2B — Thursday, February 4, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Writers’ 

Community shops 

student pieces

By NATALIE GADBOIS

Daily Arts Writer

Around the table, talk turns 

to magical superpowers, English 
classes and the questioned exis-
tence of Wookie genitalia. Ten 
or so students joke and posture 
at one another, taking off jackets 
and pulling out laptops, report-
ing aloud answers to Buzzfeed 
quizzes. Time is called when a 
black top hat is placed in the cen-
ter of the room, and the meeting 
begins.

This is Writers’ Community, 

an intimate group of students 
who meet every Thursday to 
workshop one another’s writing. 
Though they come from a variety 
of majors and preferred writ-
ing genres, the members show 
an admirable dedication to their 
work and the improvement of 
one another’s. As club president 
Cammie Finch, an LSA senior, 
said, “It really is a community.”

Legend has it that famed play-

wright Arthur Miller formed the 
organization while he was at the 
University in 1935. Originally just 
seven writers, the size ebbed and 
flowed over the next 70 years, 
even dipping down to two at one 
point. There is no official appli-
cation process; for much of its 
lifetime, Writers’ Community 
has functioned as a semi-secret 
society. Members are brought in 
solely through word-of-mouth.

“It’s always been our persona 

to be sort of a secret society,” 
Finch said. When she joined as 
a freshman, she was one of only 
four in the group, invited by a 
friend who had heard about it 
through another friend.

“Workshopping and present-

ing your work to other people 
where it’s free reign to comment 
and you don’t know if it’ll be good 
or bad can be really frightening,” 
Finch said. “And with the low 
levels of people, that was a good 

space to begin for me.”

However, some of this clan-

destine persona was changed in 
2013 when the group opened up 
to the public, even having a booth 
at Festifall — albeit in the com-
munity’s distinctly quirky way. 
They set up a cardboard poster 
outside of the Dana Samuel Trask 
Building, distant from the other 
Festifall booths, with their mas-
cot the “Dapper Walrus” sitting 
on the table.

“The ones who sought us out, 

those were the people we want-
ed,” Finch said.

This strategy drew in over 50 

people intrigued by the unusual 
nature of the club, overwhelming 
the group for a few months until 
the community was stabilized.

Now, the group comprises 

around 15 writers with a variety 
of writing styles and forms, from 
screenplays to short fiction to 
poetry. There is a benefit to hav-
ing such an arrangement of writ-
ers — their critiques and advice 
build on each other in unique 
ways, enriching the pieces brave-
ly presented at meetings, Finch 
said.

At this meeting, I watch as two 

very distinct pieces are work-
shopped. One, a short story that 
the group has been discussing 
for a few weeks now, is a dysto-
pian tale with a resilient female 
protagonist. As the author reads 
her story, I watch the members 
take notes on their copies, nod-
ding when they like a phrase or 
frowning when a word seems 
off. Though not an official rule 
of Writers’ Community, it feels 
as though honesty is part of the 
sacred ritual here — when one 
participant admits that he dis-
liked a certain character, the 
story’s author isn’t defensive or 
hurt. She takes the criticism at 
face value. Here, opinions are 
valued and respected — the room 
lacks the jealous competitiveness 
often found in writer’s circles.

LSA senior Eugene Jehl, who 

was one of the original four mem-
bers before the group became 
public, finds this sense of cama-
raderie one of the most impor-

tant aspects of the community.

“(In class) you’re kind of judg-

ing each other, or reading some-
thing and thinking, ‘Oh, that’s 
pretty good,’ or ‘Psh, I don’t have 
to worry about that.’ And it’s a ‘no 
one is talking about it, but every-
body’s thinking it’ kind of thing,” 
Jehl said. “That doesn’t exist 
here. We all help each other out.”

Perhaps it helps that it feels 

as though these people truly are 
friends, often flying off on tan-
gents or ragging on each other 
with ease. Jehl finds this to be 
true.

“The people are fun,” he said. 

