15.4.11

The Magic of Indian Dance in a Tribute to Tagore : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

"On Sunday, April 10, mother and daughter called upon their art to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore, a notable and prolific Bengalese artist whose work encompassed writing, music and painting, and whose accomplishments were recognized with the first Nobel Prize for literature awarded, in 1913, to a non-European. The tribute consisted of an adaptation of Tagore’s Chandalika, about an outcast girl from the “untouchable” class whose encounter with a disciple of Buddha, Ananda, begins as a transcendental experience only to become corrupted by worldly desire."

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12.4.11

The Actor’s Gang Triumphs with ‘Tartuffe’ : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

"Despite what it might sound like, “Tartuffe” is not the name of a French custard-filled pastry and the Ivy Substation has not been remade as a Parisian café. Yet what we have here is nevertheless a wicked confection as one of France’s greatest playwrights, Molière, gets the Actor’s Gang treatment in a revival of their hugely successful 2005 production."

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8.4.11

‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’: Laughter Hides a Hollow Heart : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE


"Although Tadhg Murphy offers as fine a performance as one could ask for, it’s telling that the titular character in The Cripple of Inishmaan is played by an able-bodied performer. The lazy interpretation of this would invoke political correctness, but it would be more nuanced to contextualize it within the play’s general movement to keep disability at a distance. Hence, Irish playwright Martin McDonagh gives us the elements of a sitcom; a rural Irish island, a cast of idiosyncratic characters, and in the middle of it all, a deformed lad named Billy who is constantly referred to as “Cripple” Billy just in case his disability isn’t obvious enough to him. The nicknaming, even from what passes as family for Billy, is the sort of casual, reflexive cruelty that highlights a pervasive lack of empathy towards that which, in any context, constitutes “the other.” But there is outright hostility and contempt towards Billy’s condition as well, most obviously from Claire Dunne’s masterfully violent and spiteful Slippy Helen, although her venom is just as easily dispensed towards everyone around her."

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“The Cripple of Inishmaan,” by Martin McDonagh. A Druid and Atlantic Theater Production. Directed by Garry Hynes. Starring Dearbhla Molloy, Ingrid Craigie, Dermot Crowley, Tadhg Murphy, Laurence Kinlan, Clare Dunne, Liam Carney, Paul Vincent O’Connor and Nancy E. Carroll. On stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through Sunday, May 1. For tickets and information, visit www.centertheatregroup.org

3.4.11

‘Somerville’: A Cerebral Conspiracy of Nazis, Art, and Drugs : THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE


"Despite the novel’s lack of immediate urgency, the result of not fully capitalizing on the drama inherent in the book’s concept and themes, Somerville is a solid debut novel that is informative without being dry or preachy. Stanford trusts in his readers’ intelligence and capacity to pay attention, and in this sense the lack of cheap gimmicks has its benefits. Hopefully, we will see more of the good professor’s erudition in future novels. "