Tag Archive | politics
If You Liked This Album, Check Out This Playwright! Pt. 2
I know y’all have been very patient . . . If you liked To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar . . . . . . check out Amiri Baraka! Did Lamar’s silver-tongued politics over live jazz make the last few years bearable? Did his poetry-packed lines help to release a battle cry within you? […]
WTF is a Play Cycle – Pt. 4
The Purpose of Play Cycles/Artist Prophet The Greeks were not only telling tales to reintegrate their citizens but they were developing stories that encapsulated their history, stories that allowed the viewer to examine civilization. In Julie Spark’s Playwrights’ Progress she states that the greek plays were performed as a mode of civic self-examination. Writers get […]
The National Anthem and the Spread of Protest
What ties Americans together as a nation? Are we bound by shared customs, interests, and experiences? Growing up, I always felt some kind of attachment to certain “American traditions” and holidays because they were usually tied to a celebration of sorts, something that my childhood and food-loving self could totally get behind. Honestly, I’ve never […]
Mainstream Media Accountability Survey: Round 1
Sometimes the greatest theatre happens outside theatrical spaces. This week, we are privileged enough to witness, not one, but TWO of the most excellent performative acts in the history of the world wide web, courtesy of our Commander in Chief. As we all know, the president of the United States has never been afraid of […]
It’s Happening Here: Berkeley Rep’s Production of IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE Still Relevant
I thought I’d check out what leading theatres in my home state of California have been up to, and I came across Berkeley Rep’s late 2016 project “It Can’t Happen Here,” a timely play co-adapted by Berkeley Rep’s Artistic Director Tony Taccone and Bennett S. Cohen. The piece is based on Sinclair Lewis’s novel “It […]
Viewing the Arts Through Trump-Colored Glasses
I recently started watching The Young Pope on HBO, which stars Jude Law as a self-obsessed, tyrannical, and incredibly stunted ruler who is more concerned with his own image than the good of his people. Sound familiar? The Young Pope clearly understands its role in todays political milieu. Law’s Holy Father “says what he thinks, directly, loudly, whether people […]
For Those Who Like the Magic, But Not the Morals
JK Rowling seems to have broken a lot of hearts the last few days. Unlike most stories that involve the well-known author of the Harry Potter series, this time it’s not about the books. Well, not really. After publicly speaking out against the Trump administration, Rowling faced criticisms from her now ex-fans, many who vowed to […]
“Politics? Cora, we’re artists.”
So here we are today, over a month out from November 8 and the electors were not as faithless as many of us had hoped. And in this time I’ve rehearsed, teched, opened, and closed Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 operetta The Cradle Will Rock. I’ve confronted the questions I think many of us have wondered in these last […]
When Mike Met Alexander (Hamilton)
One step forward, two steps back. Is this what “progress” feels like? In the same year that Hamilton wins 11 Tonys and redefines the scope of American musical theatre, Donald Trump is elected to be the next President of the United States. For us theatre people, I think Hamilton has been this untouchable beacon of hope […]
After the ‘Revolt.’
Wednesday November 9th was a very tough day. As a Hillary Clinton supporter and one that surrounds myself with other like minded people, I awoke in the morning with my partner to my side, crying. We rose out of bed feeling like someone had just died. The sense of loss was palpable. I arrived at […]
I ACCEPT THE CALL TO ARMS.
I recently watched Ivo van Hove’s “Kings of War” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a commentary on politics today through the use of three Shakespearean kings, Henry V, Henry VI, and Richard III. The show tracks how each king gains political power, many times involving manipulation, especially in Richard III’s case, who not only […]
Performance in Politics
Social media is a curious thing. I tend to scroll through my Facebook newsfeed as if it were an actual newsfeed, as if it represents some conveyor belt of factoids springing from an unbiased, universal source of world events. But let’s be real: Facebook is not a news source. It is a reflection of things […]
Marxism with Capitalist Appeal
I love Chekhov. A lot of people love Chekhov. My expression of this affinity adds, I’m aware, absolutely nothing to any conversation whatsoever, especially in a literary sense. And the vast majority of contemporary performance of his work is, unfortunately, both tedious and dull. Yet every once in awhile, a production ignites the motor […]
Empathy… even for conservatives.
Recently I came across this article on American Theatre Magazine’s website that touches upon the responsibility of artists, particularly in this time of political turmoil. It is an issue that has been plaguing me for weeks. In the university I attend I am surrounded by extremely liberal artists, and the more I look into this, the more […]
Theatre and the End of the World
Of the numerous contemporary crises that affect our world today, climate change is amongst the most pressing issues facing the global community. We’re looking at fish-less oceans as early as 2048, atmospheric levels or carbon dioxide are at an all time high, and there is scientific consensus that the spike in planetary temperature is due to human […]
Theatre Review: “The Debate” brings the heat, but lacks coherence
There was no telling what Monday night’s performance of The Debate would behold; even days later, processing exactly what this piece means for its audience of more than 84 million, I find it hard to reduce to any key phrase or unifying idea. Perhaps that was what resonated the most profoundly: there is no unity, or […]
James Ricks on pushing the envelope…
Right now in Richmond Virginia at the Firehouse Theatre, audience are being treated to night after night of Privacy. Torture. Love. Gluttony. Truth. War. Hunger. Flatulance. It is all part of Director James Ricks’ vision of merging George Orwell’s dystopian fiction 1984 with Alfred Jarry’s absurdist Ubu Roi in the world premiere of Ubu 84. […]
“Self Employed Professional”
A director’s appeal was recently accepted to a case where a group of actors asked for a minimum wage payment for a profit-share production. The controversy arose when two other actors were fired from the production. The director Gavin McAlinden and his company Charm Offensive Limited produced Pentecost by David Edgar in London in March […]
The Art of Listening During the Revolution
We live in a world filled with disaster, strife, injustice, hate, and greed. I decided to pursue a career in the arts because I want to illuminate the other side of the coin; the side that glistens with hope, love, miracles, kindness, and novelty. I have conceded that one cannot exist without the other. The moments […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 