“Everyone has a great sense of 
humor with each other; some 
are shy or introverted, but that’s 
cool, writers often are,” he said. 
“These have been some of my 
closest friends through my time 
at U of M.”

Despite its semi-secret nature, 

Writers’ Community doesn’t give 
off an air of exclusivity or preten-
sion. As Finch put it, “It’s just a 
bunch of nerds getting together 
each week to help each other 
out.”

Many of the writers are seri-

ous about pursuing careers in 
the field; Finch is planning on 
getting her MFA, while Jehl is 
double majoring in creative writ-
ing and screenwriting. But oth-
ers are only here for their own 
enjoyment: one other member 
is a neuroscience major, another 
planning to become a therapist. 
This diversity of talent and back-
ground is due in part to the move 
to publicize the club.

An introvert myself, I walked 

into the meeting nervous, clutch-
ing my notebook as a crutch. But 
I was instantly welcomed. Jokes 
were made that they all must be 
on their best behavior since I was 
there. People introduced them-
selves and asked about my day. 
It was easy to understand why 
writers are drawn to this place 
and why they push themselves to 
a higher plane of excellence when 
they contribute.

As Jehl said, “I joined three 

years ago, and I’ve never been 
able to get enough of it.”

By BAILEY KADIAN 

Daily Arts Writer

This weekend Rude 

Mechanicals presents 
“Dancing at Lughnasa,” a 
story of five 
unmarried 
sisters facing 
the inevitable 
unraveling of 
their family.

Written by 

Brian Friel, 
“Dancing at 
Lughnasa” is 
set in Ireland, 
in the summer 
of 1936, during 
the pagan 
Festival of 
Lughnasa. 
“Lughnasa” is a memory play, 
told by the narrator Michael, 
who recounts the events of 
that summer at the cottage in 
Donegal. “Lughnasa” explores 
the complexities of the family’s 
tense relationships, such as the 
sisters struggling with poverty 
and instability. The play also 
highlights the importance of 
Catholicism in Ireland and 
the threat emerging paganism 
posed.

“Lughnasa” first premiered 

in 1990, at the Abbey Theatre 
in Dublin. In 1991 it starred 
in London’s National Theatre, 
earning the original cast three 
Tony Awards including Best 
Play.

With only three and a 

half weeks to put on this 
production, Rude Mechanicals 
is working hard to bring this 
story to life.

Rude Mechanicals is a 

student theater troupe that 
aims to provide quality stage 
productions to the Ann 
Arbor area. The organization 
emphasizes the importance of 
allowing any member of the 
student body to participate 
in the productions, whether 

onstage or behind-the-scenes. 
The organization was founded 
in 1996, by two engineering 
students who realized there 
were few opportunities 
for non-theater students 
to contribute to campus 
productions. Rude Mechanicals 
provides opportunities for 
students in the School of 
Music, Theater and Dance to 
try out roles they wouldn’t 
otherwise be able to explore.

“This opportunity allows 

students to explore other facets 
of themselves artistically 
rather than being confined to 
the thing they decided to major 
in when they were 18 years 
old — it’s an amazing thing,” 
said director Regan Moro in an 
interview with the Michigan 
Daily. 

Moro explained the play’s 

focus on memory — the way it 
shapes us and frames our lives. 
In this play, the unraveling of 
the family is depicted through 
Michael’s memory of the 
events.

“The play encompasses 

so many different things, 
on the most basic level, it’s 
a story about a family that 
is on the precipice of falling 
apart,” Moro said. “It’s also 
a play that examines the 
religious, political, and social 
atmosphere of Ireland.”

The piece examines how 

memories change form and 
frame our outlook, depending 
on what we choose to 
hold onto. Moro said some 
memories are fact-based and 
some are distorted by our 
own perception of the event. 
Michael’s narration walks 
the audience through these 
depictions.

“The last memory I think 

we all have (in this play) is loss 
of our last glittering memory,” 
Moro said, “a memory of our 
family before everything 
dissolved.”

Memory and its importance 

also translate to the technical 
design of this show.

