The only thing more prevalent than the full-bodied beer in Druid‘s marvelous play at the Kennedy Center is the feel of the lonely wind coming off Galway Bay and pushing at the backs of these characters, reminding us all that they are clinging to a land’s end in more ways than one. Stoked by both, […]
Archives for October 2012
Acclaimed Czech performer opens new piece on gender identity Nov 8
Mirenka Cechová, one of the leading proponents of physical theatre in the world, hails from the Czech Republic. Last year, Washington audiences were privileged to see her work when she appeared with Synetic Theater as the much-acclaimed Fool in King Lear for which she received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Platero y Yo
“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way,” wrote Spanish poet Juan Ramon Jimenez, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956, and has a language building named after him at the University of Maryland. When it came to creating the modern Spanish classic for children about a poet and a little […]
The Astaires and Hermes Pan, The Man Who Danced with Fred Astaire
Two books published this year serve as bookends in the story of Fred Astaire. Neither, however, is strictly speaking, a biography of this famous hoofer. Instead, they tell the stories of his life and work with his two most important partners – two dancers who worked with him to perfect the art we remember.
A Clockwork Orange
If you are asking, starry droogs, “What’s it going to be then, eh?” and you’re up for viddying malchickies tolchoking others in the guluva, the odd in-out-in-out, you know, a malenky bit of ultra violence, look no further than Scena’s production of what some would term Anthony Burgess’ “immoral classic.”
Nick Olcott returns to acting to play celebrated chef James Beard
What happens when an actor is cast as a master cook and famous gastronome? In the case of Nick Olcott, he digs in to some cookbooks and heads for the market.
Othello…Sniff
Teatro de la Luna launches its Fifteenth International Festival of Hispanic Theater with a wickedly cynical, needling, protest play that is a send-up. Dominican identity is dissected through the story of Shakespeare’s Othello.
Hemispheric Dysfunctionalism and the Cortical Titanic
Let’s go ahead and flag playwright Michael Merino’s new ocean-bound brain-bender as the polar opposite of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film. Both harken back to the RMS Titanic’s ill-fated maiden journey in 1912. But the maiden in Cameron’s flick was 22-year-old Kate Winslet, amply endowed and quick to strip for her blonde, blue-eyed Leo in […]
Jekyll & Hyde – 2012 recording
Another Jekyll & Hyde? Yes. There is a new production of Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse’s gothic musical thriller heading out on the national tour route with Broadway an intended destination. [It arrives at the Kennedy Center Nov. 20, 2012.] There is also a new recording of the score.
Dying City
In this brief, dense hour of misery and mystery, Kelly (Rachel Zampelli) salts herself in grief over the death of her husband Craig (Thomas Keegan) while Craig’s identical twin brother Peter (Keegan, again) haunts her living room, reeling out complaints about his life and job as he stutters his way to a revelation.
“MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys
It is 1950 in South Africa, and the rain is pouring over the roof of St. Georges Park Tea Room (it really does, too, thanks to Ken Sheats’ terrific set). You are a seventeen-year-old boy named Harold – Hally (Sean McComas) for short – and as you scurry toward your mother’s shop your mind is […]
Devil Dog Six
The newest up-and-coming sports star headed for greatness with proper handling is not RGIII, but DD6. That’s Devil Dog Six, the name of a young thoroughbred horse, and he needs the understanding and care of a young female jockey. Can she overcome injuries, workplace sexism, and even voodoo magic to win the big race? That’s […]