Friday, June 2, 2023
Americans are bombarded by tragedies every day; mass shootings, police brutality, and natural disasters like fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. People become numbers, and their stories and struggles are reduced to headlines or photos showcasing their stress. It’s easy to become numb and forget the human aspect behind the images and figures. shadow/land by playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza humanizes one of the worst disasters in American history, not only in terms of the damage that nature caused but the lives lost due to negligence and lack of care and support for vulnerable populations. The play examines the breakdown of a mother-daughter relationship
Tag: play
QUINCE: An Unforgettable Immersive Experience Blossoms at The Bushwick Starr
Anyone who has tended a garden (even on a rooftop or fire escape) or owned a houseplant knows that a living thing needs proper care, time, nourishment, and nurturing to grow, flourish and reach its potential. The same is true of a new work of theatre. It does not sprout from the playwright’s head or the director’s vision fully actualized but requires an investment to cultivate the seed and make it bloom. I have seen no finer example of this in the past two years than the journey of the interactive play celebrating modern Mexican American culture playing (on extension) at
Fat Ham at The Public Theater: Succulent Joy Triumphs Over Tragedy
For a play premiering on Memorial Day weekend, what could feel more festive than a family gathering at a backyard barbecue served with a side of Shakespeare, a heaping portion of pop culture references, simmered in family drama, seasoned with violence and a dash of glitter to taste? Ay, there's the spice rub! Shakespeare's plays have had many adaptations and updated versions that take creative licenses with the Bard's works and themes. A favorite choice is the tale of the brooding, tragic prince with intense and questionable family dynamics. The Guardian recently published a piece examining the obsession that dramatists of stage and
The Accidental Futurist Ensemble: SITI Company’s “The Medium” at BAM
The year is 1993: Bill Clinton becomes president of the US; the World Trade Center is bombed by Islamic Fundamentalists; the FBI raids Branch Davidians, a religious cult in Waco, TX; Russia and the US sign a treaty; an earthquake and tsunami devastate Japan; brush fires ravage Australia; ethnic fighting causes turmoil in Bosnia; Ty introduces plush toys called Beanie Babies; the tech company Intel launches its Premium Processor. And an ensemble-based theater company called SITI Company devises the play The Medium in Toga-Mura, Japan. The Medium returns almost 30 years later to BAM Fisher, Fishman Space from March 15-20. As Shakespeare
Radical Adaptations of Dracula & Frankenstein Ignite Classic Stage Company
For as many adaptations and interpretations as there are of the classic gothic horror novels Frankenstein and Dracula, it is hard to imagine two more creative, unique, radical and timely works that deal with the well-known tales and characters than the pair playing in a repertory cycle at Classic Stage Company (CSC). They are also strikingly contrasting works. Both are deeply engaging, provocative and compelling explorations of the source material -- each of which was written in the 1800s, one slightly predating the other near the end of the Victorian era. They remind the audience of timeless themes investigated in
SOCRATES at THE PUBLIC THEATER
Lecture, exhortation, dissertation, harangue. These are all synonyms for “talking”, which is what the subject of actor/director/playwright Tim Blake Nelson’s new play Socrates --- now playing at The Public Theater extended through June 2nd as the anchor of Onassis USA Festival 2019: Democracy is Coming --- is best known for. In fact, he made a life, death and immortality out of being a relentless orator, so much so that a man born in 470 B.C.E. is still a topic of modern tongues and his tradition of thought, theories and philosophies are taught as required curriculum at any liberal arts school
4:48 PSYCHOSIS Explores the Sounds of Despair, Rage and Hopelessness at Prototype Festival
Great art is meant to bring the viewer into another universe, perhaps allowing them to -- if only fleetingly -- experience previously unimagined scenarios, feelings and worldviews. It has the power and potency to connect us to the broader spectrum of emotions that make up the human condition. But what happens when this art is a semi-autobiographical piece of essentially heightened, poeticized and dramatized non-fiction that could be and has been regarded as “a 75-minute suicide note” (Michael Billington, The Guardian), such as 4:48 Psychosis -- the stark, often brutal, occasionally darkly comedic and deeply unsettling post-mortem work of English
Wild Goose Dreams at The Public Theater
In Hansol Jung’s tender, poignant and humorously human Wild Goose Dreams, The Public Theater’s entire third floor space is transformed into a the city of Seoul, South Korea (the inventive and imaginative design is credited to Public and Broadway veteran, Clint Ramos) through a vibrant visual plethora of candy-colored campaigns and neon notifications with a small sampling of blown-up family photos scattered between. This manic mosaic sets the chaotic tone of a modern world where various sights and sound bites compete for attention -- though that only creates a feeling of deeper isolation amidst all the noise. But the eye-bruising visual
The Ferryman: Broadway Opening October 22nd – The Carney Family Is Ready For A Fight!!
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus When individuals talk about key commodities in life several needs come to mind. Food, water, procreation, love, money, binge watching "The Walking Dead". All of these utensils of life will come up, but more times than not a soul will say, "the love of family". To assist in propelling something larger than one self forward is in my opinion the definition of family. Websters Dictionary defines family as, "a group of people who share common ancestors". Family is your representation when you are gone. There is no opposite of heritage. To be from nowhere? There is no such