Author: Matthew Westphal

Refugees Form A Theatre Company On One Of Berlin’s Fabled Stages

The Exil Ensemble is “a group of seven performers from Syria, the Palestinian territories and Afghanistan who can’t pursue their art in their home countries and who are now in residency at the Maxim Gorki Theater” (whose house director, incidentally, is Israeli). “But how do you turn your own arrival into art so soon? How do you face the trauma? And express yourself in a new language?”

Euphemisms May Be Useful, But They Can Erode Your Moral Sense

“Beating around the bush serves a valuable purpose: Not only can it ease potentially awkward social situations, but it also lets people get away with things they otherwise wouldn’t. … [Yet] indirect speech also serves a more personal purpose, helping people to preserve a positive moral self-image even in the face of wrongdoing – which, in turn, may actually facilitate bad behavior.”

Right-Wing Editor-Publisher Decides He Needs Balance, Seeks Out Liberal Authors (But Will They Respond?)

Adam Bellow (yes, Saul’s son), after 30 years handling such notorious titles as Charles Murray’s The Bell Curve, Dinesh D’Souza’s Illiberal Education and David Brock’s The Real Anita Hill, left the HarperCollins conservative imprint Broadside to launch All Points Books at St. Martin’s Press. However, as Alexandra Alter reports, “Mr. Bellow played a role in widening the ideological divisions he now maintains he wants to bridge … [and his] reputation might make it hard for him to recruit liberal writers to his list.”

‘Miami English’ – South Florida’s Accent Is As Weird As Everything Else There

“The Miami dialect is not a second-language accent, like you’d hear from a Cuban immigrant whose first language is Spanish. It is an American English dialect … spoken by native-born Americans. Which doesn’t stop the accent from seeming foreign to others: [FIU linguist Phillip] Carter says that his students will sometimes find themselves in a neighboring county, only to be asked what country they’re from.” Dan Nosowitz looks at the ingredients in this sancocho of speech patterns.

The First Time I Ever Acted On Broadway (Was In The Show I Wrote, Which Has Been Running For A Year Already)

“I felt sick to my stomach from the second I opened my eyes that morning, but it wasn’t the familiar queasiness of too little sleep, or too much bourbon the night before.” Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, who wrote the music and lyrics for Waitress, writes about taking over the show’s title role – the first time she’s performed in musical theater since she got eaten by a plant in Little Shop of Horrors in high school.