Category: Literary Arts

REVIEW: “People are Things” – Devised

aesteele Leave a comment

SMTD students are often encouraged to pursue a senior thesis at the end of their degree to show off the skills they’ve developed in college. On Saturday, I went to see “People are Things”, a directorial thesis by Tiara Partsch. In general, I tend to really love going to senior shows. They’re usually only about an hour long, free, and experimental in one way or another. “People are Things” reminded me why these are the shows I frequent. “People are things” is a one act play, which includes a brief introduction, and covers themes of trauma and class struggle.

When I walked in the Newman studio, where the performance was being held, the space was completely dark except for one fixture on stage. There were no chairs, and the audience was encouraged to circle around the only actress on stage. I remember feeling somewhat uncomfortable, like the audience was being involved in something that was harming the character we were all watching. She seemed freaked out by all of us standing there, and her performance reflected that. She was playing with a pile of dirt and fake plants as the audience surrounded her, shaping the dirt in mounds and placing the plants inside. She would then get upset, smash the dirt piles, and try to run off stage, only to be pulled right back to what she was doing.

The rest of the play centered around a 54 year old woman’s mental breakdown, involving a violent incident with her boss where she held him hostage with a knife. In the play, her identity is split into multiple parts, each one focusing around a different aspect of the act of violence she engaged in. This is something I really loved about the play because it  reminded me of how frantic your thoughts can be after experiencing something upsetting. How you go through the events in your head, fixating on certain details. While the play only covers events that take place over a couple days, it really showed me how intricate traumatic events can be. I feel that performances tend to use violence as a way to keep people engaged with a story, but I really appreciated how “People are Things” also talked about the ramifications of something like that on a persons mental health.

Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes 

Picture from the SMTD events website     

REVIEW: Reading and Q&A with Ross Gay

Sappy Leave a comment

On Thursday, December 9th, the poet Ross Gay gave a reading and held a Q&A session at the UMMA Stern Auditorium. I haven’t been to any poem readings before so I was surprised to find that the venue was so packed there weren’t enough seats. I’m a visual learner, so I often find myself zoning out when I’m required to listen for long periods. However, my professor told me that she fell in love with Ross Gay’s writing after she went to his reading, whereas when she read his poems they didn’t have as much of an impact. I quickly found out what she meant. When Ross Gay was reading his poems, it felt like he was giving a speech or acting out lines of a play. In other words, it felt like he was reading prose rather than poetry.

Since it’s impossible to speak line breaks, I was trying to notice how he may emphasize certain phrases more than others. I’m not sure if I’m looking too hard into things, but I did notice that at some times he’d pause a bit longer or change the inflection and volume of his voice. However, everything flowed so smoothly and sounded so natural it’s hard to point out specific spots to closely analyze unlike when reading poetry. The performative aspect was what drew my attention because he wasn’t simply reading words. He interacted a lot with the crowd through eye contact and hand gestures. It was interesting to see how his passion transfers off of the page and how he expresses himself, and it was an experience that made me realize how off I may be when interpreting an author’s work.

There were a few moments where the audience laughed which surprised me, but that could’ve been because the poem he read was about basketball, which I know nothing about. I think overall I’m always picking apart texts to find a ‘deeper’ message when it could just be something unknowingly lighthearted until read aloud. It made me realize that as a reader I often project my own emotions and experiences when interpreting other people’s work, perhaps blinding myself to the obvious. I only wish I had his poems written down in front of me to look at while I listened to further explore that concept.

REVIEW: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

aesteele Leave a comment

On Sunday Afternoon, I went to the matinee showing of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. The show was produced by In The Round, an inclusive student theater group on campus. It was in the Arthur Miller Theater, a relatively small venue, but the closeness of the space made all the wonderful performances of the night feel much more personal. Seats were right up against the stage, with some audience members sitting on the edge of the stage itself. Most of the big performances of the night happened in the middle of the room, including the opening number which involved every member of the cast singing and dancing in unison. The actors would sometimes sing directly out into the audience, which made it all the more captivating and engaging. I’ve never seen theater so up close!

The show itself is a self described long and complicated Russian novel, with a laundry list of characters. In The Round provided virtual programs, including a chart (with pictures) of every character in the show and how they’re related. Natasha and Pierre are the two main characters of the play. Natasha is young, in love, and devoted to her fiancé. Pierre, on the other hand, has resigned himself to devoting his life to his studies. A main theme of the play is love, and making the right choices when you’re in the thick of it. Even though the play is based on War and Peace, which was written almost 150 years ago, the things the characters struggle with are similar to a lot of the things young people struggle with today. Falling in love and preserving it, knowing when someone loves you in earnest, and reconciling with people you’ve wronged are all things universal to the human experience, but I found myself relating to the characters way more than I thought I would. Great Comet does a wonderful job of describing these feelings in a way that feels new.

