“We are in a time that challenges each of us running arts organizations to revisit and reaffirm our institution’s core existential purpose: why are we here? What do we do, and why does it matter?”
Arts Appreciation: Howells in the Dark — William Dean, We Still Hardly Know Ye
A hundred years ago today one of the most influential writers and editors in American history, William Dean Howells, died in Manhattan at the age of 83.
Performing Arts Series: Stories of Surviving COVID-19 — Boston Baroque
“At Boston Baroque, as we look to the future, we take comfort in knowing that redefining ourselves is in our organization’s DNA.”
Performing Arts Series: Stories of Surviving COVID-19 — Double Edge Theatre
“We believe the way to move through these times is 6 feet apart and ALL TOGETHER.”
Theater Commentary: When the Curtain Falls — Like an Axe
Vibrant, independent theater in Boston and throughout New England will not be sustained if the demolition starts at the bottom and moves up.
Arts Commentary: Pestilence on Stage, Part Two — “When the Impossible Really Begins”
Theater is seen as a cleansing illness that sets out to obliterate the illness we blithely accept as health.
Arts Commentary: Pestilence on Stage, Part One — Karel Čapek’s”The White Plague”
The White Plague uses dread to shock us into empathy for ourselves, to be alarmed by the fragility of our bodies as well as the resources and ethics of the medical system.
Book Commentary: “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and the Literature of COVID-19
“The body is a curious monster, no place to live in, how could anyone feel at home there? Is it possible I can ever accustom myself to this place?”
Theater Commentary: A Memorable “Merchant of Venice” — Squeezing Blood Out of a Rubber Chicken
This was an enormously exciting production of Merchant of Venice, a reminder that theater can be (in fact, must be!) nervy.
Film Review: “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael” — Rebellion Has an Expiration Date
Pauline Kael capitalized on counterculture snobbery, the pecking order of the oh-so enlightened.