Superfluities Redux
On culture and theatre, by George Hunka
A new journal for theatre minima and organum posts exclusively can now be found here.
Friday, 16 May 2008
"Of the giving of many prizes there
is no end ..."
(Apologies to the author of Ecclesiastes 12:12)
(See entry for 19 May)
A highly selective, prejudiced look at a few upcoming productions, along with other items of interest:
Sunday, 18 May: The MCC Playlab Series continues tonight with a staged reading of Sangeet by Ranbir Sidhu. Sidhu's play, "a comedy without manners," is a poetic exploration of multiculturalism in Margaret Thatcher's London, focusing on an ex-strongman from India, a male nurse who leans toward euthanasia for some of his more borderline patients, and their children. Sidhu's plays (I've read this one and True East) are physically and linguistically explosive meditations on race, sex, shame and guilt, uneasy and complex approaches to uneasy and complex questions – a staged reading may not pass along the physical dynamics, but certainly will demonstrate the linguistic. It's free and open to the public; a wine and cheese reception will follow. At Baruch College's Engelman Recital Hall, 25th Street between Lexington and Third. The reading begins at 5.00pm.
Monday, 19 May: Wherefore theatre criticism in New York? John Heilpern of the New York Observer, Jonathan Kalb of HotReview.org and Alexis Soloski of the Village Voice each respond to the question during the panel discussion "New York Theatre Criticism" at the Segal Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, tonight at 6.30pm. It's free and open to the public; more information at the Segal Center Web page here.
And it's unlikely to run very long; Soloski, at least, will be heading downtown later tonight – as one of the judges of this year's Obie Awards, which will be handed out this evening at Webster Hall, she won't want to miss the ceremony to be hosted by Elizabeth Marvel and Bill Camp. You can watch the ceremony yourself during the first live Webcast of the event; more information at the Obies Web page. And keep an eye out for me; I'll be there too. Though I must promise to keep shtum on the evening itself; what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, as the commercial says.
Tuesday, 20 May: Also this week from the MCC Theater is the world premiere of a new play from the controversial (and my erstwhile correspondent) Neil LaBute, Reasons to be Pretty. LaBute's new play is the third in a trilogy (the first two parts were The Shape of Things and Fat Pig) about America's obsession with physical beauty and the warping effects this obsession has upon American men and women alike. Reasons to be Pretty runs through 5 July; more information here.
Wednesday, 21 May: Something about the Greeks has gotten into
the water (or, more likely, the wine) over at PS122. Following La Femme est Morte, the Shalimar's current
production about Phaedra, Oedipus is in their sights now. The Pan Pan Theatre
of Dublin is offering up Oedipus Loves You, beginning tonight at
8.00pm and running through 1 June. "Pan Pan's punk rock sensibility
strikes a fierce chord in this savvy update of Sophocles' classic drama of
the ultimate dysfunctional family. ... Oedipus is still counselled by the
wise Tiresias, but the sightless sage is now a Freudian analyst and
ex-
Posted at 8.08 am in /Openings
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