To the Work: Notes on the Performing Arts and other necessities

Macbeth 1969 (adapted from Shakespeare by Eric Ting)

2012-01-25T22:56:00.002-05:00

Well, this thoughtful adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish play uses lines derived solely (I think) from Macbeth, but rearrangements them and distributes them among only six parts to tell an entirely different story. Despite the obvious difficulties with such a project, I think it could work. For example, the new version is set in a Vietnam-era VA hospital, and the lines of the Weird Sisters are given to the three nurses who staff the ward (and two of whom are also married to Macbeth and Macduff--or is it Banquo?). Sometimes it is clear that when the nurses recite the Weird Sisters' lines, they are the hallucinations of the traumatized war hero, Macbeth; other times, it's just the nurses speaking those lines. Nor is it clear what role Macbeth's PTSD plays vis-a-vis his murder of Duncan: does the PTSD cause him to kill his king, or does he kill his king because of PTSD?

I think there are ways that the lighting and sound (which are already used to great effect) could answer some of these questions and give the production more coherence. Because I have faith in Ting's ability to pull all of this together, I'd like to see the next iteration. I bet it will be provocative.

Recommend.

The Women on the Sixth Floor (Philippe Le Guay)

2012-01-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

Predictable but absolutely charming. No one does a romantic comedy like the French.

Recommend

Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki)

2012-01-24T23:06:00.000-05:00

This Finnish film makes a simple but eloquent statement: when you're down and out, your best source of help are the others who are also down and out...just not as far down or out. Set in the gritty, yet almost nostalgically impoverished working class neighborhood near Le Havre's dockyards, the movie follows the efforts to help a young Gabon refuge reunite with his mother in London. With nothing but their wits and their hearts, they simultaneously hide him from the authorities while raising the 3000 francs needed to smuggle him out. Surprising lack of sentimentality.

Perhaps the best moment, though, is the Roberto Piazza (aka Little Bob) gig. Why isn't this guy better known?

Highly recommend.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Daldry)

2012-01-22T22:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, this is a moving, maybe even sentimental, film, but that doesn't keep it from being a timely story well told.

Recommend

Shame (Steve McQueen)

2012-01-22T22:04:00.002-05:00

Intriguing examination of sexual addition spinning out of control, with only (very suggestive) hints about the underlying cause.

Fantastic performances by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan; however, it's the director's willingness to hold the camera still for long cuts that most captivated.

Highly recommend...as long as you remember its NC-17 rating

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird)

2012-01-17T22:41:00.001-05:00

What a hoot!

Recommend with caveats

Carnage (Roman Polanski)

2012-01-14T21:32:00.001-05:00

When my son was in second grade, he was in a schoolyard fight and came out on top. I was horrified when I learned about it. We were in West Texas, a land of machismo and guns, and I had been fighting my own battle and against violence: T was allowed to carry sticks only when they weren't used as weapons, and toy guns were (initially) banned. My feelings became more complex when I learned more details from the cohort of second grade teachers. By their account, once they disrupted the fight--pulled T off the other kid-- they checked for injuries and then questioned each boy independently. T, a smart but not a standout student, came alive when they asked him about the incident. After first informing them that his parents did not condone fighting, he fired a litany of humiliations and sly bullying that he and others had suffered from the other boy since kindergarten. He then concluded with the simple statement that he couldn't take it any more. Based on his eloquent defense and their own knowledge of each boy's character, the teachers decided punish not T but the other boy.

I don't remember ever discussing the event with the boy's parents, though we did later carpool and socialize. That anecdote, however, became part of the narrative I would tell when someone wanted to know about T. And as much as I told the story to illustrate his rhetorical prowess, I also admired his willingness and ability to stick up for himself.

I relate this story now because it resonates with the themes in Carnage, Polanski's adaptation of Yasmina Reza's play, God of Carnage. In it we are introduced to two pairs of parents dealing with a similar situation and similar reactions. Then, within the confines of a Brooklyn apartment, we watch as each parent admits to and/or rejects each of those reactions and feelings. In the process, we also witness the exposure of the faultlines of their marriages and the fragility of their values. It's a brutal and uncomfortable --even more so than on the stage because the audience is brought so close in.

Great performances by all four actors.
Recommend

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Tomas Alfredson)

2012-01-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

Pretty darn good remake of the 70s television mini-series based on the LeCarre novel. Of course, transforming the tale into a 2-hour feature movie requires much condensing, and I found the first 45-minutes very confusing. Once, however, all the characters are introduced and the main plot elements laid out, the film was a great thriller.

Great good shots emphasizing the nature of constant watching and being watched. I especially liked the opening Budapest shot.

Recommend.

