ArtsEmerson

Dance Feature: The Compassionate God — Basil Twist Reimagines Petrushka

November 10, 2010
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Ultimately, Basil Twist’s Petrushka is a meditation on the tension between the animate and inanimate, a story that lets a puppet explain what it’s like to be a puppet, a fable that argues that to be alive is to recognize causality and suffering—and that the ability to suffer is paradoxically a precious gift. Basil Twist’s…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: November 2010

October 31, 2010
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Holiday season is kicking in, which means it becomes harder to find theater that doesn’t set out to warm your heart and melt your mind. Though a Santaland Diary or two remains, the vogue for cynical Xmas shows has run its course. Still, all is not lost when you can still find such extraordinary family…

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Theater Commentary: After Aftermath

October 31, 2010
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At the invitation of AF editor Bill Marx and at the risk of further delaying my observations on the New World Jazz Composers Octet, I’m straying from the jazz beat to offer some words on ArtsEmerson’s presentation of Aftermath at the Paramount. The regrettably short run of this New York Theatre Workshop production (October 27–31) will…

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Theater Review: Method or Madness?

October 14, 2010
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Parody is an art, and like any other art it calls for both imagination and technical skill. It is not enough for a parodist to detect absurdity in others. He must create something absurd himself—something deliberately, enjoyably absurd – John Gross, The Oxford Book of Parodies. The Method Gun by Kirk Lynn. Directed by Shawn…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: October 2010

October 1, 2010
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October brings in epics from the classics (Shakespeare and Dickens), ghost stories from the classics (Poe, Henry James), a tragicomedy from a classic (O’Neill), and a comedy from a classic (Ben Jonson). Annie Baker, Ethan Coen, and the Rude Mechanicals provide some welcome respite from the tried-and-true. Given the state of the economy and the…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: September 2010

August 28, 2010
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A whole lot of deconstruction of the classics going on this month, along with productions of scripts by familiar homegrown names, from William Inge and David Mamet to Sarah Ruhl. A visit from a master puppeteer and a show about race that’s “recommended for mature audiences” look intriguing. By Bill Marx The Real Inspector Hound…

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