Overall, I’m so glad I went to see Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. The performances of the cast is what stands out to me as one of the most compelling aspects of the show. But the performance by the pit orchestra, the songs sung by the actors, and the inclusion of electronic music in the score, made Great Comet a fun and worthwhile watch, and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 

Picture from Michigan Union Ticket Office website 

REVIEW: Michelle Zauner in Conversation

Sappy Leave a comment

Michelle Zauner’s last stop for her book tour was yesterday night at the Michigan Theater. I arrived an hour early for the event, but the line was already so long that I couldn’t get a front-row seat… understandable because the tickets sold out within a week.

Michelle was interviewed by one of the University’s professors, Kiley Reid, and they touched on a variety of topics such as how the cover of Crying in H Mart was designed, how her book came to be published, what kind of scenes she wishes she could’ve included, and many more. I can’t capture all the details of their conversation, but here’s a quick summary of how Crying in H Mart came to be:

After her mother died, she found a ‘real’ job in New York advertising wallpapers. During that time Michelle found herself deeply engrossed in cooking Korean food. This experience inspired her to write an essay that she submitted to thousands of agencies. It was only after a year of rejections that an agent reached out to her, which was also around the same time her band, Japanese Breakfast, began to grow popular.

She prioritized her music career, but as she traveled around the world she strived to write 1,000 words a day during plane rides or as she waited backstage. Most of the book was written during her world tour for Japanese Breakfast. After reading her first draft, though, Michelle realized that her writing was so full of anger: anger at every person and anger at all her experiences, which wasn’t the kind of memoir Michelle wanted to write. Once she reached her last destination in South Korea however, the place where her mother grew up, she learned that there was more to write about outside her grief, and after continuously cutting down, editing, and revising her work, she had her final product: the first chapter titled Crying in H Mart.

After her interview with Kiley, there was also a Q&A session. Many people asked Michelle for advice on how to connect with their culture and progress their careers as a writer. She advised people to continuously interact with aspects of their heritage, whether it be learning history, taking language classes, or cooking food until it becomes a part of them. She also emphasized that to be a good writer, you have to write a lot of shit.

Overall, it was a super inspirational experience. It was also the first time I met an author, and Michelle was so humorous and down to earth. I initially thought the event would be a serious discussion due to the topic of the memoir, but it turned out to have a light-hearted atmosphere. There will also be a movie adaptation of the book!

I can’t wait to see what Michelle has planned for us in the future.

REVIEW: RC Review Open Mic + Release Party

Abigail Goodman Leave a comment

What could possibly be better than a super friendly group of artsy students coming together to perform their art? Well – a super friendly group of artsy students coming together to perform their art, with Costco sheet cake. At Monday night’s RC Review open mic and release party, Residential College students enjoyed a sensory and culinary experience that topped off a year of amazing achievements. 

For the University of Michigan campus, the Residential College, located in East Quad, is an artistic hub for all students. Many incoming freshmen are attracted to the RC for its friendly atmosphere, access to arts classes (furniture making, photography, drawing, printmaking, etc.), and RC forums, RC-only “clubs” taken for credit. The RC Review, the RC’s premier literary magazine, is unrivaled in its compilation and publishing of RC student art made by students, for students. Having been part of the RC Review myself this year, I can truly say that it’s one of the best organizations I have been a part of in UM. You can take a break from the stress of frantically trying to meet academic deadlines, and settle down for an hour every Monday to simply collage with your friends. It’s a space to express yourself, laugh with your friends, and take things a little less seriously.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can submit your illustrations, poetry, prose, photography, or any other artistic piece to the magazine, where it will be reviewed and hopefully published. This year’s magazine – titled “Hot Hustler Magic” – is one of the longest and most robust in RC history. Coming in at 153 pages with more than 20 RC contributors, students will have no shortage of amazing art to flip through. Some of the highlights are a gorgeous photo from rural Virginia, a blackout poem focusing on reproductive rights in Michigan, a beautiful short story about family, death, and the passing of time, a colorful marker drawing of East Quad itself, an intricately bound book detailing Roman architecture, and a poem dedicated to a friend who passed away in Covid-19 isolation. The pieces are strikingly personal and lovingly put together in the magazine. 

At the open mic, RC students performed pieces both published in the magazine and not. For many graduating seniors, it was also their last chance to take part in a community that gave them a home in college, whether they were living in East Quad or not. The RC Review is, in my opinion, one of the best clubs on campus. If you’re an RC student who loves to make art, I would highly recommend joining next year.

PREVIEW: RC Review Open Mic + Release Party

Abigail Goodman Leave a comment

The Residential College Review is an RC forum that brings together RC students once a week to collage, make art, write poetry, read prose, and just have a good time. It’s an incredible way to find community in a huge university, and an incredible way to both submit art to a popular magazine and see art made by UM students. Once a year, the RC Review publishes an arts magazine, highlighting RC students’ greatest artistic products of the past year. Come join the club this Monday to pick up a free copy of the magazine, eat scones, and participate in the open mic!

When: Monday, April 17, 7-9 pm 

Where: East Quad Greene Lounge

Tickets: free!