The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)

2012-01-03T22:13:00.001-05:00

Great movie that revisits the transition from silent films to talkies (and then on to the dance extravaganzas) by focusing on the conventions of each. As the camera switches between the actors and the embedded film's audience, we become aware of what causes us to react and why. For a silent film, it's not the clever dialogue but the juxtaposition of images or the exaggerated expressions that convey the characters' emotions. The music also does much of the work, but I found myself resisting the way it tried to manipulate my reactions. Most importantly, though, the film demonstrates how the interplay between the lack of talking and the intertitles can be ambiguous. For instance, what is it that goes "Bang" in the penultimate scene?

Sound only appears twice in the film: during George Valentin's dream, when he can hear everything but he has no voice, and then briefly at the end, when he and Peppy Miller are dancing for a film (a la Rogers and Astaire) and we hear him speak two or three words.

Interesting note: this is the second film of the season that looks at the earliest period of film history (see my comments of *Hugo*). Makes me wonder if the convergence is coincidental or the leading edge of a phase.

Recommend

Hugo (Martin Scorcese)

2012-01-02T23:22:00.000-05:00

There are not many films we'd go out of our way (as well as pay extra) to see in 3-D. However, because I'd liked Selznick's graphic novel for children, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and because Martin Scorcese is the director, we decided to make the extra effort.

First, regarding the 3-D. When we're shown George Melies's filming in his pre-WWI studio, the 3-D works to stupendous effect. Apparently he shot through fish aquariums in order to achieve underwater effects, and when the process is filmed, the 3-D is absolutely enchanting, capturing perfectly the dream state that Melies sought. The rest of the time, the 3-D is either superfluous or distracting. It made the characters feel much more cartoonish than the book suggestions (or even the film requires). It provides a false sense of depth--too often the foreground and/or background are blurry, forcing the eye to remain exclusively on the child actors who are lovely to watch but their acting range was rather limited). In fact, when we see a famous scene that causes early film-audience members to leap from their seats--they are trying to avoid a train that's rumbling towards them--the flatness of THAT film (which isn't translated into 3-D) fails to cause a sympathetic reaction in tonight's audience. Considering how perfect the 3-D was for specific segments of the film, I would have loved to have seen Scorcese imitate The Wizard of Oz and film the non-Melies scenes without the 3-D and reserve the 3-D for the Melies studio segments.

Otherwise, this is a lovely homage to Selznick's novel and to Melies.

Recommend.

A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg)

2011-12-26T22:26:00.000-05:00

A Dangerous Method has all sorts of promise--the early years of psycho-analysis, the birth and dissolution of Freud and Jung's friendship, David Cronenberg--but none of that promise survives the drab script or Keira Knightly's atrocious acting.

Recommend with great reservation.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)

2011-12-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

I so much liked the Swedish Girl (2009), that I fully expected to be disappointed by the American remake. Not at all. The novel is rich enough that Fincher was able to pull different narrative strands and create an equally entertaining and engrossing film.

Recommend.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie)

2011-12-20T22:37:00.000-05:00

As long as you don't care to catch all the details--and the ride is so much fun that I don't mind--then the latest film capturing the investigations Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is a great evening. Both Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law are terrific, and there's not a second of downtime.

Recommend.

Krapp's Last Tape (Beckett)

2011-12-18T20:17:00.000-05:00

Not many people get the chance (or dare take the chance) of seeing two productions of the same Beckett play on the same weekend. We did. After seeing John Hurt's performance on Friday, we saw Brian Dennehy's performance in a Sunday matinee. In light of the tight control the Beckett estate exerts over productions of his plays, I was surprised by the substantial differences between the two productions. (Note: I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company's production in 1998 at BAM; I remember little about it beyond the interminable silences and the way it looked. I do not remember being able to understand the tape recordings very well.) There was no comedy in Dennehy's performance. Here, Krapp is clearly a pitiful alcoholic whose pratfalls would be comical if not so pathetic. There was nothing tedious and unclear about the performance. And as he had done for all the previous performances at Long Wharf, he returned to the theatre for an extensive talk-back (really a mini-lecture explicating the play followed by an opportunity for the audience to ask questions): worth the price of the ticket alone.

Recommend highly.

The Quodlibet Ensemble

2011-12-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

This ensemble includes one of Mike's former students, Mihai Marica, a celloist. They opened the evening with Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto Grosso in D major, op. 6, no 4 and G. F. Handel's Concerto Gross in G major, op. 6, no. 1. In the second half they broke the by pattern by including Robert Honstein's *Night Scenes from the Ospedale," 3 companion pieces intersperced among five concerti from Vivaldi's *L'Estro Armonico" The performances were excellent.

Recommend highly.

