International noir novels no longer revolve around exotic police procedurals or gimmicky detective stories. They aim to pound readers into the pavement.
Theater Review: A Sweet and Contagious “Present Laughter”
Actor Jack Koenig never flags in the Peterborough Players production of “Present Laughter,” and around him in his London studio-flat swirls a churning world of impertinent employees and past and present loves that would do Kaufman and Hart proud.
Theater Review: “The Admirable Crichton” Entertains Via a Sprightly Stiff Upper Lip
“The Admirable Crichton” premiered in 1902, but the Peterborough Players bring this comedy about class division off admirably — as classy theater, not anthropology.
Theater Review: A Madcap “39 Steps”
Patrick Barlow’s script and Chuck Morey’s direction of the Peterborough Players production turn “The 39 Steps” into a madcap, Marx-Brothers-style of zaniness barreling along at farce-speed until the very last moments.
Theater Review: “I Do! I Do!”— Predictable Musical Sentimentality
You leave the matrimonial musical “I Do! I Do!” humming its banalities.
Fuse Theater Review: A Lame “Auld Lang Syne”
Auld Lang Syne is the kind of poorly made play that withholds important and obvious elements of development in order to score artificial dramatic points late in the action.
Poetry Review: Yves Bonnefoy — A Provocative “Second Simplicity”
This handsome edition of Yves Bonnefoy’s recent poetry and prose in English translation is a stunning presentation of a major poet.
Book Review: Mahmoud Darwish — Palestinian Poet of Heritage and Exile
Mahmoud Darwish, who died in 2008 at the age of sixty-seven, was best and heroically known for his complex perspective on political and spiritual borders — as both a poet and a spokesman for his Palestinian people.
Theater Review: “The Lady With All the Answers” Makes for Predictable Drama
“The Lady With All the Answers” presents the columnist Ann Landers as a person who just might write a letter to Ann herself. Her faith in herself and her work is unquestioned, even as her own life takes a bump or two. Well, really, only one bump.
Theater Review: A Bright and Literate Version of the Darkly Comic “Measure for Measure”
Director Gus Kikkonen and cast come up with a bright, literate presentation of William Shakespeare’s play “Measure for Measure,” a potentially dark comedy pregnant with power.