Queen of the Night, produced by the man who brought New York Sleep No More and The Donkey Show, “is presented as a ‘dark debutante ball’ given by the Marchesa, a potently ambiguous figure … who blends aspects of Mozart’s queen, the 1920s muse and dandy Luisa Casati, and the performance artist Marina Abramovic.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
August: Osage County Becomes Community Theater Hit
Surprisingly (or not?), amateur troupes all over the U.S. have taken to the dysfunctional-family extravaganza.
How The Romans Celebrated The Holidays
“The Romans celebrated the winter festival of Sigillaria on 23rd of December, part of their Saturnalia festivities. Just like on Christmas Day, Sigillaria saw presents exchanged. So how does Sigillaria compare to a modern day Christmas? And can we say that the Roman’s invented Christmas?”
Two-Sentence Holiday Short Stories
Elizabeth Crane, Lauren Groff, Peter Orner, Kate Milliken, Matthew Specktor and 29 other writers offer sad, amusing, paradoxical, wicked, very brief tales of the season.
The Ghosts Of Christmas Tales
Guardian Weekend magazine offers original chilling short stories by Lionel Shriver, Jeanette Winterson, Penelope Lively, Ned Beauman and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.”
French Government Locates, Returns Antiquities Looted In Egypt’s Arab Spring
The objects were about to be sold online.
Where Illuminated Manuscripts Really Began
“Evidence has emerged for a previously unknown school of painting in sub-Saharan Africa that may have been responsible for the earliest Christian paintings in manuscripts.”
Show At London’s Collapsed-Ceiling Theatre Cancelled Until New Year
“Nimax Theatres has confirmed that all performances of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time [at the Apollo Theatre] have been cancelled until and including January 4, 2014.”
Why Are So Many West End Theatres In Such Bad Repair?
“Actually, they were largely quite flimsy to start with, and for good reason: the buildings were never expected to last.”
Italy To Offer Tax Rebate To Book Buyers
“The Italian government is planning a 19 percent tax rebate for book buyers, up to a maximum annual limit of EUR 2000 ($2746).” (Real dead-tree books only, though.)