Krapp's Last Tape (Beckett)

2011-12-16T21:40:00.001-05:00

John Hurt provided an engaging (that is, clear) performance of Beckett's quintessential curmudgeon overwhelmed by remorse and denial of that remorse. Excellent sound design aided the performance immensely. Recommend highly.

A Doctor in Spite of Himself (Moliere, adapated by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp)

2011-12-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

Silly, silly waste of time.

The Nutcracker (Eastern Connecticut Ballet)

2011-12-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

We go to this production of the Nutcracker for only one reason: to watch Sarah M perform. This year, she had the role of the Doll, and her performance was excellent.

Recommend

Venus in Fur (David Ives)

2011-12-03T22:02:00.000-05:00

2nd time around (and still with Nina Arianda in the lead) and the play still charms! We were only able to get one ticket, so Mike waited outside while I saw it by myself. Greater love....

I cannot recommend this production highly enough. It's terrific.

Collaborators (John Hodge)

2011-12-01T22:10:00.000-05:00

A National Theatre Live broadcast. Set in 1938 Moscow, the play imagines the circumstances in which Mikhail Bulgakov wrote his play celebrating Stalin's sixtieth birthday. Great play. Excellent production.

Highly Recommended

The Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, MD)

2011-11-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

We went to see the exhibition on the Archimedes Codex. Fascinating story well told.

The Infernal Comedy: Confessions of a serial killer (Michael Sturminger)

2011-11-19T23:38:00.001-05:00

Purportedly premised on the memoirs of Jack Unterweger, a late-20th-century Austrian serial killer, the production combines the grotesquery of the criminal's clever justifications for his crimes with the lush beauty of late-18th tragic opera. Why the two are combined is never made fully clear. Visually, the two are connected when Unterweger attacks and strangles the two singers. Conceptually, the second seems to be fantasy of his life as a tragic work of art in which some are doomed (through no fault of the artist) to die.
With John Malkovich as Unterweger.
Outrageous, yes. Yet, I'm still not certain this production lives up to its hype.

The Internal Comedy: Confessions of a serial killer (Michael Sturminger)

2011-11-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Featuring John Malkovich as Jack Unterweger, an Austrian serial killer. Strange hodge-podge of classical music and rant without any center.

Disappointing. Recommend with reservations

A Thought in Three Parts (Wallace Shawn)

2011-11-18T22:08:00.000-05:00

Yale Cabaret's production was one of the few on this side of the Atlantic since the play was written in the 1970s. Bold and daring understates it. Fine, fine acting by the entire cast. Saw it with Alice Kelly.

Twelfth Night, (Shakespeare)

2011-11-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

Westport Country Playhouse and Mark Lamos--as well as a wheelchair-bound Feste. Not as surprising as expected.

Recommend

Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols)

2011-11-04T00:25:00.002-04:00

Engrossing film that brings the audience inside the experience of Curtis--an everyday working man, husband, and father--and his encroaching schizophrenia. Make that "experiences," for the film is exceptionally good with its sympathetic portrayal of friends and family as they are pulled into and resist Curtis' delusions and paranoia in rural Ohio. Much more suspenseful that I would have expected. Excellent performances by Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon.Highly recommend.

Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (Gertrude Stein)

2011-10-27T22:06:00.000-04:00

This fine production by the Yale School of Drama students was directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz and earns high marks for being somewhat coherent and, shall we say, illuminating of a very obscure text.

Recommend

The Ides of March (Clooney)

2011-10-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

Engaging but not completely coherent.

Recommend with caveats.

The Threepenny Opera (Kurt Weill, 1928)

2011-10-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Directed by Robert Wilson and performed (in German) by the Berliner Ensemble (a descendent of the theatrical ensemble Brecht founded in 1949), this production of Weill's savage satire thrust the audience squarely into Weimar Germany. The design was impeccable and the performances were flawless. It merits seeing a 2nd time.

Highly Recommend. And again.

New Music New Haven

2011-10-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

Garth Neustadter, New Haven Counterpoint
Paul Kerekes, connecticut shift
Loren Loiacono, Waking Rhythm
David Lang, sweet air
Hannah Lash, Hush
David Lang, cheating, lying, stealing

Atys (Lully)

2011-09-24T23:30:00.000-04:00

To my mind, there is no musical ensemble responsible for more exquisite productions than William Christie's Les Arts Florissants. The ensemble has a head start by dedicating itself to Baroque music, but it maintains that lead by attending to every detail so that the whole is as close to perfect as possible.
This year, LAF and Opera Comique restaged their 1987 production of Lully's Atys.
The court of King Louis XIV birthed French opera in the middle of the 17th century, and the man most responsible for its development was Jean-Baptiste Lully, a musician and dancer from a working-class Florentine family. Under the king's oversight, Lully developed tragedies en musique incorporating highly stylized dance and costumes into the opera. Atys is one of his earliest productions, its subject matter chosen by the king.
The story of Atys comes from Ovid, as retold by Philippe Quinault.
Highly recommend.

