The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 — 5

Shakespeare is remembered as the 
greatest playwright of all time. The 
greatest 
struggle 
with 
putting 
on 
Shakespeare now, though, is to make it 
fresh and relevant for audiences all over 
the globe. His narratives are geniusly 
concocted, but the vernacular more closely 
resembles rocket science than a light-
hearted rom-com, which was how they 
were originally performed. Such struggles 
were not the case for National Theatre 
Live’s 
production 
of 
Shakespeare’s 
comedy, 
“A 
Midsummer 
Night’s Dream” 
presented 
Sunday 
evening 
by 
the 
University 
Musical Society 
at the Michigan 
Theater.
The 
most 
extraordinary 
aspect 
of 
the 
production was 
how 
specific 
and 
clear 
the 
storytelling 
presented itself. 
Usually, I can 
barely make out every other phrase in a 
Shakespearian play. In this production, 
the actors, among them Gwendolyn 
Christie (“Game of Thrones”), Oliver Chris 
(“Green Wing”), David Moorst (“NT Live: 
Allelujah!”) and Hammed Animashaun 
(“The Barber Shop Chronicles”), managed 
to relay the plot in such a way that I was 
able to enjoy myself the entire time. I 
relaxed into the storyline so much that 
I found myself laughing hysterically 
through most of the production. 
In a society full of Twitter feeds and 
Instagram captions slaughtering any 
sort of poeticism we have left in the 
English language, I felt refreshed by how 
decadent Shakespeare’s language was 
while maintaining the playfulness and 
absurdity of the comedy.
Director Nicholas Hytner changed one 
key aspect of the plotline. He switched 
Titania, played by Christie, and Oberon’s 
lines around so that the king ended up 
having sex with the donkey, Longbottom, 
instead of the queen. The reason for the 
switch was because Hytner lamented 

how serious productions of “Midsummer” 
were becoming. Originally, the queen is 
constantly being humiliated by the king, 
and has no choice but to be presented 
as a very sexist parable. In Hytner’s 
production, the king is tricked by the 
queen and the end result was hysterical. 
Their “lovemaking” was interpreted by a 
dance/silk number to Beyonce’s “Love On 
Top.” Pure genius.
Initially, I was worried by the fact that 
much of the audience stood on the stage for 
the immersive experience. Shakespeare’s 
plays are more of a marathon than a 
sprint. However, the performance was so 
inventive and immersive that I understood 
why the director 
Hytner 
opted 
for 
audience 
participation. 
At times, they 
served as the 
forest for which 
the dream takes 
place. Silks were 
also suspended 
above 
the 
audience 
for 
most of the play 
from 
which 
the actors did 
trapeze 
tricks 
to 
show 
that 
they 
were, 
indeed, 
fairies 
in the production. At intermission, Hytner 
casually said that the performers, world 
class actors, who had never interacted 
with silks before were given three months 
to learn how to maneuver their way 
around silks some 20 feet in the air while 
reciting Shakespearian monologues.
National Theatre Live brings world 
class British theater to cinemas around 
the globe. It’s not difficult to surmise why 
this production of “Midsummer” was so 
brilliant. Theater in Britain receives more 
funding from the government compared 
to the U.S., and actors are allowed a 
significantly longer time to rehearse and 
prepare for each production.
Last year, I attended NTL’s production 
of “Antony and Cleopatra,” and was 
equally impressed. It is such a privilege 
to experience world class performances 
for a low student price, even if it is relayed 
on a screen. In a society full of reality 
television 
and 
superhero 
franchises, 
the ability to refresh classic works as 
efficiently as National Theatre Live did is 
reassuring.

