REVIEW: Is This A Room: Reality Winner Verbatim Transcription

Emma Pinchak Leave a comment

Five years, three months: the longest sentence ever given for leaking classified information to media sources. This is Reality Winner’s punishment for her confessed involvement in the spread of private documents regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 United States presidential election. Given this record, are we not obligated to ask questions? Does this historical event not deserve to be emphasized, elevated to a position of art?

This play is thoughtful, unassuming in its simplicity. Art written in the moment of speaking, the best kind. The liberty they took with the background score was a little heavy for me sometimes, especially when it went on for prolonged periods below speech. We are already invested in the story, so the added dramatic tones were only distracting, kind of like a soap opera.

Still I was struck by how baldly pained actress Emily Davis’ expression was throughout the play, perfecting the panicked mix of emotions Reality Winner must have been feeling at the time. The FBI agents were not heavily dichotomized in tone, which was a relief, but instead reflected flawed humanity rather than stereotype.

But is the act of turning Reality into a play just, or some kind of spectacle-making that preys on her turmoil while wearing the disguise of the artist? Is there enough of an argument against ordinary journalism’s story-driven (and thus not always compassionate) tendencies for the theatre medium to survive? Provocative titles to articles like “Does Reality Winner ‘Hate America?'” seem to provide evidence for one. Other

In making the script a verbatim transcription of the interrogation, do we lose valuable insight into the case? There is zero analysis of the events here, nor is there any real background information beyond online and program literature. The point was, I guess, for the audience to draw their own thoughts together about the case, with only the absolute barest bones with which to work.

The trouble I have with this strategy is that no one in the audience is truly coming in with no background knowledge and/or opinions related to the case. Even those not exposed to media stories about Winner have no doubt heard the countless reports on collusion in the election, forming and borrowing speculations on the truth. Even the baseline action of creating this play is a statement that this story is hers, and deserves telling; that the outcome may not have been a rational one.

I suppose still that in our information age there is no real neutral ground. We are exposed to so much media, tinted with biases coming from every direction, mixing with our own, and coming out the other side a completely unique concoction. It’s easy to become confused with what our beliefs are based on. So a verbatim transcription of an interrogation, regardless of its background tunes, is probably as close to perfect as we’re going to get. Thankfully we see enough value in the honest truth to produce this kind of play, and for it to be so well-received. What a curious thing.

 

REVIEW: Folk Fest Night One

Angela Lin Leave a comment

Folk music is a broad spectrum, and there is no better showcase of that fact than The Ark’s Folk Fest. Folk is a process, an evolutionary music that is about the future as much as the past, all in the present moment. With Willy Porter emceeing the event again, he made the night go seamlessly as he shared wonderful stories and songs before introducing the next act.

 

Photographs by Morgan Hale

Elliott BROOD kicked off the 43rd Annual Folk Fest with some very high energy. The Canadian group gave us the typical love song and bleak song, but their unique twist on it made the music refreshing nonetheless. Rainbow Girls followed, contrasting Elliott BROOD nicely. They gave me a postmodern jukebox vibe, as the three singers crowded around the microphone and sang their mesmerizing harmonies. Their extremely clever lyrics, especially in their “love” song, “Compassion to the nth Degree,” really captured the personality of the trio, proving that their music really tackles the pursuits of social justice. With a simple guitar, upright bass, or harmonica, Rainbow Girls really captured the human experience with their acoustic sound.

 

 

 

Cedric Burnside was the third act, and probably one of the performers that stood out the most to me. His unorthodox hill country blues music was very percussive and rhythmic, and his stellar guitar skills had a stunning repetition and upbeat tempo that made you sway and tap your toes. He was very modest in his stage presence and did what he came to Ann Arbor to do—play amazing music. The Lone Bellow wrapped up the first half with music that was inventive and full of imagination. The trio also had stunning harmonies and a rich sound, particularly in their encore, “Loretta,” a chilling and touching song about lead singer Zach William’s daughter.

After the intermission, Ingrid Michaelson came out. Her bubbly, lively personality resulted in her telling many stories and laughing during songs, especially when she forgot how her song “Miss America” began and she needed someone in the audience to Google the lyrics for her. Joined by Allie Moss onstage, with just a ukulele and a banjo, the usual upbeat pop take on her songs were toned down, to make it more appropriate for a folk fest. Nonetheless, she made the audience come alive through laughter and performed beautifully.