Three Sisters (Anton Chekhov; new version, Sarah Ruhl)

2011-09-23T22:05:00.000-04:00

Devastating production of a heart-wretching work.

Recommend

Peace, Love, and Light (New Haven Symphony)

2011-09-22T20:18:00.000-04:00

Michael Brown's piano performance of the Beethoven was exquisite. I've never heard someone play with such command of the incidentals.
Rossini, Overture to The Barber of Seville
Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, op. 37
Theofanidis, Peace Love Light YOUMEONE
Mendelssohn, Symphony no. 4 in A Major, op. 90, "Italian"

Recommend...and keep an eye out for Michael Brown

Another Earth (Mike Cahill)

2011-08-17T21:27:00.005-04:00

This film's framing premise--that a mirror Earth unexpectedly and inexplicably approaches our planet--was almost enough to keep us from going to the cinema tonight. I'm so glad we followed through on our original plans.

Obviously a low-budget effort filmed here in New Haven--landmark spotting was the fun aspect of watching it--the directo, writers, and lead actors (all spots filled by Cahill and Brit Marling) focused on creating credible characters. After their shared but separate horror, watch them return to life in tandem, graciously allowing the other to help with the healing.

Like Tree of Life, this film posits a place of grace and forgiveness while avoiding sentimentality.

Highly recommend

Sarah's Key (Gilles Paquet-Brenner)

2011-08-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

Mixed feelings about a highly emotional (and highly unlikely) tale.

Recommend with caveats

Point Blank (Fred Cavaye)

2011-08-13T23:28:00.003-04:00

This French thriller doesn't let its audience relax for more than 15 seconds at a time. It centers on the efforts of a nurse's aid to rescue his 7.5-months pregnant wife who's been kidnapped. The line between cops and criminals are blurred, with both simply want to wipe out their enemies, while the husband just wants to find his wife. Multiple plot twists are further complicated by the involvement of a corrupt police detective.

Recommended.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-08-10T11:15:00.000-04:00

Entertaining prequel in which all the humans behave badly, stupidly, or both. Clever ending to explain self-inflicted demise of humans, paving the way for the rise of the apes.

Recommend.

The Tempest (Shakespeare)

2011-08-09T00:17:00.000-04:00

The third of Yale Cabaret's Summer Shakespeare Festival features strong performance, insightful directing, and clever stage design. No one actor plays Prospero; instead, the role is shared by the other actors/characters, revealing them at the end to have all been a figment of his imagination.

Strong work by artistic director Devin Brain and producer Tara Kayton.

Highly recommend.

Life, Above All (Oliver Schmitz)

2011-08-08T00:17:00.003-04:00

A somber, sober look at the shame that forces individuals and families drawn into the South African AIDS epidemic in South African to hid in secrecy. Excellent cinematography and sound design.

Highly recommend

As You Like It (Shakespeare)

2011-08-05T20:26:00.000-04:00

The second of the Yale Summer Cabaret's ambitious Shakespeare productions. Cleverly imagined and clearly produced.

Recommend

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2011-07-23T16:07:00.003-04:00

After the 75 minutes spent at the small, focused exhibits at the ICA, the 140 minutes spent at the BFA's sprawling exhibits were dizzying. For no predetermined reason, I decided to just take the galleries as they came and enjoy each object d'art. Not a bad strategy for becoming absorbed by the art rather than the other way.
I particularly enjoyed the Sargent room.

Recommend.

New England Aquarium

2011-07-22T13:24:00.000-04:00

These things are much better now that we don't have young children in tow.

Recommend.

Rose Mark'd Queen (adapted by Devin Brain)

2011-07-14T23:16:00.002-04:00

War of the Roses, with a particular focus on Margaret of Anjou and with lines taken from Shakespeare's Henry V, Henry VI (parts 1, 2, & 3), and Richard III. Interesting setting of a children's nursery, thereby transforming the characters into children fighting over a sandbox. Could use some tightening up. Very strong acting.

Recommend.

Buck (Cindy Meehl)

2011-07-13T23:13:00.000-04:00

I didn't want to go but, after being roped into seeing it, glad I did.

Recommend.

