“In the play’s first few moments — its preamble, really — [Heidi] Schreck lays out the elements for its perfect union of form and function: direct address, displayed enactment, meta-theatrical distancing, contemporary commentary, droll humor, and a disarmingly cheery demeanor that is both absolutely genuine and deployed for maximum comedic and critical effect.” Alisa Solomon examines each of those elements and how they fit together. – The Nation
Tag: 08.06.19
‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark,’ Beloved By Two Generations Of Kids (And Hated By Their Parents)
Laura Miller: “For many kids, reading the Scary Stories books represented a first tentative step toward growing up and into independence. … Unlike, say, a Playboy magazine, they weren’t absolutely forbidden. But one glance at Gammell’s hollow-eyed ghouls, shrieking skeletal brides, and gibbering specters told any kid that here was something that danced right on the edge of taboo. … To claim your right to deliberately scare yourself (even if it gives you nightmares) is to make a bid for self-determination.” – Slate
What Psychopaths Can Teach Us About Ourselves
Psychopaths are sick, deranged, lacking in moral conscience. In other words, they’re nothing like you or me. But this is false. Rather than freakish outliers then, psychopaths reveal important truths about human morality. But are we ready to accept what they might teach us? – Aeon
Longtime Composer For ‘The Simpsons’ Files Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
“[Alf] Clausen joined The Simpsons during its second season and worked on the show for 27 years. When he was let go in 2017, he said he received a call from Simpsons producer Richard Sakai, who said the show was seeking ‘a different kind of music.’ In his new lawsuit, filed Monday, Clausen countered, saying, ‘This reason was pretextual and false. Instead, Plaintiff’s unlawful termination was due to perceived disability and age.'” – Rolling Stone
New York City Told Its Museums To Get More Diverse Or Lose Funding. Here Are What Museums Are Doing And How The City Will Enforce The Mandate.
“Directions on how institutions should incorporate these objectives were left intentionally vague. Rather than issuing blanket checklists, the city wanted individual institutions to formulate plans that made sense for their respective audiences and agendas.” Reporters Taylor Dafoe and Brian Boucher talk to leaders at the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA PS1, Queens Museum, and Brooklyn Children’s Museum about how they’re responding to the city’s directive. – Artnet
James Levine And Metropolitan Opera Settle Their Lawsuits Against Each Other
“The settlement brought the court battle to a close just as it threatened to air more dirty laundry about both Mr. Levine … and the Met” — which would be why settlement terms weren’t disclosed and neither side will comment. Even so, Michael Cooper’s story has a few eyebrow-raising details as well as a good summary of the progress of the ugly suit-countersuit. – The New York Times
Nine Unpublished Stories By Proust Will Finally See Print (And Why Weren’t They Published Before?)
“The pieces were originally composed by Proust in his early 20s for inclusion in his first book, Les Plaisirs et les jours (Pleasures and Days), a collection of poems and short stories first published in 1896. But for some reason, Proust decided to cut these nine works from the book.” (He may have decided that their subject matter was too scandalous.) – Smithsonian Magazine
Toni Morrison, 88
“The first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, … Ms Morrison placed African Americans, particularly women, at the heart of her writing at a time when they were largely relegated to the margins both in literature and in life. With language celebrated for its lyricism, she was credited with conveying as powerfully, or more than perhaps any novelist before her, the nature of black life in America, from slavery to the inequality that went on more than a century after it ended.” – The Washington Post