‘Midsummer’ a needed
relief during this winter

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

NATALIE KASTNER
Daily Arts Writer

After “Ray Donovan” relocated from Los 
Angeles to New York City at the beginning of 
Season 6, there was reason to be concerned 
about how long the crime-drama could 
continue. The change in the setting of a 
television show is often followed by a decrease 
in quality. Some notable examples that come 
to mind include “Glee,” the final season of 
“Scrubs” and the upcoming fourth season of 
“Stranger Things.” But “Ray Donovan” is the 
exception. Moving away from L.A. has allowed 
the show to successfully and logically change 
its 
direction. 
With 
the unique job held 
by Ray Donovan (Liev 
Schreiber, “Spotlight”) 
— 
it’s 
easiest 
to 
describe him as a more 
violent 
Olivia 
Pope 
(Kerry 
Washington, 
“Scandal”) but a “fixer” 
nevertheless 
— 
no 
matter 
the 
location, 
there will always be 
someone in need of his 
services. 
After years of Ray 
battling 
alcoholism, 
anger issues and arrogance, the Season 6 
finale hinted that a change was on the horizon. 
Not just for Ray, but for everyone in his life. 
Each character seems to be on a path of self-
improvement. His father, Mickey (Jon Voight, 
“24”), has finally gone to jail. His brothers, 
Bunchy (Dash Mihok, “Whiskey Cavalier”) 
and Terry (Eddie Marsan, “Deadpool 2”) are 
both living healthier lifestyles. His college-
aged 
daughter, 
Bridget 
(Kerris 
Dorsey, 
“Moneyball”) even apologizes to him. This is 
the newer and happy Donovan family … for 
now.
If there’s one member of the Donovan 
family that deserves eternal happiness, it’s 
Terry, Ray’s brother. Unfortunately, his 
Parkinson’s disease has gotten worse. He 
meets a woman at the drugstore that Bunchy, 
Ray’s other brother, works at who urges him 
to try a natural remedy that will disinfect his 
liver. Elsewhere, Bridget considers ending 
her marriage with Smitty (Graham Rogers, 

“Atypical”) because she has met someone else. 
Ray has begun therapy with Dr. Arthur Amiot 
(Alan Alda, “The Good Fight”), who suggests 
he forgive his father Mickey and let go of all his 
anger. Flash forward four months, and some 
fishermen discover the heads of one of the 
officers that the Donovans killed in the season 
five finale. To make matters worse, there is 
still a bullet in the victim’s head and is going 
to be tested by ballistics which could lead the 
police back to Ray. Like I said, how long could 
this path of self improvement really last for the 
Donovans?
This is what sets the episode in motion 
as Ray tries to move on from his past while 
still being haunted by it. Ray shows flashes of 
this new lifestyle — he 
punches a guy for one 
of his clients but then 
apologizes 
and 
says 
he could have handled 
things better and urges 
the guy to “get the help 
he needs.” But Ray is 
still under the control of 
New York City Mayor Ed 
Ferrati (Zach Grenier, 
“The Good Wife”). Ray 
cannot possibly keep up 
this “new lifestyle,” as 
he is still involved in the 
same “fixer” business 
that forced him to turn the very violent 
behavior he’s setting out to end, but he’s trying 
to do better.
Oh, and remember the bullet in the victim’s 
head? Well, Ray decides he will put Mickey’s 
fingerprints on the gun as he is already in 
jail. But, he can’t do that if Mickey never gets 
there. Most of Ray’s problems are rooted in 
his relationship with Mickey so it comes as no 
surprise that another huge one is created in 
the final minutes of this episode. 
The episode ends with a bus full of convicts 
— including Mickey — getting transferred to 
a maximum security prison upstate. Up the 
road, a tanker truck driver has a heart attack 
while inclining. This results in the tanker 
rolling back down and smashing into the bus 
full of convicts with an explosion that could 
have been seen from a zip code over. What 
does this mean for the rest of the season? Is 
he dead? Did he live and escape? Regardless, 
Ray’s therapist is going to have his hands full.