The Illusion (Tony Kushner from Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion Comique)

2011-07-13T13:49:00.006-04:00

One of Kushner's early works, this adaptation of the 17-century orignal play combines romance and tragedy with a heavy strain of magic in order to explore the boundaries between the real and the illusory. Set in the cave of a magician, it opens with Pridamant searching for the sorceress in order to obtain her help to locate his son, whom he had banished from his household 15 years prior for being too caught up on his fancies. In answer to Pridamant's request, she presents him with 3 scenes, each featuring his son. In each illusion, his son has a different name, and each time the son is seen working through the travails of being a penniless man and of love. By the 3rd scene, the son is revealed to be a cad, just in time to be killed by his lovers' husband. As Pridamant bewails his loss, Aleandre the magician reveals that indeed they have been watching the son's life, but with this catch: the son is a working actor in Paris , and the three illusions were all scenes fr plays on which he acted. Rather than being dead, he was indeed alive and working in Paris.
This embedded explanation doesn't filly account for everything the audience had observed. Consequently, we are given (at least) three ways to understand what we have seen.
First, we accept the initial narrative that a magician is allowing Pridamant to view retrospectively the past 15 years of his son's life. Second, we believe the magician's last minute story: the son is an actor, and we've been watching his performances. Three, that all three scenes have been performances that have nothing to do with the son; the magician has simply provided some theatrical scenes to fulfill the father's wish and to take his coins. He has been duped, as has the audience. Clues to the third possibility: the magician's servant moves back and forth between the two settings; one of the scenes' characters returns to the cave; father cannot remember the son's name, so how do we believe that he recognizes his face; and, most poignantly, the magician mentions that the roads were muddy enough that spring to keep anyone from traveling to Paris. That is, the magician's ruse worked because she was certain the father's curiosity had been satisfied and he would not make the effort to reunite with his son.
In the end, the play explores how we desire to reclaim what is lost--and how much we will fool ourselves into believing we can.

Highly recommend.

Race (David Mamet)

2011-07-09T15:27:00.004-04:00

A timely, hard-hitting examination of race and sexual relations--and the legal and cultural ramifications of breaking the taboos. Though the title and the characters want to distract us into thinking the play's focus is race, it is as much, if not more, about gender relations: the two male lawyers refer to Susan, the third lawyer, as "the girl" whenever she is out of the room.

Despite some weak or unclear plotting, this is probably the best Mamet play I've seen, and the tight, terse production does it justice.

Highly recommend.

The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts

2011-07-08T20:33:00.002-04:00

Thunderstorms and downpours kept us from exploring the gardens; nevertheless, we enjoyed seeing the partially restored home of Edith Wharton.

Recommend.

Arrowhead, Pittsfield, Massachusetts

2011-07-08T12:31:00.003-04:00

Not exactly a performance--unless we count the tour guide's speedy recitation of Melville facts and trivia--but worth noting. A timely reminder to return to Melville this summer.

Recommend.

Mark O'Connor String Quartet

2011-07-07T21:08:00.006-04:00

Mark O'Connor, violin
Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin
Gillian Gallagher, viola
Patrice Jackson, cello

O'Connor, String Quartet No 2 "Bluegrass" (2005)
--, String Quartet No 3 "Old-Time" (2008)

After three duets based on Americana music, the first half concluded with the String Quartet No 2. The introductory duets filled our ears with the rhythms and sonorities of native music and prepared is for the more complex combinations of the longer work. Though filled with some gorgeous moments, it did not make its structure readily apparent in the first listening. Despite the virtuosic performances, I was less than awed.

The second half of the program began with a 7-minute free improvisation by O'Connor that provided more clues about the quartet from the first half. Quartet #3, however, seemed to leave the improvisory mode behind with four highly structured movements that allowed the cello to provide the necessary bones. The second movement was my favorite. It was highly reminiscent of "Moondog," a sumptuous piece on the Kronos Quartet's Ancient Music album.

Encore: Appalachian Waltz, very lovely

Recommend with caveats.

Three Hotels (Jon Robin Baitz)

2011-07-06T21:54:00.003-04:00

Sharp production of an interesting play concerning the corrosive effects that corporate misdeeds in the third world have on citizens of those nations as well as on the members of the corporate executives' families.

Recommend.

Clark Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

2011-07-06T12:36:00.001-04:00

The more heavily promoted exhibit, Pisarro's People, was certainly interesting; I learned a great deal about Camille Pissaro's family, friends, and politics. And I was delighted to see my dear friend, John Singer Sargent's stunning work in white. The great surprise and delight was seeing the features photo exhibit.
The image if you click on this blog entry's title, a photo taken by Thomas Struth in 1992, does no justice to the original 8'x12' I saw hanging at the top of a Clark Institute (Williamstown MA) stairway. Something about coming to it from below compressed the image and blurred even more the distinction between the people in the gallery and those in the painting. The collapse of space and time was startling, even pleasurable, without being disrespectful to the present of the visitors, the past of the painting, or the distant past of the image depicted in the painting.

Highly recommend.

