatre
&
Dance
senior,
pauses his
actors
to
ask:
“Have you guys ever watched
an episode of Spongebob?”
The cast evolves into cartoon
mode immediately. The scene
swells and the scowls deepen.
The pistachios begin to fly
across the table and dramatic
calamity ensues.
No, they’re not rehearsing
a sitcom, or an angry cooking
show.
The University’s student-run
theatre group Rude Mechani-
cals is preparing to bring Nina
Raine’s “Tribes” to the Men-
delssohn Theatre. The con-
temporary play centers on the
experience of Billy, a deaf man
who has grown up integrated
into a chatty British-Jewish
family. When he meets Sylvia,
a woman who grew up in a deaf
family and is slowly going deaf
herself, he must grapple with
the complexity of his identity and
the tribes to which he belongs.
Alongside the quick-witted
and crude family banter, “Tribes”
illuminates the harsh realities of
a group divide between the deaf
and hearing communities.
“What is my motivation for
being in this tribe if I’m in it?”
Strasser asked the cast mem-
bers. “Almost every single time
it comes down to survivability
— what increases my chances to
survive … it comes down to, is my
tribe going to help me survive?”
SMTD senior Blair Prince, an
acting major who plays Sylvia,
spoke on the diverse nature of
preparation.
“Every day is a new surprise,”
Prince said. “What I love about
this process is that we have dif-
ferent ways to approach each
scene, each moment … some-
times we do really physical
exploration, like we might take
out the text and walk through
it and expand it, making it as
big as possible or we might do
something where we sit down
and talk about the text and real-
ly get in depth.”
Throughout
the
process,
Prince and the cast members’
exercises have ranged from the
intense to the absurd, but they
have never stopped being help-
ful.
“There was one time where
we did a scene as a soap opera.
It’s a very dramatic moment in
the show, so to do it as a soap
opera was just out of this world,
but it’s just one of those things
where you’re not watching your-
self anymore, you’re just in it,”
Prince said.
During rehearsal, the actors
engage in a physical warm-up,
where they recite tongue twist-
ers at various speeds to work on
diction as they move through the
space. The exercise evolves into
an impromptu game of tag, where
the cast is unafraid to jump over
each other, shriek, laugh or slide
to the ground.
The cast has also been work-
ing with American Sign Lan-
guage Coach Erica Watson in
preparation.
“(Learning sign) has been
really fun. It feels empowering.
It’s another form of communi-
cation that is so visual,” Prince
said. “It opens up those facul-
ties — like how do I use my face
to ask a question or to say that
I’m angry?”
Of
her
character
Sylvia,
Prince said “she’s kind of hav-
ing this surreal, very awakening
experience where she is losing
part of her identity, so it can be
scary … she’s experiencing the
question of what’s next.”
Sylvia is not the only charac-
ter who experiences an awaken-
ing in “Tribes.”
“I wrote in my director’s note
that I believe that Billy was
dead until he met Sylvia,” Stras-
ses said, “because she was his
access to the group of people
that helped him flourish.”
Amid themes of loss and pain
that characterize those who live
in limbo between communities,
the Rude Mechanicals illumi-
nate the identities of characters
who have lived lives in the dark
and, in finding each other, open
the clear channels of communi-
cation that both human beings
and quality theater require.
“Tribes” will play at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre on Friday,
Nov. 6 at 6:00 p.m.
Sleepless comedy
from Red Eye
By MATT BARNAUSKAS
Daily Arts Writer
“It’s pretty crazy, we don’t know
much, but there’s a gourd, there’s
definitely a dildo, Barbara Strei-
sand and there’s a shark,” said LSA
sophomore Emily Smith.
A producer for this semester’s
Red Eye Theater, Smith sat down
for an interview with The Michi-
gan Daily on the morning of Oct.
31 with co-producer and LSA
sophomore Molly Leonard, both of
whom are in the Residential Col-
lege.
“The shark and the dildo go
together, Barbara Streisand and
the gourd go together. But I don’t
know what happens in either of
(the skits),” Leonard said, elabo-
rating on her co-producer’s state-
ment.
At the time of the interview,
both were about halfway through
the 24-hour gauntlet of theatrical
creativity that is Red Eye.
Formerly known as Kamikaze,
Red Eye is run by the RC Play-
ers, a student-run theatre group
at the University based in the RC
but open to all students. For Red
Eye, the group of students writes,
practices, produces and performs
two one-act plays, all in a 24-hour
period. The long-standing tradi-
tion has a well-developed format.
“For the most part, the general
structure pretty much stays the
same,” Smith said. “It’s a pretty
specific schedule that you need to
stay on track to get two original
scripts written and locked and
produced in 24 hours. But I’d say
this year we included a lot of new
members, so that was different.
In the past, it’s been a lot of board
members who would participate,
and this year it’s a lot of new faces
and freshman that we’re really
excited about.”