‘Donovan’ is still intense

TV REVIEW

JUSTIN POLLACK
Daily Arts Writer

NETFLIX

Compared to other legendary hip-hop producers 
that got their beginnings in the ’90s, DJ Shadow has 
not quite kept up. Just look at his peers who are on top 
of the world right now, even after 25 years in the game. 
El-P is pumping out some of the hardest production 
of his career as part of Run The Jewels, somehow 
competing with contemporary experimentalists like 
clipping., Death Grips and JPEGMAFIA. Madlib is 
still a prolific music making machine, maintaining 
his iconic lo-fi sound for modern rap rock stars like 
Kanye West, cooking up beats on his iPad for shits and 
giggles. And then there’s DJ Shadow. The eccentric. 
The kooky collector with more vinyl records in his 
possession than the average American household’s 
yearly income. The hip-hop trailblazer who has never 
been able to turn heads with his music the way his 
debut album did in ’96. Behold: He is out with a brand 
new 90-minute behemoth.
Our Pathetic Age is more interesting before 
listening, with its flashy 
Roy 
Lichtenstein-esque 
cover art and two-pronged 
structure: The first half is 
all instrumentals, while the 
second half is packed with 
features. Guest vocalists are 
an unconvential mix of OG 
rap legends (Nas, De La Soul, 
some of Wu-Tang Clan’s 
hardest 
hitters), 
modern 
hip-hop kings (Run The Jewels, Pusha T) and random 
nobodies (who the fuck is Barny Fletcher?).
DJ Shadow doesn’t shy away from flexing his 
technical ability on this record. “Slingblade” is 
horrifying and perplexing, with freaky pitched vocal 
samples and sputtering cyberpunk synths. There’s 
something weird going on with the percussion that 
makes it unsatisfying to the listener’s expectations, 
creating an intentional discomfort that might be better 
unpacked by someone who understands music theory.
By the time “Juggernaut” comes on, it’s obvious DJ 
Shadow wants you to feel an oppressive weight through 
the music. His weapons of choice are overwhelming 
noisey blares, too many snares and that creepy sound 
you always hear in horror movie trailers. Then plays 
a vocal sample where a man says, “Sometimes you 
are so charmed by the music, he might be saying 
‘death, death, death,’ and you would not notice.” The 
title is Our Pathetic Age and the album cover is a girl 
staring at a smartphone. It takes very little effort to 
decipher the album’s message. It’s like that episode of 
“SpongeBob” when Squidward accidentally gets stuck 
in the Krusty Krab freezer for 2,000 years. This album 
is just DJ Shadow curling on the floor screaming 
“FUUTUUUREEE.”
OK boomer.
There are some other neat cuts in the mix on 
side A. “Firestorm” is an orchestral composition; 
that’s something new for DJ Shadow, whose debut 
Endtroducing has a Guinness World Record for being 
the first album recorded with only sampled sounds. 

It’s got some Toby Fox vibes going on, invoking the 
magic and nostalgia of the “Undertale” soundtrack. 
That’s an influence I never expected to find on a DJ 
Shadow album. The highlight instrumental is “Rosie.” 
The way the vocal sample gets chopped up and 
deconstructed is terrifying. By the midpoint, when the 
eerie oscillating synths and sticky bassline kick in, I’m 
seeing little Rosie in my midnight dreams.
For the most part, though, the beats on disc one 
sound a little too sterile, a little too unfocused, a little 
too lost and rambling in their runtime. That leaves 
the weight of this bloated album on the backs of all 
the zany disc two features. Could fire verses save this 
album?
Maybe they could have, but the majority of the raps 
on this half are not fire. They’re not even mediocre. 
They’re mostly dirt that snuffs this album out. If disc 
one invokes the OK boomer meme, then disc two is 
cashing it in for all its worth. Immediately on “Drone 
Warfare,” the societal commentary is extremely heavy 
handed. There is nothing clever about lines like “I 
duct tape the cam on a Mac Pro” or “My smartphone’s 
listening.” It’s like DJ Shadow got a bunch of hip hop 
legends on the album just to 
spout off vague doomsday-
sounding bullshit. 
That unwoke commentary 
on society today pervades 
throughout 
most 
of 
the 
verses 
on 
the 
album. 
The 
worst 
offender 
is 
“C.O.N.F.O.R.M.,” featuring 
the most uninspired and 
cringe-inducing lyrics about 
social media I have ever heard. The production isn’t 
bad at least. It’s just that the piano keys literally sound 
like the intro to the “Goosebumps” TV series, and I 
cannot unhear it for the life of me.
There are bits of gold that shine beneath DJ 
Shadow’s 
oppressively 
unimpressive 
thematic 
direction. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah and 
Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan spit some of the album’s 
smoothest verses on “Rain On Snow,” sandwiched 
between a blood-chilling chorus. “Rocket Fuel” is 
blessed by De La Soul’s unwieldy groove, the only 
instance of cheer on the entire album that makes for 
a breath of fresh air among the futuristic despair. The 
beat on “Taxin’” would not sound out of place on an 
album from a modern LA rapper like ScHoolboy Q or 
Jay Rock. Unsurprisingly, Run The Jewels bring the 
heat on “Kings & Queens,” rapping over a gorgeous 
soul sample. And the best vocal performance goes to 
Pusha T on the bonus track “Been Use Ta.” He raps 
over the unfortunate beat from “C.O.N.F.O.R.M.,” but 
with far better writing and delivery than the random 
wackjobs DJ Shadow enlisted for the not-bonus 
version.
Our Pathetic Age has its high points on both discs, but 
bloat is the death of this record. On the instrumental 
half, it’s mediocre bloat, and on the feature-packed 
half, it’s poisonous bloat. Cut out the unfocused tracks 
from side A and the god-awful tracks from side B, 
string it together a little more cohesively, and this 
album might have been memorable. Too bad it’s only 
middling at best.