The Motherf**ker with the Hat (Stephen Alan Guirgis)

2011-07-02T19:47:00.003-04:00

The unforgettable play with the unprintable name.

Though it makes use of the language of addiction and recovery, the play isn't really about either. Instead, it's about how we treat one another and ourselves, the codes of behavior we do and don't love by. It treats all of this with riotous, iconoclastic humor, and yet there's never a flippant moment.

Highly recommend.

Jerusalem (Jez Butterworth)

2011-07-02T17:08:00.000-04:00

This play is a virtuoso of language coming at the audience like the crowds on Times Square. Sometimes you cannot see the faces in the crowds, but you can be overwhelmed nonetheless. Mark Rylance's performance as Rooster Byron, a drug dealing pied piper of Wiltshire youth, is often difficult to fathom. His motivations are unclear and his self conception muddled, even delusional. I wasn't sure if he represented a lost English Arden or the general degradation of British middle-class culture. He certainly isn't a figure of hope, not even failed rebellion. Deserves to be read.

Recommend.

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

2011-07-01T23:40:00.000-04:00

Malick's latest genre-bending film provides a lovely (if not novel in its conclusions) meditation on life and death and love and family. The setting, 1950-60s Texas, was meticulously invoked and provided a fit backdrop for childhood caught between the Lone Star state's demand for perfection from its offspring and Southern Protestant rhetoric of love in this life and assurance of reunion in the next.

The father's rigid yet contradictory parenting styles will be familiar to my children.

I can see why some are put off by its veering away from straight narrative and fInd offputting its visual and spoken meditations. I found it much better to give in to it.

Recommend.

The Trip

2011-07-01T23:30:00.001-04:00

A tedious British travel flick with many, but not nearly enough, humorous sparks. JudgIng by the reactIons of the others in the audience, this film is an accurate generational litmus test.

Do not recommend to anyone over 45.

The Cherry Orchard (Chekhov)

2011-06-30T23:27:00.001-04:00

An HD broadcast of a National Theatre performance with Zoe Wannamaker, this production of Chekhov's tragic drama of pre-revolution Russian landowners, this production used an edgy translation and worked to throw individual and family dilemmas into the framework of social unrest to which the principals remain oblivious.
I liked it very much because the innovations threw into highlight a state of denial with which I'm very familiar.
So despite the liberties--or perhaps because of--I recommend this production.

Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)

2011-06-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

Highly entertaining film, especially fun to see In packed theater with a very literate New Haven crowd.

Recommend.

Soldier Song

2011-06-25T19:57:00.000-04:00

One man, one boy, and one pile of sand trace the trajectory of war and the modern American male's fascination with, attraction to its atrocities to both the victors and defeated alike. Brutal.

Recommend.

Serenade (Bill T Jones Dance Company)

2011-06-24T21:39:00.002-04:00

Sophisticated, physically exuberant dances set to equally sophisticated, physically exuberant music.

Highly recommended.

Body Against Body (Bill T Jones/Arnie Zanes Dance Co)

2011-06-23T20:51:00.003-04:00

Dating from early in the Jones/Zanes collaboration, the first piece explores gestures available to two male dancers without imitating the male/female duality. Lots of use of reiteration as a way to teach the observer to see and make sense of the series of gestures. The staticky score underlines the absence of a narrative, musical or otherwise, to provide coherence. The repetition of (what appears to be) random lists does more of the work than the score. The most beautiful gesture appears when the smaller dancer leaps, spread eagle, into the arms of his partner.

The second piece, with a male and epicenic female dancer, continued the exploration of new gestures not confined to romantic ballet's pas de deux.

Recommend.

Making Up the Truth (Jack Hitt)

2011-06-22T20:22:00.000-04:00

Arts & Ideas presented Jack Hitt telling stories. Entertaining.

Recommend.

The Cripple of Inishmaan ( Martin McDonagh)

2011-06-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

Moving, lyrical play. Forces us to rethink the debts we owe those we love the least but who perhaps love us the most.

Highly recommended.

Ensendies

2011-06-13T22:26:00.000-04:00

Traversing from Canada to France to Lebanon, from the post-war Levant to th Lebanese civil war to the present, from French, English, to Arabic, this obstensibly modest film is without a doubt one of the finest films I've encountered.
Their mother having recently died, twin brother and sister are charged in her will to seek out an unknown brother and lost father. In their quest, they uncover their mother's heroic defiance of despotic brutality and unfathomable sorrow.
This is a must see.
Highly recommend.

Le Quattro Volte

2011-06-12T22:42:00.001-04:00

I adored this film set in the Italian countryside, focusing on a goat herder and his goats, a country festival, and the meticulous process of creating charcoal. Visually stunning with no dialogue (and thus no subtitles).

Highly recommend.