Smith and Leonard chose two
teams of writers, who are com-
prised of eight writers in total.
They come from a pool of appli-
cants and are chosen based on
their writing samples and compat-
ibility with the other candidates,
according to Leonard.
Smith and Leonard continuous-
ly lead into each other, elaborating
on eachother’s responses as they
describe the creative processes
that take place over the course of
Red Eye, emphasizing the collab-
orative aspects.
“So we do ‘Minute of Me,’ where
each actor goes on stage and talks
about things that they have never
done on stage before that they
would like to do, or characters
they would like to portray. Then
the writers take notes on that,
and after that they break off into
rooms. Then the writers just start
making an outline and start writ-
ing,” Smith said.
As the writers develop their
plays, the actors take part in games
and exercises to prepare for the
fast-approaching performances.
“We usually do a lot of improv,
and then this year we also did a
lot of character building exercises
with different scenarios, differ-
ent movements and working with
a specific movement and what
emotion that evokes,” Smith said,
describing the actors’ activities for
the night.
“It’s not uncommon for writ-
ers to run into the auditorium, the
Keene Theater, at like two in the
morning, go up to an actor and be
like ‘Are you cool with this? What
do you think of this?’ and then run
back out,” Leonard said.
While participants aren’t forced
to remain awake for the whole
period, both Smith and Leonard
acknowledged the strange allure
of Red Eye, which kept them up
well into the earliest hours of the
morning and would continue to
drive them through the rest of the
day.
“You’re just so excited and so
exhausted at the same time and it’s
such a weird mix,” Leonard said.
This unique energy manifest-
ed itself throughout the night as
indicated by the stories Smith and
Leonard recalled.
“So all the actors bring in a prop
to use during the show and one girl
says, ‘I brought a unicorn horn’
and pulled out a strap-on and just
put it on her head,” Smith said.
“This was a violently purple
strap-on,” Leonard said, adding to
the image.
“I was honestly expecting a uni-
corn horn,” Smith said.
“I was a little disappointed that
it wasn’t a unicorn horn, after the
initial shock of like, ‘Oh, that’s a
penis.’” Leonard said in agree-
ment.
“That probably defined the
night,” said Smith, finishing the
story.
That night the performances
began at 8 p.m. Amid a small the-
atre packed with a festively cos-
tumed and eager-to-participate
crowd, Smith and Leonard intro-
duced the product of their 24-hour
endeavor.
Beginning with a play that fol-
lows the behind-the-scenes esca-
pades of a celebrity charity ice
skating competition, “The Rinkon-
venient Truth,” the distinctive
enthusiasm that Smith and Leon-
ard discussed earlier in the day
becomes apparent.
Flubbed lines are entertaining
additions instead of frustrating
mistakes as the audience watches
senator and presidential candi-
date Duncan Deez Nuts square off
against the ego of Barbara Strei-
sand and the universally beloved
Al Gourd, pun completely intend-
ed.
The
madcap
plotting
and
absurd humor is something that
can only be dreamed up dur-
ing the long, sleepless hours that
Red Eye enforces on its writers
and casts. But enthusiasm never
wanes as actors emphatically
react to the unspoken speech of a
gourd.
This continues with “I Know
What You Did Last Shark Week,”
where a group of actors bringing
“Jaws” to the stage find them-
selves beset by the vengeful spirit
of a murdered cast member. Play-
ing out like a Red Eye from hell,
egotistical actors clash with an
obsessive director as forces from
beyond the grave pick them off
one-by-one. The only calming
force is that of “the third best
medium in Long Island,” Donna-
tella D’Guido, who uses a strap-on
to communicate with the dead.
Consistently crazy and surpris-
ingly clever at points, the plays are
bolstered by their casts’ energy
and commitment to the inherent
ridiculousness of their roles. It’s
a collaborative performance that
can’t be seen every day, as Smith
and Leonard indicated in the
interview.
“There’s nothing else like it,
honestly,” Leonard said. “People
are like, ‘Yeah, it’s like pulling an
all-nighter,’ and it is but A) you’re
not doing your homework and B)
you’re pulling an all-nighter, but
with 25 other people.”
Looking back on the event that
had kept her up for more than
24-hours, Smith had this to say
about her time as a co-producer:
“It’s really kind of just surreal
and absurd, but just so much fun.
I mean, you really can’t describe
it. It’s just such a unique experi-
ence.”
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
LSA sophomore Annie Cohen performing at Red Eye Theater.
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
Days before the release of
the infamous “Hotline Bling”
video, an underappreciated
L.A.-based
producer
and
rapper
named Bus-
driver
sent
out a tweet
saying
that
“hip hop is
the
driv-
ing business
innovator
in
popular
culture.”
