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Theater Review: Matt & Ben — Nobody’s Home

July 14, 2011
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In his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman argues that American culture is becoming dumber and dumber—plays like Matt & Ben suggest that we have entered the afterlife. Matt & Ben by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers. Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara. At the Central Square Theater, 450 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA, through August…

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Classical Music Review: The Berlioz Requiem Opens Tanglewood In Style

July 13, 2011
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While these dramatic sections constitute the more celebrated musical attributes of Berlioz’s furious conception of Judgment Day, it is actually in the quieter, mostly contemplative sections that the writing generates a just as impressive visionary reflectiveness.

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Book Review: Can the iPad Save the Short Story?

July 13, 2011
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Two inviting collections of short short stories in translation — Catalan writer Quim Monzó sees fiction as an exhilarating if ingenious prison, Israeli writer Alex Epstein pens dreamy micro-yarns that free the imagination.

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Film Review: A Game Well Worth Playing

July 11, 2011
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QUEEN TO PLAY is an offbeat feminist fable, set in a gorgeous but dirt-poor and provincial part of Corsica.

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Theater Review: Six Young Actors (and Their Director) In Search Of a Play

July 11, 2011
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There are moments in Hideous Progeny (especially early in the second half) that grip and move the audience. But there are not enough of them. I dare this gifted troupe of theater makers to be more inventive, take greater risks, and live up to their so obvious promise. Hideous Progeny by Emily Dendinger. Staged by…

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Theater Review: Jane Austen Tweets In Chester, MA

July 11, 2011
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The Chester Theatre Company’s production, directed by Ron Bashford, runs over two hours with nary a dull moment and the actors seem to be having as wonderful a time as the audience.

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: Midsummer Festivals 2011

July 9, 2011
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Tornadoes in the Connecticut River Valley haven’t stopped this summer’s festivals in Springfield, Hartford and Greenfield. Plus, Boston celebrates Latino and African culture.

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Pop Music Review: Death Cab For Cutie Drives With the Big Boys

July 9, 2011
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Death Cab for Cutie’s newest album isn’t a big departure from their usual sound, but it is a step in their evolution: the group has a new theme — adulthood.

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Music Review: Bon Iver is “Not Magnificent,” but Transcendental

July 9, 2011
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Sitting down this evening to review “Bon Iver,” something happened. My strongly negative initial impressions of the album changed into an appreciation of the mystical spirit of the music, its harmonious chords and their reflection of the harmony of nature.

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Book Review: To End All Wars

July 8, 2011
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“To End All Wars” embodies its themes –- the decline of the aristocracy, the rise of propaganda, the transformation of war-making, the heroism of resistance –- so skillfully in a dozen or so major characters and another dozen minor ones that this history of the First World War reads like a lively group biography.

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