“There are certain details 

of a place, people or of things 
that stick out to you more than 
others,” Moro said, describing 
ideas shaping the production’s 
set and lighting.

The lighting parallels 

Michael’s recounting of 
events — bulbs light up 
above certain characters as 
Michael remembers them. 
Moro described these lights 
as ominous and a way to 
highlight the back and forth 
nature of the plot. Memories 
are given a bluer tone, while 
the present has more pale, 
realistic lighting. These colors 
are shown through costuming 
as well.

“There are bits of blue and 

green, a union of sky and the 
earth,” Moro said. “There 
is something mysterious 
and mystical about these 
colors that lifts it out of the 
drabness.”

Moro also stressed that all 

members of the team — cast, 
assistant director and director 
— have worked together 
equally to figure this piece out, 
rather than dividing positions 
of power.

“There’s no hierarchical 

thing,” Moro said. “We have 
ripped that down and it is all of 
us working together.”

With thematic complexity, 

deep character relationships 
and a collaborative, insightful 
cast, “Lughnasa” has plenty to 
offer.

“The play is full of depth, 

and it’s intricate and complex, 
and I still feel like I’m learning 
more and more about it, every 
single day,” Moro said. “It’s 
an enormous gift to work on 
something like this, especially 
because you feel like the 
growth never stops.”

‘Lughnasa’ explores 
complex memories

A cooperative of 
creative writers 

SINGLE REVIEW

 Yesterday, Feb. 2, I was 

scrolling through my Twitter 
feed out of procrastination when 
I came across 
this golden 
tweet: “Teen 
Suicide is 
Back … Pan-
thers in the 
Superbowl.....
Tied Iowa 
Caucus.....
New Kanye....
wow.....
blessed..... incredible......” tweeted 
by Elvis Depressedly’s twitter 
account. The first phrase “Teen 
Suicide is back….” made me lose 
my breath momentarily. If you 
know anything about Teen Sui-
cide, you know that they haven’t 
released a new full-length album 
since 2012, so this is big news.

Lurking through Twitter, I 

found information about the 
band’s revival. They released 
a single from the new 26-song 
album to be named It’s the Big 
Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir 

the Honeypot, called “Alex,” and 
when I played this song it was 
like all of my hopes and dreams 
had been fulfilled.

Teen Suicide fans have been 

waiting so long alone in the cold, 
and the band has released a fire 
track to bring us back home to 
the warmth. “Alex” begins with 
Sam Ray’s melancholy voice sing-
ing “Alex is the best / When she 
wants to die,” accompanied by 
the soft sounds John Toohey cre-
ates on the guitar and Alec Simke 
radiates from his bass.

The lo-fi band is sticking to 

their true colors. The entire song 
makes you feel kind of compla-
cent, with lyrics like “We’re both 
only 16 / Skipping class to smoke 
weed,” and “Lying on her back / 
She says she wants to die.” Every 
sound complements the others, 
evoking a simultaneous feeling of 
tranquility and angst. The music 
is diverse and feels like a dream 
in the clouds during sunset. It’s 
gorgeous. April is too long a wait 
for this new album, but the little 
taste they’ve given us makes me 
feel #blessed.

- SELENA AGUILERA

A-

Alex

Teen Suicide

Run for Cover 

Records
RUN FOR COVER RECORDS

Dancing at 
Lughnasa

Arthur Miller 
Theatre 

Feb. 5 & 6, 
8 p.m. Feb. 
7, 2 p.m.

$7 (Students)

$9 (Adults)

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

By MARIAM SHEIKH

Daily Style Editor

While fashion week for 

ready-to-wear clothing hasn’t 
quite begun, the couture shows 
are well under way in Paris. 
With gowns one could only 
dream of seeing in person, 
yet alone wearing, designers 
brought their A-game this sea-
son. But nothing stunned me 
more than the classic styles 
debuted at Valentino’s show.