DJ Shadow’s latest is heavy

ALBUM REVIEW

DYLAN YONO
Daily Arts Writer

The most 
extraordinary aspect 
of the production 
was how specific and 
clear the storytelling 
presented itself.

Only Dolly Parton could get away with “Dolly 
Parton’s Heartstrings.” That is, if Dolly herself didn’t 
appear in each episode, this show would be nothing 
more than Netflix’s attempt to corner the Hallmark 
feel-good movie market.
“Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings” consists of eight 
episodes with unrelated storylines all based on the 
most famous of Parton’s songs. Each episode explores 
a different aspect of family, friendship, love, loss or 
acceptance, and features Dolly’s own commentary on 
the history of each song’s creation and legacy.
The series’s first episode takes inspiration from 
famed song “Jolene” and reimagines the titular 
character (Julianne Hough, “Grease Live!”) as a 
struggling musician stifled by the traditions of a 
small town. The next story, “Two Doors Down,” 
has a similarly light, comedic tone and follows an 
estranged family as they each reveal personal secrets 
during a lavish New Year’s Eve wedding. Other than 
a few various petty conflicts, every loose end in these 
episodes ties up nicely and each have happy (albeit 
slightly unrealistic) endings.
While the opening episodes of “Heartstrings” are 
framed as lighthearted comedies, the series becomes 
more of a melodramatic tragedy than the average 
holiday heartwarmer as it progresses. “If I Had 
Wings” and “Cracker Jack” delve into Parton’s sadder 
tunes and depict fractured families or friend groups 
torn apart by terminal illness or addiction. Though 

some moments are genuinely emotional, most of these 
episodes feel engineered to produce tears, rather than 
to elicit the emotions so central to Parton’s music.
Despite its best attempts to connect with what 
makes Dolly Parton an icon, “Heartstrings” feels 
too commercial and hollow in comparison to its 
source material. With vapid and occasionally 
ridiculous dialogue, characters closely resemble 
two-dimensional archetypes employed to easily 
move stories forward. Even the storylines, which 
consistently rely on plot twists, seem too simplistic 
and trite to get invested in.
Without the compelling narratives of Parton’s 
original lyrics, “Heartstrings” fails to capture the 
heart of the country singer’s music. However, for 
all its faults, the show succeeds in capturing the 
fun of her storytelling. Dolly Parton has long been 
one of the kindest and truly positive musicians in 
American pop culture. Despite the cheesiest aspects 
of “Heartstrings,” the wholesome joy of the series 
is undeniable. Even with iffy writing and moments 
more worthy of eye rolls than tears, the 
show’s heart is in the right place.
Dolly’s personal involvement with 
each episode serves as the perfect 
reminder to the audience that her 
music is more about feeling than 
judging. 
Although 
“Heartstrings” 
tries its hardest to manufacture these 
feelings in abundance and loses out on 
some of her songs’ subtleties, the show 
still retains some of the sentiment in 
Parton’s lyrics.
“Heartstrings” is less focused on 
technical quality and devotes itself 
instead to being a comforting show 
for 
the 
holiday 
season. 
Without 
Dolly’s 
infectious 
personality, 
the 
show probably wouldn’t work. But 
if you love the Queen of Nashville 
enough to overlook the show’s flaws, 
“Heartstrings” is worth the watch.

‘Heartstrings,’ because Dolly

TV REVIEW

ANYA SOLLER
Daily Arts Writer

Ray Donovan

Season 7 Premiere

Showtime

Sundays @ 8 p.m.

Dolly Parton’s 
Heartstrings

Season One, Episodes 1-4

Netflix

Now Streaming

Our Pathetic Age

DJ Shadow

Mass Appeal Records