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Theater Commentary: Portrait of the Artist as a Predator

February 5, 2026
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Is it possible to separate the art from the artist or, in the case of Rhode Island’s Contemporary Theater Company, the artist’s husband?

Music Feature: A Folk Music Business Convention — “An Antidote To America”

February 5, 2026
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The Folk Alliance International Conference is a business conference. But because the business is folk music, the event has become nothing less than a cultural celebration.

Film Review: “A Poet” — The Agony and Ecstasy of Mediocrity

February 4, 2026
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He’s not a poet and he doesn’t know it.

Book Review: Who Commits Crime—and When? A Sociologist Reframes the Debate

February 4, 2026
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Another informative, if unsurprising, contribution to the literature dedicated to understanding “criminal behavior,” especially among teenage boys and young men.

Book Review: Unraveling Identity and Memory in Alois Hotschnig’s “My Mother’s Silver Fox”

February 3, 2026
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My Mother’s Silver Fox “is a welcome addition to literature about the repercussions of the Second World War, especially its dark side — the cruelty and chilling efficiency of the SS program called Lebensborn and its aftermath.”

Jazz Album Reviews: A Big Band Bonanza from Canada’s Cellar Music Group

February 3, 2026
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Two debut big band albums, one traditional and one progressive, are blowing in hot in the dead of winter.

Film Review: “Melania” — An Aggressively Dull Travesty

February 2, 2026
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As a dick-waving demonstration of fascist corporate and political power, “Melania” would make a great double bill with Pasolini’s “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.”

Classical Album Review: Calidore Quartet’s “American Tapestry”

February 2, 2026
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If there’s anything the U.S. needs in 2026, it’s a recovery of Lincolnesque values—resolve, common sense, understanding, and charity. If such a renewal can get some impetus and sense of direction from a new recording, so much the better.

February Short Fuses — Materia Critica

February 1, 2026
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

Coming Attractions: February 1 through 16 — What Will Light Your Fire

February 1, 2026
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Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

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