Less
than
two weeks removed from his
speculation, I’m afraid Drake
and Travis Scott have proved
him right. We all saw Drake’s
out-of-place
self-promotion
last week, but what makes it
any different from Kanye and
Travis stumbling around the
woods draped in Yeezy Season
1 (the day after the release, no
less)?
Well, a lot of things. It’s no
secret that rap is becoming
increasingly
corporate,
but
there’s a difference between
advertising and using multiple
avenues for artistic expression.
While “Hotline Bling” was
effectively a “now in-stores”
service
announcement
for
OVO clothing, the beige suede
that covers ‘Ye and Scott here
serves as an extension of that
Orwellian/post-apocalyptic
world they communicate with
their music. It even takes place
in the woods; they’re running
from something. The “separate
but equal” doctrine need not
apply to fashion, music and
video when they can work
in tandem as channels for
expression.
For example, Yasiin Bey’s
appearance
is
completely
unwarranted, but his masked
prancing adds to the hellish
nature of a video titled “Piss
On
Your
Grave.”
Kanye
literally raps his soul out.
Though Travis spends most of
the video hiding behind ‘Ye, at
least his generally pissed-off
demeanor doesn’t contradict
the song. Instead of inciting
me to open a new tab and cop
some basic-ass sweater, they
held my attention and gave
me a glimpse into a world I
had previously only visited
through music. The video isn’t
so much a “visual aid” as it is
piece strong enough to stand
on its own.
— SHAYAN SHAFII
GRAND HUSTLE
A
Piss on
Your Grave
(feat.
Kanye
West)
Travis Scott
Silenced ‘Tribes’
TRAILER REVIEW
This time, it’s personal. At
least it seems that way, based
on the trailer for “Spectre,” in
which Dan-
iel Craig
portrays
the iconic
super-spy,
James
Bond, for
what might
be the last
time. The
“Spectre”
trailer
gives brief glimpses into the
intrigue Bond will pursue in
Mexico City — a man masked in
the style of a Día de los Muertos
skeleton, a sniper on a roof, a
potential local love interest.
Most enticing, we get glimpses
and snippets of Christoph
Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)
as Oberhauser, who claims to
be “the author of all (Bond’s)
pain.”
The trailer gives previews
of the plot without giving too
much away, hints at the vil-
lain’s motives without revealing
them, and even gives us some
classic Bond humor, when he
japes that he visited Mexico
City for a “long overdue holi-
day.” Expectations are high for
“Spectre,” especially given the
critical success of “Skyfall.” But
if the film is as good as the trail-
er, there should be no problem
living up to those expectations.
— CONRAD FOREMAN
A-
Spectre
MGM and
Columbia
Pictures
Nov. 6
MGM AND COLUMBIA PICTURES
Tribes
Lydia Mendels-
sohn Theatre
Friday, Nov. 6 and
Saturday, Nov. 7
at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 8
at 2:00 p.m.
Students/Seniors $7
Adults $9
EPISODE REVIEW
Throughout its past season,
“Black-ish” has established
itself as a show that isn’t afraid
to address
some of the
more dif-
ficult ques-
tions about
race. While
its Hallow-
een episode
isn’t as sharp
or pointed
in its social
commentary
as the season
premiere (which tackled the use
of the n-word), it does use the
holiday to discuss heavier family
relationships.
The episode’s two primary
sources of conflict arise when
Dre’s (Anthony Anderson, “Guys
with Kids”) cousin June Bug
(Michael Strahan, “Brothers”),
who used to beat him up as a
kid, visits at the same time as
the kids’ cousins, who steal their
candy on a yearly basis.
It’s in the discussion of the
relationship between the cous-
ins and their Johnson counter-
parts where this episode falters.
While the questions it brings up
involving the class differences
between Dre’s family (who
“got out of the hood”) and their
poorer cousins are worthwhile
— and it should get credit for
discussing them — the show’s
answers felt rushed and under-
developed. June Bug’s reasoning
behind his actions (protecting
Dre’s future) only comes out in
a discussion between Dre and
his mother. What could actu-
ally be a powerful moment gets
lost in a 30-second scene where
the only meaningful aspect is
a smile from Strahan. Maybe
the writers were worried about
Strahan’s acting ability, but they
should have done more to help
build the sequence’s signifi-
cance.
On a positive note, the com-
edy does get mileage from Hal-
loween. Having the Johnson
family dress up as the Obamas
(complete with a Secret Service
agent and the dog Bo) led to
hilarious moments involving
Junior (newcomer Marcus
Scribner) “protecting” Dre, and
Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross, “Girl-
friends”) questioning which
Michelle Obama outfit to wear.
(Plus, it let Anderson break out
his Obama impersonation.)
Ultimately, this is what ground-
ed an episode that tried to make
a larger point, but didn’t quite
give it the necessary time.
— ALEX INTNER
ABC
B
Black-ish
Season 2,
episode 6
ABC
Wednesdays
at 9:30 p.m.
EVENT PREVIEW