Our story begins with a hungry young lass on her way to lunch at a new restaurant. She’s dragged along her lunch date to see what all the fuss is about, but upon entering the establishment, she feels a certain unease. The place is packed, and she is assured by a less-than-sweet hostess that the … Read more
End-of-term gifts from one’s pupils are a recurrent pleasure of professorial life. Like the boarding-school boy who thanked the aunt for the bottle of cherries pickled in brandy, one enjoys them not only for themselves but also for the spirit in which they are given. Only once have I been given an apple (and then … Read more
A few months back, it was asserted in the pages of this magazine that Ten Thousand Things has great taste in literature. We stand by that assessment—even now, as the company readies a production of an American musical that to some would appear gauche. The Little Shop story line is about as absurd as it … Read more
Emigrant Theatre prefers to stage edgy, often enigmatic new plays by living writers. Therefore, the troupe makes a point of getting to know all the winners of the prestigious Jerome Fellowship, an honor that attracts a national congregation of top dramatists to Minneapolis, where they work in one-year residencies at the Playwrights’ Center. Recently, the … Read more
Minneapolis has long been considered a hotbed of great physical theater, what with the resident clowns, mimes, and mask-makers at Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Still, in the past few years, the city has attracted an impressive fleet of younger physical-theatermakers—many of whom are packed into this single show. Aftermath marks the directing debut of … Read more
Shot on location in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in the early ’70s, Killer of Sheep tells the neo-realist tale of Stan, an African-American man numbed by the pressure of life in the ghetto and his slaughterhouse job. Director Charles Burnett’s movie is also widely considered one of the finest examinations of children’s reaction … Read more
At least one critic has dubbed Chris Marker a “cosmonaut”—this in apparent admiration of the French documentary filmmaker’s ability to make other cultures look like products of distant planets. Marker’s documentaries jettison conventional narrative, instead telling stories by way of letter-writing and striking imagery. Sadly, his fascinating oeuvre has rarely, if ever, been seen in … Read more
Judd Apatow seems to be everywhere. He was the executive producer of the critically acclaimed television show Freaks and Geeks and the writer-director of The 40 Year-Old Virgin. He will also lend his imprimatur to the upcoming teen sex comedy Superbad. In the meantime, he has produced another ribald farce in the style of Virgin … Read more
Kevin Costner plays the upstanding Earl Brooks, a family man and business leader who just happens to also be a serial killer with an alter ego named Marshall. Our starring cast includes Costner, Demi Moore, and William Hurt … well, that makes three actors who have seen better days. And yet, Mr. Brooks was written … Read more
You might discount her new, blues-oriented disc (aptly titled Into The Blues) for its pallid genre clichés, but notice that even on this misguided collection a few tunes still shimmer with Joan Armatrading’s trademark emotional hum. For decades now, she has bared her soul with pride and erudition instead of pretense and self-pity, capturing the … Read more