 

Calexico + Iron & Wine was the headliner, the final act of a long night. They knew they couldn’t compete with Ingrid’s jokes and personality, so they went about with their set. There were fascinating keyboard and upright bass solos, and the mix of sounds created a soulful and melancholic atmosphere that ended the night that was filled with fabulous folk music.

REVIEW: Is This a Room

Angela Lin Leave a comment

It starts with a foggy, black stage and a spotlight on a woman. That woman is Reality Winner. You may not recognize her name, but you might’ve heard her story. She leaked a document about the 2016 election to The Intercept and was arrested and sentenced to 63 months. However, as she sits in prison, Half Straddle, a New York Based-company, has kept her story alive, and they brought it to Ann Arbor in their UMS debut. 

The premise of the concept itself made the theatrical piece intriguing. With nothing to go off of but an audio transcript and the reported aftermath, I felt like there wasn’t much to the story. 

But boy was I wrong.

The tone, the body language, and the pauses—all of which were purely imagined for the stage—dictated the play more than the verbatim words. Every cough was captured, As the actors walked around the small stage, it shifted from the driveway to the backyard to room to room. And you knew that with every step they took, they were getting closer to the gripping truth. However, due to the bare staging and the nature of the script, some parts of the play were confusing as scenes shifted or we heard simply one-sided conversations. Additionally, the sudden bursts of noise and flashes of lights were unexpected, and while some of them indicated parts of the transcript that were redacted, others were unexplained, leaving the audience wondering what was being left unsaid and why things were staged a sudden way. The disorienting sounds of a synth further enhanced the thrill.

The four actors of Half Saddle conveyed the tense situation and brought the transcript to life in their imagined enactment. Emily Davis captured the nervous chuckles and humor of Reality, trying to lighten up the conversation as Pete Simpson and TL Thompson played the two special agents who acted friendly through small talk but persisted in getting the truth. Becca Blackwell played an unknown male whose role was pretty nebulous, but they seemed to alleviate the tension with their body humor. Their combined presence on the stage—making it a total of three versus Reality—seemed to corner her intimidatingly. When you realize there were eleven agents interrogating Reality in reality, the nerves conveyed in the transcript seem completely reasonable. 

“Is This a Room” is a surreal interpretation of the events that went down on June 3, 2017. And it’s a reminder that the ramifications of that day remain today.

PREVIEW: Color Out of Space

Lucy Leave a comment

Color Out of Space, starring Nicholas Cage, just came out on January 24th, and is called to be fantasy/sci-fi (and thriller, on some websites). The movie’s main characters must fight a parasite that comes down from space in a meteorite, with the apocalypse on the line. The movie is an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft short story.

The movie is playing at the State Theater in the evenings until February 3rd, so go see it while you can!

Buy tickets and see the official trailer at: https://www.michtheater.org/show/color-out-of-space/

PREVIEW: Ann Arbor Folk Fest

hcobrien Leave a comment

This Friday, January 31st, The Ark is hosting its 43rd annual folk fest at Hill Auditorium. The concert lineup on Friday includes artists Elliott BROOD, Rainbow Girls, Cedric Burnside, The Lone Bellow, Ingrid Michaelson, and Calexico and Iron & Wine. On both Friday and Saturday, Hill will be filled with folk music from 6:30pm onward, showcasing up and coming talent as well as established artists in the folk scene. The concert is an annual fundraiser for the Ark, and is always a popular concert:)

For More Information Visit:

https://theark.org/folk-festival

Tickets can be purchased online, at the Michigan Union Ticket Office, and The Ark

PREVIEW: 8th Annual Yule Ball

Ruth Leave a comment

This esteemed, Harry Potter themed event is put on by our very own Quidditch team!

As you can probably surmise from the title, this event has become a beloved tradition that grows bigger and better every year. Harry Potter fans throughout campus flock to the Yule Ball to enjoy dancing, performances, and all other sorts of magical festivities that are part of the wizarding world; the most important, being fantastic food.

I for one, am absolutely ecstatic to be able to break out my dress robes and high heels to dance the night away with my fellow J.K Rowling fans!!

For just $12 in advance or $15 at the door, you can be a part of this magical night, February 1, starting at 7:15 at the Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom.

Bring friends, bring family! Just be sure to remember your Umich ID and wear something worthy of a ballroom. (This is a formal event)