Win Win

2011-06-10T22:39:00.001-04:00

A fantastic film with Paul Giammati and Amy Ryan. Eschews easy answers and simple solutions.

Highly recommend.

Arcadia (Tom Stoppard)

2011-06-10T18:58:00.000-04:00

I love this play. And this production does it justice.

Highly recommended.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herthog)

2011-06-06T22:23:00.001-04:00

A fascinating exploration of a Paleolithic cave and it's centuries of art. Absolutely mesmerizing.

Highly recommend.

King Lear

2011-05-15T19:55:00.001-04:00

Much and rightly celebrate Donmar Warehouse production. Followed by Stephen Greenblatt's weak and weakly prepared talk.

Highly recommended.

The Princess of Montpensier

2011-05-11T21:10:00.000-04:00

Silly.

Avoid.

Orchestra New England

2011-05-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

Schubert, Overture in C minor, D. 8 lush, lively and harmonically engaging
Bartok, Rumanian Folk Dances
Ives, Largo cantabile: Hymn authoritative interpretation of early Ives; emotionally provocative; ends with opening chord of "My Faith Looks up to Thee"
Elgar, Serenade in E minor, Op 20 Lovely and plainspoken
Copland, Two pieces for Strings Largely unknown, even in original format as quartet
Kuss, Sounds. Distant

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Benjamin Britten and Eastern Connecticut Ballet)

2011-05-07T21:58:00.000-04:00

Autumn Sonata (Bergman)

2011-04-30T22:45:00.000-04:00

Recommend.

Il Travatore (Verdi)

2011-04-30T22:44:00.001-04:00

Fantastic performances of a luscious opera.

Recommend.

Meeks' Cutoff

2011-04-29T22:43:00.001-04:00

Highly Recommend: with caveats

Jane Eyre

2011-04-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

Recommend

Capriccio (Strauss)

2011-04-23T23:46:00.001-04:00

A delightful (and sometimes comic) meta-meditation on the nature and purpose of opera. Renee Fleming's final, soulful aria was moving.

Recommend.

Black Watch (Gregory Burke)

2011-04-22T23:31:00.003-04:00

From its first appearance in the states in 2006, we had read and heard terrific reports of Black Watch but hadn't managed to get tickets during its initial foray to the states. In 2008, we stood in line for a couple of hours in London trying to get tickets to a performance there, but gave up when it became clear that out chances of getting tickets to the sold out performance were null. We knew the Scottish National Theatre was coming back to the states this year, but for the longest time the website didn't mention any stops in the NYC or Boston areas. Because we contemplated traveling to Chicago or Washington DC for a performance, we were delighted to discover that SNT would return to St. Ann's Warehouse in Dumbo Brooklyn.

Perhaps four years is too long to see a play. The anticipation builds, and expectations exceed anything a production could meet. We were very disappointed. The dialogue was very difficult to follow, and the narrative seemed, well, if not trite, then at least predictable.

I've linked Ben Brantley's most recent review. I wish I'd like it as much as he did. And I recommend it because so many other recommended it to me.

Recommended. With my own personal caveats.

Win Win (Thomas McCarthy)

2011-04-21T23:21:00.000-04:00

Another winner from Thomas McCarthy (director of The Station Agent)and starring Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan as a married couple in middle-class New Jersey struggling to make ends meet. When Giamatti's character--a lawyer with a small practice built on court referrals and a side-job coaching the high-school's perennially losing wrestling team--finds a way to add to the family cash flow with what seems to be only a small ethical violation, he enmeshes himself (and his wife) into the heart of an old man's dysfunctional family. The situation gets further complicated when the old man's grandson moves into the lawyer's household and turns out to be a top-notch wrestler.

As with most family-based comic dramas, trusts are violated and lessons learned. The narrative is deftly handled and the audience isn't clubbed with the moral.

Recommend.

Miral

2011-04-20T22:53:00.000-04:00

Recommend

Music for Palm Sunday (Yale Camerata)

2011-04-17T19:43:00.002-04:00

This concert featuring David Lang's little match girl passion and Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas provided an excellent window to the shared sonorities and interests of these two very different composers.
Lang's elegant, spare work for chorus and percussion must be difficult to perform, yet Yale's young performers carried off its sophisticated harmonies and rhythms with confidence.
Britten's cantata, on the other hand, was written for amateur performers, requiring only a professional tenor to sing Nicolas' part. To fill out the chorus, the Camerata brought in the Elm City Girls Choir as well as three boy singers from the Trinity Choir. And the audience sang its two hymns with great gusto.

A lovely way to observe Palm Sunday.

Highly Recommended.

Macbeth (Shakespeare)

2011-04-10T15:03:00.001-04:00

Interesting Cheek by Jowl production with no props makes for effective murders and convincing insanity.
Great Lady McDuff scene.