With ethereal floor-length 

gowns that ranged in color, 
texture and versatility, Valen-
tino creative directors Maria 
Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo 
Piccioli managed to embrace 
all of the new edgy trends this 
season while keeping the ever-
so-elegant Valentino brand 
very much in tact.

Oh, where to begin? The 

show started with flowy gowns 
that pulled from ethereal ele-
ments, in colors ranging from 
deep forest green to oxblood, 
all the way to the it-color of 

the season: mustard. Gowns 
embellished in rich velvet, pat-
terned to perfection with regal 
gold embroidery, were some of 
the most notable.

A bit out of character, some 

designs embraced the pure 
nature of the feminine body — 
with models completely nude 
underneath the translucent net 
and laced bodices, accompa-
nied by a long tasseled robe. In 
a sign of another trend already 
starting to take hold, many 
of the outfits featured floor-
length dusters, which often 
added a pop of color and con-
trasting texture to the runway 
look.

High necks, deep Vs and ruf-

fles all managed to make their 
way on more than one design in 
this couture collection. Accom-
panied by elegant headpieces 
and stunning body jewelry, 
each design from the fabric to 
the accessories was carefully 
curated and calculated to fit 
into the larger collection at 
hand.

Yet with all the impeccable 

designs and added extras, 
nothing managed to distract 
from the outfits. The light-
ness of the designs and the 
effervescent atmosphere of the 
collection overall was different 
when compared with the other 
darker and often heavier col-
lections featured throughout 
Paris couture week.

While none of us mere 

mortals may never have the 
privilege of wearing one of 
these engineered masterpieces, 
I’m sure that we will be see-
ing many of these designs at 
upcoming award shows and 
galas this season. As one of 
the first original houses to 
have started this high-fashion 
industry we style fiends find 
ourselves obsessed with each 
season, Valentino’s couture 
collection catered to the rich 
and famous, the pure, the dar-
ing, the goth, the goddess and 
everyone who finds themselves 
stuck in between.

Versatile Valentino

VALENTINO

They’re just so beautiful, I don’t have anything mean to say.

STYLE RECAP

EPISODE REVIEW

 This season’s “New Girl” 

was off to an uncertain start, 
with its main character Jess 
(Zooey Deschanel, “(500) Days 
of Summer”) 
taking leave 
for Descha-
nel’s pregnan-
cy. Though 
Jess remains 
the lynchpin 
that ties the 
outlandish 
ensemble 
together, her 
absence has left them fending 
for themselves in one hilari-
ously unprecedented situation 
after another.

“Bob & Carol & Nick & 

Schmidt” demonstrates just 
that. Nick (Jake Johnson, 

“Jurassic World”) and Schmidt 
(Max Greenfield, “American 
Horror Story”) must establish 
the boundaries of their extreme-
ly close friendship when Nick’s 
cousins come into town and 
ask Nick to donate his sperm 
to them. When Nick discovers 
Schmidt has planned Nick’s life 
out for him (with charts and 
timelines, no less), Nick realizes 
that it’s not his cousins that he 
must set boundaries with, but 
Schmidt — who spends most of 
the time navigating the help-
lessly dim-witted Nick through 
situations where his judgement 
fails him.

Without Jess, who is seques-

tered for jury duty, Cece (Han-
nah Simone, “Oldboy”) must 
prepare for her wedding alone. 

The well-meaning Winston 
(Lamorne Morris, “Glitch”) 
takes over Jess’s role and over-
enthusiastically goes wedding 
dress shopping with Cece, only 
to sway her into buying a hid-
eously bedazzled dress after 
they both get too drunk off of 
complimentary champagne.

Full of hysterical one-liners, 

this episode is no exception to 
“New Girl” ’s continued ability 
to elicit endless laughs. Despite 
initial doubts over the show’s 
absentee main character and a 
slow decline in its previous sea-
son, the unexpected new bound-
aries have created an element of 
surprise that leaves us looking 
forward to the new ways it will 
have us laughing this season.

- SHIR AVINADAV

B+

New Girl

Season 5 
Episode 5

FOX

