“The River is a different beast: eighty minutes to Jerusalem‘s three hours and contemplative where the earlier play was raucous, turning on the intimacies of a couple rather than the carnival-like energy of a cast of fourteen.” What’s more, as the playwright says, the star of the show is arguably a dead sea trout.
Month: November 2014
“Team America: World Police” At 10: What Has And Hasn’t Changed
“Many of the issues that were both so consuming and combustible back in 2004 seem largely absent from [today’s] political terrain. … But, perhaps, nowhere is the gulf between then and now more evident than in the way we talk about America’s place in the world.” On the other hand, “a good part of what has changed is exactly what made the America of then, both left and right, so worthy of satire.”
An African Elephant And The Rise Of Hype-Driven Celebrity Culture
The sad story of Jumbo and P.T. Barnum.
Paris Festival Censors Photo Of Mother-Daughter Embrace – After Complaints About An Entirely Different Image
“The photograph in question, titled Mother and Daughter II (2014), is a composite of four images showing the artist, Diane Ducruet, cuddling with her daughter. Both of them are nude.” A gallery removed it from a current exhibition after receiving complaints that a photo in the show’s brochure – but not actually in the show – portrays incest.
The Strangest Things To Come Between Our Brains And Our Ballots
Alas, when folks go into the election booth, we – including those of us who like to think we know better – are swayed by factors much more obtuse than actual information. Here are some of the weirdest things that affect people’s voting decisions. (includes video)
The Strange Life Of El Greco
Domenikos Theotokopoulos was a master icon painter by age 22, an ambitious art student in Italy by 26, a fortune-seeking Greek émigré by age 29. By the time he was 40, he had fought with the King Of Spain, had an illegitimate son, and moved into a Toledo palace. (Is it surprising that he died massively in debt?)
What Will Amazon Look Like When It Grows Up (And Finally Turns A Profit)?
“Amazon operates like ‘a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers.’ … Flummox is the perfect word to describe what Amazon does to its competitors, its owners, and even its grateful consumers. Amazon can make us uncomfortable both because it refuses to play by the rules that other companies must follow, and because it seems too eager to be all things to all people.”
Recovered Memories, The Most Dangerous Idea In Mental Health
“The belief that hidden memories can be ‘recovered’ in therapy should have been exorcised years ago, when a rash of false memories dominated the airwaves, tore families apart, and put people on the stand for crimes they didn’t commit. But the mental health establishment does not always learn from its mistakes – and families are still paying the price.”
Beverly Blossom, 88, Dancer And Choreographer
“In her 20s and 30s, she moved among the beatniks and bohemians of Greenwich Village and studied under influential choreographer Alwin Nikolais and toured the world with his dance company. Later, she influenced many area dancers whom she taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A frequent recipient of grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright, Ms. Blossom choreographed and performed more than 100 works.”
What Do Conductors Do, Really?
“In a more mundane way, we might think of conductors as the musical equivalent of sports team managers. You can’t quantify precisely what it is that they do – but you know it when you see it. … So what it is, exactly, that they do? Whether visibly or invisibly, consciously or unconsciously, here are some of the myriad things they get up to on that podium …”