Recommend.

Diane Bish.

2011-04-09T21:57:00.002-04:00

The Queen of the Organ: pure unironic schlock.

Shame on any academic institution for providing a platform for this self promoting embarrassment.

Avoid.

Hop

2011-04-09T14:53:00.000-04:00

Even our 7- and 8-year friends recognized this animated flick's limited appeal.

Animated segments far superior to lousy acting and dialogue of live action segments.

Not recommended. For anyone.

Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)

2011-04-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

Lovely to see Natalie Dessay in this overwrought, umpahpah role once again.

Recommend for Dessay; otherwise forget it.

Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (Kushner)

2011-04-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

This is the third play in Signature Theatre's season devoted to Tony Kushner. Clocking in at 3.75 hours, the play is 3 times longer than many dramas now performing on off-Broadway. It is also 3 times more intelligent and thought provoking than most drama performed anywhere.

IHGCSKS delivers a compassionate look at the difficulty of living up to our ideals and our commitments.

Highly recommended.

A Steady Rain (Huff)

2011-03-29T22:43:00.001-04:00

Fine production of an emotionally brutal play. I saw it with students from my English 298.

Recommend.

Wall Street Chamber Players

2011-03-27T22:23:00.000-04:00

A predictably lovely Brahms Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (a minor, Op. 114, 1891), and a surprisingly appealing Saint-Saens Quartet for Piano and Strings (Op 41, 1875). Oddly, the S-S is seldom performed and seems to be unrecorded. I found the 2nd movement particularly engaging.

Highly recommended.

Lincoln Lawyer (Brad Furman)

2011-03-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

We saw this movie with our favorite 15-year-old friend, and it was a perfect follow up to his stories of spoiled bullies encountered at baseball camp.
Loved the multiple plot twists at the end.

Recommend.

The Great Divide (William Vaughan Moody)

2011-03-23T23:00:00.000-04:00

Look About You (anonymous)

2011-03-20T20:37:00.001-04:00

Not only had I never seen a production of this play, I had never heard of it before. A comical mash-up of Edward II history and Robin Hood antics, it deserves to be performed more often--but only if done as well as Blackfriars.

Recommend.

Henry the Sixth, Part 3 (Shakespeare)

2011-03-19T22:41:00.001-04:00

I've never before seen a performance of this seldom produced play. Unwieldy with all its shifting allegiances, it's certainly difficult to read, and in the wrong hands a performance would be tedious to watch. The play was not in the wrong hands tonight. The characters were clearly delineated, and the plot carefully drawn. Margaret was powerfully performed.

Recommend. Enthusiastically.

The Malcontent ( Marston)

2011-03-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

Another fabulous production of an underproduced play.

Highly recommend.

A Trick to Catch the Old One (Middleton)

2011-03-18T22:34:00.000-04:00

Wonderful! Enchanting! I wanted it immediately to start from the beginning, so I could enjoy all over again!

Highly recommend.

Selected Shorts

2011-03-14T22:06:00.002-04:00

Is there anything finer than sitting in an audience having a great voice read a wonderful story? Perhaps, but I'm not certain what that might be.

Highly recommended.

The Nightingale and other works (Stravinsky)

2011-03-06T22:39:00.002-05:00

A visually stunning production by Canada Opera Company and Robert LePage of several, very compelling short works by Stravinsky.

Very highly recommend.

Asleep at the Wheel

2011-03-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

Homesickness inducing evening of Western Swing.

Highly recommend.

The Method Gun (Rude Mechs)

2011-02-28T00:10:00.002-05:00

If seeing experimental theatre is hit or miss, this was a miss. Full of silliness and empty of structure, its humor depends upon the audience having prior experience with acting exercises. The final scene with the swinging lamps was luminous.

See the New York Times article linked to this post's title for a useful assessment of Rude Mechs' creative project.

I won't pass on another opportunity to see this ensemble; I simply hope the production is less solipsistic.

Recommend. With caveats.

Iphegenie au Taurus (Gluck)

2011-02-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

Another terrific live HD broadcast from the Met.

Highly recommend.

Diary of a Madman (adapted from Nikolai Gogol)

2011-02-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

This excellent production revives Belvoir Street Theatre's 1987 adaptation of Gogol's 1835 story. Again directed by Neil Armfield, Geoffrey Rush brings his full-body interpretation of the low-level bureaucrat's descent into insanity. Though humorous, the enormous sadness of the play is never hidden away.

The artist talk with Russ, Armfield, and Caro Llewellyn was absorbing account of how the play developed.

Highly recommend.

The Lover (Pinter)

2011-02-12T22:05:00.002-05:00

Commendable production of a highly provocative Pinter play.

Recommend.