“The way we perceive what we call ‘real’ speech in drama is constantly changing: the mirror held up to nature is a lens whose focal length changes with time. In the theatre the search for documentary truth is the logical extension of an art form that seeks to present slices of life while always reminding the spectator (unlike film) that what they are watching is a simulation of life, a metaphor for it, not the real thing. The desire to make that experience of simulated reality more “real”, more like life as it is rather than how it’s supposed to be, is the motor of modern theatre.”
Blog
Kinnock To Head British Council
Neil Kinnock, former leader of Britain’s Labour Party and currently vice-president in charge of reforming the European civil service for the European Union, has been appointed head of the British Council.
Remembering Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan changed ballet with her unusual personal style. “Duncan has gone down in history as a hard act to follow – a one-off original who, from mixed motives of exhibitionism and evangelicalism, believed she could change the world. She was born in California in 1877 and raised by her mother in a very West Coast bohemian style.”
Own Your Own TV Show
“TV-themed DVD sales topped $1 billion in 2003, a gold mine for formerly overlooked assets that had been collecting dust in studio vaults. Nurturing the trend, the studios in 2003 doubled the number of TV titles released in 2002. The TV on DVD business is expected to grow substantially again this year. That’s found money beyond the syndication market, a revenue stream that simply wasn’t there before.”
Getting To The Soul Of Things
“As traditionally understood, the soul is something that is both within us and yet superior to us, a repository for the most precious (or in some accounts “divine”) aspects of us. The soul survives when the rest of us dies, it can continue indefinitely (like a kind of hardy seed preserved in arctic tundra), and may even reinhabit a bodily form at another time. The idea that we have a soul should, if we can manage to believe it, stop us feeling quite so sad that we must die. What makes a history of the soul rewarding is that it offers a useful way into the question of what different societies and thinkers have at various points viewed as the most important aspect of life.”
Sacred Literalism – Christ On The Screen
America has a long tradition of being outraged at depictions of religion on the silver screen. “Since the beginning of movies, filmmakers worldwide have courted controversy with their attempts to ‘literalize the sacred.’ It’s true whether the subject is Jesus in The King of Kings, the Muslim prophet Muhammad in Mohammed, Messenger of God, or the Hindu deity Rama in the Ramayana.” And so the latest “The Passion of The Christ” is nothing new.
Lit Fiction – Struggling To Be Serious
Is serious fiction in danger? There does seem to be less of an audience. “It’s not that serious fiction no longer has a mass audience. It never did. Most readers prefer storytelling of the John Grisham and Stephen King variety because they want to be entertained, not challenged. Literary fiction is more demanding and complex.”
Cleveland Schools – An Architectural Opportunity
Cleveland has $1.5 billion to spend on building schools. “If ever there were an opportunity for excellence in architecture and planning – and a chance for Cleveland to distinguish itself nationally – this is it. But with the district ready to break ground soon for the first four new schools in the city in more than 20 years, the forecast for design is discouraging.”
Welcome To The New Houston
“For most of the past half-century, Houston was the proud avatar of freebooting suburban sprawl. You could do anything you wanted in Houston, as long as you did it as God intended, behind the wheel of your car. Downtown sprouted a forest of new office towers in the 1970s, but the old business district along and near Main Street fell into disuse.” In the past seven years, however, Houston has transformed itself…
Radio’s New Non-Format Format: Playing What We Want
There’s a new radio format on the Canadian airwaves, and record labels aren’t exactly thrilled. The stations are called JACK or BOB. “JACK’s “brave” programming strategy is to ignore radio’s typically strict formatting and to play a variety of stuff on one format that you’d normally hear on, say, three: A bit of classic rock, some adult contemporary and a whole lotta ’80s hits geared primarily towards listeners in their upper 30s and early 40s.”