Month: February 2013

Theater Interview: Israeli Dramatist Joshua Sobol on the Shock of “Sinners”

February 6, 2013
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“As a white atheist male I am told it is none of my business to deal with what‘s going on in the so-called de-colonized societies enforcing their religious laws on their citizens.” — Joshua Sobol

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Rock Music Review: The Vaccines Grow Up, But It’s Not Easy

February 6, 2013
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While The Vaccines Come of Age is a very good album, I can’t listen to it without thinking that maybe the band grew up a little too fast.

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Concert Review: Renée Fleming and Susan Graham at Symphony Hall

February 6, 2013
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In an effort to give the proceedings an intimate, salon feel, the Symphony Hall stage was dotted with a couple of potted plants, three armchairs, and a pair of music stands; the cavernous environ of the space was still very much present, but one appreciated the effort to minimize it, even if only partially successful.

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Visual Arts/Book Review: Still Cagey at 100

February 5, 2013
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I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. — John Cage to Richard Kostelanetz, 1988

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Theater Review: A Supremely Funny “Servant of Two Masters”

February 5, 2013
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Leaving aside the doctrinal issue of how much of a commedia dell’arte evening should be improvised and how much should be scripted, the Yale Repertory Theatre production, in terms of performance and design, sets a high standard.

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Book Interview: Sherwood Anderson — The American Bard of Inchoate Longings

February 4, 2013
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“What Sherwood Anderson knew and understood was the nature of inarticulate lives and what people do when they’re in the grip of strong feelings and words fail them.”

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Poetry Introduction: Handle With Readerly Care – “The Porcupine of Mind”

February 3, 2013
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Consider these few notes my handing The Porcupine of Mind off to you — you read it, you write about it, then we’ll come back and talk.

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Film Commentary: Grimm Sightings on the Silver Screen — The Imagination Killers

February 3, 2013
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Films such as Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters deny audiences the capacity to suspend disbelief. Instead, they use technology to make the impossible look real and the magical seem as this-worldly as an old screen door.

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Book Review: Transformation Amid an Egypt in Decay — “The House of Jasmine”

February 3, 2013
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Though written in 1984, The House of Jasmine’s description of widespread political corruption and social decay in the Sadat era is powerfully relevant to the uprisings of 2011 when Mubarak was ousted and that are still roiling Egypt today.

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Coming Attractions in New England Rock: February 2013

February 3, 2013
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Forget the Superbowl and screw Valentine’s Day. There is too much great music happening in our corner of the country to waste time on such frivolous occasions. Will you need snow boots or sunscreen this month? Only time will tell! Just make sure you have some cash and your ID and you’ll be good to go.

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