In the upcoming adaptation by Armando Ianucci (Veep, The Death of Stalin), Dev Patel takes the title role, with black, Asian, and white actors spread throughout. Says producer Kevin Loader, “I think we felt this was how you’d get the best cast more than anything else. And suddenly you can have Benedict Wong coming in to play Mr. Wickfield, and he’s hilarious. He wouldn’t have been cast in the BBC version of David Copperfield.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
If There Can Be A Single Book That Defines Iran And Iranians, It’s This One
The 11th-century verse epic Shahnameh (Book of Kings), the longest poem ever written by a single author (Abolqasem Ferdowsi) is perhaps the single most important source of the history and lore of pre-Islamic Persian civilization. It’s also considered the founding work of the modern Persian language, and some give it credit for the language’s survival.
Was This Woman The ‘Dark Lady’ Of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?
Emilia Bassano, five years younger than the playwright, the daughter of one of Queen Elizabeth’s court musicians and the wife of another, ultimately became a published poet in her own right. Here’s a look at what we actually know about her – and at the (circumstantial) evidence for her Dark Ladyhood.
V.S. Naipaul Remembered By Diana Athill, His (Twice-) Ex-Publisher
“The first time he left, I remember saying to André [Deutsch]: ‘It’s such a relief I don’t have to make myself like him any more.’ André roared with laughter and I realised he felt just the same. He was so moody and depressive. You only had to look at his face to see that he was genuinely suffering a lot of the time.”
Cleveland Orchestra Begins Formal Investigation Of Harassment Claims Against Concertmaster
“The Cleveland Orchestra released a statement Thursday detailing the group it has appointed to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against suspended concertmaster William Preucil.”
New York Times And Guardian Theatre Critics Get Together And Compare Their Greatest-Play Lists
Earlier this summer, the Times critics got together and hashed out their choices for the 25 best plays of the last 25 years; a month later, Guardian senior critic Michael Billington assembled his own list of Britain’s best scripts from the last decade. And on “one very sticky afternoon last month,” Brantley invited Billington over to his (un-air-conditioned) temporary London flat for a chat.
USC’s New Kaufman School Aims To Be A Harvard Of Dance
“In 2015, [the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance] opened its studios to its inaugural class, now poised to graduate. Their accomplishments are a testament to (and test of) Kaufman’s unique approach: Grads will have studied a vast array of styles, spearheaded interdisciplinary projects, and completed a rigorous liberal arts education.” And getting in isn’t much easier than it is at Harvard, either.
Empty The Museums – Most Of What’s There Belongs Elsewhere
Simon Jenkins argues for the return not just of artifacts looted from other countries, but pretty much any art not created for a museum or gallery: “I want to see the Parthenon marbles as Phidias intended, even if recarved by a computerised jig. … Sensible people would long ago have replicated them and sent the old ones back to Greece. … So many great works – not all of them – derive meaning from where they originated. Malraux was right: a museum is without walls, a place of the imagination.”
New York International Fringe Festival Splits Itself In Two
“One, FringeNYC will present over 80 staged productions in the West Village from Oct. 12-28, while FringeBYOV (bring your own venue) will involve venues in the boroughs outside Manhattan like the Irondale Center in Brooklyn and the Secret Theater in Queens selecting their own performers and shows (Oct. 1-31).”
The Ballet Stars In ‘Carousel’ Talk About How Different Being On Broadway Really Is
Brittany Pollack, Amar Ramasar, and choreographer Justin Peck are all members of New York City Ballet; Craig Salstein is a recent retiree from ABT. The four talk to Gia Kourlas about what they like about Broadway and what they find hard. (“Just the repetition of doing the same thing on my body — you have no recovery time. … I land on the same knee every night.”)