Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Possibilities is soul food for those intellects starved by the current political climate of idiocy. Four sophisticated, thought provoking short plays make up this refreshing production that asks us to evaluate our individual moral response to the unfolding complexity before us. You leave the theater feeling like your brain has had an intense workout and your body is pumped full of life inspiring endorphins. You immediately want to reach for a good book or engage in an intellectual hoop jumping discourse thanks to the stimulating perspectives that have shaken all complacency out of you. The production elevates your thinking
Month: July 2018
Dance: ‘Four Quartets’ at Bard/Summerscape
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) has the pride of place among Dead White Authors. His posh boarding school, Ivy League and ex-pat background makes him untouchable in English departments and on bloggie lists of "GREATEST WRITERS EVER." Still, there are times when the heart of even an overrated writer's work created at the expense of a mentally-ill first wife is laid bare. Thanks to choreographer Pam Tanowitz and her company, composer Kaija Saariaho, artist Brice Marden, musicians of The Knights and most of all actress Kathleen Chalfant, Eliot's Four Quartets's is not for post-docs alone. It is unfortunate that there were only three performances of this
Being a Latina Comic in Long Island, NY
By Cristina Arroyo (and NOT by Jeff Myhre, despite what Wordpress says -- we're working on it). Follow any LI comic or club on Instagram, and count the number of women or comics of color in the photos; you’d be hard pressed to get past single digits. The Long Island comedy scene in New York is very male and very White–I’m not trying to be controversial, just factual. Lack of diversity (race, gender, and even comedic style) is a glaring issue that, if continued to be pushed aside, will render LI comedy obsolete. Many seasoned comics and show producers and bookers dismiss
GET THE BOAT: at the SoHo Playhouse
Get The Boat is a vital conversation. It’s a timely play that taps into the current need to highlight crucial women’s issues in a patriarchal society that still attempts to tell women what they are “allowed” to do with their bodies. The #metoo and #ibelieveher movements have given many female playwrights the “voice” to tackle relevant societal issues with a courageous urgency. Irish playwright, Eavan Brennan draws attention to the traumatic journey many Irish women have to take to England to exercise their right to choose. The play is making its North American debut after a successful run at the
INNIT: at the SoHo Playhouse
INNIT is Catherine Tate funny. Colette Forde introduces us to Kelly Roberts, a ballsy Manchester teenager that is visiting a psychologist for the first time. I laughed like an unblocking drain and then totally choked up as we got to know this broken bird with foul tongue and fragile heart. INNIT is having its American debut after a sold out run at the the Limerick Fringe Festival. It’s an intense ride through working class, teenage trauma set in the 90’s. Kelly Roberts is a character you are not likely to forget. She is an undiluted truthsayer that does not shy away
The Opera is Always on the Table at ICE Factory, New Ohio Theatre
The Opera is Always on the Table places us into a dystopian environment where the effects of war have infiltrated the kitchen table. Missives of “fallen cities” come to us via texts on “Mom’s” cellphone while she tries to set boundaries for her teenage “Daughter” as if its a normal day. It’s a bleak look at the fallout of soldiers returning home riddled with PTSD and the consequences of neglecting this veteran’s precarious mental health. The piece has been written by Hanna Lea Novak who is adept at writing complex dialogue to reveal plot. The text evolved out of a response
Dance: The Joyce Ballet Festival
The annual Joyce Ballet Festival showcases the incredibly high level and high-energy of American ballet. This is a time of reflection, renewal and reconfiguration in ballet, and the two companies described here are conduits of that positive change. Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami (June 26-27) Ballet may never rate as high as Disneyland, but Miami now has two major dance companies Dimensions Dance Theatre, founded in 2016 by former Miami City Ballet married principles Carlos Guerra and Jennifer Kronenberg, opened The Festival on June 26. Founded in 2016, the company's gifted, personable dancers have already mastered an eclectic repertory. Guerra and Kronenberg themselves
One Small Step at ICE Factory, New Ohio Theatre
One Small Step…is a giant star jump through the sixth dimension and into an alternative reality where history is reworded. It’s an ode to otherness, to our desire to expand beyond the confines of our three dimensional universe and sniff at the possibility of realms beyond the known. Einstein’s theory of special relativity tickles our imaginations with the probability of higher dimensions and so the Saint Fortune company takes us on a space-time trial run. While there is doubt that our brains would be able to recognize 4D if it sat on our laps, One Small Step is all that
Prototypes at The Downstairs, La MaMa
Prototypes - a dozen divine dances. Susan Marshall & Company present a collection of short form works that are mini explosions of intense creativity. Each piece is a stand alone expression of human straining for connection, yet the 12 pieces seem to be talking to one another creating an entangled vine of cross pollinated conversation fragments. It is incredibly satisfying to watch as your brain makes its own connections between storylines, intentions and investigations of behavioral systems. Susan Marshall’s creative vision for the show ensures a seamless melding of the pieces so that you aren’t sure where one ends and
Sidra Bell Dance New York at New York Live Arts
If your idea of dance is the Rockettes or a big Broadway show-stopper, Sidra Bell Dance New York is probably not for you. The choreographer, composer and company seem comfortable just on the other side of the cutting edge. The performances at New York Live Arts of “Friction” and “garment” (lower case in the title) illustrated this nicely. To begin with, the company is diversity itself. Sebastaian Abarbanell is a former Berliner, Tushrik Fredricks is from Johannesburg, Drew Lewis learned to dance in Chicago, Misa Kinno Lucyshyn is from Eugene, Oregon by way of Vancouver, Madison Wada is a Californian, and